Martial arts experts truly have appetites.
A half bucket of thin porridge, all went into the man's stomach.
Zhou Yi cupped his hands together and said, "Hero, might I have the honor of your name?"
The man did not pay attention to Zhou Yi, closed his eyes for energy circulation, and his internal organs emitted a buzzing sound while his muscles and bones trembled continuously.
Puh!
A mouthful of fresh blood spewed out, the man's face white as snow, his breath instantly weak and listless.
Zhou Yi looked on, guessing that the man was using his cultivation to heal himself, but it didn't seem to be very effective.
"Such a vicious poison!"
The man spat out a mouthful of bloody spittle, "My name is Wei Chang."
"What does Hero Wei like to eat? I'll bring some for you tomorrow?" Zhou Yi had previously brought food for prisoners too, the price being a hundred times that of the outside, but all the silver he made was spent on nourishing medicinal decoctions.
Wei Chang said in a cold voice, "The Wei family has been exiled, and I have no silver to bribe you."
"I just admire what Hero Wei stands for!"
Zhou Yi spoke solemnly, "With my personality, I'm not the sort to sacrifice myself for others, yet I can't help but respect a hero. I can only offer some meals, please consider it my way of practicing what you preach!"
Wei Chang closed his eyes and said no more.
Zhou Yi carried the food bucket and left. Just as he stepped out of the prison door, a voice came from inside.
"Is there any wine?"
"There is!"
...
The next day.
Zhou Yi first reported in at the front office, then went to pick up the food bucket at the kitchen.
The sky prison had two kitchens, the large one for boiling thin porridge; rough rice and rotten vegetable leaves were cooked haphazardly just enough not to kill a person.
The small kitchen was laid out exquisitely, filled with all kinds of ingredients like chicken, duck, fish, and meat, all cooked by Chef Liu from the Dingxiang Building.
"Brother Yi, last night cell number nine of the Bing section received a new inmate with quite the temper; be careful attending to him," Chef Liu handed Zhou Yi a separately prepared meal box.
Zhou Yi curiously asked, "Brother Liu, what's his background?"
Special prisoners or those whose crimes were not determined, or who had family or colleagues shielding them, were often locked up in the sky prison; the small kitchen was there for them.
Chef Liu whispered, "I heard he is the Dragon Chancellor's only son. Last night, he got drunk at the Spring Breeze Building, got into a conflict with a merchant, and ended up killing him on the spot!"
Zhou Yi wondered, "Isn't this kind of case supposed to be sent to the capital's big prison?"
"That's not the whole story yet!"
Chef Liu glanced outside to make sure no one was around before continuing, "After killing the man, His Lordship wasn't satisfied, led a group of family servants into the victim's house and... the whole family..."
He made a gesture of slitting a throat.
Zhou Yi couldn't help but be shocked. This Dragon Lord was too brazen, daring to commit a massacre right beneath the Emperor's nose.
Shocking news!
Zhou Yi carried the meal box and the food bucket into the sky prison, greeted Zhang Zhou and others, and made his way to the deepest part, cell number nine of the Bing section.
The sky prison was divided into three types of jails: A, B, and C. Type A housed thieves and murderers, type B housed political prisoners or scholars, and type C housed nobles and special prisoners.
Cell number nine of type C was the cleanest and most comfortable, dividing what would have been two cells into a sitting room and a bedroom.
Zhou Yi opened the prison door, and before he could enter, a shout came from within.
"Who is it?"
The speaker was a stout man, robust and muscular, eyeing Zhou Yi's movements with a cold gaze.
"Big brother, I'm here to deliver food to the Dragon Lord," Zhou Yi said respectfully, extending the meal box.
Outside of cell number nine of type C, there were four sturdy men, two guarding the door to the cell and two guarding the door to the inner room, clearly responsible for protecting the Dragon Lord's safety.
Upon hearing this, the man lowered his guard, took out a silver needle, and tested the meals in the meal box one by one.
"Get lost!"
Zhou Yi bowed and backed away, ready to close the prison door.
A young master emerged from the inner room, clothes in disarray, cuddling a beautiful woman.
"Lao Si, when did my father say I can get out?"
The poison-testing man replied, "Young master, this time is a bit troublesome; that man named Chen turns out to be a distant relative of the Qi Country Duke's household. We might need to stay for some more days."
"What Qi Country Duke's household, this Fengyang Country is my father's..."
The door slammed shut, muffling the rest of his words.
Zhou Yi carried the bucket, delivering meals to each prisoner, finally arriving at cell number twelve of type A, glanced around to ensure no one was watching, and drew a porcelain bottle from his bosom.
"Hero Wei, this is the renowned Pear Blossom White from Divine Capital, a twenty-year vintage fiery liquor!"
Upon opening the bottle, a rich fragrance of pear blossoms wafted out.
Wei Chang still hung upside down, his arms and legs shackled by iron chains, even his neck clamped with an iron hoop.
