97: Chapter 97 Sober, Madman

Que Wuhua's current state was much worse than when he was first imprisoned.

Unlike the ease and comfort of that time, now, his entire body was bound by several thick chains, and his mouth in particular was sealed shut with tape, giving him no opportunity to resist whatsoever.

The once majestic true disciple of the Demon Sound Sect from a few weeks ago had been thrown into this dungeon like a cripple.

Even the injuries on his body had only been treated simply, barely enough to keep him alive.

Chen Ran's gaze was indifferent as the heavenly book of prison suppression within his Sea of Consciousness flipped open.

[Prisoner: Que Wuhua (Recorded)]

[Realm: Sixth-Grade Internal Breath (Peak)]

[Status: Imprisoned (Severely Injured, Sealed)]

[Sin: High]

[Cultivation Technique: Demon Sound True Art, Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Melody]

...

Chen Ran looked at the information provided by the heavenly book of prison suppression.

This was the first time he had personally arrested an escaped prisoner, and the rewards were extremely generous.

Just by successfully arresting him, he could directly settle the reward with an extremely high degree of participation.

He had obtained all of Que Wuhua's Cultivation Technique skills in one fell swoop.

"It seems that all recorded prisoners will remain on file. Is this meant to encourage me to catch more prisoners?"

Chen Ran rubbed his chin and pondered slightly.

"If that's really the case, perhaps I could trigger a reward if I were to catch the Red Lotus Demonic Cult Saintess again."

Thinking of that scene, Chen Ran could imagine Jiang Mengli's expression when that time came.

Finally, he smiled and shook his head.

"Forget it, she is now thousands of miles away. Unless she attacks the capital, it will be hard to meet her again."

Chen Ran closed his eyes and utilized the Blood Transformation Great Art to sense the aura of the Blood Seed.

At this moment, due to the great distance, his ability to sense the Blood Seed was no longer as strong, leaving only a vague direction.

"The Red Lotus Demonic Cult is over in Shenghai, I wonder what they are plotting?"

Ever since the Saintess of the Red Lotus Demonic Cult fled the capital, the cult had not taken any action for a long time.

But Chen Ran knew that this stability was only temporary.

How could an organization that attempted to overthrow the Great Wei Court possibly hide peacefully?

Perhaps they were brewing something big.

Chen Ran took one last look at the sealed Que Wuhua, his expression unchanged.

At this moment, Que Wuhua had no value to him, and whether he lived or died was of no concern to him; he was now just waiting for orders from above.

Liu Mingyu was still feeling a bit of trepidation. Seeing Chen Ran lingering in front of Que Wuhua's cell from a short distance away, he reminded him:

"Brother Chen, you must be careful. These people from the Demonic Cult are all extremely dangerous."

"Brother Liu, his cultivation is sealed, and his mouth is bound. He can't stir up any trouble. Leave the rest to me; you go and rest first."

"Alright, just check on Niu Hong's status and distribute his prison rations at the end of the day."

"Niu Hong, you say... no problem."

Seeing Liu Mingyu's figure disappear into the distance, Chen Ran changed direction and arrived deep within the Ding-class cells.

The further he went, the more desolate it became.

Many of the cells were even empty.

The dungeon he was in was only a branch, not the headquarters.

The highest-level prisoners detained here were Grade-A, but those cells had been empty for a long time.

Chen Ran had heard before that the true dungeon was located at the headquarters of the Demon Suppression Division, where the prisoners and even Yao Beasts held inside were terrifying, even exceeding Grade-A...

Ordinary jailers, let alone inspectors, would likely lose their lives before they even got close.

This place was guarded entirely by members of the Demon Suppression Division themselves.

Otherwise, if an old monster escaped from the depths of the dungeon, the capital would be in chaos.

...

Click, click.

The sound of footsteps was particularly distinct in the quiet environment.

At the end of the cell block, a brawny man with knotted muscles and a massive frame was sitting quietly inside a cell.

Hearing the footsteps in the distance, he remained unmoved.

His breathing only deepened, and as his chest rose and fell, a sound like a pulling bellows could be heard.

Chen Ran used a long hook to slide a bowl of prison food to the small opening at the side of the cell, then flicked his wrist to push the bowl inside.

"Niu Hong, time to eat."

Upon hearing this, the brawny man sitting on the ground inside the cell slowly raised his head and exhaled a puff of white mist.

A strange scene unfolded: this person kept his legs and feet together and crawled over quickly like a reptile.

The next moment, a spine-chilling slurping sound came from the pitch-black cell.

In an instant, the food in the basin, which was the size of a millstone, had completely disappeared.

Thump, thump, thump.

After finishing his meal, Niu Hong tapped the rim of the basin a few times.

"Is there more?"

His voice was hoarse and devoid of emotion.

"There is."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ran picked up another basin of food from the cart behind him and passed it over.

For a Martial Artist like Niu Hong who primarily cultivated his Physical Body, the energy requirements of his body were extremely high, and his appetite was astonishingly large.

One person's appetite could basically equal that of five or six ordinary people.

But in this dungeon, let alone eating until full, it was good enough to have one meal.

Seeing the jailer before him bring more food, Niu Hong paused slightly, then finally whispered slowly:

"Thank you."

"Is your illness any better?"

Niu Hong shook his head: "No."

This man was extremely stingy with his words, but Chen Ran did not mind; in fact, he found it quite normal.

Niu Hong was actually not completely insane; otherwise, he wouldn't just be held in the dungeon.

Truly insane Martial Artists would have been killed off long ago.

Those who could survive all had some real skills.

Niu Hong was able to remain until now because he could briefly resist the invasion of the Yao Beast blood's will.

He had become one of the subjects under observation by the Demon Suppression Division.

The entire Martial Forest had been conducting research on Yao Beasts for a long time.

After all, even if one cultivated the Martial Dao to the First-Grade Grandmaster Realm, their Lifespan would only be three hundred years at most.

Yet those top-tier Yao Beasts were not only powerful, but their Lifespans were also enviable, possessing nearly a thousand years of life.

Therefore, some Martial Artists whose cultivation had reached a Bottleneck or who had little Lifespan left naturally set their sights on Yao Beasts.

Fusion with Yao had always been a hot topic.

At that time, it had even sparked many tragedies, and it was only after the imperial court explicitly banned it that this trend gradually disappeared.

...

Niu Hong quickly finished his food, sat back down on the ground, and wholeheartedly began to circulate his Cultivation Technique.

This was one of the few lucid moments he had during the day.

Therefore, he cherished it especially, seizing every moment to Cultivate, attempting to block the invasion of the Yao Beast blood.

Swish.

The Qi and blood within his body flowed slowly, and the food he had just eaten was being rapidly digested by his stomach, turning into nutrients.

However, he soon noticed something was wrong.

Logically, that jailer should have left after delivering the prison food, but he hadn't heard any movement.

It was as if this person hadn't moved at all?

He opened his eyes and looked sharply into the distance.

He saw a young man standing a few steps away from the cell door, quietly observing him.

"Are you not afraid of me?"

"You are lucid right now, so of course I am not afraid. Besides, I have always been quite curious about your Yao Beast blood technique."

Niu Hong frowned slightly, sensing something was wrong.

He stood up straight, his massive body causing the chains wrapped around him to clatter.

"What do you want!?"