Chapter 11: Follow the Rules

Once you enter the Heavenly Prison, you have to follow the rules of the Heavenly Prison.

If you don't follow the rules, the prison guards of the Heavenly Prison will let the prisoners know what it means to be worse than dead, what it means to regret the beginning. There is no need for torture; there are plenty of ways to make prisoners submit. If you dare not give money, I will let you taste what it means to be a living hell.

Those with money hurry to give money refreshingly, and those without money think of ways to find money.

Not squeezing silver out of the prisoners is the dereliction of duty of the prison guards.

Why can a new guy get a bonus of eight or ten taels every month, plus other extra income? Money can't fall from the sky; the prisoners held in the Heavenly Prison are the source of wealth for the Heavenly Prison government office from top to bottom, and the guarantee of everyone's income.

Therefore, unless necessary, prison guards don't hope that the prisoners held in the prison will die.

In just a few days, Master Kongkong finally compromised, eating roasted chicken, drinking small wine, and even having his leg injuries treated and bandaged.

The flower-picking thief next door was even more sensible than Master Kongkong; knowing that the things he did were hated by people, from the first day he entered, he decisively cooperated with the prison guard's requirements—giving money when asked, giving materials when asked—and lived a life of drinking and eating meat early on.

It's just that the Heavenly Prison's asking price was too high.

Even a wealthy guest like Master Kongkong felt he couldn't bear it.

He chatted with Chen Guanlou, "Two meals a day, thirty taels of silver per meal—that's sixty taels a day. Ten days is six hundred taels, a hundred days is six thousand taels. *Teme* of it, what's the difference between this and robbing money? Is it easy for me to earn some money?"

Chen Guanlou, after getting familiar with him, was also willing to chat with him for a few words. "What you say is all nonsense; you can choose not to eat."

"Damn it, if the Heavenly Prison's food wasn't so disgusting, I would have endured it."

"It's not bad to have something to eat."

"Little brother, why don't you help me. I know your charges are cheaper than others. Anyway, it's giving money; rather than letting that bunch of black-hearted, rotten-gutted things earn it, it's better to let you earn it."

Chen Guanlou had been a rich man since he got Luo Jingtian's package. He snorted. "Do I look like someone who wants money?"

Anyone locked in the Heavenly Prison has their desires reduced to the lowest, only seeking survival. If they have money, they seek slightly better living conditions and eat something good. If they have money and connections, their requirements will be slightly more, besides food, they also hope to end the lawsuit early and get out of the Heavenly Prison alive.

Living, living a little better—this is the prisoner's appeal in the Heavenly Prison. For this, most prisoners are willing to pay anything except their lives, including but not limited to wives, children, fathers, and mothers.

"Little brother, don't think it's too little! Whatever you want, just open your mouth. I only ask for a bite to eat." Master Kongkong was pitiful.

Chen Guanlou smiled but not smiled. "Are you sure? I want cultivation methods, I want your unique secret books—are you willing?"

Master Kongkong's expression was surprised, and after a moment of hesitation, he carefully, fearing to offend someone, asked with a very solemn and curious tone: "You don't have a martial pulse..."

"Whether I have a martial pulse is my business. You just say whether you are willing or not."

Master Kongkong looked very entangled and hesitant.

Chen Guanlou didn't force him; this was a transaction in the first place. "Consider it yourself. I'll kindly remind you that even if I can help you, it's very limited. You can take my words as a joke."

Having said that, he continued to patrol the Heavenly Prison.

Two days later, Master Kongkong seemed to have figured it out and called Chen Guanlou again.

"I am willing to trade. If I give you the secret book, I don't have to give money?"

"You would rather abandon the secret book than give money?" Chen Guanlou was quite surprised; it was said that martial arts practitioners regarded secret books as extremely important, and things like killing and seizing treasures for the sake of secret books happened often.

Master Kongkong smiled bitterly; he also had unspeakable hardships and was at the end of his rope! Otherwise, he wouldn't be willing to exchange the secret book for food, and he wanted to take the opportunity to exchange it for a guarantee.

