Seven days passed.
It was enough time for Uncle Huo to gradually recover.
Today, he finally returned to the cell.
And Jiang Feng also moved back from the second layer to work in the first layer.
"Uncle Huo, are you feeling better now?"
Jiang Feng took the initiative to ask.
"Hmph, if I wasn't, would I still come on duty? When I was gone, did you slack off on my watch?"
Uncle Huo replied with blatant disdain.
The more he looked at Jiang Feng, the angrier he got.
He'd been lying in bed these past few days.
Several prison guards came to visit him—Tiger Head Zhang even brought a few squad leaders to check in—but Jiang Feng was nowhere to be seen.
Thinking back, when Jiang Feng knocked his head at the door a while back, Uncle Huo had specifically taken time off to care for him for seven or eight days. Never expected that now, when it was his turn to be bedridden, Jiang Feng didn't even show up once.
"Uncle Huo, do you blame me for not visiting you while you were injured?"
Jiang Feng had already seen this coming.
"You have the nerve to bring that up?"
Uncle Huo's voice shot up.
"Don't be mad, let me explain. There's been rebel trouble over in Chaoyang Alley recently. You know I'm a coward. I've been scared this whole time, so while you were injured, I just stayed in the cell and didn't go anywhere. If you don't believe me, you can ask anyone else."
Jiang Feng explained patiently.
He took out a month's salary from his chest, handed it to Uncle Huo, and said, "Take this money to buy yourself some supplements. Once the rebels are gone, we'll go out for drinks again. How about it?"
"You… Ah, you brat, you don't look like some ungrateful bastard. Fine, keep your money—save it for getting yourself a wife. I appreciate the thought."
Uncle Huo, hearing this, softened a bit, shoved the money back to Jiang Feng, and kicked him on the butt.
"Hehe, then next time let's go to Fengyue Building for a drink."
Jiang Feng rubbed his butt and said.
"We'll go tonight. I'll order the dishes and the drinks."
Uncle Huo replied gruffly.
"Let's wait a few more days. Don't worry, we won't miss this round of drinks."
Jiang Feng still felt it wasn't safe outside yet.
"Look at you, timid as a mouse! You want to get a wife? You'll be single all your damn life!"
Uncle Huo snorted angrily.
Jiang Feng could only grin stupidly.
He pushed the wooden cart to distribute food to the prisoners.
After finishing, he headed back to the workroom.
Uncle Huo said, "You'll have to work a bit harder today. Xiao Tian twisted his ankle, so cells seventy to eighty haven't been served yet. Go help out, will you?"
"Alright."
Jiang Feng had no objections.
After all, it was just rice porridge—refusing would only earn him the colleagues' scorn, and maybe some trouble in the future.
He got the porridge rations.
Jiang Feng pushed the wooden cart to Cell No. 70, handing out food to the inmates one by one.
When he got to Cell No. 75—
Jiang Feng suddenly realized: all the men inside were from the Red Lotus Sect's rebel faction, the very group Chief Huang had brought in recently. Supposedly there was even a Steward Elder in there, which the Court paid particular attention to.
Every few days, Chief Huang would come and interrogate them.
He'd bumped into them in the torture room and in the corridors before.
It was on them that he'd first caught that unique powdery makeup fragrance—the same one he'd smelled on Ge Huizhong. That's how he got the clue and hurriedly got himself transferred to the second layer.
Now running into this group again—
Jiang Feng kept silent.
He poured porridge for each one, one by one.
After finishing, he was ready to leave.
Suddenly, he caught a whiff of something foul.
A smell distinct from the usual prison stench.
Jiang Feng recognized it.
He'd smelled it on that fake Ge Huizhong.
Why was it in here, too?
He gave the people inside a casual look.
He saw a young man sitting on the floor. A middle-aged man handed his porridge to him, even poured some of his own portion into the young man's bowl.
When the young man reached out to take it—
Jiang Feng caught sight of black markings on the young man's inner arm, under the sleeve, identical to what he'd seen on the fake Ge Huizhong.
Jiang Feng was sure the foul stench came from the young man.
In that moment, Jiang Feng understood something.
The powdery scent he'd noticed on these people was not something transferred when the fake Ge Huizhong met them. It was that the fake Ge Huizhong handed over the powder to the young man.
Letting the young man mask his own body scent.
Now, apparently,
The powder had run out.
The foul stench was leaking out again.
But since the cell was always damp and putrid, unless you paid attention, you'd just think someone's flesh had started rotting.
If Jiang Feng hadn't been so cautious,
and hadn't already caught the smell on the fake Ge Huizhong, he wouldn't have noticed at all.
He kept his doubts to himself.
Quickly finished the job, then left promptly, pretending as though he'd seen nothing.
When he got back to the workroom,
Jiang Feng sat leaning against the wall.
He pondered why both that young man and the fake Ge Huizhong had those stinking black markings.
Thinking of how Ge Huizhong was the Red Lotus Sect Leader's son—
The young inmate in the cell, being passed porridge by others, and the risk the fake Ge Huizhong had taken smuggling in the powder, did that mean the young man's identity was even more unusual?
More important than the Steward Elder?
"That must be it!"
Jiang Feng was startled by his own conclusion.
He suddenly had the thought: Perhaps the person the fake Ge Huizhong risked everything to save wasn't the Steward Elder, but that young man instead.
Maybe those black markings were a sign of their special status?
Jiang Feng couldn't be certain.
But he felt things were becoming more and more complicated.
"Stop spooking yourself. Even if the young man's status is more terrifying than the Steward Elder's, so what? It's not like they dare break into jail again!"
"They're all rebels anyway—what's so scary about a jailbreak?"
"… Shit!"
"…I'm doomed!"
Jiang Feng's scalp tingled.
After reasoning it all out, he felt his days were numbered.
"What should I do—stay here or go out?"
Jiang Feng hesitated.
"Am I just being paranoid? If that young man's identity was so important, why am I the only one who's noticed—why hasn't Chief Huang figured it out?"
"And if they do plan on a jailbreak, they would've made a move by now—why wait?"
"Maybe I should go out and investigate, see what those black markings actually mean."
"If you want the truth, you have to find it yourself!"
Jiang Feng felt there was no point in sitting here letting his mind run wild. If there was a problem, he'd have to investigate it personally. If he really did run into Red Lotus Sect rebels outside, he could rely on his body technique and Fifth Grade Cultivation to get away!
He looked at his information panel.
He noticed his Fortune Point hadn't increased at all lately.
If someone really tries to kill him and he manages to avoid it, he should be able to earn a lot of Fortune Points.
"Uncle Huo, I've thought about it. Let's go drinking tonight."
Seeing Uncle Huo come in, Jiang Feng said.
"You've finally come around! If you stay locked up any longer, you'll never get a wife."
Uncle Huo grinned.
Jiang Feng just played along with a few words.
When evening came and the shift ended, Jiang Feng and Uncle Huo made plans to meet at Fengyue Building in an hour. Then Jiang Feng hurried out of Zhenbei Prison and went home first to check things out.
As he got close to his door, Jiang Feng saw from afar someone standing in his yard.
For an instant, Jiang Feng almost turned around and went back to the prison.
Looking more closely, he realized it was Aunt Liu, the matchmaker.