First Show of Authority

With Zhang Meng, the honest and straightforward "coach" and "protector," Xu Qian's days in the Heavenly Prison became much easier. At the very least, those seasoned jailers who had originally seen him as a newcomer with an unfamiliar face and wanted to cause him minor trouble or dump more dirty, exhausting work on him restrained themselves considerably out of respect for Zhang Meng's sturdy build and boisterous temperament.

Xu Qian welcomed the peace and quiet. Every day, he carried out his duties methodically, secretly observed the Mad Old Man, rehearsed sword moves in his dormitory at night, and cultivated his Dao Fruit. He also "diligently practiced" the few crude farmhand techniques Zhang Meng had taught him. To outsiders, his movements still could not be called standard, but at least he had assumed the stances, and his strength seemed to have grown somewhat. He no longer looked like the weakling who would topple over in a gust of wind.

Before his shift one day, Zhou Kang stopped Xu Qian and told him to go to the outer perimeter of Block C, take custody of a prisoner who had just been interrogated and was being returned to his cell, then escort him back to Zone D.

This kind of cross-zone escort duty was not common, but it happened from time to time. Usually, prisoners from Zone D were taken to the Torture Chamber in Block C for questioning—mostly to verify certain clues or because they had become entangled in a more important case—then sent back once the questioning was finished.

Xu Qian did not dare delay. Taking the prisoner-transfer token Zhou Kang handed him, he hurried to the iron gate at the boundary between Block C and Zone D.

The guards checked the token and opened the iron gate. Inside, two jailers from Block C were waiting with a prisoner in heavy shackles.

The prisoner was a young man in his twenties, with a shaved head and a vicious scar running from his brow bone straight to the corner of his mouth. His gaze was fierce, carrying the roguishness and brutality unique to a street thug. Though shackled, he still walked with a swagger, clearly holding the jailers escorting him in little regard.

Xu Qian swept him with the Qi Gazing Technique. A thin but restless current of blood-red aura enveloped the thug, mixed with several strands of gray-black. It showed that his intentions were crooked and Sha Qi clung to him, but the intensity of his aura was mediocre—far less vigorous than Zhang Meng's scarlet aura, let alone the true martial artists in Block C.

"He's yours. Zone D, Yellow Cell No. 3." One of the Block C jailers shoved the prisoner forward, his tone indifferent, as though he were handing over not a person but a piece of cargo.

"Thank you, both of you." Xu Qian took the chain of the shackles and nodded.

The two Block C jailers turned and left. Behind them, the heavy iron gate slammed shut with a clang.

Only Xu Qian and the scar-faced thug remained in the deep, shadowy passageway.

Xu Qian tugged the chain, signaling for him to move. "Go."

But the scar-faced thug remained where he was. Tilting his head, he sized Xu Qian up and down with his triangular eyes. His lips split into a mocking, provocative grin. "Tsk, an unfamiliar face? You new here?"

Xu Qian frowned. Not wanting to stir up unnecessary trouble, he merely repeated, "Go."

"Heh! Got quite the temper, don't you?" The scar-faced man sneered. Not only did he refuse to move, he instead pressed a step closer. He deliberately shook his shackled wrists, making the chains rattle with an oppressive air. "Kid, do you know who I am? You dare talk to me like that?"

He had clearly taken Xu Qian for a soft persimmon he could squeeze at will. A newly arrived jailer who looked so thin and weak was the perfect target for an old hand of a prisoner like him to establish his authority and make himself feel important. As long as he frightened Xu Qian, life in prison would become much easier for him afterward. He might even be able to wring out some extra benefits.

Xu Qian stopped and looked at him calmly. Through the Qi Gazing Technique, the way the other man's restless blood-red aura circulated, along with several minute, unstable "aura nodes" produced by his emotional agitation, came clearly into his "sight."

In particular, the flow of aura was noticeably sluggish three inches below the hollow of his left shoulder and on the inner side of his right knee joint. They were clearly old injuries that had not healed, or habitual weak points when he exerted force.

"I'll say it one last time. Go." Xu Qian's voice remained low, but a trace of chill had entered it.

"Fuck! You think I'm giving you face, huh?!" Seeing that Xu Qian was not only unafraid but had turned colder, the scar-faced man felt humiliated. Rage and embarrassment flared up, and he suddenly raised his shackled hands, making as if to smash them down on Xu Qian's head! At the same time, he cursed crudely, "You little bastard, I'll teach you the rules around here today!"

The move looked ferocious, but it was all bluff. The shackles were heavy, and his movements were not fast. His main purpose was to frighten Xu Qian.

If it had been Xu Qian from a few days ago, he might truly have been frightened, instinctively retreating or raising his arms to block.

But now, nourished by the Longevity Dao Fruit, Xu Qian's physical condition had long surpassed that of an ordinary person. His five senses were sharp, and his reaction speed was no longer what it had once been. Added to that were the Qi Gazing Technique's insight into weaknesses and the few moves Zhang Meng had "taught" him—crude as they were, they were still proper techniques for exerting force...

At the very instant the shackles, whistling through the air, were about to fall and a triumphant, savage grin had already appeared on the scar-faced man's face—

Xu Qian moved!