The next day.
Zhou Yi came to the Sky Prison for roll call.
The main gate had not yet been repaired, and there were patches of black and red blood on the ground and walls that made shoes sticky when stepped on.
Warden Zheng was killed by the attackers last night, so the earlier agreed-upon job swap with Colonel Niu naturally was voided. However, there was no need to keep count anymore, as Colonel Niu also perished in the chaos of last night.
"The Sky Prison rarely encounters problems, but when it does, it's earth-shattering. I'll have to pay my respects to many in the coming days."
Zhou Yi entered the prison cell to find it empty and with few remaining prisoners.
It was said that the mastermind who attempted the prison break tried to take prisoners with him, among them several high-ranking officials of the previous dynasty. The Mysterious Armor soldiers ambushed outside repelled the attackers in a few charges, killing all the thieves along with the hostages they had taken.
"Well, that makes my job a lot easier."
Zhou Yi carrying a food bucket, tapped on the bars, "Old Bai, why didn't you take the opportunity to escape yesterday?"
This prisoner surnamed Bai was quite interesting. He was extraordinarily handsome, and if he were dressed in white and opened a folding fan, his appearance alone could mesmerize countless martial heroines.
The specifics of his crime were unclear, as the archives contained no records—thrown directly into the Sky Prison by the royal clan's estate.
"I am wrongly accused as it is; wouldn't escaping just make me a real criminal?"
Old Bai quickly finished his soup and, looking at the abundant leftovers in the bucket, said, "Just give them all to me, save you the trouble of carrying it back."
Zhou Yi placed the food bucket inside the cell, feigning surprise, "From the sound of it, you imply that if you wanted to escape, you could have?"
"Thought about it the day before, got scared yesterday. I'd rather quietly serve out three to five years here," Old Bai said, recalling the fear he felt from last night's events.
In the martial world, it was said that the Saint of Thieves was top-tier in swordsmanship, but his qinggong was unparalleled—fast enough to outpace an Innate Grandmaster. Old Bai was outwardly modest, but he certainly felt pride inside.
It wasn't until he witnessed the swordsmanship used to kill people, treating top fighters like chopping vegetables, that he realized how little he knew.
Why would an Innate Grandmaster need to race with you? With a slash of his flying sword, you'd be sliced in two.
"What did you see to be so frightened?"
Zhou Yi was quite curious. As he had been talking to the surviving jailers, they provided unclear descriptions of last night's battle within the Sky Prison.
Not a single jailer on duty in the Sky Prison last night had survived!
An elite fighter who had perfected his Inner Qi both internally and externally was a match for ten thousand on the battlefield; not even the Mysterious Armor soldiers could capture him. Otherwise, General Li Wu wouldn't have needed to take action personally.
Old Bai shook his head repeatedly, "Can't say, can't say!"
"Want some drink?"
Zhou Yi took a flask from his waist and opened it, releasing the fragrance of wine.
"Pear Blossom White, aged ten years!"
Old Bai's nostrils twitched as he accurately identified the wine's name and age. Who in the Jianghu didn't enjoy a good drink? After more than two years in prison, his palate was as bland as a bird's.
The aroma of the wine, tantalizing him, caused him to salivate involuntarily, his throat involuntarily moving.
"Let me drink first!"
Old Bai was well aware of how malicious this very jailer before him could be, having tricked many high-level Jianghu experts from Prison Cell Jia.
The Jianghu experts were carefree outside, casually taking out ingots of gold to settle accounts—ill-gotten gains from stealing or looting, spent with ease but with no savings.
Once in Sky Prison with no one to provide them meal money, they had to drink swill daily.
Unable to bear it any longer, they made deals with Zhou Yi: a unique acupoint technique for a couple of chicken legs, a secret medication recipe for a flask of wine, or even Jianghu secrets for a few pancakes.
Zhou Yi, however, did not play by the rules. To those he liked, things were fine, but for those he disliked, the chicken legs were spoiled, and the water mixed with wine.
"I always play by the rules. Those individuals I dealt with were all unforgivable criminals," Zhou Yi handed the flask through the bars, defending himself.
