Chapter 50: Fear

"You actually refused me?"

Yu Zhaoan couldn't believe it.

A tiny prison guard actually had the guts to refuse his promotion; it was clearly being ignorant of what is good and refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit.

Immediately, his face fell.

The majesty of a Third Rank warrior was fully unleashed, and Chen Guanlou suddenly felt like Mount Tai was pressing down on him, unable to move his whole body. He felt an invisible force, filled with intense killing intent and malice, that could tear him apart at any moment. This force kept hovering around him.

He dared not move, could not move, and dared not resist even more. Once he resisted, his secrets would have nowhere to hide.

He braced his body, doing his best to resist the pressure brought by this force, sweat pouring down his forehead like paste, but he never lowered his head. His heart only thought: Is this the strength of a Third Rank warrior? When will he also possess such powerful strength?

His wandering thoughts distracted him from the pressure, and even though the muscles on his face were distorted, he did not lower his head.

In an instant, the force hovering around him that could tear him apart completely disappeared.

He felt relieved, leaning against the wall and panting continuously, feeling as if his lungs had exploded.

At least he survived.

"This is my anger, and also my strength. You ignorant dog thing. As expected of a lowly prison guard, refusing delicacies and insisting on eating coarse grain."

Yu Zhaoan was furious and cursed wildly.

A dignified Right Vice Zhang Yushi-in-Chief, barking like a mad dog whose tail had been stepped on.

Chen Guanlou clutched his heart, feeling the beating of life, and slowly straightened his body. "Why must Master Yu be so angry and bother with a prison guard like me? It is I who am ignorant and refused a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. However, Master Yu, aren't you curious why I am unwilling to follow you?"

"A fish eye pearl, naturally doesn't recognize gold-inlaid jade." Yu Zhaoan cursed fiercely.

Chen Guanlou chuckled.

He roared angrily: "Look at yourself now; just because I refused your promotion, you want to kill me. Ask yourself, if I were by your side, I am not a god; I would definitely make mistakes, and there would definitely be times when I anger you. Everyone says your temper is foul and stubborn; if I make a mistake, you might forgive me once or twice, but can you forgive me five or eight times? Rather than betting on your conscience, it is better to refuse from the beginning; at least I can save my life. My refusal is not ignorance; I just want to live."

"You..."

Yu Zhaoan never expected that Chen Guanlou would have the guts to challenge him.

However, the reason the other party gave seemed impossible to refute.

He knew his own temper better than anyone. He was irritable, highly skilled in Wu Gong, and his actions resulted in either death or disability. He never thought he was wrong; everyone who died at his hands deserved it.

However, for the first time, someone said to his face that they were afraid of him, afraid of death, and unwilling to follow him, and Yu Zhaoan was a bit stunned.

Because he had never thought that someone would give up a bright future because of fear.

"Absurd! What is so good about being a prison guard? Lowly, degenerate, all are trash who deserve to be despised. As long as you follow me, I won't say how broad your future will be, but at least your status will rise with the tide. When you go to the local areas, the local officials will have to serve you like a master."

Yu Zhaoan wasn't talking nonsense.

A dignified Zhang Yushi, he didn't need to lie and fool a prison guard. He looked up to Chen Guanlou, but only looked up to him; he didn't value him enough to need to fool him.

"But I just want to stay in the capital; I don't have big ambitions, I just want to live a stable life."

"You deserve to be a prison guard for a lifetime."

Chen Guanlou:...

The other party must be furious, actually being refused by a prison guard; he lost a lot of face. He didn't bother with the other party and left with a smile.

Yu Zhaoan felt deeply humiliated, but he refused to accept Chen Guanlou's reason.

Afraid of him?!

Since he was afraid of him, he should have flattered him and served him well, not gone against him.

A tiny prison guard dared to go against him, humph!

Chen Guanlou knew clearly that having refused Yu Zhaoan's promotion, he would probably have trouble once Yu Zhaoan got out.

But he wasn't afraid!

Yu Zhaoan was just a mad dog.

The best way to deal with a mad dog is to beat it to death and not let it continue biting people.

"The prisoner in cell number twenty-three is dead." Xiao Jin ran over to report.

Chen Guanlou stood up abruptly. "What happened? The person was fine; why would he die?"

Truly, what one fears comes. Although cell twenty-three was not in his jurisdiction, the people above didn't care about this. Every person on duty had to bear responsibility.

"Everyone is unclear."

Chen Guanlou hurried to the front of cell twenty-three.

The prisoner was lying on his back on the ground, having stopped breathing for a long time.

Xiao Jin whispered in his ear: "An official from the Ministry of Revenue, no background, no backing, or the backing isn't strong. If Chen Tou needs it, I will go and find out who did it."

"How did he die? Can you tell?"

Chen Guanlou had been on duty in the Heavenly Prison for so long, but the number of dead people he had seen was limited, meaning his experience was limited. At this moment, his shallow experience couldn't distinguish the cause of death of the prisoner in cell twenty-three at all.

Xiao Jin hid from others and whispered in Chen Guanlou's ear: "If nothing goes wrong, he should have been starved first and then stuffed to death."

Chen Guanlou was clearly stunned. "Man-made?"

Xiao Jin nodded; this situation was definitely man-made. Clearly, someone wanted to deal with the prisoner in cell twenty-three. First, starve the person to the point of death, then give them a big meal. There was no need to do it personally to solve the target perfectly. If the people above investigated, one only needed to say the prisoner choked to death, and it could be brushed off. Even if the coroner came, they could only conclude death by stuffing or choking.

"Prisoner twenty-three was just an insignificant minor official, and his case wasn't complicated; why put him to death? You go and find out what the inside story is. Although it is not our jurisdiction, we cannot be deaf and blind and be played like monkeys."

Chen Guanlou handled it calmly.

The person was already dead; what needed to be done now was, first, to handle the aftermath, and second, to figure out the reason. Third, what to do next depended on the reason.

Even if he stood by and watched, the premise was that he had to know the reason.

"Chen Tou, don't worry, I will go find out now."

Soon, the handymen moved the body away, and the onlookers dispersed, going about their business. A prisoner dying in the Heavenly Prison was a common occurrence. Not to mention that the person who died was an insignificant figure; it was estimated that the people above wouldn't even ask about this matter.

Xiao Jin handled things quite steadily, and the next day there was news.

The reason the prisoner in cell twenty-three died was all because of the four words: kill the chicken to warn the monkey.

"Kill the chicken to warn the monkey?" Chen Guanlou was a bit stunned.

"Exactly!"

He took a deep breath and asked, "Who is the monkey?"

Xiao Jin had already found out the inside story and said, "The prisoner in cell twenty-seven."

"Li Shaoqing of the Supreme Court, it's actually him." Chen Guanlou was a bit confused. ===== CHAPTER 51 =====