[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s":3,"chapter-immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-217":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Immortal Through Martial Path, I Who Cannot Die Shall Ultimately Be Invincible",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2325435,4549,"Chapter 217: He Wasn","immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-217",217,"\u003Cp>“Give me paper and ink—I’ll prove it to you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You can read?” Chen Guanlou was curious. In this age, literate people were rare, so if a scholar wanted to make a living, all he needed was to swallow his pride—it was easy enough. No need to risk his life daily, living in constant fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can’t read,” the Second Boss said firmly. “But I can draw.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Give him paper and ink.” Chen Guanlou decided at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Datou replied and quickly fetched writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone, then whispered, “You really believe him?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let’s see.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Boss gripped the brush awkwardly, his posture unnatural and clumsy. Clearly, he had never studied. He didn’t even know how to hold it properly. So he simply held it like a knife and began drawing on the rough paper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Datou had spared the Xuan paper, using rough paper instead. Chen Guanlou pretended not to notice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One little figure, two little figures, three little figures…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Datou twisted his head to look. “What the hell is this?! Disgusting!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Chen Guanlou’s expression grew tense, as if facing a deadly enemy, his eyes locked onto the Second Boss and the little figures on the paper. No one understood those figures better than he did. Starting from the fifth chapter of the Sheng Tian Lu, there were a few illustrations—these drawings were not identical, but unmistakably from the same mold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enough!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Boss put down the brush, as if freed from a heavy burden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Where did you see these?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“On the stone wall—there were so many of them. If you agree to my terms, I’ll tell you where the cave is.” The Second Boss stared hopefully at Chen Guanlou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou’s face remained stern, unreadable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment’s thought, he asked, “Didn’t you try practicing martial arts based on these figures?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We did! The most gifted one followed them—and bled from all seven orifices, died instantly. After that, no one dared practice anymore.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Always spouting nonsense,” Lu Datou didn’t believe a word. “Chen Tou, don’t listen to his lies—he’s making it up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m not lying! Every word is true! Believe me, believe me!” The Second Boss grew frantic—he’d finally found a glimmer of hope, and he would grasp it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Chen Tou, I swear it’s true. These figures are only part of it. If combined with the incantations on the stone wall, you could avoid dying violently. But we couldn’t read the incantations, and none of us had martial talent. I can tell you the cave’s location right now—it’s on the cliff behind the mountain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Which cliff behind the mountain?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Boss fell silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Datou grew furious. “Are you planning to pay another visit to the interrogation chamber?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou raised his hand to stop Lu Datou’s outburst and softly asked the Second Boss, “What do you want me to do for you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Save Yin Siniang.” The Second Boss pleaded urgently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who is Yin Siniang?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“She’s my woman. She was captured by soldiers too. I don’t know where she’s imprisoned. She came from a decent family, was taken to the mountain, then became mine. She’s pregnant. Please, Chen Tou, save her. At least save the child in her womb—give me an heir. I beg you, Chen Tou, have mercy! I beg you, Chen Tou, have mercy!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud! Thud! Thud!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Boss banged his head against the floor, the sound echoing. Soon his forehead broke open and bled, swelling visibly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enough. Stop. I ask you—who else knows about the secret manuscript in the cave?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Boss didn’t hide it. “Most of the old men on the mountain knew. But the soldiers killed too many. The First Boss is dead, Old Three, Four, Five—all dead. The other elders are nearly all gone. Now, only I remain who knows.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Datou nodded to Chen Guanlou, confirming the truth of his words. This bandit gang had already been nearly wiped out during the military crackdown. Those who survived the battle and ended up in prison died one by one—from wounds, infection, or torture. Now, only a handful remained alive. The Second Boss was the highest-ranking among them; the rest were mere foot soldiers, conscripted into the gang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou beckoned Lu Datou aside. “What’s Yin Siniang’s current situation?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yin Siniang is locked in the women’s cell. She’s definitely pregnant.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Has her sentence been decided?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Likely exile, or demotion to criminal slave. In the women’s cell, unless the crime is heinous, there are rarely death sentences.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was true.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou had served in Tianlaomiao for three years and had never seen a single female prisoner sentenced to death. Usually, the ugly ones were exiled to the frontier; the beautiful ones became criminal slaves, assigned to laborious offices like the imperial laundry bureau.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yin Siniang had been taken by bandits and taken in by the Second Boss—she must not be unattractive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How are pregnant female prisoners handled?” Chen Guanlou truly didn’t know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Datou, a veteran jailer, knew everything. “After the child is born, if it’s a girl, she becomes a criminal slave with her mother. If she’s pretty, she might be sent to the teaching house. If it’s a boy, after a few years, he’s castrated and sent to the palace as a servant.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No wonder the Second Boss wanted to save Yin Siniang—saving her meant saving his child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Chen Tou, you’re not seriously going to help him, are you? This won’t be easy. Without orders from above, no one can touch a female prisoner.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know my limits.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou pondered, then returned to the cell door and said, “I can’t save Yin Siniang.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Boss’s eyes filled with despair, then flickered with hope. He said nervously, “I… I understand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you have any relatives? Anyone you can trust?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, yes… I was once an outer disciple of Tianmen Sect.” The Second Boss burst into sobs, as if remembering his youth, or regretting his choices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou had never heard of Tianmen Sect. He looked to Lu Datou for clarification.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Datou snorted. “A small sect, at the foot of Tianmen Mountain. There’s a branch in the capital—runs a security escort agency or a fighting guild. I’m not sure which.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A security escort agency! They run a security escort agency!” the Second Boss added.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Datou suddenly turned fierce. “Did you team up with Tianmen Sect to swindle clients? One group escorts, the other robs—you two work well together!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, absolutely not! You can check—we never robbed any of Tianmen Sect’s escorted goods.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then you specifically targeted their competitors, didn’t you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No no no…” This denial sounded hollow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Datou sneered. “I knew you weren’t telling the whole truth. What did Tianmen Sect give you to make you go to such lengths for them?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They gave me nothing. I simply followed my principles. Tianmen Sect once saved me. Now that I’m a bandit, I quietly eliminate a few of their rivals—it’s just repayment for their past kindness.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Didn’t know you were such a grateful, loyal man,” Lu Datou scoffed. He had no intention of reporting this. The man was already sentenced to death—he wasn’t about to stir up trouble for no reward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Extort the Tianmen Sect? He wasn’t crazy. Money or life—which mattered more? He knew perfectly well. As a jailer, never interfering with martial sects—that was his bottom line, his rule for survival.\u003C\u002Fp>",1232,"2026-06-20T17:39:59.050Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","31ece2762b0fb3ab30fc5b5468e96f2bacc65598115efc350f2d33c61262aca8","immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-218","immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-216",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fimmortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-cover.jpg"]