Five people arrived, led by the same Elder Xia.

The two inside the cage felt an inexplicable sense of comfort upon seeing Elder Xia, realizing that their chance to get out must have arrived.

Of course, on the surface, they still wore expressions of dissatisfaction with the punishment and imprisonment, sitting cross-legged on the ground motionless, coldly staring at Xia Fuli and the others.

Xia Fuli stood in front of the iron bars, scrutinized the two ragged figures for a moment, then slowly said, "We have now determined that it was indeed Wei Bian who ordered the assassination of you both. This matter has nothing to do with Bian Weiyin, it was out of Wei Bian's jealousy and love for Shi Chun that he acted."

At this, the two in the cage seemed a bit confused. Shi Chun, struggling to maintain a face of indifference, couldn't help but break his cold demeanor and asked in puzzlement, "Out of jealousy and love? What does that mean, and how does his jealousy concern me that he would target me?"

Xia Fuli explained, "It started when you and Bian Weiyin were out shopping together. It's unheard of for Bian Weiyin to accompany any man on a shopping trip. Wei Bian fancied Bian Weiyin, thus he grew jealous of you and ordered your assassination."

"Ah, really? Is that true?" Wu Jinliang also broke his facade of longstanding hatred.

Shi Chun immediately turned and cast him a glance as if to say, "You believe such nonsense?"

At least he didn't believe it. He grunted and directly pointed to the crux of the issue, "So you're saying the attempt on our lives had absolutely nothing to do with Bian Weiyin?"

Xia Fuli, hearing the undertone in his response, inwardly praised his sharpness. He wasn't foolish, just young and prone to reckless mistakes, and calmly stated, "Whether you believe it or not, the facts remain. The evidence is complete, and the truth is as stated."

Shi Chun coldly replied, "Investigate yourselves however you like, just do whatever makes you happy."

He had seen everything clearly at the scene of the incident. Bian Weiyin had personally come to oversee from outside the Anle Building, and it was evident that Wei Bian was acting according to Bian Weiyin's cues. If all this was irrelevant, then his role as the Master of East Nine Plain had been in vain for all those years.

It was nothing more than because she was the daughter of the Wu Kang Mountain Sect Master, someone wanted to clear Bian Weiyin's name and let the dead take the blame. He knew this very well.

Hearing this, Wu Jinliang also understood and immediately countered, "We don't understand all this, just tell us something we can understand. What now?"

He was really eager to know when they would be let out, how much longer they would have to drag this out.

Xia Fuli said, "You killed the assassins in self-defense, which is acceptable under the rules of Lankang City. We have no objections to that. But you were not supposed to kill Wei Bian, was that self-defense? Regardless of your backgrounds, are the disciples of Wu Kang Mountain such that outsiders may dispose of them as they please?" The last sentence was said with authoritative reprimand.

The four Wu Kang Mountain disciples standing by him instinctively puffed out their chests, pride welling up within them.

"After deliberation by all of Wu Kang Mountain, it is indeed found that our disciples were at fault initially. Therefore, we grant you the opportunity to reform yourselves. You will be detained at Wu Kang Mountain for a year and do miscellaneous duties for the same duration. If you show genuine repentance, release upon completion of the term, or even earlier release, is not impossible. However, if you resist repentance, you will be detained until you do repent. Do you accept this decision?"

Shi Chun sneered, "I dare to ask if someone from a major influential sect faced this situation, would Wu Kang Mountain dare to detain them as well?"

Naturally, there would be appropriate adjustments for such a scenario, but in front of outsiders, Xia Fuli wouldn't soften his tone, "Still detained without error!"

Wu Jinliang, filled with anger, shot up from the ground, "I'm the first to refuse!"

Xia Fuli coolly responded, "Your refusal is useless. We will beat you until you comply. I only came to inform you, not to offer you choices."

Shi Chun also stood up, "Then stop beating around the bush here!"

Both men displayed an indignant and defiant demeanor, each thinking they played their parts rather well.

Xia Fuli showed no emotion on his face and motioned to the side, "Change their clothes."

A disciple holding the clothes immediately passed a set of clothes through the bars, casually tossing them on the ground, "Change!"

Wu Jinliang glanced at the clothes on the floor, recognizing the rough inferior fabric, even worse than the tattered clothes they currently wore, and spoke unhappily, "No need, we're used to ragged clothes; what we're wearing is fine."

The disciple who threw the clothes spoke sternly, "On the mountain, ragged and tattered clothes are unsightly; put these on!"

The two inside the cage stubbornly refused, maintaining a silent resistance, determined to make their act more believable.

Xia Fuli then ordered, "You go in and help them change, don't worry if you're a bit rough."

"Right!" Several disciples immediately grinned fiercely.

"No need," Shi Chun immediately pushed back, "We don't practice having other men undress us; we'll do it ourselves."

In his mind, he muttered, this Mr. Xia too, we've been cooperative enough, we're about to slip away soon, is it necessary to play it so convincingly?

"Fine, let's change, hmph!" Wu Jinliang tore open his tattered upper garments.

The two men, in front of the five people, stripped down to their underpants and picked up the grey clothes from the ground to put on.

As Wu Jinliang changed, he muttered, "Chun Tian, why are our clothes always in tatters? It feels like we're destined not to wear decent clothes. How long can a new set last?"

"Can you shut your mouth and say something nice?" Shi Chun retorted irritably; he did not want to get beaten up again.

After changing clothes, Shi Chun's new garb was somewhat oversized, but dealing with the bagginess was just a matter of rolling up the sleeves and pant legs.

Wu Jinliang's clothes were a bit too small, revealing a bit of his wrists and ankles. There was nothing to be done about it; he had to make do.

