174: Chapter 174 Exploration, The Heavenly Book

Snap.

The crackling sound of burning firewood rang out.

Chen Ran cast his gaze toward the leaping flames. At this moment, he had changed out of his night-traveler's outfit into a green robe; at a glance, he looked like nothing more than an ordinary commoner.

"The secret treasury of the previous dynasty..."

Chen Ran muttered to himself. He had discussed this matter in detail with Jiang Mengli and thus understood why she had come specifically to find him.

The Red Lotus Demonic Cult's purpose in entering the capital this time was to open the secret treasury of the previous dynasty.

This secret treasury of the previous dynasty was inherently hidden; it was a secure vault specifically set up by the imperial family at the time to mitigate risk.

However, ever since Great Wei overthrew them, the location where it originally stood had also changed.

Its current location was at the entrance of Tongluo Alley in the south of the city, only about one li away from the Six Doors.

This location was awkward; the slightest disturbance would alert the Six Doors.

The plan he and Jiang Mengli had agreed upon was to create an opportunity by temporarily diverting the attention of the Six Doors at the right moment.

This plan wasn't necessarily hard, but it wasn't simple either.

It would still depend on the situation.

However, given his current status within the Six Doors, as long as he could lure Lin Wan out, there was a very high probability of success.

"Within the secret treasury of the previous dynasty, could there be the Cultivation Technique recorded in the ancient texts?"

This was what he was looking forward to; ordinary Cultivation Technique held little attraction for him anymore.

But the means recorded in those ancient texts, like those of an Immortal, were the key.

If such a Cultivation Technique truly existed, then it proved that the combat power of the entire world was much deeper than he had imagined.

"I hope there will be good news."

Chen Ran slowly stood up, raised his palm, and a formless gust of wind extinguished the flames.

The entire room plunged into darkness.

...

In the following days, because of the explosion incident, the entire capital was under much stricter martial law.

The Martial Arts Tournament was temporarily shelved, and the City Defense Army searched day and night, actually managing to catch quite a few criminals within the city.

The entire prison began to rotate shifts, and even Chen Ran became busier, placing most of his attention within the prison.

Demon Suppression Division,

Two stone lions carved from granite stood before the gate, baring fangs and brandishing claws, as if suppressing some terrifying existence.

At twilight, the entire sky was shrouded in a warm yellow hue.

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled onto the entrance as a Prison Officer, holding a dossier in his hand, walked up to a door.

He knocked on the door a few times.

Dong, dong, dong.

"Enter."

A voice came from behind the door, and the Prison Officer pushed the door open and entered.

Within his line of sight, a handsome youth draped in a dark-colored robe sat on a long chair, looking somewhat bored, listlessly flipping through a scroll in his hand.

The Prison Officer's expression was respectful; he dared not show the slightest negligence, as this person was his direct superior.

One major characteristic distinguishing the Prison Warden of the Demon Suppression Division from a Prison Officer was the change in attire.

Throughout the entire prison, one could roughly judge a person's status based on their clothing.

The low-level Jailers responsible for interrogating prisoners usually wore bright red cloth garments, primarily to be dirt-resistant; even if blood splattered onto them, it wouldn't be obvious.

The higher the position, the more the colors on their person would change; for example, Prison Officers and those in the Demon Suppression Division mostly wore red and black uniforms.

And if the position reached Prison Warden or higher, they would possess a dark-colored official robe.

The Great Wei imperial family favored gold; bright, warm gold, with a dazzling luster, luxurious and domineering.

In official circles, however, dark colors were favored: a black base with hidden crimson halos, appearing as calm as condensed ink in the shadows, and reflecting a dark crimson luster when facing the light.

This was distinct from the rough, matte black cloth of the yamen runners, which was dyed using ancient methods with herbs six times, representing the true color of heaven from the previous dynasty.

It symbolized that the officials, on behalf of the Emperor, received the will of the Heavenly Dao, assisted the monarch in managing the country, followed the mandate of heaven above, and brought peace to the common people below.

Chen Ran slightly lifted his eyes and looked at the Prison Officer who had walked in.

"What is the situation?"

"Lord Chen, a special prisoner has arrived in the prison; please take a look."

"Oh, a new prisoner?" Chen Ran finally had some reaction; he took the dossier handed over by the other party.

In the past few days, as the storm of public opinion in the capital fermented, he had once sought out Lin Wan, but was shut out.

This famous captor of the capital had been avoiding him lately, and the matters arranged by the Red Lotus Demonic Cult had no progress for the time being.

Chen Ran scanned the dossier casually, and finally, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Blood Fiend Mad Blade?"

Chen Ran's finger paused for a moment on the figure of a man in the dossier, and he slowly stood up.

"Let's go, take me to see him."

"Yes!"

...

In the corridor of the prison, it was damp and cold, with a faint, eerie whistling of wind.

Click.

Shoes hitting the ground made a crisp sound.

A youth in a dark-colored robe, with black and gold patterns embroidered on the shoulders, walked in front, followed not far behind by a Prison Officer in a red and black uniform.

"Have there been any unusual movements in the prison these past few days?"

"Reporting to Lord, everything has been peaceful in the prison recently, except for a few new prisoners who are somewhat unruly..."

Chen Ran nodded slightly. Ever since he was promoted to the position of Prison Warden,

his position's authority had also changed.

He no longer needed to be responsible for ordinary interrogations and supervision; he only needed to oversee the Prison Officers under his command.

Chen Ran moved forward, and when his gaze swept across the empty space,

a panel appeared before his eyes, and the heavenly book of prison suppression flashed a line of text as a prompt.

[You are patrolling the prison, guarding prisoners; your participation level has increased.]

[You are patrolling the prison, guarding prisoners; your participation level has increased.]

...

Lines of text appeared before his eyes like game notification sounds.

This was something Chen Ran had discovered through recent experiments since his position had been elevated.

The subordinates he managed were also covered within his scope; although he was not personally involved in the interrogations, the supervision by these Prison Officers under him also counted as a contribution on his part.

"Following this rate of development, perhaps one day when I am not in the prison, I can still obtain rewards..."

Chen Ran whispered in his heart, his mood surging.

As his strength increased, the heavenly book of prison suppression within his Sea of Consciousness also became clearer.

This was not an illusion; the heavenly book of prison suppression was indeed evolving at a slow speed.

Although the effect was not obvious in the short term, with the accumulation of time,

Chen Ran believed that his Golden Finger would definitely become more powerful, and perhaps it could awaken abilities with different effects.

While contemplating, the two had walked along the corridor for a long time,

and had gone all the way down, arriving at the fourth level of the prison.

They walked up to a prison cell cast from pure black refined steel.

"Lord, the prisoner known as the Blood Fiend Mad Blade is locked in here."

The Prison Officer introduced respectfully, then added a few words in a low voice.

"This prisoner is quite fierce; he has already been affixed with a Soul Suppression Talisman."

"Soul Suppression Talisman?"

Chen Ran knew this talisman technique; it was a method that the Formation Master from the Directorate of Astronomy had somehow acquired from somewhere.

As long as one was affixed with this talisman, the prisoner would become drowsy, mentally listless, and simply unable to muster any will to resist.

This method was much stronger than any interrogation by torture, and it had even become the truth serum of the prison at one point.

However, the so-called Soul Suppression Talisman was extremely precious to refine, consuming vast amounts of Materials, and it was generally rarely used, only employed at critical moments.

Even for the Class A prisoners on the fourth level of the prison, very few had experienced this method.

Seeing this situation, Chen Ran couldn't help but become a bit interested.

"What did he commit?"