Desire Makes One Unyielding

Heavenly Prison offices.

Zhou Yi pushed open the door and entered, bowing in greeting.

"Uncle Niu, you were looking for me?"

Niu Xiaowei set something down and gestured for Zhou Yi to sit. "Kid, your methods were far too crude. Aren't you afraid the Brocade Guard will investigate?"

Having just heard the jailers' report, Niu Xiaowei had concluded that Zhou Yi had used some trick to kill Vice Minister Liu. Such things were commonplace in the Heavenly Prison. When officials sent political enemies into the Heavenly Prison, they would spend a sum of silver to buy their lives, lest those enemies rise again.

"What do you mean, Uncle Niu? I've just been honestly delivering meals."

Zhou Yi played dumb, neither denying nor admitting anything.

Vice Minister Liu and Luo Hu's corpses had both gone cold. The dead could not testify, but that did not mean there was no risk. Fengyang Kingdom was not a place where law reigned supreme; guilt or innocence depended entirely on what those above said. Under torture, what confession could not be obtained?

Niu Xiaowei snorted. "No wonder Lord Lei told me that in this Heavenly Prison, you're the slyest brat of them all!"

"Lord Lei overpraised me."

Zhou Yi said with a smile, "Master Luo had a residence in the capital with several thousand taels of silver hidden inside. The silver goes to Uncle Niu, the boxing manual goes to me, and the residence goes to that widow."

"Properly done!"

Niu Xiaowei praised him, finding Zhou Yi increasingly pleasing to the eye.

He would rather give up some of his own benefits than fail to fulfill what he had promised Luo Hu. Niu Xiaowei knew he could not do the same. After all, bullying widows and swallowing up orphaned estates was something seen everywhere.

"After all, Master Luo passed down his art to me."

Zhou Yi had not wanted to draw attention to himself. The tonic prescription was not even the most important thing. What he truly wanted was for Vice Minister Liu to die.

Vice Minister Liu was a true scoundrel!

Such people had no bottom line in anything they did. If they were not beaten to death with a single stroke, the consequences would be endless. What if he managed to sweet-talk the new emperor, regained his former office, and forced Zhou Yi to flee for his life?

Niu Xiaowei asked curiously, "I've long known you were obsessed with martial arts, but have you actually made anything of it?"

"I was frail since childhood. I practiced martial arts only to strengthen my body."

Zhou Yi picked up the lid of a teacup from the table, rolled it between his fingers, and in an instant reduced it to a handful of powder.

Niu Xiaowei had gone to a martial arts school in his youth, but he could not endure the hardship and exhaustion of body tempering. He had not even cultivated his skin and membranes, yet he still understood the divisions of martial arts realms.

"Steel sinews and iron bones, crushing stone into mud in your grip... You've kept quiet all this time, yet you possess such strength?"

"I practiced without pause for ten years as if they were one day, and I never lacked nourishing soups and medicines. Even so, my talent can only be called bottom-tier."

Zhou Yi was not being modest. According to Wei Chang, people in the martial world could temper their sinews and bones in seven or eight years. Of course, those roaming the martial world had no time to practice every day.

Master Luo's true disciples had been soaked in medicinal baths and nourished by inner qi since childhood. By sixteen or seventeen, they had already completed their sinew-and-bone cultivation, and were said to have hopes of becoming Innate Grandmasters.

Zhou Yi envied them but did not resent them. After all, that gifted disciple had already died amid the chaos of war.

Living was the foundation of everything.

Whoever lived long enough to outlast all their peers would become a grandmaster of their generation!

Niu Xiaowei clicked his tongue in admiration. "You're already a second-rate expert in the martial world. Why not go out and make a name for yourself? It would be far more exhilarating than curling up here to deliver meals."

"Second-rate expert, my ass. Among the ten great martial arts schools in the capital, every master is a visceral-tempering expert. They say Master Chen of the Golden Saber Martial Arts School has already begun marrow cleansing and possesses divine strength enough to drag nine oxen backward and shift beams and pillars. Yet he did not even leave behind an intact corpse!"

Zhou Yi shrugged. "After fighting and scrambling for everything, you end up with your whole family executed. How can that compare to the peace and comfort I enjoy?"

The end of the universe was becoming a civil servant!

Zhou Yi had already reached the end of the universe. Besides, the Heavenly Prison held low rank but great authority, offered abundant opportunities for profit, and kept him out of official struggles. It was simply perfect!

