The Bad Kind of Good Person

Chongming, year 46, winter.

The Emperor died, and Chancellor Long plotted rebellion.

Duke Weiyuan, bearing the late Emperor's edict, led troops to suppress the revolt, staining Anding Gate with blood.

The next day.

Shenjing was under military control and curfew, hunting down the remnants of Chancellor Long's faction. The Heavenly Prison was overflowing.

Heavenly Prison.

Some prisoners clung to the bars, begging for mercy.

"Your Majesty, this old minister is innocent!"

"I have absolutely no connection with the Long traitor!"

"The Long traitor, everyone has the right to execute him!"

Others, knowing they were doomed, cursed Emperor Chongming as they faced death.

"Heaven has no eyes! How does that dog emperor deserve to rule the people?"

"The Zhao imperial family deserves to die!"

"Dog emperor, this old man wishes he could devour your flesh and blood!"

"You old fool, how dare you curse the late Emperor! This official will never share the same sky with you!"

"Old dog Lu, if it weren't for Chancellor Long protecting you back then, you would have been executed along with your entire family for embezzling hundreds of thousands of taels of military funds!"

"..."

The Heavenly Prison had never been so lively, a chaotic scene resembling a marketplace.

The two sides even started fighting as they hurled insults, the civil officials pulling hair and the military officials aiming for the groin.

The guards on duty were dazzled, whispering about these great figures, who couldn't even maintain their dignity before death.

Cell C-9.

Two rooms, both inside and out, clean and tidy.

Zhou Yi opened the cell door, inside were only two middle-aged men.

Large cangues, half a man's height, were around their necks, forcing them to kneel with their heads bowed, or the cangues would snap their necks.

Hearing footsteps, the prisoners struggled to look up.

Zhou Yi greeted with a smile, "Young Master Long, we meet again!"

"Who are you?"

Young Master Long's voice was dry and hoarse, completely different from the arrogant and domineering person he was when he entered the Heavenly Prison.

"Indeed, how could a nobleman like you remember a nobody like me."

Zhou Yi smiled, "All these years, I've been the one delivering your meals whenever Young Master Long came to the Heavenly Prison. I even got slapped when I didn't serve you well."

Young Master Long frowned, a faint impression forming.

However, he had beaten and killed too many people in his life to remember when he had hit Zhou Yi.

"You villain!"

Young Master Long said with disdain, "You were like a dog in the past, only daring to take revenge when this young master is down on his luck!"

"I hope Young Master Long can remain so tough."

Zhou Yi wasn't angry at all. He never intended to be a good person, because he didn't want people pointing guns at him.

So he would be a bad good person, an evil virtuous person.

If Young Master Long slapped me, even after ten years, I would have to get my revenge.

Forgiving him is Buddha's business, Zhou Yi is only responsible for sending him to the Western Paradise!

"I've learned quite a variety of things in the Heavenly Prison over the years, but time is limited, so I won't try them all one by one."

Zhou Yi spoke slowly, as if chatting with an old friend, "There might be another interrogation in a few days, so there's no need for torture instruments. Please, Young Master Long, try this pill..."

As he spoke, he took out a pill from his sleeve, round, red, and with strange patterns on its surface.

"A few years ago, the Brocade Guard captured a thief who was proficient in Gu insects. Before he died, he traded this pill for a jar of ten-year-old Pear Blossom White."

Whenever Zhou Yi mentioned Pear Blossom White, he would think of Wei Chang. His resentment towards Young Master Long over the years mostly stemmed from this.

The good get beheaded, the bad live freely.

"According to that thief, there's a strange insect inside this pill. After swallowing it, it will hatch in your intestines and stomach, and then feed on your internal organs. Because it eats little, the person afflicted with the Gu can still live for a year or two."

Zhou Yi grabbed Young Master Long's mouth, pried it open with a little force, and flicked the pill into his throat.

"Heh heh heh..."

Young Master Long choked, unable to speak. Then the pill dissolved, and he felt something crawling down his throat.

