Chapter 4: Distinguishing Life and Death

Early in the morning, Chen Guanlou came to the Heavenly Prison to report for duty.

After meeting the various superiors, he was assigned to Prison Clerk Zhang.

"Greetings, Prison Clerk Zhang!" He bowed slightly, making enough of a junior subordinate's posture.

"Call me Uncle Zhang. Your father and I were brothers; you kid, you've finally grown up." Xu Fugui patted Chen Guanlou's shoulder, appearing very enthusiastic.

Chen Guanlou appeared extremely surprised and a bit shy on the surface, thick-skinned enough to call out "Uncle Zhang." In his heart, he didn't dare believe a single word of Xu Fugui's.

He had heard from his elder sister that when his father passed away, among those who came to the house to pay their respects, it seemed this "Uncle Zhang," Xu Fugui, was not among them.

"Alas, I've heard about your situation. Back then, when you wanted to take over your father's job, I had the heart to help, but unfortunately, my words carried little weight, and the position your father left behind had long been occupied by someone else. I was also powerless. Fortunately, you had your own connections and settled it yourself."

"Many thanks for Uncle Zhang's concern. This junior will keep Uncle Zhang's kindness in mind. Now, this junior is short on funds. Once I receive my salary, I will invite Uncle Zhang to Zui Xiang Lou for a drink."

"Why do you need to invite me? When the time comes, Uncle Zhang will invite you." Xu Fugui laughed heartily, appearing extremely open. After laughing, he asked again, "You've met with several superiors—did they say anything to you?"

"The superior said that my father's position is gone, and there are no vacancies for a Prison Clerk, so I will work as a prison guard for now."

"That bunch of... forget it, a prison guard is a prison guard. Nephew, don't hold a grudge. Don't look at the prison guard as inconspicuous; the prison guard has his own benefits. I'll lead you first, and you'll know when the time comes. Let's go; I'll take you to collect your waist saber and uniform, and register your name in the kitchen..."

"I'll listen to Uncle Zhang; I'll work steadily as a prison guard from now on. And many thanks to Uncle Zhang for taking care of me."

"What thanks—don't be so polite in the future."

Chen Guanlou smiled without saying a word; these words were just to be listened to. If he were truly not polite, he would be the one in trouble.

Putting on the dark red prison guard uniform, equipping the standard waist saber, tightening his belt, and straightening his collar, touching the hilt of the saber at his waist, Chen Guanlou took a deep breath. From now on, he was also a civil servant holding an iron rice bowl, feeling extra spirited.

"Heh, you look quite handsome in this outfit."

Xu Fugui saw him changed into his clothes and beckoned him to follow.

"You follow me; you will work in the Bing-character prison cells from now on. Bing-character prison cells..."

One spoke, one listened. Chen Guanlou followed closely behind Xu Fugui, passing through the corridor, the moon gate, and after passing the floodgate, he passed through two more gates before finally walking into the Heavenly Prison's Bing-character prison.

Dark, turbid, a moldy smell mixed with a strange odor that couldn't be described directly hit his nose. Chen Guanlou held his breath, and it took a while to adapt to the smell here. Walking forward a few steps and turning a corner, ahead was a long, dark corridor that couldn't be seen to the end, with prison cells on both sides of the corridor.

"You will work here from now on, responsible for patrolling. You will follow... Datou, Lu Datou, come over. This is the new little Chen, Chen Guanlou. You will patrol with little Chen from now on. Little Chen, work hard; I think highly of you."

"I will definitely work hard."

"If you don't understand anything, just ask Lu Datou."

After settling Chen Guanlou, Xu Fugui left the Heavenly Prison and went to the office outside to drink tea.

Lu Datou was true to his name; his head was very big. Chen Guanlou suspected whether the other party had hydrocephalus. He wasn't tall, half a head shorter than him, and his body was sturdy.

"That Chen..."

"My name is Chen Guanlou; Datou-ge can just call me little Chen."

