Chapter 105

Everything returned to tranquility; Hu Xiaotian fell into a deep sleep at some unknown time. The next morning, the door of the neighboring cell was opened, and he heard someone shout: 'Jia Dewang, your family has come to bail you out!'

Hu Xiaotian opened his sleepy eyes, only to see Jia Dewang slowly walk out of the cell. Hu Xiaotian went to the bars and said to the jailer, 'Brother, please tell them I've been mistakenly arrested—I haven't done anything.'

The jailer glared at him fiercely: 'Cut the crap, just squat down honestly!'

Hu Xiaotian had no choice but to sit down again. The beardy man Zhou Batian looked at him and said, 'Little brother, what crime did you commit?'

Hu Xiaotian gave a wry smile: 'I just arrived in Qingyun Xian; last night I was late returning to the Inn and was arbitrarily arrested by two constables.' Since I'm here, I might as well make the best of it—it's a good opportunity to get the lay of the land in Qingyun Xian jail.

Zhou Batian seemed unfazed by such matters, saying calmly, 'It's a small thing; this happens often. The jailers here have turned it into a money‑making scheme. As long as your family can come up with the silver, you'll be out soon.'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'But I haven't done anything bad.'

Zhou Batian sneered, 'Who can tell good from bad in this day and age?'

Hu Xiaotian thought to himself, 'You're no saint either—I just got in here, we're supposed to be cellmates, yet you not only lack any revolutionary spirit, you actually urged others to give me a beating. Ow, my waist still hurts.'

Zhou Batian said, 'Are you thinking I'm not a good person either?'

Hu Xiaotian, having his thoughts read, refused to admit it, saying, 'I see Brother Zhou with his thick brows and big eyes, dignified appearance—clearly a man of loyalty and righteousness!'

Before Zhou Batian could say anything, a nearby inmate couldn't stand it, stood up, pointed at Hu Xiaotian and cursed, 'Kid, I can't stand your brown‑noser!'

Hu Xiaotian thought the other man was about to gang up on him, and laughed, 'Sir, everything I said is the truth—don't you think so? Isn't Brother Zhou's appearance dignified enough? Isn't his character loyal and righteous enough?'

'You… you… you're full of nonsense, a total brown‑noser!' The inmate, fuming at Hu Xiaotian, rolled his eyes. Too bad his clumsy speech couldn't match Hu Xiaotian's.

Hu Xiaotian said, 'If you call me a brown‑noser, that's tantamount to calling Brother Zhou a horse—you're really unfair.'

'I'll beat you to a pulp…' The inmate, throwing caution to the wind, lunged forward.

Hu Xiaotian eyed the short, scrawny man and thought that in a one‑on‑one fight he wouldn't fear him—beating him toothless would be expected—but the situation was many against few, any move could spark a gang‑up. He glanced around; the other inmates were eager to join. He regretted his verbal sparring, anticipating another beating, wondering whether to fight back or curl up defensively. Then Zhou Batian finally said, 'We're all in the same boat, Wang Jin‑gui and Hu Xiaotian. If you have a grudge, settle it between yourselves—don't drag the others in.'

Hu Xiaotian heard correctly—Zhou Batian wasn't urging them to turn swords into jade and silk; he wanted the two to fight one‑on‑one. Zhou Batian held absolute authority in that cell, and once he spoke, the few who had wanted to help all stepped back.

The impulsive inmate was Wang Jin‑gui; at this moment the ferocity on his face vanished completely. He's no fool—he's nearly a head shorter than Hu Xiaotian and his weight isn't even in the same class, so a one‑on‑one fight would surely mean a thorough beating. Last night he only got away with it because he rode on the group's coattails, which is why he followed up and threw in a few punches and kicks. If you had to say who loves to show off in this cell, and who usually flatters Zhou Batian the most, it's him. That's why Hu Xiaotian's recent flattery made him react with such righteous indignation—he felt Hu Xiaotian had snatched his role.

Hu Xiaotian glanced at Zhou Batian, then at the others. Sure Zhou Batian wasn't lying to fool him, he broke into a fierce grin and strode over to Wang Jingui, having held his breath since last night—last night they used gang‑up tactics on him, and just because you're a little monkey with less than four taels of meat on you dare to act high and mighty. Hehe, old and new scores, I'll settle them all today.

Wang Jingui's heart was already beating a retreat, but he really couldn't afford to be a coward now; in the cell he had originally been someone everyone looked down on, and with a newcomer finally arriving he'd thought he'd have a scapegoat, yet the boss didn't speak up for him and instead let this kid fight him one‑on‑one; the situation had become a case of riding a tiger and hard to get off, so Wang Jingui steeled himself and rushed forward, yelling, "Kid, hurry up and kneel and beg for mercy—maybe I can still spare your life." The louder he shouted, the more it revealed his nervousness.

Hu Xiaotian didn't rush; when the distance was about three feet, he landed a solid straight punch squarely on Wang Jingui's face—crisp, decisive, and without an ounce of mercy. Speaking of last night's gang‑up, this guy had struck the hardest, so this punch counts both principal and interest.

