Chapter 458: Two Choices

"Are you Dong Yu?"

Inside the prison, Shen Yu saw Dong Yu, who had been suppressing his own power, but the scene was somewhat different from what he had imagined.

In Shen Yu's mind, Dong Yu should have been consumed by resentment and entanglement at this time, or even become cynical.

Anyone who had been doing their best to help others, only to be bitten back in the end, and even misunderstood, reviled, or humiliated by everyone they had once helped, would likely not feel very comfortable.

It would not be impossible for someone more extreme to have completely blackened at this point, falling into becoming an avenger who takes total revenge on others.

In Shen Yu's view, Dong Yu should have been full of gloom, with hatred flowing endlessly like a tide.

But when Shen Yu saw Dong Yu, he discovered that he was in the prison, using weeds folded into a brush to practice calligraphy on the ground with total concentration, so immersed that he had completely disregarded his surroundings.

Even though Shen Yu had been standing at the cell door for quite a while, he had not noticed, his entire mind submerged in the calligraphy.

The characters he wrote were vigorous and powerful, with iron strokes and silver hooks, and an invisible, clanging aura of iron leaked out through the handwriting on the ground.

Even in dirty, messy prison clothes, it could not hide the refined and cultured temperament on Dong Yu's body.

It was as if this were not some commoner, but a well-educated young nobleman.

On him, one could not see a trace of hatred, nor any anxiety or nervousness.

From the conversations of those jailers, Shen Yu understood that Dong Yu already knew his fate, and that his death was not far off.

Now, knowing that he had been sentenced to death by the Prefect, he still remained calm; this temperament alone was something ordinary people could never reach.

"Who are you?" After finishing the characters, Dong Yu noticed Shen Yu standing outside the cell door, a look of surprise appearing on his face.

It was not only because he had never seen this person before, but he was even more surprised that someone had actually come to see him.

During this time, all he had received were insults and abuse; even the friends, relatives, and neighbors who had once regarded him as a brother or nephew cast malicious gazes at him.

Yet from Shen Yu's eyes, he did not feel a shred of malice; instead, he seemed to see a hint of appreciation.

Heh, appreciation—what was there about him now that was worth appreciating?

"Dong Yu, Xue Sha asked me to save you; she told me everything about your situation. Come with me, I will help you with your affairs!"

"Xue Sha? That little girl!" Upon hearing this name, a bitter smile appeared on Dong Yu's face, yet it also seemed to carry a hint of comfort.

There were still people in this world who worried about him; even if he was surrounded by abuse and insults, there were still people behind the scenes thinking of him and caring for him.

It had to be said, this feeling was indeed quite good, making one's heart feel a bit warm.

"I will not go!" After a long silence, the answer to Shen Yu was a refusal.

"You don't want to leave here?"

"I do indeed want to leave, but there are some things I have not done; if I were to leave now without clearing them up, wouldn't that be a tacit admission of guilt!"

"Are you really that rigid?" For a moment, Shen Yu's impression of the Dong Yu before him dropped significantly; upon first meeting, he had felt the other party was steady and upright.

But now, after three sentences, he felt the other party was like a bookworm who only knew how to read. His life was about to be lost, so why didn't he know how to be flexible at a time like this?

Although it would only take one word for Shen Yu to save him, for some reason, Shen Yu suddenly had the interest to argue with him; this bookworm would suffer in the future if he didn't know how to be flexible.

"If you admit it, you admit it; as the saying goes, as long as the green hills remain, one need not worry about firewood. After you get out, as long as you clear your name, what harm is there in being flexible for now?"

"It is not the same!" Smiling and shaking his head, Dong Yu turned to pick up another weed from the side and began to write and draw on the ground again.

"I can die, but my heart cannot have stains, cannot have cracks. A thousand-mile embankment is destroyed by an ant hole; being flexible is indeed easy, but some things, once done, will happen again."

"If one is flexible for too long, one might even abandon the persistence in one's own heart."

"Death is inevitable for everyone, but there are some things that cannot be lost and must not be lost!"

Looking up at Shen Yu, a sense of determination shone in Dong Yu's eyes—the resolve to never regret even if he were to die a hundred times.

At this moment, Shen Yu seemed to see that terrifying power hidden within his body, constantly crashing and struggling to break through its restraints.

Although this power was terrifyingly strong, it was firmly suppressed within a small radius, trapped inside his flesh and blood without leaking even a single bit.

The persistence in his heart was the strongest seal.

At this moment, Shen Yu understood: the person before him was no bookworm, nor was he incapable of being flexible; he simply could not be.

Even though he knew that staying meant death, he still refused to give up even the slightest possibility, all to perfectly seal the power within his body.

Although this person had no strength to truss a chicken and had always been obscure, he was a true hero.

"Where is the prisoner Dong Yu? Has there been anything unusual about Dong Yu these past few days?"

Just at this moment, a voice suddenly reached Shen Yu's ears, followed immediately by a burst of hurried footsteps.

"My Lord, Dong Yu is right inside the cell. If you ask about anything unusual these days, it's just that he spends every day writing on the ground with weeds; other than that, there is nothing."

"Oh? Still in the mood to practice calligraphy? Is this Dong Yu truly not afraid of death, or does he have some other reliance? Or perhaps he knows he won't die, or that someone will come to save him?"

"No, My Lord, rest assured. With me guarding, even a fly couldn't fly in, let alone anyone trying to take him away from me."

"My Lord, I have been a Jailer since I was sixteen, nearly twenty years now. Ever since I have been guarding this place, there has never been the slightest... you, who are you?"

Just as the Jailer was boasting to the Prefect beside him, he looked up and saw Shen Yu talking to Dong Yu, and sweat instantly poured down his forehead.

I had just finished bragging, and right in front of me, a living person was standing openly inside the prison; this slap to the face was enough to make it swell.

The most terrifying thing was the Prefect beside him, whose face had turned iron-blue, immediately making the Jailer's speech falter.

"Didn't you say that not even a fly could fly in? What is this?"

"This, My Lord, this, I..."

"Shut up, and go call for men, quickly!"

"Yes, yes, I'm going right now, right now!"

The Jailer to the side scrambled away, leaving the Prefect alone, and then he realized something.

This isn't right; didn't this just leave me here by myself?

Remaining calm, the Prefect was nonetheless imposing without anger, his face still carrying a hint of majesty.

"Who are you, daring to break into this heavily guarded prison and meet with the death-row prisoner Dong Yu in private? You are simply courting death. Leave now and I might show mercy, otherwise...!"

"Otherwise what?" Turning back to look directly at the other party, the sharp gaze made the Prefect tremble.

How could this gaze be like a knife, scraping until it hurt all over?

"As a Prefect, you judge cases recklessly; have you ever tried the case, have you ever investigated the matter? How is this any different from treating human life like grass?"

"Absurd! This official has both human witnesses and physical evidence for this case; how can you question it at will? If you know what's good for you, leave quickly. You should know that Lord Shen Yu, Shen Yu, is nearby. Lord Shen cannot tolerate even a grain of sand in his eyes; do not bring ruin upon yourself!"

"Is that so? Knowing that Shen Yu cannot tolerate a grain of sand in his eyes, you still dare to act this way. Also, who told you that Shen Yu is nearby? Tell me, if Shen Yu knew about the things you have done, what would your fate be?"

"You, I..." For a moment, the Prefect appeared somewhat stammering, not knowing how to respond.

Especially when looking at this face of Shen Yu, for some reason, the more he looked, the more familiar it felt; he always felt as if he had seen it somewhere before.

"Hey, that's not right; why does this kid look so much like the portrait of Lord Shen?"