"Follow me from now on."

"I'll listen to Datou-ge; whatever you order, just say it."

Lu Datou saw his respectful posture and was very satisfied. "I'll take you on a patrol first."

The Bing-character prison cells held all kinds of ocean-going bandits and scum of the martial arts world. Chen Guanlou was excited; he wanted to sleep, and someone sent a pillow.

With curiosity, he followed Lu Datou and started patrolling from the Bing-character No. 1 prison cell.

"Patrolling is the most important thing—checking if the number of people is correct. If there is a mistake in the number of people, we will all be implicated. This is the top priority; do you remember?"

Chen Guanlou hurriedly nodded and said he remembered.

"Secondly, looking for any conspiracies or trouble. The people held in the Bing-character cells are not very peaceful; be careful of them colluding inside and outside to pass messages—you must not be careless. And you must distinguish between life and death in time."

"May I ask Datou-ge, how do you distinguish between life and death?" Chen Guanlou asked humbly.

Lu Datou glanced at him and pointed to the No. 13 cell ahead. The No. 13 cell only held one person, whose feet were locked by iron chains, and the whole person was lying on the filthy ground, life or death unknown.

"Do you think he is dead or alive?"

Chen Guanlou came to the door of the No. 13 cell to check carefully; the prisoner was lying motionless, without even a rise and fall, and it was difficult to distinguish for a while. However, if the person were dead, Lu Datou certainly wouldn't be so relaxed.

But he still said, "I really can't distinguish; please teach me, Datou-ge."

Lu Datou laughed, and a stick knocked on the prison cell railing. The dark corridor echoed, which was quite deafening.

"Hey, get up."

The prisoner lying on the ground squirmed twice like a maggot, then remained motionless again.

Lu Datou smiled triumphantly. "See that? This is alive. Although it's normal for people to die in the Heavenly Prison, it can't be an unclear death. You must let the superior know that this person is dying first; do you understand?"

"Many thanks for the guidance, Datou-ge; little brother understands."

Chen Guanlou deeply agreed; reporting that a prisoner was dying was called being responsible. Whether to save or treat was decided by the superior. One day, if the person really died, because of the foreshadowing, everyone would have an easy time handing over the job.

Patrolling all the way, the Bing-character cells had hundreds of prison cells, and they were almost full. *Nima*, the Heavenly Prison actually held so many ocean-going bandits; to what extent must the local public security be?

The remaining ten or so were all empty prison cells. Chen Guanlou thought he didn't need to patrol, but he didn't expect Lu Datou to actually take him to the deepest part. And he whispered to him, "Other things are fine, but remember, check the innermost one every day, and don't be lazy. If something happens, we will all be in trouble."

At the deepest part of the Bing-character prison cells, it was so dark that one could almost not see one's fingers. The air was so humid that there seemed to be a layer of water on the ground. In the dimness, he seemed to hear thick breathing, not like that of a human.

The further in, the more of a horror movie atmosphere it had. As if a monster that would choose people to eat was hidden, ready to pounce out and devour humans at any time.

Chen Guanlou followed Lu Datou and rarely became nervous. What kind of heinous character was held in this dark, sunless depth of the Heavenly Prison?

Arrived!

In the pile of straw, a middle-aged? Elderly? Man, whose limbs and neck were firmly locked by iron chains, his hair and beard were messy like straw. Borrowing a little weak light, Chen Guanlou saw clearly that the prisoner's eyes were tightly closed, and his face seemed to be tattooed; because it was covered by his beard, he couldn't see exactly what words were tattooed. His head was always hanging low, sitting against the wall. With a rising and falling chest and thick breathing, this man was still very strong even though he was held in the depths of the Heavenly Prison.

"It's fine, let's go!"

Lu Datou seemed very afraid of the prisoner inside, and after confirming that the prisoner was fine, he took Chen Guanlou and hurried away. ===== CHAPTER 5 =====