Chapter 86: In the Heavenly Patrol Prison, the Old Fire of the Human Realm

When that point of green light flared in Jiang Che's heart lake, the darkness at the very bottom of the Heavenly Patrol Prison trembled slightly.

The chains immediately tightened.

Upper Realm Runes, like red-hot iron, branded themselves into Jiang Che's bones and blood.

Agony surged; veins on Jiang Che's forehead bulged, yet he made no sound.

The old man from the Human Realm, who had lived three hundred years ago, squinted at him and suddenly smiled:

"You kid, you have quite the nerve."

Jiang Che gasped, "How should I address you, senior?"

The old man grinned, "I forgot my name long ago. But old friends from the Human Realm all call me Lao Chai."

"Senior Lao Chai."

Jiang Che looked at the prisoners in the surrounding darkness.

"How many cultivators from the Human Realm are here?"

Lao Chai thought for a moment, "The living, over three hundred. Those still somewhat alive, over a thousand."

Jiang Che's heart sank.

"Somewhat alive?"

Lao Chai pointed deeper into the darkness.

There, rows of silent figures hung suspended in the void by chains, their auras so faint they were nearly lifeless.

"Their Divine Souls haven't scattered, but their Heart Fires are nearly extinguished."

"The Upper Realm does not kill them."

"Why?"

Lao Chai's gaze grew cold.

"They are kept to drain Human Qi."

Jiang Che fell silent.

The Heavenly Patrol Prison is not merely a prison.

It is also a millstone.

Grinding these powerful figures from the Human Realm who once resisted the Upper Realm, bit by bit, into sustenance for the Upper Realm.

Lao Chai looked at Jiang Che, "Kid, you say the Human Realm has stood up again; is that true?"

Jiang Che nodded.

"The Emperor is dead."

"The Dragon Throne is shattered."

"The Council Hall has been established."

"The common people no longer kneel."

"At the Battle of Tian Duan Cliff, the Human Realm did not kneel."

In the darkness, the sound of chains rattled in succession.

Someone asked in a trembling voice, "Do Scholars still dare to curse Heaven?"

Jiang Che said, "They dare."

"Can Sword Cultivators still draw their swords?"

"They can."

"What of the Demon Race?"

"The Southern Border Wu Tribe stood shoulder to shoulder with the Human Realm to guard the Demon Well."

"What of the merchants?"

Jiang Che thought of Shen Wanjin and smiled, "They know how to cry poverty, but they also know how to send money."

In the darkness, someone chuckled softly.

Laughing, they began to weep.

They had been imprisoned for too long.

So long they had nearly forgotten the taste of the Human Realm's Wind.

So long that the Upper Realm told them day after day that the Human Realm had already knelt, had long forgotten them, and was no longer worth their persistence.

But now, a young man had been chained in here to tell them:

No.

The Human Realm still exists.

It still stands.

Lao Chai closed his eyes, and after a long while said:

"Then we cannot die here."

Jiang Che looked at him.

Lao Chai grinned, "Three hundred years; I've long wanted to overturn this wretched prison."

Jiang Che asked, "How do we break the Heavenly Patrol Prison?"

Lao Chai raised his wrist, pierced through by chains.

"One person alone cannot break it."

"But if the Heart Fires of everyone here are rekindled, the chains may not be able to hold us down."

Jiang Che understood.

The Heavenly Patrol Prison locks away Human Qi.

If a prisoner's Heart Fire extinguishes, it can only be extracted.

If the Heart Fire reignites, the extraction will backfire.

"How do you light it?"

Lao Chai looked at him: "Speak."

Jiang Che was stunned.

Lao Chai said: "Speak of the Human Realm."

"Speak of how the people of Luo'an cried 'No'."

"Speak of how the Dragon Throne shattered."

"Speak of how those children studied."

"Speak until they wish to return."

Jiang Che smiled.

He remembered the tea house in Jinling.

He remembered himself picking up the gavel and speaking of the Luo'an Altar.

Thus, in the deepest part of the Heavenly Patrol Prison, he began to speak of the Human Realm.

There was no table.

There was no tea house.

Only chains, darkness, and prisoners covered in scars.

Jiang Che spoke of the snow in Han Zhou.

He spoke of the rainy night in the Broken Temple.

He spoke of the Wooden Sword shattering the Shattered Heaven Gate.

He spoke of the common people of Luo'an shouting "No."

He spoke of Xiao Cheng'an breaking the Dragon Flag.

He spoke of the first drop of rain in the Western Desert.

He spoke of the old soldier in Wenxin Hall asking, "Why is it always my family?"

He spoke of Du Ruobai impeaching the Guardian of the Nation Sword Master.

He spoke of the Human Realm taking down his divine statue and turning it into a Record Stele.

He spoke very slowly.

Because with every sentence spoken, the chains tightened a fraction more.

Yet with every sentence spoken, a point of fire lit up in the darkness.

A faint glow first appeared on Lao Chai.

Then, it was the old man with the Broken Sword.

After that, it was the scholar in the old Confucian robe.

The half-demon giant.

The woman of the Wu Clan.

One after another.

The Heart Fire that had been extracted from them for decades, for centuries, reignited.

The Heavenly Patrol Prison began to tremble.

In the distance, the Heavenly Patrol suddenly raised his head.

His expression changed abruptly.

"Who allowed them to wake?"