Niu Xiaowei's gaze flickered as he suddenly asked, "Kid, tell me, can I be promoted to Prison Warden this time?"

Zhou Yi fell silent for a moment, then shook his head. "Difficult!"

"How so?"

Niu Xiaowei straightened up. He had asked many people this question, and every one of them had offered congratulations and flattery.

Everyone believed that the next Prison Warden of the Heavenly Prison could be none other than Niu Xiaowei.

If an outsider dared come in without understanding the Heavenly Prison's rules, it would not take long before he was living in a cell himself!

After considering his words, Zhou Yi said, "To lessen his crimes, Lord Lei will certainly explain Young Master Long's rebellion plot to the court. How could the new emperor dare trust the prison officials? It is highly likely he will send down a trusted confidant to serve as Prison Warden."

Over ten years in the Heavenly Prison, Zhou Yi had long noticed something.

Official posts in the Heavenly Prison had extremely little turnover, to the point that they had practically become hereditary.

Lei Siyue's father had been a Xiaowei, Niu Xiaowei's grandfather had been the previous Prison Warden, and even Zhou Yi's father and grandfather had both been jailers.

Even the residence of a fourth-rank Censorate Vice Director was rented, while Zhou Yi's lowly clerk father had bought a house in Shenjing. Of course, that censor might have merely been pretending to be poor, but it was enough to reveal the Heavenly Prison's problem.

Niu Xiaowei snorted in dissatisfaction. "There are all sorts of open and hidden rules here. If someone who doesn't know the trade comes, can he manage the place?"

"He truly may not understand the rules, but he can have the Brocade Guard arrest people. Who among us can withstand an investigation? In the end, everyone will be replaced, and all the rules will be set by them!"

When a mighty dragon crossed the river, it was not the dragon that suffered, but the local snake crushed into dregs.

Seeing Niu Xiaowei's face darken, Zhou Yi hurriedly declared his loyalty. "Rest assured, Uncle Niu. I will definitely support you."

"What use can a meal-deliverer like you be?"

Niu Xiaowei sighed. "Lord Lei advised me the same way. Back then, he pledged himself to Young Master Long, and that was what brought the disaster of confiscation and exile upon his family. Otherwise, with the Lei family serving as Heavenly Prison Xiaowei for generations, no dynasty would ever have denied them wealth and honor!"

The court's nobles saw their titles diminished generation by generation. After five generations, their ancestral shade was exhausted, and they became no different from commoners. But the Heavenly Prison was an iron rice bowl that could be passed down through sons and grandsons.

"Uncle Niu need not worry. If a new lord arrives, just support him with all your strength!"

Zhou Yi consoled him. "The Heavenly Prison has existed since the previous dynasty. No matter who becomes Prison Warden, before long he will become part of the Heavenly Prison faction."

The Heavenly Prison was relatively independent and had little contact with the various government offices. Once its gates closed, it became a place apart from the world.

Whoever became Prison Warden, after grasping such great power and benefits, would have no desire to change the Heavenly Prison!

Niu Xiaowei nodded slightly in agreement, then changed the subject. "You're twenty-seven this year, right? Yet you still fool around at Spring Breeze Pavilion every day? My elder brother has a niece, proper and dignified in appearance..."

"Uncle Niu, I made plans with Miss Nongyu tonight to discuss the Great Dao. I'll be going now!"

Zhou Yi waved his hands repeatedly. Even after crossing over, he still could not escape being pushed into marriage and blind dates.

If he truly were only a jailer, he could accept it. In his later years, he could enjoy the pleasure of playing with grandchildren. Yet the existence of the Longevity Dao Fruit meant Zhou Yi could never grow old together with anyone.

First, he feared exposing his secret. The Longevity Dao Fruit was the supreme treasure on which Zhou Yi relied.

Neither disguise nor transformation techniques were absolutely safe. If he stayed with someone beside his pillow for too long, something could go wrong at any moment.

Second, beauty faded. Decades later, when a woman's youth was gone, Zhou Yi did not know how he ought to treat her.

The young ladies of Spring Breeze Pavilion were so much better. No matter how many years passed, they remained young and beautiful. They discussed only money, never feelings, and left no attachments behind!

Niu Xiaowei shot Zhou Yi a sidelong glance and waved him off in disgust.

"Get out, get out! My niece is gentle and virtuous. I can't let a bastard like you ruin her!"

After getting off duty.

