A corpse lies in the ancestral hall. The death was kept secret.
At dawn, Old Xiang arrived at the prison as if everything was normal.
“Old Xiang, why didn’t you show up for duty yesterday?”
“Good thing I was on shift.”
“The higher-ups didn’t check, so we got away with it.”
Seeing Old Xiang approaching in his black, embroidered warden’s robe, a fellow elderly prison guard lowered his voice.
“Sickness. Thanks.”
He gave a brief response and walked on toward the prison without elaborating.
“Hey!”
The old guard didn’t think much of it, assuming Old Xiang was just in a bad mood.
Though the rumors were quiet, people had heard of Old Xiang’s reputation.
He had once been well-known within the Embroidered Guards. Unfortunately, age had caught up to him, and a severed arm had left him demoted to prison duty.
“You really missed sothing big yesterday.”
“Quite a few of those Wild Dog Gang thugs died.”
“Rumor is, so expert didn’t like their filth and wiped them out.”
“Bet the governor is losing his mind trying to clean up the ss.”
The old guard liked to talk. He didn’t stop just because Old Xiang seed uninterested.
Instead, he went into detail about yesterday’s incident involving the Wild Dog Gang.
As they walked and talked, Old Xiang paused mid-step. “Did the Embroidered Guards get involved in the investigation?”
“Just a petty case. Why would they bother?”
“Give it a few days and the governor will close the case.”
“Old Xiang, you really should stop thinking about the Embroidered Guards,” the old guard sighed.
Cases like this were usually dead ends.
Eventually, they'd bla it on gang violence or pin it on a death row inmate and call it solved, nice and neat.
Hardly ever would the Embroidered Guards get involved.
Unless, of course, the governor was serious and so official who truly wanted to catch the real killer. Then maybe there’d be a chance.
Old Xiang thought back.
Other than the punishnt techniques he used, he had left no clues.
All the victims’ souls had been drawn into the Soul Banner, ruling out the risk of even the dead leaking secrets.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to handle the bodies properly. The cover-up had been rushed.
Unless it was soone senior in the Embroidered Guards and familiar with the Three Needles of the Yama King, it would be difficult to detect anything.
By midmorning, the young guards were gathered around a table playing dice and stirring cheap porridge.
Old Xiang and a few older guards began distributing food to the prisoners.
They received two als a day, watery in the morning, dry in the afternoon.
Most didn’t have the privilege of private cells. Four or five n were cramd together, sleeping on dry straw.
Those with money could bribe the guards for better treatnt.
Such prisoners typically had two-person or even solo cells.
Liang City had three major prisons.
Collectively called the Three Realms Prison:
Heaven Prison, Earth Prison, Human Prison.
The Human Prison dealt with Ministry of Justice cases.
The Earth Prison was overseen jointly by the Ministry, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate.
The Heaven Prison handled cases directly assigned by the Emperor or royal princes themselves.
To the average citizen, the distinction didn’t matter, they were all just “prison.”
To martial artists, it was all called Heaven Prison anyway.
Old Xiang was currently working in the Earth Prison, which housed many prisoners sent in by the Embroidered Guards.
The Embroidered Guards had their own holding cells and Imperial Prisons, but those were only temporary.
Anyone sent to the Imperial Prison was usually executed on the spot.
Those with lighter cris were transferred to the Earth Prison, which had beco the largest detention center in Liang City, filled with a mixed crowd from all walks of life.
“alti.”
An old guard scooped porridge into ceramic bowls placed near the barred doors.
Prisoners in filthy clothes scrambled to grab their bowls, eating with their hands, devouring the food like beasts.
With only two als a day and not enough to fill the stomach, hunger was constant.
Not eating ant weakness.
And in prison, weakness ant losing status and being bullied.
No matter how proud soone was, once inside, they ended up like the rest.
Old Xiang kept the Soul Banner hidden in the inner lining of his chest pocket.
He wandered through the prison without purpose.
But of course, he was searching for the death-row inmates the evil ghost had spoken of.
If soone had recently died, he could absorb their soul to strengthen the Soul Banner.
After all, where in a prison were there no deaths?
So committed suicide. Others were beaten to death by fellow inmates.
By late morning, he had harvested three new souls.
Unfortunately, none of them carried skill seeds.
Tu Shanjun had expected that soone from the Wild Dog Gang might carry skill seeds, but the results were just basic brawling techniques.
Compared to the experiences of Qi Refining cultivators, such crude martial arts were child’s play.
Tu Shanjun had no interest in such trivialities.
Old Xiang also realized that, while the Soul Banner could absorb souls, he never used his internal energy to extract the souls of his wife and child.
Who knew what would happen once their souls entered the artifact, perhaps the evil ghost would devour them.
He still hoped that their spirits could return to the underworld and be reborn.
Whatever life they reincarnated into would be better than being completely destroyed.
Though Tu Shanjun didn’t erge, his spiritual senses remained sharp.
Not everyone in the prison was useless, so were skilled martial artists.
There was even a first-rate Organ-Refining expert locked away.
As Old Xiang passed that cell, Tu Shanjun stirred the Soul Banner as a signal.
Feeling the vibration from his chest, Old Xiang stopped and looked into the cell at the disheveled figure inside.
Shackled and chained, the man’s scapulae had been pierced, he was utterly incapacitated.
Old Xiang entered the cell, holding a bowl of porridge.
The man lifted his head. Hair matted, beard unkempt, he smiled faintly.
“I’ve seen you before.”
“Didn’t expect an old, one-ard jailer to be an Organ-Refining expert.”
“Breaking through even as your vitality wanes, truly impressive.”
He spoke in a low voice, audible only to Old Xiang.
Old Xiang wasn’t surprised. He had just broken through, and his aura hadn’t fully stabilized.
It wouldn’t be noticeable to an ordinary person but to soone at the sa cultivation stage, it was easy to sense.
Once he grew used to the new qi flow, he could fully conceal it.
“Careless words can bring disaster.”
Old Xiang placed the bowl into the prisoner’s hands but ultimately, he did not strike.
Tu Shanjun didn’t protest.
If there was food, he’d take it. If not, it didn’t matter. He would simply watch how Old Xiang chose to act.
That evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon…
Old Xiang exited the prison.
“A magical treasure, huh… I know. I’m old now.”
He muttered to himself.
Had he obtained this treasure in his younger days, he would have killed without hesitation even in prison.
But now… he hesitated.
Maybe because the power of a first-rate expert was enough to fuel his revenge.
Or maybe, he just didn’t want to kill uninvolved people anymore.
Either way, he chose not to act.
Tu Shanjun was slightly disappointed, but said nothing.
Old Xiang didn’t return ho after leaving.
Instead, he changed clothes and headed to the market.
Using silver to discretely purchase information about the steward of the second branch of the Marquis Jing'an Household.
Because the inquiries were scattered, few noticed the connections.
He didn’t need a layout of the mansion, he was already familiar, having visited many tis due to the young heir.
He strapped on his waist blade, took his silver needles and a dagger.
And under cover of night, Old Xiang returned once more to the gates of the Marquis Jing'an estate.
This was his second visit.
Last ti, he had barely taken a look before being driven off by the guards inside.
But now that he had reached the Organ-Refining stage, he could finally put up a fight.
(Chapter End)
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