The size of the clothes was secondary. The key was the black characters on a white background drawn on both the front and back of the clothes, bearing the word "slave."

This clothing was definitely not made on a whim; it was evident that they were not the first to be imprisoned like this.

The cage creaked open, and the two men walked out of the prison, greeted by the glare of the outside light for the first time in a while.

It was a sunny, pleasant day. Shi Chun and his companion looked up at the sky, feeling as though they were in a courtyard.

Walking up the winding staircase, they saw walls stained like rust, the distinctive color of Wukang Mountain. Shi Chun scratched the surface with his hand, realizing it was neither stone nor gold and iron, yet it was extremely hard.

Stepping out of confinement, they saw a clear, pristine sky, as if the storm from last night had never occurred.

It was dark last night, and Shi Chun and his companion hadn't seen what Wukang Mountain looked like. Now, seeing clearly, they saw buildings adorned like pavilions made of jade, with a palace reflecting the sky in a lake, creating somewhat a fantastical atmosphere; still, something felt oddly lacking.

"You two take it from here," Xia Fuli said to the disciples before walking away.

With his status and cultivation, such menial tasks typically wouldn't require his presence; it was indeed an exceptional involvement, understandable to outsiders, considering it involved the Sect Master's daughter and was connected to the death of a disciple.

"Let's go!"

Shi Chun and his companion were pushed forward by four men and taken to a place not far from the prison, a large courtyard adjacent to it.

Compared to the elegant constructions, the small and shoddy building they were approaching was clearly not a desirable abode.

In the center of the courtyard sat a fat man with greasy features on a large stone mill, cracking seeds casually and occasionally sipping tea, scrutinizing Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang as they came.

Approaching the stone mill, the four Wukang Mountain disciples cheerfully called out, "Uncle Pang!"

The fat man grunted, looked at the two men brought before him, and asked, "Are these the ones who killed Brother Wei?"

"Yes, Uncle Pang; we've brought them. They are now your responsibility."

The four Wukang Mountain disciples left after this exchange.

Uncle Pang carelessly spit out a seed shell and saw the unabashed demeanor of the two men. He merely scoffed coldly, not making a big deal about it, seemingly biding his time.

Shi Chun and his companion understood the hidden implication, didn't fuss, knowing they would soon make their escape, not worried about handling things this person might throw at them.

Suddenly, Pang called out, "Where is everyone? Are they all dead? Don't you see people coming?"

Immediately, two men ran out from the cottage, one with a square face, the other with a long face, the latter looking to be in his late forties to early fifties.

Shi Chun and his companion felt energized upon seeing them, not for any reason other than they wore the same "slave" attire, both on the front and back of their clothes.

The two men fawningly approached Uncle Pang by the stone mill. Without waiting for any flattery, Uncle Pang flicked his head and said, "What time is it already? Get the equipment for carrying water; let them finish twenty carries of water this morning first. Since it's their first time, they aren't familiar with the rules. Take them through it and teach them well."

"Understood." The two promptly responded, calling Shi Chun and his companion to follow.

After taking them to a storeroom, among various tools, they picked out two shoulder poles and four buckets, allocating them to Shi Chun and his companion.

Seeing the arrangement, not knowing exactly what Elder Xia had planned, they guessed that their escape was imminent. They didn't want to complicate matters, deciding to follow the plan for now, dutifully accepting the work equipment.

Back in East Nine Plain, they had also done the task of fetching water from deep underground, so this was not their first time, only the tools were not as good here.

Under the watchful eye of the stone mill fat man, Shi Chun and his companion carried the poles and followed the two men out of the courtyard.

Exiting the courtyard gate, the instruction began. They told the newcomers not to wander around on the mountain randomly. In these clothes, they were only allowed in designated areas during work hours; otherwise, being discovered by the Wukang Mountain disciples responsible for security in each area would be dreadful.

Shi Chun couldn't help asking about the identity of these two menial workers. It turned out they were different from them; they weren't outsiders but genuine Wukang Mountain disciples. They had been punished for offenses and demoted to do menial tasks, with currently forty or fifty others under similar punishment.

The younger square-faced man was Zou Xingbao, and the horse-faced one nearing fifty was Duan You. There was an age gap between them, but within the sect, they were of the same generation.

The stone mill fat man was named Pang Tiansheng. His cultivation talent was mediocre; he had not yet broken through to the High Martial cultivation level, but he was a direct disciple of the Sect Master and of higher seniority, relegated here to manage the Punishment Court.

Wu Jinliang questioned why, if there were lakes on the mountain, they still had to fetch water from below the mountain, merely for the sake of punishment?

After some explanation, they understood. The water in the mountain was rainwater, which after a long time would no longer be fresh. It was suitable for cleaning but not for drinking according to standards. As there were no water sources on the mountain, they still needed to fetch water from below, and it indeed served as a form of punishment.

Soon, they were led to another path leading down the mountain, a rather narrow descent. Standing at the path entrance, they could already see people in the same menial clothes going up and down fetching water, some carrying full buckets uphill, others descending with empty ones.

"See that? Follow the ones with empty buckets to the water fetching spot. The buckets must be at least nine-tenths full, no shirking; otherwise, you'll be punished. The spot is quite far, so we won't follow you. We'll wait here for you to return and then take you to where you will pour out the water. Remember, don't think about running away, or the consequences will be severe!"

Zou Xingbao pointed down the path and instructed.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang exchanged knowing glances and smiled subtly, thinking, "As we thought, there must be an arrangement in place. So it's here. Elder Xia's plan has indeed arrived. They deliberately said they won't follow us, clearly not supervising us while also specifically warning us not to run away. Could the hint be any clearer?"

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