Chapter 275: Suppressing the Demon Prison, Prison Officer Guo

Yanfang Yuan is a famous pleasure house in Fucheng, a top-tier establishment for enjoying wine and women.

Zhou You's sworn elder brother, Zhang Laohan, is a regular at the garden and has strong spending power.

The place where he invited Zhou You to drink is located in a permanent private room at Yanfang Yuan.

"Big Brother, isn't this a bit inappropriate!"

Zhou You looked at the hostesses accompanying them; they were of every type: seductive, pure, dignified, wanton...

Zhang Huaimin waved his hand nonchalantly, "Once you're in my territory, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself as you please."

The old man was flush with cash, showing none of the embarrassment from when they first met, and ordered the most expensive package... eighteen top courtesans.

The hostesses present were all of top-tier beauty, of courtesan level, totaling 18 people.

Zhou You thought to himself that although his big brother was a mid-level martial master whose physical body was both hard and supple, could his kidneys handle this way of playing?

Facts proved he was overthinking it; it wasn't just the two of them enjoying it, there were other guests as well.

"Zhigang, let me introduce you to a few friends."

At the wine table, several unfamiliar faces appeared one by one under Zhang Huaimin's introduction.

"This is Liang Chui, a martial master from the East King Martial Hall; the recently promoted young martial master Ma Yuanyang is his nephew-in-art."

Liang Chui looked like an ordinary middle-aged man, his strength was that of an entry-level martial master, and he was currently hugging two girls, sniffing their rouge scent.

He nodded politely toward Zhou You, then turned back to continue playing with the girls.

East King Fist, Ma Yuanyang?

Zhou You remembered seeing Ma Yuanyang at the arena; this person was actually already a martial master! The middle-aged man before him was Ma Yuanyang's uncle-in-art, holding a not-insignificant position in the martial hall!

Zhang Huaimin introduced another person, a martial artist in the late stage of Blood Qi, with a cold appearance and a temperament that kept strangers at a distance.

The girl sitting beside him had a somewhat strained expression and dared not touch his skin.

"This is Prison Officer Guo from Zhenxiong Yu, responsible for guarding the Demons and villains captured by the City Gate Guard."

Prison Officer Guo's gaze was frighteningly sharp; he only looked at Zhou You twice, as if he wanted to see through his very soul.

Zhou You also just learned that the Fucheng City Gate Guard had established Zhenxiong Yu to imprison captured Demons and the criminals and villains associated with them.

Why hadn't he heard of this in Gongliang City? Because only Fucheng had a Zhenxiong Yu; prisoners captured alive in Su Cheng and Gongliang City were ultimately escorted to Fucheng and locked into Zhenxiong Yu.

Don't let the fact that Prison Officer Guo was only at the Blood Qi stage fool you; he had the qualifications for Zhang Huaimin to befriend him.

The remaining few guests were either entry-level martial masters or existences at the late or even peak stage of Blood Qi with special statuses.

From this, Zhou You could see that after his cheap big brother Zhang Huaimin became financially well-off, he began to make friends widely and expand his connections.

Moreover, the guests he invited were generally of a lower tier than himself.

The most intuitive proof was that there wasn't a single mid-level martial master among the guests.

It couldn't be helped; Zhang Huaimin had been "persuaded to leave" by a noble family, his reputation had taken too big a hit, and truly ambitious peers looked down on him.

As the saying goes, wine and women are the go-betweens, and birds of a feather flock together... *cough cough! * Hugging girls and drinking wine, the few people who were originally unfamiliar quickly became acquainted; this was the charm of wine-table socializing.

Zhou You took the opportunity to chat with each of them, roughly knowing the situation of these guests.

Although Liang Chui was in the East King Martial Hall, his status was very awkward; he only had a few disciples under him, belonging to a marginal faction.

Previously, Zhang Laohan had gilded his face by saying Ma Yuanyang was his nephew-in-art; in reality, Ma Yuanyang was a direct descendant of the Hall Master's lineage and had been promoted to a young martial master, holding a status far higher than this "uncle-in-art."

Therefore, Liang Chui was often depressed and unappreciated, mixing in taverns and gardens, and became friends with Zhang Huaimin.

