Chapter 81: Pebble Hidden Weapon

"By the way, Branch Master, you didn't pay for the meal last time you left. Are you putting it on your tab, or will you pay now?" Seeing Man Gu asked before leaving.

Lu Yang hurriedly stopped Seeing Man Gu: "Shut up! As people of the Demonic Path, eating a 'free meal' is only natural. Do you think the Branch Master is the kind of pushover who pays for his food?"

Meng Jingzhou chimed in: "Exactly! The Branch Master said he was 'treating' us, not that he was 'paying' the bill. How can you not distinguish between the two?"

Branch Master Chu: "..."

He had to admit, when it came to belittling others, he was no match for these three.

Gritting his teeth to suppress the urge to kill them, he threw a gold ingot at Seeing Man Gu: "Keep the change, and get out of here, all three of you!"

Seeing Man Gu was bewildered. He was just asking for money normally; why did the tone of Brother Lu and Brother Meng sound so strange? It was as if they were speaking for him, yet also speaking for the Branch Master.

It was late at night when the three left. Lu Yang looked up at the brilliant starry sky and sighed with emotion.

"Who would have thought the stars in the sky are all fake? Unexpected, truly unexpected."

Meng Jingzhou scratched his head: "There's nothing unexpected about it. My grandfather told me since I was a child that I could have whatever I wanted, even if I wanted the stars in the sky, he could pluck them down. When I was seven or eight, I pointed at a star and said I wanted that one."

"My grandfather went into the cosmos, and when he returned, he placed a fingernail-sized spot of light in my hand, saying that was the star. Coincidentally, one star was missing from the sky."

"I gestured to my grandfather, saying a star should be huge, bigger than our courtyard, not this small. My grandfather just smiled mysteriously and said stars are just that small."

"And then?" Lu Yang asked with great interest.

"And then? Then the people from the Ministry of Justice came. It seemed to be a high-ranking official who said my grandfather had stolen natural resources and told him to return the star. My grandfather returned the spot of light, and a star appeared again in the empty space that night."

"I felt something was wrong at the time, but I didn't understand what was going on. As time passed, I forgot about it. Hearing it mentioned today, I realized that what I held in my hand back then was truly a star."

"Truly worthy of being a Meng family member; your childhood experiences are different from ours." Lu Yang shook his head, wondering what he was doing in his own childhood.

He remembered: he was recalling his life before transmigrating, reciting ancient poems, such as: "The high tower is a hundred feet tall, one can pluck the stars with a hand. Dare not speak in a loud voice, for fear of startling the celestial beings."

In his childhood, he could only pluck stars in poems, while Meng Jingzhou could actually pluck them. This was the gap.

Recently, Lu Yang had considered whether to write a book to make money, like *The Wandering Earth*, but if placed in the background of this world, it probably wouldn't be planetary engines pushing the Earth, but cultivation powerhouses pushing the Earth.

The three didn't dwell on the questions of stars and continents; such things were too far away for them. With their cultivation, let alone moving stars, even moving large rocks was a struggle.

"Let's get some rest early. Tomorrow we'll go visit our fellow sect members locked in the prison."

The three yawned. At the Foundation Establishment stage, one could replace sleep with meditation, with the same effect, but the three preferred sleeping.

Meditation? Let's talk about that at the Jin Dan stage.

Early the next morning, Lu Yang found Head Constable Wei. After explaining their purpose, Head Constable Wei readily approved the permit, allowing Lu Yang to visit the prison.

Just as he stepped into the prison, Lu Yang felt his spiritual power being shackled, unable to mobilize even a bit, and his body became sluggish.

"Is this the Spirit-Suppressing Array Head Constable Wei mentioned?" Lu Yang was surprised; he hadn't expected the Spirit-Suppressing Array to be as powerful as Head Constable Wei had described.

When Head Constable Wei approved the permit, he had warned Lu Yang to be mindful of the prison's Spirit-Suppressing Array. It was a formation specifically designed for cultivators. Within its range, a cultivator's cultivation base was suppressed, making it impossible to use any spells, preventing jailbreaks.

The prison's Spirit-Suppressing Array was of a very high level; even Jin Dan stage cultivators would be restricted, with no exceptions.

Lu Yang arrived just in time for the shift change of the jailers.

The day-shift jailer was yawning, tears streaming down his face, looking dazed as if he hadn't woken up yet.

The night-shift jailer was about to rest and was in a good mood, joking: "Old Zhou, aren't you usually the most energetic? Why are you so sleepy today? You didn't do anything unspeakable last night, did you?"

Old Zhou opened his mouth wide, let out a huge yawn, and said: "I don't know what's wrong lately; I'm always sleepy and find it hard to get up in the morning. It's not just me; my wife is the same. I even washed my face when I arrived, but I'm still sleepy."

The night-shift jailer laughed: "You must have done something last night and didn't sleep well. Look at me, I'm not sleepy."

Old Zhou curled his lip: "You're a cultivator; you're different from me."

The night-shift jailer waved his hand, dismissive: "I'm only at the 1st layer of Qi Condensation. It's hard to say if I can even reach the 2nd layer in this lifetime. What kind of cultivator is that?"

The prison's rule was that day-shift jailers were mortals, while night-shift jailers were cultivators at the 1st layer of Qi Condensation. A 1st-layer cultivator could ensure they wouldn't be sleepy at night and wouldn't be lazy.

Cultivators didn't like being suppressed by the Spirit-Suppressing Array, just like mortals, but having only 1st-layer jailers guarding the prison obviously wasn't enough, so they arranged hidden sentries outside the prison, manned by cultivators.

After the shift change, Lu Yang took the permit and found Old Zhou.

Old Zhou glanced at Lu Yang, searched him, and found he had nothing but a lunch box, so he let him pass.

Chi Xulong, as a ruthless rogue cultivator who had made a name for himself in the nearby counties, believed that after joining the Demonic Sect, he would surely achieve great things, carve out a territory, and become a local warlord.

Being trapped in prison now didn't change his ambitions.

Since he was in prison, he would first become the prison boss!

The first hurdle in front of him was the inability to intimidate others.

He was locked in a cage that even Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn't break, and he had no weapons on hand. The person in the next cell was sharp-tongued, either cursing or mocking, making Chi Xulong's teeth itch with anger.

At this time, his cellmate Shen Jinyi came up with a method. He held a pebble in his mouth and spat it out; the pebble flew out like a bullet, with astonishing power. The damage it would cause if it hit someone was self-evident.

Shen Jinyi, as an assassin, was skilled at using various objects as hidden weapons.

"We are brothers in adversity; now more than ever, we must cooperate sincerely and venture together!" Shen Jinyi said very loyally. "If you learn this move of mine, you'll be invincible in this prison. Let's dominate the prison together!"

Chi Xulong was greatly encouraged, working hard day and night to learn how to launch pebble hidden weapons with his mouth.

Unfortunately, Chi Xulong lacked talent; he had brute strength but never learned it.

"You have to do it like this: store air in your mouth, and *pfft*, spit it out! The speed must be fast!" Shen Jinyi was demonstrating, trying hard to teach Chi Xulong.

"I know, isn't it just *pfft*?" Chi Xulong was a bit impatient.

"Wrong, wrong! You're puckering your mouth too small. Like this."

"Like this?"

Lu Yang stood outside the cell, watching Chi Xulong and Shen Jinyi puckering their mouths at each other, wondering if he should speak up to remind them. This scene was very easy to cause misunderstandings.

Better to record it with a recording orb first.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 82 =====