At a corner on the inner city fortress wall, just the right spot to see the prison entrance, City Lord Ba Yingshan of Zhixu City stood quietly, watching the people coming in and out of the prison entrance, his face not looking good, his flickering gaze hiding worry.

The events from those years had left him trembling with fear, cautious and reserved for quite a while.

He dared not contact the Qi family again, nor did the Qi family dare to contact him; both sides acted as if they had never had any dealings.

He thought things had already passed, but who would have thought the Qi family would send people in again, and they got caught, which led to the outside grabbing Shi Chun back here; all signs indicated that the old case was about to be revisited.

The key issue was, when the incident happened, he was completely unaware while the Qi family members were being apprehended within the city. He only found out after the relevant persons were caught, and upon inquiry, he learned that it was personally supervised by the Prison Inspection Envoy.

Including this time bringing Shi Chun back from the outside, he only knew after hearing the news that people were captured.

It felt like everything was being avoided from him, which made him feel very uneasy.

He just couldn't understand what the Qi family was up to; back then, even the Prison Chief had been alarmed, yet they dared to act recklessly. If they angered that one, nobody could save the Qi family. Were they not afraid of their family's extermination?

The problem was, he was scared. The fact that the Qi family secretly colluded with him back then was surely known by someone in the Qi family; otherwise, they couldn't have achieved inside and outside coordination. Once the Qi family fell into the net, who could guarantee they wouldn't expose him?

At the right moment, he turned and went down the wall, conveniently encountering the responsible Armored Soldier at the street corner below, looking quite refined; one of the four runners beside the Prison Inspection Envoy, Xu Yong.

"City Lord Ba." Xu Yong nodded politely; the two of them held the same rank.

Ba Yingshan chuckled and said, "There's quite a commotion outside on the street. I heard they brought back that Shi Chun, who was released so long ago; why catch him again?"

Xu Yong motioned towards the direction of the morgue with a gesture, "That guy confessed before he died. The reason he sneaked in was to find some family's leverage."

Ba Yingshan was taken aback, "Family leverage? The Qi family?"

Xu Yong nodded, "Trying to make a name for himself within the family. Do you remember Qi Ziru, who entered from the Qi family back then? Before his death, Qi Ziru prepared a piece of evidence for self-protection, detailing all the contacts with the traitor inside. The recently deceased one took the risk of coming in after unintentionally hearing about this secret, wanting to find that evidence as leverage. However, after searching secretly for a long time, he couldn't find where the evidence was hidden. He investigated around and found out that Shi Chun might be the last person to contact Qi Ziru, possibly taking away the items from Qi Ziru, potentially connecting to relevant clues from Shi Chun. However, before he could find Shi Chun outside, he was caught by us, so it's inevitable to bring Shi Chun back for reflection."

Ba Yingshan said, "I see, no wonder."

He appeared calm on the surface, but inside he was full of tumultuous waves.

After some casual small talk, the two went their separate ways…

A few days later, there was a disturbance in the inner city. After search personnel kicked open the door of a guard's residence, they found the guard inside was already dead from poisoning, his body swollen and discolored.

The cause was someone poisoning within the prison.

Poison was found in the drinking water sent to Shi Chun, and after examination by the guards, the source of the water delivery was traced back to the deceased, causing the trail to end.

This led to great commotion in both the inner and outer city, yet Shi Chun himself was completely unaware.

From the tower, overlooking City Lord Ba Yingshan commanding people to search all over the city, Du Huoguan observed indifferently with a bland expression.

Armored Xu Yong next to him attempted to ask, "Knowing that he's the one, why not act against him?"

Du Huoguan briefly replied, "He still has value."

The search commotion was so massive that it made people inside and outside the city anxious and restless, and part of those with intentions caught wind that someone had poisoned Shi Chun within the prison, leading to a formally involved City Guard being silenced.

In Dazhi City, a quaint old pavilion, the Red-clothed Woman, who had received the news, paced back and forth with suspicion in her eyes. The poisoning news made her begin to doubt if she had misunderstood; this arrest of Shi Chun might have genuine reasons.

In a deeply ancient hall, the Master of the Qi Family, who was summoned to Life Prison to identify the deceased, gathered several core high-level members for a secret meeting.

"I said the matter is over; no further contact with Life Prison is allowed. Who, who is still reaching out; does everyone want to die?"

Family Master Qi Zhun, with a head of graying hair swaying like a lion's mane, roared at them, his face flushed, pointing directly at an elegantly dressed elderly woman sitting there.

The elderly woman was Qi Ziru's mother, and she stood up to address everyone, "In my house, absolutely no one knows any insider details about the Life Prison events back then. As for why Qi Feng entered the Life Prison again, I genuinely don't know. He suddenly disappeared previously, and we were searching for him everywhere. If he truly went in upon a secret instruction, how could we possibly be searching so publicly?"

An old man sitting there sighed, "Yes, everything is pushed onto Qi Feng, but the problem is, who believes it? Now, everyone is watching my Qi family, even the Heavenly Court keeps inviting me for tea. I can't explain clearly, and I dare not reveal the secret operations from back then; what do you say we should do?"

Meanwhile, Lan Qiaoyan also arrived at Zhixu City, learned some of the circumstances in Bowan Building, and entered the inner city for visits.

Eventually, upon approval, she entered the prison for a visit.

Seeing Shi Chun, who was lying idly on the cooler ground within the cage, she was both amused and annoyed.

Shi Chun, whose cultivation was restrained, only noticed her when she reached outside the cage, looked up, and swiftly scrambled to his feet, hurried over, and leaned against the cage, pleasantly surprised, "Boss, how come you're here?"