"Great hero, give it a try."
Zhou Yi carefully poured the wine into Wei Chang's mouth.
Wei Chang's throat moved, a ball of fire trailing down his throat and into his stomach, indeed it was good liquor.
"Have some meat now."
Zhou Yi then took out a roast chicken from his bosom, tore off a strip of meat, and brought it to his mouth.
Wei Chang, toothless, could hardly tear or chew, swallowed the chicken meat in a few gulps.
"Drink wine!"
After that, Zhou Yi alternated between sips of wine and bites of meat, a jug of Pear Blossom White and a whole roast chicken, all went into Wei Chang's stomach.
"Exhilarating!"
Wei Chang took a long breath, "Worthy of Divine Capital's fine wine, Yuzhou is a poor place, far from comparable."
Zhou Yi said, "This Pear Blossom White is just one of them, there's also Qionghua Brew, Zhao Dian Hong, Jade Dew Spring, and so on. I'll bring a bottle every day, guaranteeing that the great hero tastes all of Divine Capital's fine wines!"
Wei Chang said coldly, "There are no free benefits in this world. You're eyeing the martial arts skills on Wei's person, aren't you?"
Zhou Yi's face showed delight, and he did not hide it.
"Hero Wei, I indeed have a selfish motive in offering you wine and meat."
After finishing his duty yesterday, Zhou Yi had inquired around. There were quite a number of martial arts schools in Divine Capital teaching ordinary body-strengthening cultivation techniques.
The tuition fees ranged from ten silvers to over a hundred, and one had to buy nourishing medicinal decoctions afterwards. To achieve some level of proficiency, one would need at least a few thousand silvers.
To learn more advanced body-strengthening techniques, one must take a master and become a disciple of the martial arts school.
In this era, becoming a disciple wasn't just a nominal status. Respecting the master as one would a father for life, the disciple must endure hardships for them. Not to mention engaging in combat against enemies on behalf of the master.
The son of a wealthy family will not sit in a drafty hall!
Zhou Yi desired to learn the Dao Protection Art, but he was not willing to give up the fundamentals for the sake of a cultivation technique and take risks.
As for the cultivation techniques involving Inner Qi, Zhou Yi asked around at several martial arts schools and only the genuine transmission from the school's head offered a chance to cultivate them.
In this way, Wei Chang became extremely precious!
Wei Chang was only in his thirties or forties and had reached a first-rate realm, famous throughout Yuzhou. The cultivation techniques he might casually impart were much more profound than those of the martial arts schools. With Wei Chang's execution scheduled a month later, leaving no karmic ties, it was truly an excellent opportunity to have both.
"How would I, Wei, who holds a grudge against the Imperial Court, impart martial arts to you?"
After saying this, Wei Chang closed his eyes to meditate, channeling his Inner Qi to impact the eight extraordinary meridians, attempting to break free from the Jinyiwei's secret drug.
Zhou Yi was not discouraged, he packed up the wine jug and the food bucket and left the cell.
"Trust can't be built in a day, take it slowly; after all, there's plenty of time."
"Even if Wei Chang ultimately refuses to impart the cultivation technique, there are other prisoners in the dungeon. But they are all criminals who have committed atrocious deeds, with perverse and violent behavior. If cultivation techniques were passed to them, they could not be practiced lightly!"
From then on.
Zhou Yi's daily routine became highly regular—sleeping, roll call, delivering meals, drinking with Wei Chang, sleeping, roll call…
In just over half a month, Zhou Yi found himself getting used to the life in Fengyang Country.
He originally thought that without smartphones, games, movies, and other forms of entertainment, life would be dull and tasteless. However, a visit to the 'hook-house' with colleagues suddenly opened up a new world for him.
The young ladies there were well-educated and enthusiastic, making Zhou Yi linger and forget to return.
Today.
After delivering meals, Zhou Yi came to Wei Chang's cell to drink.
"Great hero, this Autumn Dew Concentrate is only ten years old, I've been tight on money these past few days!"
Wei Chang glanced at it and said disdainfully, "Spent all your silver at the brothel?"
Zhou Yi touched his face and said, "Is it that obvious?"
Wei Chang replied, "Your face is red, ears are hot, signs of the unable-to-be-released vigor of a full spirit!"
Zhou Yi exclaimed in surprise, "Great hero knows medicine, too?"
"Medicine and martial arts have always been inseparable! Fortunately, you were able to practice restraint, preserving your essence. Otherwise, cultivating martial arts would have been much less effective." In Wei Chang's voice, there was also a hint of surprise, having not expected Zhou Yi to be able to resist.
Zhou Yi naturally understood the value of youthful vigor and asked curiously, "By what you've said, those martial arts experts didn't break their precepts in their youth?"
Wei Chang said slowly, "Among the martial arts techniques, there are no lack of secret methods to lock in essence and solidify yang…"
Zhou Yi's expression became solemn, and he bowed deeply.
"Please teach me, great hero!"