He said hatefully: "I'm also not afraid of being retaliated against by you; I'll say it straight—that bunch of prison guards wish they could squeeze me dry, and even want to dismantle me skin and bone. Even if I had a mountain of gold and silver, I couldn't withstand their exploitation. More importantly, I don't have a mountain of gold and silver.

I also won't hide it from you—don't look at how many cases I've committed, as if I've made a lot of money, but for people like me, money usually comes fast and goes fast, and there are no savings at all. Otherwise, I wouldn't feel bad about the silver.

I'm afraid that once the silver is squeezed dry, that bunch of old oil-slicker prison guards will want my life. I want to live and get out, so I might as well take your path. Little brother Chen, you are a thick-hearted person; you definitely won't be like them."

"But I'm just a new guy."

"New guys also have new guys' paths. I believe in little brother Chen."

"You believe in me? But I don't even dare to believe in myself."

Master Kongkong gritted his teeth, his inner heart clearly struggling. On second thought, since he had decided to invest in Chen Guanlou, why hesitate? It was nothing more than going all-in.

"I believe in you!" He said solemnly, incomparably certain.

This time it was Chen Guanlou's turn to look at him with admiration. "Don't regret it?"

Master Kongkong said sonorously, "If a person dies, the bird faces the sky; if you don't die, you live for ten thousand years. I'll just gamble once. Gamble that you, little brother Chen, are a person with principles."

Chen Guanlou was silent for a moment before saying: "I can't send you food every day; at most, I'll send it once every eight or ten days. In the meantime, you have to rely on yourself to deal with other prison guards. Are you willing?"

Master Kongkong opened his mouth and suddenly found that Chen Guanlou was also black-hearted, but compared to other prison guards, it was better than the bottom.

Since the words had reached this point, if he changed his mind, the conditions would definitely be harsher in the future. Maybe the other party would no longer accept his trade, or even unite with other prison guards to clean him up.

Even if he regretted it in his heart, he gritted his teeth and admitted it, saying heavily: "Willing!"

"Fine! You have sincerity, and I will try my best to take care of you. What is your unique secret book?"

Speaking of unique secret books, Master Kongkong was suddenly full of spirit. "Little brother Chen, what do you think a big thief like me relies on to walk in the Jianghu?"

Loyalty?

Definitely not.

Fame?

That's even more nonsense.

Chen Guanlou tried to guess, "Picking locks and climbing walls?"

Master Kongkong was extremely disgusted. "Picking locks and climbing walls—those are small thieves. A big thief like me, a big thief, relies on changing into thousands of forms—acting like a ghost, looking like a ghost; acting like a person, looking like a person."

"You mean disguise technique!" Chen Guanlou was very pleasantly surprised.

"Little brother Chen has knowledge; it's disguise technique. However, this disguise technique of mine is a bit special; it doesn't rely on external objects, but..."

As soon as the words fell, he saw Master Kongkong perform a shocking performance on the spot. He saw the muscles and bones of his face twisting, as if tearing apart; the scene was extremely terrifying. Soon, the ordinary thirty-year-old man turned into a farmer in his forties, and his eyebrows and bone structure had changed.

It didn't last long before Master Kongkong returned to his original appearance, and he was still panting. Clearly, he was exhausted.

He explained: "Injured, not as good as before."

"You rely on disguise technique to steal?"

"Others scold us as gentlemen on the beam, but I never act as a gentleman on the beam; I always walk into the victim's house through the front door."

"You also walked through the front door when you went to the Princess's residence?"

"I disguised myself as the Princess's residence's procurement steward and walked into the Princess's residence through the side door." Master Kongkong was very proud. Among his peers, no one could do what he did. He was the ancestor of this trade!

"Still caught." Chen Guanlou teased.

Master Kongkong's face stiffened, and he argued: "That's because my luck was bad; I ran into the real master and was exposed on the spot."

"What is the name of this secret book of yours?"

"It's called 'Thousands of Changes.' If little brother can practice internal cultivation methods, you will know its wonderful uses."

"I want this 'Thousands of Changes' of yours." ===== CHAPTER 12 =====