Name: Jiang Feng
Fortune: 37
Cultivation Technique: Prison Guard Health Care Skill (Beginner)
Skills: Prison Guard Long Fist (Beginner)
Realm: Ninth Grade (Skin Refining)
Divine Power: Immortality
Jiang Feng realized his Fortune had suddenly increased by thirty-two points. He understood in his heart that Da Zhuang wasn't just drunk—it was almost certain that he would never appear again.
It absolutely had to do with the old man being taken away last night.
Two days later.
Da Zhuang still had not shown up in the prison cell.
Only then did Uncle Huo begin to get anxious.
As the old Squad Leader of the cell, if his subordinates disappeared for too long, he'd bear responsibility. At first, he could cover for them for a few days, but over time, he was bound to get caught.
"That bastard must have lost money gambling and got detained in a gambling hall."
After thinking it over, Uncle Huo felt this was the most likely possibility.
"Jiang Feng, come with me..."
"Which one is Huo Ya, which one is Niu Wang?"
"I am..."
"Take them away!"
Just as Uncle Huo was about to call Jiang Feng to go look for Da Zhuang together at night, four government officials entered the workshop with shackles and chains.
After confirming the identities of Huo Ya and Niu Wang, they took them away in custody.
Soon after, replacements for the positions of Uncle Huo, Niu Wang, and Da Zhuang were assigned by the superiors.
All familiar faces.
Their status was the same as Jiang Feng's.
The one who took Uncle Huo's place was called Xu Gang, stubbly and in his twenties. His old father was also a prison guard, and a Entry Grade martial artist as well, in charge of a group of low-class prison guards.
This made Xu Gang quite popular among the low-class guards.
Seeing only Jiang Feng left of Uncle Huo's squad, he grinned and asked, "Do you know what crime Old Huo and the others committed?"
"I don't know. Recently I've been living in the prison cell."
Jiang Feng shook his head.
He pushed the wooden wheelbarrow to hurry off to work.
Although he had seen it coming, at this moment, he dared not speak out. He did everything possible to keep himself out of it and avoid getting involved.
On top of that, Xu Gang's father was in charge of the low-class guards. If Uncle Huo and Niu Wang really did something serious, Xu Gang's father would also be held responsible. He couldn't imagine how Xu Gang could still be smiling right now.
People like that tend to bring bad luck, best to avoid contact.
"Truly a blockhead."
Xu Gang cursed under his breath.
And so, another five days passed.
Since Da Zhuang's disappearance,
Jiang Feng noticed his Fortune Point rising each day.
From 5, it climbed to 89.
He was now certain.
Uncle Huo and Niu Wang being taken away for investigation, Da Zhuang's mysterious disappearance—it was all connected to the old man in Cell Thirty being taken by Dali Temple.
Unfortunately, even with the Fortune value at eighty-nine, there still wasn't a plus sign after Prison Guard Health Care Skill and Prison Guard Long Fist.
Apparently, to further improve these skills would require much more Fortune than the jump from Beginner to Entry; perhaps a hundred and fifty, two hundred, or even more than three hundred points.
However, Jiang Feng was in no hurry.
As a Longevity Practitioner, time was what he had most. No matter how much he needed, he could slowly accumulate it.
He could also continue to cultivate day after day, improving his strength bit by bit.
For now, the most important thing was to keep a calm mind, focus on quiet development, and stay out of trouble—ensuring he wouldn't get tangled up in others' retribution.
"Everyone stay sharp. Do your work properly and don't have too much contact with the prisoners."
Xu Gang was not his usual self.
It seemed he had caught wind of something. He worked with precision and did not cut corners.
He didn't bother looking for ways to skim off the new prisoners anymore.
At shift handover that evening,
Jiang Feng saw Xu Gang squatting in the corner, eyes red from crying.
It turns out that a wave of personnel changes had come down, and Xu Gang's father was also taken away in the end.
The next day.
Jiang Feng checked his status panel.
His Fortune value had risen from 89 to 112.
It looked like the fire started by Cell Thirty's old man was spreading wider and wider.
Even Jiang Feng himself felt he was in imminent danger.
He hesitated, considering whether he should leave Zhenbei Prison.
Two days later.
Jiang Feng learned from other prison guards that both Uncle Huo and Niu Wang had been released. The two had been detained and tortured for days in the Water Prison.
Xu Gang immediately ran out to find Uncle Huo and Niu Wang, wanting to know what exactly had happened, but was turned away at the door.
Another ten days passed like this.
Xu Gang was transferred back to his old post.
Uncle Huo and Niu Wang limped back to the prison cell.
Only then did the whole sequence of events begin to spread.
The root of it all really was the old man in Cell Thirty.
He turned out to be a Hall Master of the rebel force—Red Lotus Sect.
The Court had been hunting him for years.
No one expected to find him in Zhenbei Prison.
And the reason his true identity was discovered was all because of that Jade Pendant.
With nowhere to turn, the old man bribed Da Zhuang with the Jade Pendant. Da Zhuang didn't do his part after taking the money. The very day he got the pendant, he pawned it and spent the cash on prostitutes.
That night, as soon as the pawn ticket expired, the shopkeeper sold it to an official from Dali Temple—who immediately recognized it as belonging to the Red Lotus Sect Hall Master. Following the clues, they found Da Zhuang, interrogated him through the night, and then took the old man from Cell Thirty out of Zhenbei Prison.
And that was the start of all the cascading consequences afterward.
In the end, Da Zhuang was convicted of corruption and bribery—his hands and feet were severed, his wife and daughter forced into prostitution, banished from Zhenbei Prison, condemned to slavery for life.
The old man from Cell Thirty was sentenced to immediate public execution as a rebel; he would be beheaded five days later at Zhenbei District market square.
Xu Gang's father was judged guilty of dereliction of duty, which meant abolition of his cultivation and expulsion from prison service.
Many others were punished as well.
After hearing all these things,
Jiang Feng felt secretly relieved, but also broke out in a cold sweat for Uncle Huo and Niu Wang.
Although the two of them only went drinking with Da Zhuang, and were closer to him,
They had managed to keep their jobs and prove their innocence.
All because the old man from Cell Thirty was taken out of Zhenbei Prison by Dali Temple people for interrogation.
Otherwise, if he had escaped first and only then been found, they could have been accused of being accomplices.
That would have meant execution for the whole family.
Five days later.
Uncle Huo and Niu Wang could finally walk more or less properly.
The two of them cursed and swore, constantly venting their frustrations.
They wanted to take Jiang Feng along to the market to watch the rebel get beheaded.
But Jiang Feng refused.
In his previous life, he had always seen scenes on TV where supposedly righteous rebels were rescued at executions by their comrades. If the old man was rescued there in the crowd and spotted him, giving him a slice with his blade, he'd have only himself to blame.
Of course, the odds of that happening were minuscule.
After all, the execution would be heavily guarded, and this was Dragon Capital. As long as the Red Lotus Sect followers weren't idiots, they couldn't possibly show up.
But Jiang Feng truly wasn't interested in watching someone be beheaded.
He'd rather see how much Fortune he had accumulated now, and whether he could further improve his strength.