Zhou Yi did not go to Spring Breeze Pavilion. During the national mourning period, all banquets and entertainments were forbidden.

Of course, that did not affect Spring Breeze Pavilion's business. They opened a back entrance to secretly receive guests, and their prices had instead risen.

After returning home.

Zhou Yi read the Spring and Autumn Annals for a while, then reflected on and reviewed everything he had done that day.

"Regarding Young Master Long, I was somewhat rash. Still, I got that anger out of my chest, and my body and mind feel refreshed, so it was not a loss!"

Being cautious was not the same as enduring humiliation like a coward. Besides, martial cultivation also emphasized one's state of mind. This was especially true for inner qi cultivation. If one's thoughts were blocked, progress would slow, or even come to a complete halt.

Since ancient times, few true powerhouses had been built up solely through talent and resources. Most possessed powerful states of mind!

Zhou Yi was naturally an exception. So long as he lived forever, powerhouses would be nothing more than dry bones in tombs—characters in storybooks, or names the world had long forgotten.

"Revealing my strength to Niu Xiaowei has no real downside."

Zhou Yi had long intended to display it, not to fight for any authority, but so that his days in the Heavenly Prison would be more comfortable.

Within the system, desirelessness made one unyielding. No one could control a person who sought no advancement.

So long as he did not affect anyone's interests, others would be even less willing to provoke him for no reason. A meal-delivering jailer with considerable skill and a clever head would instead receive more consideration in daily life.

Examining myself thrice in a day—today was greatly auspicious!

"Tomorrow, I'll visit Master Luo's lover and send her to the countryside to lie low. As for the silver and prescription in the residence, I'll wait another year or so. By then, it will certainly be safe!"

Zhou Yi possessed the most precious treasure in the world. Everything else was of little consequence.

Shenjing was at its most chaotic now. Outside, the Imperial Guards, Black Riders, and Brocade Guard were searching everywhere and arresting people. What if they had already discovered Master Luo's residence?

If Zhou Yi walked in and delivered himself into their net, tomorrow someone else would be delivering meals to him.

Even if there were no Brocade Guard, there might still be Master Luo's disciples or clansmen. Then a battle would be unavoidable... Those were all dangers!

Let everything wait a few years. What Zhou Yi lacked least was time.

After turning everything over in his mind and weighing it thoroughly, Zhou Yi rose and practiced several sets of boxing, then returned to his room to sit in meditation and cultivate the Origin Returning Art.

The Origin Returning Art progressed slowly. He had not even reached the level of a third-rate expert. However, inner qi cultivation had always been a matter of later surpassing earlier and growing stronger with age. It could not be rushed or forced!

The moon shone bright, the stars were sparse, and the night was deep and still.

A small, thin shadow leaped over the wall and landed in the darkness, its night clothes blending into the black.

The figure crept along the base of the wall, sneakily feeling its way toward the room.

Suddenly.

The ground beneath its feet gave way, and its body dropped sharply.

The shadow reacted swiftly, circulating inner qi through its legs. Its left foot stepped on its right, shifting sideways several feet and avoiding the pit.

"Damn it, who digs traps in their courtyard?"

By the moonlight, the shadow saw the cold gleam of spikes in the pit, its heart racing in lingering fear. Its footsteps were light and soundless as it quickly reached the lattice of the master bedroom window, poked open the window paper, and blew in a sleeping powder.

The shadow waited a moment, confirmed the medicine had taken effect, lifted the window, and slipped inside. It rolled as it landed to soften the sound.

"Ah..."

With a shrill scream, the shadow was pierced full of holes by more than a dozen nails on the floor.

The nails had been smeared with some unknown medicine. The shadow felt numb all over and could not summon the slightest strength. It circulated its inner qi in an attempt to detoxify itself, but it had no effect at all.

"Brocade Guard secret medicine. They say even a top expert who is struck by it can only be carved up at another's pleasure!"

Zhou Yi's voice sounded from the window. He had noticed the shadow from the moment it entered the courtyard, and he never meditated in the master bedroom. The figure beneath the quilt on the bed was only a dummy.

"Spare my life, Hero..."

The shadow lay on the ground and begged. It was about to offer some reason that might soften a heart, but before it could speak, it saw several crossbow bolts flying toward it.

Half an hour later.

Zhou Yi used an iron shovel to level the ground, then looked up at the jujube tree in the courtyard.

"The jujubes it bears next year will definitely taste good. I'll give them to my colleagues!"