Wang Jingui was knocked flat by Hu Xiaotian's punch, a large red fist‑print blooming on his face as snot and tears streamed out, and he wailed, "Brothers…"

The several prisoners around stared at Zhou Batian in unison; Zhou Batian lazily yawned and said, "Forget it, we're all in the same boat—better not alarm the jailers."

As he spoke, two jailers indeed walked in, one of them calling out loudly, "Who is Hu Xiaotian?"

Hu Xiaotian replied, "I'm here!"

The jailer said, "Your family has come to bail you out!"

Hu Xiaotian was overjoyed; the torment he had endured was finally over. His cellmates all looked at him with envy, only Zhou Batian continued to stare fixedly elsewhere. Hu Xiaotian felt that Zhou Batian possessed a distinctive aura—not merely the rough vigor of a rustic, but a bold, heroic spirit; since ancient times heroes admire each other, and although Hu Xiaotian himself is no hero, he has always admired men of such heroic bearing; besides, in the cell the only person who hadn't struck him was Zhou Batian, even though Zhou Batian might have been the instigator of the gang‑beating. Hu Xiaotian walked up to Zhou Batian, smiled, and said, "Brother Zhou, I'm leaving."

Zhou Batian only then turned his head, fixed his gaze on Hu Xiaotian, and said in a low voice, "You're from the capital!" He made that judgment from Hu Xiaotian's accent.

Hu Xiaotian nodded, only then realizing that Zhou Batian also had a capital accent: "Brother Zhou, you too?"

Zhou Batian said, "Go well!" After saying that he turned his head back to face the wall, wondering what he was thinking.

Naturally having no attachment to this lightless dungeon, Hu Xiaotian followed the jailers out of the cell and, somewhat curious, asked, "Escorts, are you taking me to court?"

The two jailers seemed to have heard something utterly bizarre; they looked at Hu Xiaotian and then almost simultaneously burst out laughing, one of them saying, "You really want to go to court?"

Hu Xiaotian hastily shook his head; the scene of yesterday when Jia Defang and Jia Liu went to court was still vivid—County Magistrate Xu Qinglian in the end had each of them beaten ten times and fined some silver; although Hu Xiaotian was new to Qingyun Xian, he had already understood that County Magistrate Xu Qinglian treated court hearings as a money‑making scheme, squeezing both plaintiffs and defendants, which is the real reason Qingyun Xian has long had no one beating the drum to lodge a complaint.

Those who came to bail Hu Xiaotian out were Murong Feiyan and Su Guangju, the owner of the Fulai Inn; Su Guangju came for two reasons: first, he's a local and is somewhat familiar with the Government Office; second, Hu Xiaotian is a guest staying at his inn, so this visit is also to help provide testimony.

In fact Hu Xiaotian hadn't really committed any serious crime; the constables had snatched people in the dead of night merely slapping the label "suspicious" on them, their real aim being to make money; Murong Feiyan and Liang Da Zhuang together produced all the remaining silver, scraping together fifteen taels, which secured Hu Xiaotian's release from the cell; they did not reveal Hu Xiaotian's identity, since it was still unclear whether he had done this deliberately, and everything would have to wait until he came out.

Even now Murong Feiyan has revealed nothing of Hu Xiaotian's identity, and Liang Da Zhuang didn't come along because Murong Feiyan feared he might act rashly and cause trouble.

Hu Xiaotian walked out of the cell; the eastern sky was ablaze with the rising sun, golden light shining everywhere. This guy's eyes struggled to adjust to such brightness; he narrowed them and shaded his forehead with his hand, seeing Murong Feiyan and Su Guangju standing together ahead. Murong Feiyan's smile bloomed like a flower, truly a picture of schadenfreude, yet her expression was so serene and lovely that Hu Xiaotian's pent‑up anger instantly evaporated—being angry at a beautiful woman is easy in thought, hard in deed.

Murong Feiyan said, "You've made us worry all night, yet you're as carefree as ever."

Hu Xiaotian replied, "Now I finally understand what it means for the wicked to cry foul first."

Murong Feiyan leaned in close to his face, seeing the bruises on this guy's visage, and said, "You got beaten?" Unable to hold back, she laughed, confirming that most people's happiness is built on others' suffering. Even Murong Feiyan herself didn't understand why seeing Hu Xiaotian's misfortune made her want to laugh involuntarily; before she knew his whereabouts she couldn't laugh, but the reason was that seeing Hu Xiaotian safe and sound finally let a stone in her heart drop.

Su Guangju said, "Master Hu, Miss Murong, this isn't a place to linger; let's head back to the inn and talk."

The three walked back to the Fulai Inn; passing the Wan family, the foremost household in Qingyun Xian, they saw a doctor carrying a medicine chest being driven out from inside, a few servants like wolves and tigers shoving him out—not enough, they followed up with a kick that sent the doctor crashing to the ground, and the vials and bottles in his medicine chest spilled everywhere.

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