Crawling into his lungs, perhaps tired and hungry, it began to randomly gnaw at flesh and blood.

"Ah—"

A scream of utter anguish silenced the formerly chaotic prison.

Young Master Long's neck and hands were fixed in heavy shackles, his legs bound by foot cuffs. Even in his agonizing pain, he could only struggle within a limited range.

His face flushed crimson, veins popping, resembling a vengeful ghost.

After a moment.

The Gu worm, having eaten its fill, began to rest. The pain slowly subsided, and when Young Master Long looked up at Zhou Yi again, his eyes were filled with terror.

"Young Master Long, rest well. The Gu worm could wake up at any time. It will be difficult to get a good night's sleep from now on."

After Zhou Yi finished speaking, he turned to look at the person next to him.

Young Master Long's younger brother, a teenager. One had to say that Chancellor Long was vigorous in his old age.

"D-d-don't come over here!"

The teenager trembled, babbling incoherently as he saw Zhou Yi staring at him, "My father is the Grand Secretary, my mother is a princess... I have royal blood, don't come near me..."

Just then.

Niu Xiaowei led the prison guards in, and was immediately relieved to see Young Master Long still alive.

"I knew it, would Little Yi not know the limits?"

Torturing prisoners was commonplace in the Heavenly Prison. As long as it didn't interfere with interrogation and execution, no one cared what kind of torture the criminals endured.

Zhou Yi got up and saluted, whispering, "Uncle Niu, didn't see Lord Lei today?"

"Lord Lei is in seclusion, reflecting on his mistakes. All matters in the prison have been handed over to me."

Niu Xiaowei's voice was low, but he couldn't hide the joy on his face.

Lei Siyue was implicated in a treason case, and most likely wouldn't be coming back. Taking this opportunity to work his connections, he would definitely be able to take over the position of Siyue.

The teenager watched the men leave the prison cell, and his fear slowly dissipated. He turned to look at Young Master Long.

"Brother, are you feeling better?"

Young Master Long glared at the teenager with resentment, gnashing his teeth, "It's all your fault, you bastard! Otherwise, how could I have fallen into such a state? Father will definitely accomplish his grand plan!"

The teenager murmured, "Brother, how can you say that? My mother and I both support Father..."

"Don't mention that slut!"

Young Master Long cursed angrily, "That slut seduced Father when he was drunk, giving birth to you, you bastard, a nail planted by that dog of an emperor. If that whore hadn't passed on false information, saying that the dog emperor still had several years to live, how could Father have hastily rebelled?"

"According to the original plan, ten thousand troops from the Jing Camp would have been transferred here, ensuring complete success!"

The teenager's eyes were dull, unable to believe what he was hearing, "Impossible! Impossible! How could Mother deceive me? She even said that I had the blood of two dynasties, and would definitely ascend the throne in the future!"

"You fool..."

Just as Young Master Long was about to say a few words of mockery, the Gu worm suddenly crawled over and began to devour his intestines and stomach.

The screams of agony were incessant.

In the evening.

Zhou Yi carried a large wooden bucket, delivering food to each prison cell.

The civil and military officials, hungry after a day, were already famished. They didn't care that the food was unpalatable, squatting on the ground and slurping up the porridge.

"Little brother, give me another spoonful, just one more spoonful!"

A familiar yet unfamiliar voice.

Zhou Yi carefully identified the speaker, who was old and decrepit, and it took him a long time to recognize him, "Lord Liu, we meet again!"

As he spoke, he glanced at the prison cell number, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Still Cell B-6!"

Vice Minister Liu had weathered many storms, and didn't care about this little bit of mockery, saying with a grin, "Little brother, this is fate!"

Zhou Yi asked, "Lord Liu, I've always wanted to ask, Teacher Su had a close relationship with you back then, why did you report him?"

"Old Su's mouth could never keep a secret!"

Vice Minister Liu shrugged and said, "If I hadn't reported him, something would have happened sooner or later. Since we're all friends, rather than letting someone else benefit, I might as well take the credit!"

"I admire you!"

