Chapter 1695: You Should Not Kill People in Jingcheng

The third meeting between Chen Chen Guanlou and Qu Yuan took place on a dark, windy night.

Qu Yuan reeked of blood. Though he had tried hard to conceal it, he could not escape Chen Chen Guanlou's keen sense of smell.

The two faced off!

Qu Yuan was very tense.

Chen Chen Guanlou was simply standing there, casual and at ease, yet he exerted an invisible pressure that made it hard to breathe. Qu Yuan could not see through the other's background, had no idea of his depth. Were it not for the rumors in the martial world, he would have mistaken the man for an ordinary person, nothing like a martial artist at all. Of course, that was merely an illusion!

"Chen Prison Clerk, what a pleasure to meet you!" He wanted to ease the current suffocatingly tense atmosphere, so he spoke first, pretending nothing had happened. He did not ask why the other had appeared before him late at night, blocking his path.

"You should not kill people in Jingcheng!" Chen Chen Guanlou said softly. "You've broken the rules!"

Qu Yuan's face darkened. He dropped into a defensive stance, ready to kill at any moment. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Chen Chen Guanlou's face was stern. "I don't know why you killed, but I can tell you've killed many people before. But this is Jingcheng, the New Year just passed, all is peaceful under heaven. If you kill an official in Jingcheng, it will surely cause panic, and everyone will be affected. If you don't want to die, scram in the night while you can."

Qu Yuan's expression stiffened. He was unconvinced. "I haven't finished my mission. I won't leave Jingcheng."

"What mission?" Chen Chen Guanlou scoffed. "Do you really think the Three Judicial Offices in Jingcheng are just for show, that the Brocade Guards are freeloaders? Killing is killing, what's there to talk about with missions? Don't put gloss on your own face."

"Don't they deserve to die! Every one I killed deserved it." Qu Yuan was indignant and furious. If the other weren't pressing him so hard he couldn't breathe, he would have already drawn his blade instead of just running his mouth. He had always been the sort to solve things with a blade, never with words.

This time was the most he had ever spoken.

"Are you a judge? Is it your turn to pass sentence on them!" Chen Chen Guanlou was thoroughly annoyed.

He wouldn't stop people from killing, but don't let him know about it, and certainly don't let him witness it.

"I'm not a judge, but I just know they deserved to die. Chen Prison Clerk, please don't stop me. I only have one last person to kill. Once it's done, I'll leave."

"Who else do you want to kill?" Chen Chen Guanlou's brow rose slightly.

"I want to kill the Censor-in-Chief of the Duchayuan, Su Shaoyang."

"What grudge do you have with him?"

"He has no grudge with me! But he committed many evils and caused my benefactor's death. I, Qu Yuan, have no other skills, but I keep my word. Repay kindness with kindness, repay enmity with enmity."

Qu Yuan ground his teeth. Mentioning his benefactor twisted his face. Clearly, countless flames of fury had been piling up inside him, needing blood to vent.

"I cannot let you go kill an official."

Chen Chen Guanlou raised his hand and pointed at him.

Qu Yuan suddenly found he could not move, only his eyes could still roll. His body fell rigid to the ground. Bang—a single thud.

He felt terror!

He hadn't finished killing all his enemies, and now he was going to die?

He was unwilling!

The next moment, he plunged into boundless darkness.

When he woke, he found himself locked up in the Heaven Prison. It was empty around him, no prisoners on either side. In the long, dim corridor, he seemed to be the only prisoner.

He opened his throat and roared twice, hearing only muffled echoes in return.

Worse still, his martial veins had been sealed, and he could not muster a shred of strength.

Every day a laborer would bring him food and change the slop bucket on the side. The laborer seemed to be a mute—no matter what he asked, the man never made a sound. He punched the laborer in the face, and the price was two days without food or water.

When he was worn down to utter exhaustion, lying on his back in the cell, unable to live and unable to die, he finally saw Chen Chen Guanlou again.

Damn him!

That meddlesome Chen Prison Clerk!

Chen Chen Guanlou handed Qu Yuan a jug of water.

No longer caring about cursing, Qu Yuan snatched the jug and gulped the water down, glug glug glug.

Seeing the other had revived and regained some strength, Chen Chen Guanlou finally spoke: "A few days ago, a case occurred in Jingcheng. An official of the Ministry of Revenue died at home. Reportedly, before death he had been subjected to brutal torture. Fortunately, the official's family was not harmed. The case was shocking and has already alarmed the Emperor in the palace. The Emperor ordered the Three Judicial Offices to investigate strictly, to find the true killer and have him cut into a thousand pieces!"

Qu Yuan held the water jug, head lowered. "Why are you telling me this, Chen Prison Clerk?"

"Still playing dumb at this point? Brother Qu, is that interesting? I locked you up in the Heaven Prison, and in doing so, I indirectly saved your life. Do you know that on the second day after the case, the Brocade Guards had already traced you to the inn where you stayed, and investigated your movements in Jingcheng down to every last detail. If they keep digging, your background will soon be exposed. After all, you never bothered to conceal your name."

Chen Chen Guanlou's expression was somewhere between a smile and a frown. The look in his eyes as he gazed at the other was like looking at a dead dog.

"The only one who can save you now is me. Still planning to hide things? Believe it or not, I'll toss you straight into the Edict Prison next door and let you taste what it truly means to be unable to live and unable to die."

The Edict Prison's notorious reputation was known even to three-year-old children—it could stop a child's night crying. Its fearsome name shook all!

Qu Yuan, a martial artist, a life-and-death-defying martial artist, suddenly hearing the words "Edict Prison," couldn't help but shiver twice on instinct.

"Why must Chen Prison Clerk meddle?" Qu Yuan couldn't figure it out. "You let me kill, then just watched me get investigated and caught, that would have been fine. Why meddle and lock me up in the Heaven Prison, where my cries to heaven go unanswered and my cries to earth fall on deaf ears? Why, exactly?"

Chen Chen Guanlou raised a brow. "You may not believe it when I say it, but there's a bit of karmic connection between you and me."

"What karmic connection? I don't understand."

Qu Yuan's expression was blank. He truly didn't understand. He hadn't read many books. His life had been gray; the deepest memory in his mind was hunger, followed by practicing martial arts with reckless abandon, practicing desperately. Even at the cost of his lifespan, he had to forge real skill.

A man like him had no room for choice—only one road, all the way to the dark end.

"You don't need to understand! You've killed people, and many of them. No need to deny it—I saw right through you at a glance. Moreover, your killing wasn't long ago. Probably within the last half year or so. The smell of blood on you, the baleful aura of slaughter all over your body, can't be covered no matter what. Anyone with a discerning eye could see through you."

Qu Yuan gaped, glanced down at himself. Was it that obvious?

He wasn't entirely sure.

His life had been too monotonous, his experience not that rich—he couldn't be called a seasoned hand.

He looked up, staring at Chen Chen Guanlou. "Chen Prison Clerk has come to see me today, so I suppose you must have already found something."

Chen Chen Guanlou nodded, not denying it.

"What is your relationship with Zhou Zongyan?"

The Brocade Guards, from the luggage Qu Yuan had left at the inn, had traced his household registration to a mid-sized county several thousand li from Jingcheng.

For Chen Chen Guanlou, who was familiar with the Juan Sect's records, once he learned Qu Yuan's place of origin, he connected it to Zhou Zongyan, who more than a dozen years ago had served as county magistrate of that very county.

Two people who couldn't be more unrelated had, over a dozen years before, shared the same stretch of heaven and earth. There was something to this.