Although he held no power, he was very well-informed and revealed many secrets of the Fucheng martial circle, which opened Zhou You's eyes.

Trying to get ahead in the Fucheng martial circle was hellishly difficult! Just looking at Liang Chui, regardless of his fist style's background or his own strength, he would have been enough to support a martial hall in Gongliang City; yet in Fucheng, he could only serve as a green leaf to set off the red flower, left idle and unused.

Other guests, having drunk too much, couldn't help but grumble and complain about the poor overall environment.

Well, what else could a group of middle-aged and elderly people do at a gathering besides bragging? Pour out their bitterness!

Zhou You listened with great interest, treating it as scouting the location in advance... gathering information, so he would be mentally prepared if he moved to Fucheng in the future.

Suddenly, he sensed a cold gaze; looking back, it was Prison Officer Guo.

"Does your Excellency have something to say?" Zhou You knew that Prison Officer Guo seemed cold, but it was actually due to his work environment, combined with a personality that didn't like to talk.

Prison Officer Guo nodded, "Brother Lu practices Poison Palm."

"I don't deserve the title of brother; I am a few years younger than you, Prison Officer. You can call me Little Lu or Zhigang."

Prison Officer Guo nodded, "There is a ghost gate when cultivating Poison Palm to the peak of Blood Qi, which blocks ninety-nine percent of Poison Martial Artists in the world."

"Hmm, the area of Zhenxiong Yu I am responsible for happens to have a Poison Martial Artist at the martial master level."

"."

Just as Zhou You was listening, the other party stopped abruptly, leaving the sentence half-finished.

Looking at Prison Officer Guo again, he had already picked up his wine cup to savor it; clearly, the conversation had come to an end.

Planting a hook? Interesting! Zhou You guessed it; the other party was clearly trying to plant a foreshadowing for future actions.

Since that was the case, he couldn't appear too eager either.

He immediately laughed out loud, cast the matter to the back of his mind, and joined in the round of urging others to drink.

Seeing him so composed, Prison Officer Guo couldn't help but sigh that this person was able to befriend Zhang Huaimin and was no ordinary character.

This banquet lasted until the second half of the night!

"Big Brother, just now Prison Officer Guo mentioned that Zhenxiong Yu is holding a Poison Martial Artist at the martial master level?"

After seeing the guests off, the two brothers sat before the messy, neglected table, sipping hot tea to sober up.

Zhou You took the opportunity to bring up the news he had just heard.

Zhang Huaimin's eyes had already been blurred with drunkenness, but after hearing this, he squinted and two sharp glints flashed; clearly, he had been sober the whole time.

"He is talking about 'Strange Scorpion' Du Wuyao; this person practices Phantom Needle Fist, his movement technique is superb, and every strike he throws demands a life."

Zhang Huaimin pinched his chin, "That Guo fellow has ill intentions; don't be fooled."

He advised earnestly, "I brought you to befriend him just to get familiar with his face; don't count on him being reliable at a critical moment."

"As a mere Prison Officer, a gatekeeper, he doesn't rank high enough or have any say when it comes to the internal affairs of Zhenxiong Yu."

"The only authority he can exercise is to use a tiger's skin as a banner to extort a little pocket money."

Following this, Zhang Huaimin explained to Zhou You how this group of Prison Officers sets up schemes to squeeze money.

Zhenxiong Yu not only imprisons specters, but also living people involved in such matters; generally speaking, prisoners have friends and family.

Ordinary prisoners whose crimes are not severe are held near the exit, and their families are allowed to visit and bring them clothing, bedding, and dry rations.

The Prison Officers have their own ways of making money; they take the opportunity to lock the door while the relatives and family members are inside visiting.

If the family members want to leave, they must be slaughtered and pay a huge ransom before they can depart from Zhenxiong Yu.

Zhenxiong Yu is gloomy and terrifying, housing countless man-eating specters; ordinary people are scared half to death within half an hour of being inside, leaving them no choice but to obediently pay up and beg them to open the door.

This trick works every time: entry is free, but leaving costs a sky-high price, which is known as 'Cross-Gate Money'.

(End of this chapter)