Poisonous Goddess: I'm just lazing around in the mortal realm.

Thirteen thought to himself that this cloth was really unnecessary, since there was no way to see the path in the corridor, so what difference would it make whether it was tied or not?

The maidservant helped her through the darkness, winding her way through two doors before stopping again.

"Are they out yet?"

Thirteen asked softly, but he remembered that when he entered the courtesan's room earlier, he had crossed five doors, but this time there were only two. Could it be that he had led her somewhere again?

Clearly, the maid had no intention of answering her question.

Soon, the ribbon in front of her eyes was removed by the maid who had led the way, and then disappeared into the darkness again.

Thirteen looked around. Although she still couldn't see clearly, she noticed that the maid hadn't taken her back to the original staircase, but instead led her to another room.

However, unlike the courtesan's room which was filled with lit candles, this room only had a lit candlestick by the only window.

By the dim candlelight, she looked around and saw nothing but a desk by the window.

She walked forward and found the window slightly ajar, with moonlight streaming into the room through the crack.

"Young master, what information do you wish to acquire?"

Suddenly, a clear, cold voice broke the silence in the room. Thirteen turned his head and saw a person suddenly emerge from a corner of the room that was not illuminated by candlelight.

By the moonlight, Thirteen could vaguely see that the person was wearing a heavy cloak, as if afraid of revealing his identity.

The person deliberately stood with their back to the moonlight and candlelight, making it impossible for Thirteen, who was facing the light, to see their identity. Instead, her every move was exposed to the other person's view.

"You knew I came to buy information?"

Thirteen was taken aback, wondering if she had stumbled upon a place to sell information by accident. However, she hadn't expected that the rules of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion stipulated that one could only choose between the courtesan and the information.

Just now, in the courtesan's room, the maid guarding the door noticed her sitting neatly at the table, and instead of choosing the courtesan in the inner room, she brought her to this dark room.

"Of course, Zuixianlou knows everything. Please tell me, young master."

Thirteen listened to the voice of the person by the window; it was neither male nor female, and the gender was impossible to discern.

She composed herself, pondered for a moment, and then said...

"I want to know the whereabouts of the two assassins who infiltrated your Drunken Immortal Pavilion during the day."

"it is good!"

The man didn't ask for thirteen reasons and simply agreed to her question. Then he sat down at his desk and wrote something on it. After a moment, he caught a pigeon from the darkness and tied the letter to its leg. He then went to the window and released it.

Thirteen couldn't help but feel curious; this was the first time she had ever seen such a simple way of sending messages.

Before half a cup of tea had been brewed, the pigeon flew back through the window, and the man untied the letter tied to its leg. The maid who had brought Thirteen earlier suddenly reappeared and handed the letter to the man.

Thirteen tucked the letter into her bosom; the room was too dark to read the words. She gave the person a slight bow.

"Thank you."

The man simply nodded at her and said softly.

"Now that you have the answer, young master, please send someone to escort you away."

As soon as she finished speaking, the maid took out a satin ribbon from her sleeve and walked towards Thirteen...

When the two finally made it back to the bright stairwell, another incense stick's worth of time had passed.

Thirteen returned the satin ribbon to the maid and looked up at her, saying...

"Thank you."

Unexpectedly, the maid who had not answered the thirteenth question suddenly opened her mouth slightly and pointed at her.

It doesn't have a tongue!

The maid actually wanted to explain why she hadn't answered her, since this young man had been the kindest to her during her time on the eighth floor.

She seemed to guess that the boy was thanking her, and she slowly bowed to him again.

Thirteen was surprised to find that when the maid lowered her head, the hair hanging down on both sides revealed her ears. It was clear that her ears had been cut off alive, and the area where her ears used to be had been mashed up and scabbed over to seal them up!

……

Thirteen, still reeling from the shock of leaving the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, initially thought it was just a coincidence that the maid was mute and couldn't speak. She never imagined that her tongue had been pulled out and her ears cut off the day after tomorrow.

She turned around and looked at the magnificent sight before her eyes. How cruel were the people behind it, that they could cut off the tongues and ears of those maids?

Was it merely to keep the secret of the eighth floor of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion?

Perhaps in the eyes of the owner of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, only someone like that could keep the secret.

"What are you thinking about, Thirteen!"

Suddenly, a large hand climbed onto Thirteen's shoulder. Still reeling from the terror he had witnessed on the eighth floor, Thirteen was startled and stared wide-eyed at Zhou Jinghuai behind him.

"Don't scare me in the middle of the night."

"You're a grown man, how can you be so cowardly?"

However, Shen Mu, who seemed to notice that Thirteen's expression was a little off, spoke up.

"What did you see on the eighth floor?"

Thirteen felt her lips trembling, as if words were swirling within her, yet she couldn't utter them. In her mind's eye, there was still the image of the maid's ears completely shut off; those maids who could never hear or speak, forced to live their entire lives in darkness.

To eke out a living in darkness...without a tongue, without ears...not even eyes!

In an instant, a scene that seemed familiar flashed through her mind.

The dark and damp dungeon, devoid of sunlight year-round, was filled with the smell of decay and mold, a place that even the rats that dwelt in the sewers seemed to have never set foot in.

And lying right in the center was a woman without facial features!

As the woman crawled, blood was still flowing from her seven orifices. Because the tendons in her hands and feet had been severed, she could only crawl on her stomach to the slippery wall, where she managed to sit up with the help of the wall.

The fragmented memories made her feel as if she had witnessed it herself.

"what--"

Thirteen suddenly clutched his head, squatted down on the ground, and became completely immersed in that painful nightmare.

Her unusual behavior made Shen Mu and the other person exchange glances. Something must have happened on the eighth floor of Zuixianlou to make her so anxious and uneasy.

"Don't kill me...don't kill me...don't kill me!" Thirteen whispered with his head down, as if he couldn't hear the two of them at all.

Shen Mu was taken aback upon hearing this, a hint of astonishment flashing across his dark eyes.

He bent down and gently patted Thirteen's shoulder, softly calling her name, "Thirteen, are you alright?"

"She is..."

Zhou Jinghuai looked puzzled. He had only gone to the eighth floor to buy information, so why did he come down acting like he had a seizure?

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I'm not... I'm not!"

Thirteen muttered to himself, feeling as if he were about to be completely swallowed by darkness, unable to hear anyone's voice anymore.

Only a surge of hatred exploded in his heart as he desperately resisted the chill spreading through his body.

"what--"

Thirteen suddenly looked up and shouted, but luckily it was late at night and there were few people on the street.

Losing her senses at this moment, she was completely unaware that her divine power in the mortal realm was showing signs of breaking through the seal. With a furious shout, her eyes instantly turned a strange color.

Shen Mu, facing her directly, could not hide the shock in his eyes. A white light seemed to burst forth from Thirteen's neck, disappearing in an instant.

Fearing that Thirteen would become even more out of control if things continued this way, Shen Mu quickly glanced at Zhou Jinghuai, and then with a swift movement, knocked Thirteen unconscious.

"Let's talk about it when we get back."

He coldly uttered a sentence, then hoisted Thirteen up and headed towards the carriage.

Zhou Jinghuai was stunned by Shen Mu's move; he hadn't expected Shen Mu to knock him unconscious so easily.

It wasn't until Shen Mu and the other person got into the carriage that they finally realized what was happening.

"coming."