Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

When Zhu Jiacun and his group entered the mansion, their clothes were too dirty. Steward Sun arranged for them to wash themselves and change their clothes. After that, he had the servants remove the old clothes.

Typically, servants who were bought into the household would sign a contract of servitude and, after being dressed in the new clothes of the prince's mansion, would immediately burn the dirty clothes they had worn before.

This also means severing ties with the past, and from then on becoming a servant of the Prince's mansion.

The servant assumed that the four people were new servants that the princess had bought, so he took the pile of smelly clothes to the kitchen to burn them.

However, just as the fire was lit, a figure rushed over and picked up one of the dirty clothes from the fire.

This action terrified everyone in the room.

Ren Fengjue, who followed behind, was also somewhat puzzled.

Until he saw Zhu Peng lay the tattered, dirty clothes on his body, smoothing them out inch by inch, revealing the fine, neatly patched seams on them…

The way they cherished it was as if they were handling a rare treasure.

Ren Fengjue immediately understood; this garment must hold extraordinary significance for him.

"Brother Zhu, what about these clothes?"

Zhu Peng wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes before replying, "It was made by my wife... by hand, and it's the only thing she left me."

Ren Fengjue paused slightly, said nothing, but gestured to the servants beside him.

"I see. Luckily, the clothes weren't burned. With careful washing, they can still be worn."

Zhu Peng quickly put the clothes away, saying, "I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Young Master Ren."

Ren Fengjue replied, "What are you saying? This item is indeed precious to you."

The two of them came out of the kitchen again.

Seeing that Ren Fengjue had an extraordinary temperament and was clearly a noble young master from a prestigious family, yet had no airs at all, Zhu Peng couldn't help but feel even more trust and goodwill towards him.

He took the initiative to say, "Young master asked us outside the village where we came from. Actually, it's not that far. Our Zhu Family Village is near the Silent Mountain..."

"Dumb Mountain, young master, you must have heard of it, right?"

Ren Fengjue had carefully studied the terrain of Liangzhou City before he came here.

He knew that Yashan and Yuebeishan were connected, forming a deeper and more dangerous mountain forest.

It is said that the "Dinu" of the North originally lived in the Silent Mountains.

"Is this the place where the Marquis of Zhenbei discovered the 'giant slaves'?"

Zhu Peng nodded. "That's exactly where it is."

Ren Fengjue thought about it carefully and became even more puzzled. He analyzed, "Although that place is a bit remote, I heard that after the Marquis of Zhenbei's Wan Ting Army captured the 'giant,' they built a 'Di Nu Camp' nearby to train these giants..."

"Has something happened?"

Zhu Peng nodded again, his eyes clearly filled with tears, before slowly telling him the story of "Zhu Family Village".

The completion of the "Di Nu Camp" was indeed a good thing for Zhu Family Village.

First of all, they no longer have to worry about being attacked by giants in the deep mountains.

In addition, after the "Di Nu Camp" was built, the Marquis of Zhenbei ordered the nearby villages to plant large areas of agricultural products, such as wheat, fruits and vegetables, to supply the camp.

"Di Nu" has a huge appetite, which can be seen as giving Zhu Family Village an opportunity in a roundabout way.

Each household can earn a decent income every year by relying solely on farming.

At least, everyone can have a good New Year.

However, fate is unpredictable. One night six months ago, the Third Holy Son suddenly came to the "Di Slave Camp". No one knows what he did to the servants, but the Di slaves began to become frantic, howling incessantly every night, causing panic throughout the entire Zhu Family Village and even the surrounding villages.

Unable to withstand the pressure, the village chief couldn't help but run to the camp to inquire about the reason.

But the guard scoffed, "They're just a bunch of mountain monsters, like those wild wolves. What's wrong with them howling?"

The village chief said, "It wasn't like this before... I'm just afraid that if things continue like this, something unexpected might happen."

The soldier immediately frowned in displeasure: "Just do what you're supposed to do. Why are you meddling so much? Even if something happens, we'll take responsibility!"

Hearing this, Ren Fengjue couldn't help but ask, "Then do you know what those 'Di slaves' were doing inside before this?"

Zhu Peng said, "Those giants are incredibly strong and still very useful to the Wan Ting Army. I heard that two smaller ones were selected and were originally intended to be sent to the Zhenbei Marquis's residence, but one of them ran away on the way."

"They ran away..."

For some reason, Ren Fengjue immediately thought of the giant beneath the "Qiongying Inn" in Gezhen.

He then asked, "Do you know when this happened?"

Zhu Peng estimated: "It was probably three or four years ago..."

Ren Fengjue then asked, "Do you know approximately how tall that little Di Nu is?"

Zhu Peng shook his head: "I have never seen it, but I heard from the village chief that Di Nu has a large frame and grows slowly. When he was sent to the Marquis's mansion, he was probably about the same size as a cub, at most ten years old, but he was already half a head taller than most people."

Ren Fengjue was silent for a moment.

If that's the case, then the timeline does make sense.

However, this place is so far from Ge Town, it's impossible that Little Di Nu ran there on his own...

Perhaps someone is helping him, trying to free him from control and let him return to his former life in the deep mountains.

Zhu Peng was also a clever man. Hearing Ren Fengjue ask such detailed questions, he also asked, "Young Master Ren, have you also met Di Nu?"

Ren Fengjue didn't hide anything, "That's right, but it's not in the northern border, but in a small town north of the capital."

Zhu Peng nodded but didn't ask any more questions.

Ren Fengjue then continued, following up on the "unusual event" he had just mentioned, "And then what happened? Did something bad occur?"

"Yes, it was about a month ago, one evening..."

Di Nu's roars grew louder day by day, as if he might burst out of the cage at any moment and devour everyone alive.

That night was also a coincidence.

The baby has a persistent high fever and needs to be taken to a doctor in a nearby town.

Zhu Peng's elder brother was unable to go due to mobility issues, so he had to go in his place.

It takes at least one or two hours to get from Zhujia Village to the town by oxcart.

That very night, Zhu Er was going to town to pick up his older brother Zhu Da, so he could take their donkey cart.

So Zhu Peng took his nephew and got on the donkey cart, and they went to town together.

However, to their surprise, when they returned at dawn, they found that the entire village had been burned to the ground.

The entire village of Zhujia has vanished.

Zhu Peng thought he was dreaming. He went to the location of "Di Nu Camp" and found that it had also been burned down, and even the surrounding villages were not spared.

At this point, Zhu Peng couldn't help but cry again. He said, "I still don't believe this was an accident, because I clearly saw bloodstains on the ground, and the giant's footprints..."

"So many people couldn't have died in an accident; they were most likely... murdered by those brutal 'Di slaves'!"