Damn it. Some snitch ratted on me.
How long had he been working at Tian Prison? Yet he'd already gotten on someone's bad side, enough for them to report him behind his back.
He considered himself a smooth operator, a diligent worker who wasn't afraid of hard or dirty work. And still, someone found him so disagreeable they had to snitch on him. The hearts of these people... just as Luo Jingtian had said, not a single damn one of them was good. They were all black-hearted, rotten-gutted scoundrels. You could round them all up and behead them, and not a single one would be innocent.
"Uncle Xu, you watched me grow up. Others might not know what kind of person I am, but you certainly do. I won't deny that I've brought food and drink to the prisoners. Everyone in the prison does it. But I'll die before I admit to passing messages to the outside. On my first day, your teachings were etched into my mind, and I've remembered them ever since. I've held fast to the bottom line, never breaking the rules I shouldn't break. I'm your man. If I get into trouble, it only makes trouble for you, Uncle Xu. How could I be such an ungrateful scoundrel? I don't know who would do such a thing, what kind of venomous person would fabricate such rumors. Uncle Xu, someone is trying to attack you through me! You must be on your guard!"
Xu Fugui looked at Chen Guanlou with a complicated expression. The brat certainly had a silver tongue.
He remained silent, as if weighing the truth in Chen Guanlou's words, or perhaps considering the consequences of the matter. He thought back on Chen Guanlou's performance since coming to Tian Prison. The moment he got his salary, he had immediately brought Xu Fugui a gift, treating him to drinks and a trip to the theater. For someone so young, he was very sensible. He was a decent person, too—compared to those wily old-timers, he was so pure he was almost foolish.
In a flash, Xu Fugui seemed to have made up his mind. "Of course, I believe you wouldn't do something like collude with outsiders. But you were the only survivor on the night of the prison break. It's inevitable that some people will whisper behind your back. This whole affair is clearly aimed at you. You'd best keep a low profile for a while and don't stick your neck out. If anything happens, tell me immediately. Don't act on your own."
"Thank you, Uncle Xu. I will be sure to remember your teachings."
"Excellent! Just do your job well. If they insist on framing you, I certainly won't stand for it."
Xu Fugui patted Chen Guanlou's shoulder and left the mess hall.
But Chen Guanlou broke out in a cold sweat. It wasn't because of Xu Fugui, but because he had just realized that on the night of the Guiyu Sect's prison break, everyone in the duty room had died. He was the only one left alive. It was obvious he had become a target in some people's eyes.
The higher-ups had clearly dropped the matter, yet someone in Tian Prison refused to let it go, trying to stir up major trouble. A typical case of harming others without benefiting oneself.
Damn it, this was just asking to piss everyone off.
He found Lu Datou and explained the situation. Lu Datou frowned in thought, then suddenly slapped his thigh and let out a classic curse. "It must be that bastard Zhang Wantong."
"Zhang Wantong? But I've never offended him."
"Little brother, you're new here, you don't know the situation. Don't be fooled by Zhang Wantong's seemingly straightforward and generous demeanor. In reality, he's the most vengeful and petty person there is. That time you helped me win back my losses, Zhang Wantong lost everything down to his underwear. He definitely holds a grudge. He doesn't dare touch me—if he did, I'd stab him without a second thought. But you're new, so he's targeting you. Don't you worry, though. I'll go talk to him for you. You can't just let people get away with this kind of thing. I need to have a serious talk with him."
"Are you sure it's him?"
"It can't be anyone else," Lu Datou said with absolute certainty.
Chen Guanlou was half-convinced. He let Lu Datou go and test the waters first. He couldn't believe Zhang Wantong could be such a moron.
Chen Guanlou: ...
So it really was that bastard Zhang Wantong who snitched!
Just because he helped Lu Datou win back his losses. Holding a grudge over such a small thing. Damn, what a petty little man! He would remember this.
...
Luo Jingtian was taken away and severely tortured.
Two days later, he was sent back to Tian Prison, dragged back, leaving a trail of blood on the ground. His skin was split and his flesh was gaping; there wasn't a single patch of intact skin on his body. It was a sight too horrible to look at.
Chen Guanlou secretly gave him a bowl of thin congee to keep him alive.
Another two days passed, and the verdict on Luo Jingtian's case was delivered.
Immediate execution!
Family exiled to the northwest!
That day, as Chen Guanlou was making his rounds, he passed by Cell 60 and asked, "How are you?"
"Still alive!"
Luo Jingtian leaned against the wall, propping himself up.
He gave a tragic smile. "I'm grateful for your concern, young brother Chen."
Chen Guanlou: ...
He cleared his throat and asked bluntly, "Didn't you hire people on the outside to pull some strings for you? You didn't seem worried at all before, so I thought you had it handled. Now that the sentence is passed, what are your plans?"
"A man about to die, what plans could he have?" Luo Jingtian shifted his body with difficulty. "My only worry is for my family. I don't know if they'll even survive the journey to the northwest."
He stared pleadingly at Chen Guanlou outside the cell door.
But Chen Guanlou avoided his gaze and walked away in silence.
He was just a lowly prison guard, barely able to protect himself, with no spare capacity to help others. He and Luo Jingtian only had a transaction, not a friendship. Neither owed the other anything.
After the last meal, he would be dragged out for beheading the next day.
Perhaps it was unwillingness to accept his fate, or perhaps he was still clinging to a sliver of hope. When Chen Guanlou passed by the cell again, Luo Jingtian ignored his broken bones and, enduring the excruciating pain, dragged his mangled body to the bars. "Twenty li outside the city, at the Yangliu Village estate, under the osmanthus tree," he said excitedly. "I only ask that you ensure my family's safe passage out of the capital's territory, and everything there is yours. Don't you want to learn martial arts? There's a profound martial arts manual, and silver, too. It's all there."
Chen Guanlou had intended to walk away, to pretend he hadn't heard anything.
But after two steps, he turned back.
He came to the cell door and squatted down to look at the man.
Luo Jingtian grinned, his mouth toothless—they had all been pulled out. It looked like a bloody black hole, exceptionally eerie.
"Why are you worried your family won't make it out of the capital? The people you paid to help you on the outside, where are they?"
Luo Jingtian let out a bitter chuckle. He grabbed Chen Guanlou's sleeve. "Promise me."
Chen Guanlou frowned, then his expression shifted to one of shock and dawning realization. "The one who was supposed to help you was the one who harmed you."
"Help me!" Luo Jingtian said again, then lowered his voice to a mysterious whisper. "Under the osmanthus tree, there is a cultivation manual. I obtained it by accident. To this day, I haven't been able to grasp its secrets or even begin to practice it. This manual... it's said to have killed no fewer than a hundred people. I'm not lying to you, I'm really not."
Chen Guanlou gave him a deep look, then stood up and left in silence.
Luo Jingtian watched his retreating back, but a smile of relief spread across his face.
Proofreader: Peter Pan