Lan Qiaoyan glanced around, sneered, "Just came to see if you're dead yet."

Ignoring the watchful eyes of the guard nearby, she opened her palm in a certain angle, revealing a line of writing for him to see, which read: The big guy asked me to check on you.

Once the other party had seen it clearly, she discreetly rubbed her hands together to erase the writing.

Indeed, it was Wu Jinliang who had contacted her, wanting to know about Shi Chun's situation.

She was the prized possession of Situ Guxiu and the Demon Queen. Only after gaining her freedom did she learn about the shocking event during the execution. Her daughter, Miao Yilan, had also described the incident to her parents. She and Miao Dingyi had never imagined such a thing could happen. No matter how much their daughter pleaded, once a person entered the Life Prison, they couldn't intervene.

Before they extricated themselves from the West Bull King Court, Wu Jinliang had already contacted Miao Yilan. Aside from asking for help to inquire about Shi Chun's situation, he also sent a heavy gift to Miao Yilan, claiming that it was entrusted by Shi Chun to be handed to her.

Shi Chun sending gifts was something this family was used to, and they believed it was Shi Chun's intention.

However, this time the delivery was overly cautious, not quite Shi Chun's usual style. Wu Jinliang only disclosed the hiding place of the gift, not daring to show himself. Miao Yilan had to dig it up herself.

Inside the cage, Shi Chun smiled bitterly upon seeing the writing, "For now, it seems I'm still alive." He then asked, "Are my friends outside alright?"

Lan Qiaoyan knew who he was referring to and replied, "They're all fine for now. But what about you? How did you get caught again? What's going on?"

"I don't know what tricks that Qi family was up to back then..." Shi Chun mumbled his grievances incoherently.

In any case, the two of them could only say what could be said, and once the time was up, Lan Qiaoyan was escorted out.

In the days that followed, Lan Qiaoyan would come to visit every few months.

Meanwhile, Shi Chun, locked inside the cell, was on the verge of going mad from idleness. With no one to talk to, constraints preventing him from cultivating, and the dim lighting, it was maddening.

Every month, someone would come to interrogate him, asking if he was the last person to see Qi Ziru and Shen Youkun, and urging him to think if there was anything he hadn't confessed.

Shi Chun insisted that the deaths of those two had nothing to do with him and said he didn't know anything.

Otherwise, he languished in a forgotten silence, with the clear message that if he didn't confess, he wouldn't be able to leave.

As time in the outside world passed effortlessly, before he realized it, a year had gone by. Inside the prison, Mr. Shi had become disheveled, filthy, and foul-smelling, spending his days wrestling with lice in the dim light.

Meanwhile, in the tallest tower in the city, a man with shoulder-length hair, wearing a black and gold robe covered by a violet gauze, again paused at this spot while holding an umbrella to paint erotic art.

The prison master Nie had arrived.

After Du Huoguan yammered on about some situation in the Life Prison and admiring some new techniques in the erotic paintings, he cautiously reminded, "By the way, that Shi Chun is still locked up here."

Nie paused his brush and uttered in confusion, "Is he locked up in Zhixu City?"

"…" Du Huoguan was speechless, realizing he even forgot where Shi Chun was imprisoned. No wonder he hadn't visited Zhixu City once since Shi Chun's capture. Shortly, he nodded and replied, "Yes, he's been locked up for over a year now."

Nie replied nonchalantly, "It's only been a bit over a year."

Then he continued painting.

"…" Du Huoguan was baffled, unable to grasp the meaning behind this, but he tried to ask nonetheless, "He can't be locked up forever, right? When will he be released?"

Nie pondered for a moment, resumed painting, and casually replied, "Keep him in for another twenty years."

"Twenty years?" Du Huoguan was slightly shocked and had to ask, "Prison master, is it necessary to keep him locked up for that long?"

Without lifting his gaze, Nie replied, "Do you think if he were released now, all parties would easily let go of him while he's in the spotlight? Twenty years should be enough to fade things out. Calculating the time, it'd be just right after twenty years. We're giving him a chance; how he chooses to handle it is his own business. We won't interfere."

Just right after twenty years? Immediately, Du Huoguan tallied and aligned the meanings in Nie's words with the future timeline and suddenly realized, "I understand, but his cultivation is not yet at the Human Immortal realm. He doesn't have the qualifications to participate."

Nie replied indifferently, "That's your problem."

So, a month or so later, the cell door was opened. Shi Chun, in disbelief, got up, for another person was thrown in, and it seemed he now had a cellmate.

It wasn't until the restriction on his cultivation was lifted that he realized the person wasn't a real cellmate.

"This person is related to that case, but he won't talk. If you can make him speak and clarify his situation, you'll be released. This is all thanks to Lan Qiaoyan's plea for you." Xu Yong, walking by, threw the person in and delivered the message before leaving.

Having the chance to get out and regaining his cultivation powers, the bedraggled Shi Chun rolled up his sleeves and got spirited, but upon inspecting the dying prisoner, his heart sank halfway. The injuries were too severe, the person was on the brink of death. How was he supposed to interrogate? The prison lacked adequate medical facilities, could this really be due to Lan Qiaoyan's pleading?

Complaining wouldn't help, so he could only make do with what was at hand.

However, when his regained Right Eye Superpower was activated again, he suddenly discovered that the severely injured prisoner actually possessed Demon Essence. Was he of the Demon Path? His cultivation seemed quite high. A dirty finger of his scratched into his mouth, biting the fingertip.

At times he fiddled with his teeth, while at other times he sneaked peeks outside the cell in a furtive manner.

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