"You talk a good game, but what about the Jiangnan hero?"
Old Bai took a sip of wine, breathed a sigh of relief, then sipped slowly to savor the flavor, fearing he'd finish it without tasting it.
"On the surface, he was a champion of justice, but in private, he dealt in organ harvesting, an utterly heartless business. He deserved to die, his organs shattered, reduced to a mere bag of skin, didn't he?"
Zhou Yi took out a red pill marked with black lines from his chest, examined it for a moment, and then carefully replaced it.
"The Miao brothers' Gu insects are indeed peculiar. They can keep a person alive even when their organs are shattered!"
After several more drinks, Old Bai suppressed the fear in his heart and said mysteriously, "Do you believe in the art of the flying sword?"
"I believe!"
Zhou Yi thought to himself, I've even seen a fairy who could slice through the void with one sword.
"..."
Old Bai had intended to shock Zhou Yi, but his words were cut off mid-sentence.
Zhou Yi's eyes grew distant, "Let me guess, last night General Li used the art of the flying sword to easily kill those who attempted the prison break?"
"..."
Old Bai, who was quick-witted, shifted the subject, "Do you know who was killed? Ling Xu the Immortal of the Sky One Observatory, Monk Kong Ming from Jinguang Temple, and White Impermanence, the leader of the ghosts!"
"They're all dead. I'm not interested in their glorious past," Zhou Yi said contentedly, believing now that the Innate talent wasn't an end to his own progress, as Innate Grandmasters could already perform techniques akin to wielding instruments.
Feeling frustrated and at a loss for words, Old Bai handed back the empty flask and prepared to lie down on the straw mat to rest.
Since last night, the moment he closed his eyes, all he could see was the image of the flying sword taking lives; he couldn't sleep at all.
Zhou Yi said, "We're all part of Jianghu; don't trust everyone, and don't be too cynical. You really should have let that fellow go—dying ten times over couldn't atone for his sins."
"How did you know?"
Old Bai was a first-rate expert, occupying a cell by himself, next to the Jiangnan hero.
Zhou Yi said, "No matter how secret you two were, you might have fooled the jailer on patrol, but could you fool the other prisoners? Someone traded their conversation with me for a chicken leg."
"..."
All at once, Old Bai no longer wanted to be in prison. Perhaps even accepting the Commandery Princess's marriage proposal wouldn't be as suffocating as this.
Zhou Yi continued, "I saved your life, didn't I? I hear you're quite good at qinggong. Could you teach me?"
"I'm tired!"
Old Bai turned around, with his back to Zhou Yi.
...
Half a year had flown by in the blink of an eye.
The new warden, originally in charge of the Jingyi jail, had unexpectedly been promoted to oversee the Sky Prison.
In Fengyang Country, the unspoken rules of the various prisons were more or less the same, it's just that it was much easier to make more money in the Sky Prison.
Now all the prison guards were familiar with their duties, and the Sky Prison had returned to its usual state.
"Old Zhou, good morning!"
The guard on duty at the door, Feng Qiao, greeted his senior colleague; after all, there were few who had worked in the Sky Prison longer than Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi responded with a smile, "You were the one who slipped away early yesterday, afraid you'd have to foot the bill?"
"With a shrewish wife at home, I had no choice!"
Feng Qiao kept bowing his hands apologetically, as he was originally the head jailer of Wannian County Jail in Jingji and was still not used to life after his transfer to the Divine Capital.
The most expensive brothel in Wannian County would only charge one or two silver for an overnight stay, but in the Spring Breeze Building, merely touching a girl's hand cost ten silver! Even if the silver was gilded, it wouldn't be worth that.
Zhou Yi joked, "Since Colonel Niu himself went, it should be on the prison's account, so don't feel too bad about it."
Feng Qiao immediately regretted it; he had intended to ask around this morning and then boast at home, pretending he had enjoyed himself at the Spring Breeze Building.
"There will be other opportunities in the future."
As Zhou Yi chatted with his colleagues on the way, he carried the bucket to distribute meals.
Prison Cell Yi Seven.
