Chapter 34: A blockhead

Working the night shift this month.

Chen Guanlou wiped the oil from the corner of his mouth, swaying as he walked slowly into the Heavenly Prison.

Lu Datou waved at him from a corner.

Chen Guanlou looked left and right, then walked toward the other party.

Lu Datou grabbed him and pulled him into a secluded corner to talk.

"Do you have any money?"

Chen Guanlou smelled the sour, foul odor on the other party. It was mid-winter, yet the clothes actually smelled; where had he been fooling around all night?

He looked at the red bloodshot eyes of the other party and asked: "Gambled all night? A whole day and night? How much did you lose?"

"Damn it, my luck hasn't been good these few times, lost it all."

"Lost it all? That was just-issued salary, more than ten taels of silver, and you lost it all?"

"Don't worry, I can definitely win it back. It was just bad luck before. Actually, I was winning at the start, who would have thought a new kid would come along later, damn it, lost it all."

Chen Guanlou silently took off his money pouch. He originally wanted to lend ten taels of silver, but after thinking about it, he only took out five taels.

"This is my marriage fund, don't go losing it all again. Better gamble less."

"Thanks, brother. I'll definitely win it back this time."

"Are you planning to go to the gambling den again?" Chen Guanlou asked a redundant question.

Lu Datou shook his head, "This time I'm looking for that guy Zhang Wantong to win it back. I've already contacted the people in the Jia-block prison; they have a game tonight, do you want to go?"

Chen Guanlou shook his head repeatedly; in this life, he and gambling/drugs were incompatible.

He tried to persuade him: "The case hasn't been closed yet, the higher-ups might come down to investigate at any moment. Are you really not afraid of trouble by gambling at a time like this?"

This bunch of old gambling-addict prison guards really weren't afraid of anything.

The prison break case hadn't been settled, and the higher-ups hadn't issued any specific instructions. These people had been honest for ten days or half a month, and now they were starting to gamble again.

They really couldn't resist for even a day.

If they were caught in the act, they would definitely be in deep trouble.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen. It's late at night, no one will come to the Heavenly Prison to investigate. Besides, the Jia-block prison is hosting tonight, they won't trace it to us."

Lu Datou looked full of confidence, just like all gambling addicts, always inexplicably confident. Always thinking they were the Chosen One, the God of Gamblers descended to earth, with luck on their side.

"I'm going to sleep first, have to pull an all-nighter tonight. If anything happens, send someone to the Jia-block prison to find me. Alright, go do your work."

With silver in hand, Lu Datou had confidence. He secretly ran to the office to slack off and sleep, saving his energy to prepare for the night's gambling game.

Chen Guanlou shook his head; never expect a gambling addict to turn over a new leaf. Quitting gambling was impossible; it was impossible to quit gambling in this life.

These old slick prison guards were truly full of all five vices, with no integrity to speak of.

He considered the five taels of silver he lent out as money down the drain; he didn't expect Lu Datou to pay it back on time.

Walking into the Heavenly Prison, the number of people in the office had indeed halved.

The phenomenon of everyone being present was indeed a flash in the pan, purely to cope with the investigation from above. As time passed, everyone relaxed, and no one took the investigation from above seriously.

The ones who broke out of prison were fierce bandits, and the ones who died were prisoners; what did that have to do with them, the prison guards? Everyone harbored a mentality of taking chances.

Among the prison guards, Chen Guanlou was considered an outlier; he didn't gamble, didn't collude with others. He also wouldn't do the hateful thing of being a petty informer, wouldn't cut off others' wealth, and even less would he nag and persuade others to turn over a new leaf and not gamble.

Although some people couldn't stand him, because he was generous with his money, treated them to drinks several times, and they had even visited brothels together, usually no one bothered him. At most, they ignored him or dumped the task of patrolling the prison cells on him.

Chen Guanlou liked patrolling the prison cells, and he liked patrolling alone the most. He wouldn't fight for work others didn't like, but he wouldn't refuse the assignment either. Occasionally complaining a bit was just to pretend to be a normal, ordinary prison guard.

He couldn't go patrolling with great enthusiasm; that would look suspicious.

The prisoners in the Heavenly Prison were a treasure trove, and he was very happy to patrol the cells on behalf of others.

The Jia-block prison was hosting a gambling game, and the Bing-block prison wasn't idle either. The prison guards left in the office couldn't afford the high-end gambling games of the Jia-block, but they didn't mind playing small games for fun, playing for ten coins a round. Everyone was playing with great enthusiasm and intensity.

Chen Guanlou disliked the noise in the office, so he simply picked up his water-fire staff and went to patrol the cells ahead of time.

"Little Chen, help me keep an eye on Cell Forty, that kid isn't honest. I'll catch him and collect 'protection money' tomorrow."

"What did the person in Cell Forty do?"

"A small noble family from the provinces, thinking too highly of themselves, running to the capital to act like a big shot. People like this deserve to be arrested. Since they've fallen into our hands, let them suffer a bit, so they'll know their place when they get out, and won't offend nobles and lose their lives. Little Chen, we are doing a good deed, teaching that kid how to behave, and collecting a little tuition fee along the way, understand?"

"Understand!"

Chen Guanlou didn't say a word of nonsense, carrying his water-fire staff to start his duty of patrolling the cells.

Passing by Cell Thirteen, he specifically looked at the empty cell. If Prisoner Number Thirteen really had hidden meridians, he was hidden really deeply!

Actually, pretending to have hidden meridians was still a possibility. As long as his Wu Gong was high enough, combined with disguise techniques, it was entirely possible to muddle through.

Of two evils, choose the lesser.

He would rather pretend to have hidden meridians than reveal the secret of possessing the Xiao Changsheng Dao Fruit.

Hidden meridians just meant death.

The Xiao Changsheng Dao Fruit meant he might not even be able to die.

Arriving at Cell Forty, a typical spoiled brat from a small place who hadn't been beaten by society, he still hadn't realized how dangerous his situation was.

He tapped the cell door bars with his water-fire staff, "What did you do?"

"They falsely accused me of stealing treasure. That was clearly my family's treasure, why falsely accuse me?"

"Just because you possess treasure and have no backing. Tell me, what treasure?"

"A glazed lamp, used for gift-giving."

As a result, the gift wasn't delivered, and he was thrown into the Heavenly Prison.

Chen Guanlou frowned, looking at the spoiled brat inside the cell, "Where are your elders? How could they feel safe letting you come to the capital alone?"

"I, I ran away secretly."

Serves him right!

Chen Guanlou sneered, no wonder he was targeted and thrown into the Heavenly Prison.

For a blockhead like this, not fleecing him would be a disservice to himself.

He really kindly reminded the other party, "You should be glad you were caught and brought to the Heavenly Prison, instead of being tricked into the mines as a slave. In the Heavenly Prison, at most you'll get a beating; as long as you cough up the money, you can get out alive. If you were sold to the mines, don't even think about coming out alive."

"You want to torture me? I haven't done anything."

Chen Guanlou kept a straight face, tapping the cell door, looking fierce, "It's useless to yell at me. I advise you, if you have money, don't wait for torture; hurry up and obediently take out the money to buy peace. Do you know anyone in the capital? You can also notify your relatives and friends, and let them spend money to bail you out."

"I have friends. My friends have money! Really have money! This official, can you help me? I don't want to be beaten, I don't want to die in the Heavenly Prison, wuwu..." ===== CHAPTER 35 =====