Zhou Yi was truly impressed, and quickly served Vice Minister Liu good wine and meat.

Cell A-12.

Zhou Yi poured the porridge into a basin, for the prisoners to distribute themselves.

Cell A held fierce criminals and powerful individuals, most of whom had some martial arts skills, and they would be ranked according to their strength.

The strong get a full bed and eat their fill, while the weak guard the chamber pot and go hungry.

From the corner of the cell, a voice suddenly called out, "Yi-ge, is that you?"

"Master Luo? What are you doing here?"

Zhou Yi heard the familiar voice, waved for the other prisoners to move aside, and finally saw the prisoner lying in the corner.

It was Luo Hu, the master of the Five Tigers Martial Hall.

He had seven or eight knife wounds on his body, his clothes stained red with blood. A broken arrow was sticking out of his shoulder, and his legs were twisted at unnatural angles.

Zhou Yi now understood why a first-rate expert of the Viscera Training Realm wasn't being held in solitary confinement. Luo Hu's injuries were too severe; his strength was less than a tenth of what it had been, and his shattered leg bones made escape impossible.

Luo Hu leaned against the wall, pleading, "Yi-ge, there are some things I want to say to you in private."

"Alright."

Zhou Yi spoke to the guard on duty and had him move the other prisoners, temporarily squeezing them into another cell.

The prisoners didn't dare to object. Perhaps making a loud noise would ruin the guard's plans, and then they could forget about getting any good treatment from now on; they'd be tortured in all sorts of ways every day.

In Cell A-12, only Zhou Yi and Luo Hu remained.

Luo Hu said directly, "I have a house in Shenjing, registered under the name of someone from out of town. Buried at the bottom of the well are several thousand taels of silver, the Five Tigers Fist Manual, and some nourishing medicinal formulas. Yi-ge, go and get them; it'll be enough for you to cultivate to the Marrow Cleansing Realm."

Zhou Yi asked, "What did you want to talk about first?"

Luo Hu lowered his voice. "Yi-ge, please find a way to get my son out of here, to leave a descendant for the Luo family..."

"I can't get your son out!"

Zhou Yi refused decisively. Ten martial arts halls in Shenjing were implicated in treason, and they would verify identities at the time of beheading.

Zhou Yi could still find a way to get out relatives who were only distantly related, but Luo Hu's own son was definitely on the list of people under close watch.

"Then change it to someone else."

Luo Hu said, "I've been seeing a widow in Shenjing in secret, and she's already eight months pregnant. Please, Yi-ge, look after her."

Zhou Yi pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "If the Brocade Guard hasn't caught her yet, I'll help."

Luo Hu lowered his voice even further. "That house is in Lechang Ward..."

Zhou Yi noted the address and then said, "Master Luo, you have to help me with something too."

"What is it?"

"Go to Cell B-6 and beat someone to death!"

"Who?"

"Whoever ate the condemned meal, beat them to death!"

Zhou Yi whispered a few instructions, left the cell, and sent the original prisoners back in.

Soon.

A dispute broke out in the cell, turning into a brawl.

A tiger fallen into a ditch is bullied by dogs. A first-rate expert was surrounded and beaten by farmers, his injuries worsening to the point where he almost died on the spot.

"What's all the commotion? No food for three days!"

The guard scolded a few times, afraid that Luo Hu would be beaten to death, and moved him to another cell.

Cell B-6.

Vice Minister Liu was drinking wine and eating meat when the guard threw in a bloody prisoner, and couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Luo Hu: "What are you looking at?"

Vice Minister Liu: "This official... Ah!"

Luo Hu pounced directly on Vice Minister Liu, smashing his head against him with all his might.

Vice Minister Liu was just a civil official, and an old man at that. His brains splattered on the spot, covering the faces of the surrounding civil and military officials.

The guard on duty quickly went in to pull Luo Hu away, kicking and punching him as a lesson, then moved him to another cell.

Not long after.

There was a loud bang in the cell, and Luo Hu killed himself by running headfirst into the wall.