175: Chapter 175 Genius, Prisoner

"This Shi Taichu is known as the Blood Fiend Mad Blade precisely because after falling into the Demonic Path, he went mad and slaughtered the household of a wealthy family in the capital, after which he was arrested by a Gold-Badge Constable of the Six Doors..."

"To be honest, don't give me that boring routine."

Chen Ran interrupted. The answer given by this Prison Officer was exactly the same as the records in the file he had read at the time.

But in this Great Wei, the records and testimonies recorded might not necessarily be true.

Just looking at the scene where the Wei Yanxi purged the officialdom last time, quite a few scandals were exposed from the imperial court.

Things like torture to extract confessions, false testimonies, and even arbitrarily arranging charges to lock clean officials in prison.

In this turbulent Dynasty, these things were simply too common.

Therefore, Chen Ran did not have a high degree of belief in the files; who knew if these files had been tampered with?

Was it a true record, or a false charge?

Furthermore, Chen Ran turned his gaze toward the cell.

The prisoner locked in the depths of the prison could not see the light of day, and even lamp light was a luxury.

Only when the Jailers delivered food or inspected would they turn on the surrounding candles.

Most of the time, the prison was shrouded in darkness.

Chen Ran raised the lantern in his hand, and the light projected backward.

In the darkness, under the faint firelight, a figure wrapped in gauze and trapped on a cross could be vaguely seen.

The figure had disheveled hair, was kneeling on the ground, and was entangled by a large number of steel needle-like hooks behind him, with an exceptionally obvious knife wound on his chest.

Even though it was bandaged with gauze and medicine, that thick bloody smell could not dissipate; clearly, this knife wound was the root of his severe injury.

"heavenly book of prison suppression."

Chen Ran thought, activating the Eye of Investigation.

Whoosh.

A panel emerged before his eyes.

[Prisoner: Shi Taichu]

[Realm: Fourth Grade Aperture Condensation Realm (Peak)]

[Status: Severely Injured]

[Sin Value: Medium]

[Life Experience: A former martial arts Genius, later for unknown reasons, fell into the Demonic Path, slaughtered living beings, bloodthirsty by nature...]

[Wish: Unknown (Can be unlocked by understanding the prisoner and increasing participation)]

Seeing the introduction on the panel, Chen Ran paused for a rare moment.

He had seen many prisoners who Cultivate the Demonic Path; any prisoner who fell into the Demonic Path had a Sin Value starting at least at High, and some could even reach the profound level.

But this Shi Taichu's Sin Value, in the evaluation of the heavenly book of prison suppression, was only judged as Medium.

That proved that his situation was at least not as simple as what was presented in the files.

Chen Ran withdrew his gaze, looked at the Prison Officer beside him, and spoke in a flat tone:

"What, are you trying to fool me too?"

Just one sentence fell, and the Prison Officer's face was covered in cold sweat.

In his perception, the deterrent force emitted by this immediate superior far exceeded the limit he could bear.

It was clearly a casual sentence, but his heartbeat uncontrollably accelerated, as if he had encountered a predator in the food chain.

He bowed slightly and spoke hesitantly:

"My Lord, this subordinate has indeed heard some rumors about this Blood Fiend Mad Blade, but there have been no substantive reports."

"Let's hear it."

The Prison Officer coughed lightly and began to recount the story as he understood it.

Rumor had it that ten years ago, in a small town several hundred miles outside the capital, a martial arts Genius had appeared.

He only needed to look at ordinary Cultivation Techniques once to understand the gist, and he displayed an astonishing level of talent in martial arts.

But that person, despite his poor family background and limited resources, relied on unremitting effort and persistence.

He forced himself to complete the first three Realms of Body Refining in just five years under the guidance of some ordinary Jianghu people in the small town.

This Cultivation speed was considered quite good even in the capital.

So the whole town raised a lot of money to send him to the capital to serve as a guard for a wealthy family.

But for some reason, ten years later, this former teenage Genius actually fell into the Demonic Path, Cultivated a bloodthirsty blade technique, and slaughtered the entire household of that wealthy family.

Such a tragic murder case happening in the capital naturally aroused the fury of the Six Doors, and he was immediately suppressed by the patrolling Gold-Badge Constables and sealed in the prison.

"Lord Chen, this is the information I know, but I don't know exactly what happened."

Speaking of this, the Prison Officer seemed to have thought of something else and said in a low voice:

"Lord Chen, I also heard... that the wealthy family did not have a good reputation among the public. After being slaughtered this time, many commoners actually applauded..."

"Hmm, you did well." Chen Ran nodded slightly; this was a relatively complete sequence of events.

It was much better than the file simply recording that he fell into the Demonic Path and was directly imprisoned.

As for what exactly happened, it would depend on the person involved.

Chen Ran took one last look at the disheveled man tied to the cross; a large number of Talismans emitting a faint light were pasted all over his body.

At this moment, under the effect of the Soul Suppression Talisman, Shi Taichu had completely fallen into a deep sleep and could not be interrogated now.

"My Lord, how should we deal with this prisoner?"

"Let him stay here quietly for now. After the effect of the Talisman stabilizes, I will interrogate him personally."

"Understood."

After arranging the prisoner, Chen Ran turned and left the cell door without looking back.

The Prison Officer behind him very sensibly did not say anything more.

Night fell slowly.

Chen Ran got off work from the prison, took off the very eye-catching black robe he was wearing, and changed into a cyan shirt and trousers.

"Lord Chen, take care!"

The Demon Suppression Division members on duty at the entrance said in unison.

Amidst the envious or jealous gazes of outsiders, Chen Ran slowly left the prison gate.

Until Chen Ran's figure completely disappeared from their sight and left no trace, those on duty began to whisper and chat:

"Did you see that? The attitude and expression of Lord Chen when he left..."

"Tsk tsk tsk, I think you're purely jealous. If you have the ability, why don't you go talk to a direct descendant of the Four Great Families?"

"It's just that they don't fancy me. If there really were one, I wouldn't mind marrying into the family."

"With your figure, who would fancy you?"

"Men aren't impossible either."

"Get lost."

Several dozen zhang outside the gate, on a bluestone slab, Chen Ran listened to the gossip in his ears and smiled helplessly.

"Talk about gossip if you must, but what the hell are you talking about every day..."

In these days, as the reports fermented, his reputation had become famous within the Demon Suppression Division.

At least most people knew that in the Internal Affairs Department, there was a prison warden named Chen Ran who might marry into the Lin family.