The prisoner had just been incarcerated not long ago, a Ministry of Personnel official who had committed the crime of selling official posts.
His hair was gray, and his frame was thin and gaunt.
At such an age, entering the Sky Prison meant he wouldn't last a year or half a year.
The prisoner saw Zhou Yi pour the rice and struggled to stand up with difficulty, coughing violently a few times, then slowly shuffled over and picked up his bowl to eat slowly.
Every action he took resembled that of an old man on his deathbed.
A glint of sharpness passed through Zhou Yi's eyes. Skilled in the Art of Disguise, he had already noticed several flaws.
The expression on the face was too stiff; even if he was pretending to be at death's door, the skin couldn't be so utterly motionless.
There was a subtle difference between the color of the skin on the neck and that of the hands, especially the black mud stuck to the hands: firstly, the shape was too deliberate, and secondly, it had not blended into the skin at all.
Moreover, such a weak old man could not possibly hold the bowl so steadily…
Zhou Yi silently left and made his way to Old Bai's cell, taking out a flask of wine from within his clothes.
Old Bai opened the flask and sniffed, "Pear Blossom White again? This liquor is too strong; it's nowhere near as smooth as Zhaodian Red or Jade Dew's gentle flavor."
"A long time ago, an old friend of mine loved to drink Pear Blossom White; I got used to it and have been too lazy to change my taste."
Zhou Yi struggled to remember Wei Chang, recalling only a robust man with a broad forehead and wide face; the specific details had become blurred.
"Tsk tsk, someone as sly as you actually had friends?"
After half a year, Old Bai had become familiar with Zhou Yi, so his speech lost much of its previous caution.
Zhou Yi didn't want to dwell on the past; with his infinite lifespan, he would accumulate countless pasts in the future, including possibly Old Bai, so he had to learn either to seal them away or to forget.
"I practiced the Drifting Step yesterday, and some of the turns just didn't feel right…"
Old Bai pondered for a moment before speaking, "The world's qinggong essentially divides into two types: the short-range quick movements and the long-distance sprinting. The Drifting Step belongs to the former…"
He detailed the key points of practicing the Drifting Step, imparting his knowledge to resolve Zhou Yi's doubts until the flask was emptied.
Before leaving, Zhou Yi asked, "Shall I bring Zhaodian Red or Jade Dew tomorrow?"
Old Bai replied, "Let's stick with Pear Blossom White; I've gotten used to it and don't feel like changing flavors either."
Zhou Yi paused, then squatted down again, "I'll find a hundred-year-old Pear Blossom White for you, but you need to do something for me."
Old Bai nodded and said, "That would be welcome; in the past, I would never drink anything less than a hundred-year-old fine wine!"
Zhou Yi laughed, "You don't even ask what it is, what if it's murder, arson or robbery?"
"Although you're cunning, you're someone with principles."
Old Bai stated, "Moreover, if it were truly evil, I would've enjoyed the fine wine for free. And what could you do to me if I refused to do it?"
"The prisoner in Cell Yi Seven seemed to have been switched out last night…"
Zhou Yi explained the background of the prisoner, along with the flaws left after his disguise.
"How intriguing! How could I miss such an interesting matter?"
Old Bai's eyes lit up—boredom was rife within the prison walls, "You can rest assured that if he makes any move, he will certainly not escape my eyes."
"Be careful, that person is very likely to be an expert."
Zhou Yi repeatedly cautioned him, stressing that it was merely surveillance; if that fellow escaped, there was no need to give chase.
"Don't worry! I'm an old hand at this; safety first, isn't that something I would know?"
...
A few days later.
Zhou Yi came to the prison to deliver meals.
Grinning, Old Bai waved and used Inner Qi to send a telepathic message, "That guy finally made a move last night."
"What did he do?"
Zhou Yi had learned more than a dozen qinggong skills from Old Bai, including some top-notch secrets. In return, he taught Old Bai the Telepathic Secret Technique from the King of the Azure Heaven.
"He visited Prison Cell Jia One last night, searched around for half the night, and then came back."
Excitement showed on Old Bai's face—everyone knew that cell had confined a Martial Arts Grandmaster just six months earlier.