Chapter 10: This Is Not Up to You

Luo Jingtian was beheaded.

His popularity was okay, and someone collected his body.

Chen Guanlou didn't rush to go outside the city; he heard that Luo's family members would not set off for the Northwest exile until half a month later, so he stayed in the Heavenly Prison to work during these days.

Until he felt the storm had subsided and the strange faces outside the Heavenly Prison had decreased, he disguised himself and went to Yangliu Village outside the city. Sure enough, he dug out an oil-paper package under the osmanthus tree. He didn't look at the contents, hurried back to the capital, confirmed that no one was following him, and then returned home.

Before he could even drink a sip of water, he opened the package—gold, silver, and jewelry, plus one thousand taels of silver notes, totaling an estimate of two thousand taels. Besides that, there was a list. He glanced at it quickly and decisively placed the list under the candle flame, watching with his own eyes as the list burned to ashes.

At the bottom of the package was a martial arts secret book, "Ascension Record."

Just looking at the name, Chen Guanlou couldn't hide his excitement. Was it the "ascension" he was thinking of? Could this be a hidden cultivation world? Were there really cultivation big shots in the world?

He hurriedly flipped through it, then had a frustrated face.

Whether there were cultivation big shots was temporarily unknown, but he was certain he couldn't practice it for the time being.

Because—he couldn't understand it!

The language and characters inside were too obscure; he had to pick them out word by word, and if he misunderstood the meaning of each word, there was a danger of going into demonic deviation. No wonder Luo Jingtian didn't practice it after getting this secret book. He flipped to the end in one breath and actually found a few pages of sword manual hidden there.

He gestured according to the sword manual and felt that the sword manual and the "Ascension Record" secret book had to be used together to exert the greatest effect.

"Ascension Record" should be an extremely high-level cultivation method; Luo Jingtian wouldn't dare to use this thing to lie to him before he died. Temporarily unable to practice, he decided to memorize the whole secret book first, and then find time to consult people with knowledge, figuring out the true meaning of each word inside.

Anyway, he had plenty of time; if one year didn't work, then two or three years... he wasn't in a hurry at all.

Money makes things easy.

Chen Guanlou found the government servants who escorted the prisoners into exile; everyone was a servant in the same system, and although they rarely dealt with each other on weekdays, as long as the money was in place, helping to look after a few prisoners was not a problem.

He gave money, handled the relationship, didn't show his face in front of Luo's family, and only watched them walk out of the city gate. Afterward, he spent money to hire a master from the strike guild to escort Luo's family safely to the Northwest exile destination.

Luo Jingtian only asked him to protect his family and leave the capital's territory safely; Chen Guanlou got the "Ascension Record" and silver, so he simply did a good deed to the end and asked someone to escort them to the Northwest. If someone really wanted to kill Luo's family, they definitely wouldn't make a move within the capital's territory; it should be in some dangerous section after leaving the capital.

The strike guild arranged a top master to escort them, and the two sides met at the Five-Mile Pavilion outside the city.

Arriving at the Five-Mile Pavilion, he saw a Jianghu person wearing a bamboo hat and holding a sword in both hands.

"Just you?" Chen Guanlou was a bit suspicious of the other party's strength. Ants kill elephants; a mere one person, even if he could fight five, could he fight ten or twenty in one breath?

"Don't worry, Boss Lou; this is the top master of our strike guild." The manager responsible for reception at the strike guild smiled flatteringly.

Chen Guanlou didn't use his real name when dealing with the strike guild; he used the surname Lou, Lou Lao Wu, and everyone called him Boss Lou.

"What if the other party has many people..."

*Shua*!

Sword out of sheath!

Sword into sheath!

The fly that had just flown past was split in two and fell on the stone table.

Chen Guanlou bared his teeth, his heart trembling—what a fast sword! He stared at the swordsman; the swordsman's face had always been covered by the bamboo hat, and he could only see the lower half of his face, stubbly, looking a bit down and out and a bit uninhibited, and he never opened his mouth to speak from beginning to end.

He asked the strike guild manager in a low voice, "What rank?"

The strike guild manager gestured a two.

Second Rank warrior.

Was this the strength of a Second Rank warrior? The speed of drawing the sword—Chen Guanlou didn't see how the other party drew the sword at all, and from beginning to end, he only heard one sound. Sword out of sheath and into sheath, he actually only heard one sound; this speed was indeed the strength of a Second Rank.

However, as a customer, he still picked on it.

"Didn't you say Third Rank?"

"Boss Lou doesn't know—for the price you paid, there is only Second Rank."

The implication was that there were Third Rank masters, but it would cost more money.

Chen Guanlou thought about it and gritted his teeth. "Send a few more First Rank; I'm afraid there won't be enough people."

"This... Boss Lou might not understand the market; if a Second Rank warrior can't solve the problem, a First Rank warrior can't do anything either." The strike guild manager pointed out very implicitly that Boss Lou, you are a layman. We won't cheat you of your money; we are people who do long-term business.

Chen Guanlou paid the money decisively.

The swordsman took the money and left; with a few leaps, the person had disappeared without a trace.

The strike guild manager saw that he paid so refreshingly and began to promote business. "Boss Lou, don't worry; this trip is guaranteed to be no problem. If you have needs in the future, come find me again; I'll give you a discount, a 95% discount."

Chen Guanlou was extremely disgusted; he didn't want a discount, he wanted a sword technique, even a common one would do; he wouldn't mind. In this regard, he believed that the people in the strike guild should be very professional.

The strike guild manager was indeed professional, recommending a sword technique that didn't need an internal cultivation method to practice, and also saying that for the sake of cooperation, he could give it to him for free.

So good?

Chen Guanlou immediately suspected that for this order, he was afraid he had been a sucker.

Getting the sword technique, he returned to the Heavenly Prison to continue working.

A batch of new prisoners was locked into the Bing-character prison.

Passing the No. 60 prison cell, it was a new flower-picking thief. Like a rat crossing the street, everyone shouted and beat him. It was said that he committed crimes in the local area before and wasn't caught. He actually dared to run to the capital to commit crimes and even touched the home of the Minister of War's daughter.

Fortunately, the Minister's family kept several warriors, and the servants in the family were also very responsible, discovering the flower-picking thief's tracks in time and capturing him in one move.

Next to the flower-picking thief was the ocean-going bandit known in the Jianghu as "Master Kongkong," who stole all over the world and even ran to the Princess's residence to steal.

The Princess's residence's guards were not vegetarians; no matter how many arms and legs he had, he still fell into the net, had his legs broken, and was locked into the Heavenly Prison.

Two people—one had his hands broken, one had his legs broken, and both were planted in the homes of the capital's wealthy and powerful; they were truly brothers in trouble.

"Is there anything to eat?" Master Kongkong had his legs broken and couldn't move, so he could only lean against the wall. His face was covered in blood and dirt, and he hadn't cleaned it since he was caught. He looked very embarrassed.

"Find the one who serves the food." Chen Guanlou said, and continued to patrol. This kind of newly arrived prisoner belonged to a fat sheep in the Heavenly Prison. He was a new guy and very consciously set his position, not competing with the old oil-slickers for the business of these fat sheep.

Master Kongkong called out: "The one who serves the food is too black-hearted; a bowl of porridge, he dares to ask for five taels of silver. If you don't give it, he gives me swill porridge to eat."

Chen Guanlou glanced at the other party and continued to patrol forward.

Master Kongkong called out again: "I have money, but I don't want to be a sucker."

Chen Guanlou:...

*Hehe*!

This is not up to you! ===== CHAPTER 11 =====