Midnight Whispers

After turning down the Prince's request, Xu Qian enjoyed a few peaceful days. There was no sign of life from E-98 anymore; even the cursed whispers from that night had stopped, as if the prisoner had accepted his fate. Xu Qian was perfectly happy with that. He brought meals, swept the floors, and secretly practiced his cultivation every day, living a life of admirable routine.

However, the Heavenly Prison seemed to be a place where "peace" was never meant to last.

That night, it was Xu Qian's turn to stand watch during the latter half of the night. As usual, Block E was utterly silent. Only the cold wind occasionally poured in through the vents, making a sound like a mournful wail.

Clutching his saber, Xu Qian sat in his usual spot. He absorbed Killing Intent as part of his routine while mentally working through the Mad Old Man's few sheets of bizarre scrawls. After all this time "feeding" and pondering them, he felt that the Dao Fruit's automatic cultivation had become just a little faster. The change was almost imperceptible, but little things added up, and it was always a good thing.

Just as he was lost in thought, the faintest footsteps came from the other end of the corridor—not the scurrying of a rat.

Xu Qian instantly went on alert. He brought Turtle Breath Art to its utmost limit, making his presence fade until it was barely perceptible, as if he had melted into the shadows on the wall. He turned his head slightly and fixed a sharp gaze on the source of the sound.

Two figures in black fitted clothes, their hoods hiding most of their faces, were moving like ghosts through the shadows along the wall, silently making their way deeper into Block E. Their movements were light and practiced. They were clearly no ordinary people.

What made Xu Qian's heart tighten even more was that the man leading them was none other than Li Xi, the other jailer on duty in Block E that night! He was an old hand, usually taciturn and a little greedy, but he had never caused any serious trouble. Who would have thought...

Li Xi looked extremely nervous. He kept glancing from side to side, and his steps were unsteady. With the two men in black following him, he headed straight for the cell where E-98 was being held!

Xu Qian's heart leaped into his throat. They're here! I knew it! Someone like the prisoner in E-98 couldn't possibly be forgotten forever in the depths of the Heavenly Prison.

He held his breath and pushed Qi Gazing Technique to its limit, carefully "looking" their way.

A thick, dark-red aura, reeking of blood and Killing Intent, cloaked the two men in black. It was the unmistakable aura of assassins or deathsworn, and they were no weaklings. They were at least at the Houtian Mid-Late Stage! Far stronger than Xu Qian and Li Xi!

Li Xi, meanwhile, was surrounded by a chaotic gray-white aura tinged with fear and greed. He had clearly been bribed or coerced.

The three stopped at a blind spot not far from E-98's cell. Li Xi pointed toward the cell and spoke in a low voice to the two men in black, barely louder than a whisper.

Xu Qian sharpened his hearing to its limit, catching a few scattered phrases:

"...right inside... quiet the whole time..."

"...the people above... said it must be clean..."

"...midnight... shift change... chance..."

"...keep it quiet..."

He couldn't hear the whole conversation, but the meaning was already clear enough! Someone had hired them to kill the prisoner in E-98! They planned to strike tonight, at midnight, during the change of shifts! Li Xi was their inside man!

A chill shot from the soles of Xu Qian's feet straight to his scalp!

Murder to silence him! This was cold-blooded murder, plain and simple!

And they had chosen this time and place after careful planning. The guards were at their least vigilant during the midnight shift change. Block E was in a remote part of the prison, where any noise was unlikely to reach the outside.

The two men in black were clearly the assassins sent to silence the prisoner!

Xu Qian's mind raced.

What should he do?

Stop them? With what? Two professional assassins at the Houtian Mid-Late Stage, plus a jailer on the inside—if a lowly jailer like him, who appeared to be only at the Houtian Early Stage (though he was actually at the late stage), rushed in, he'd be throwing his life away. Even if he used that sliver of Sword Qi, he might catch one of them off guard. But taking on both was too risky, and if he exposed himself, the consequences would be disastrous.

Report it? To whom? Zhou Kang? Did Zhou Kang know about this? If he didn't, would reporting it rashly alert the assassins, or even bring disaster down on Xu Qian? And if Zhou Kang knew—or had even given his tacit approval—then Xu Qian would be walking straight into a trap!

Pretend he hadn't seen anything? That seemed like the "safest" choice. It wasn't his business; he should mind his own affairs. The Prince had no connection to him, and had even threatened him before. His death wouldn't do Xu Qian any harm. If anything, it would get rid of a potential problem.

But...

Xu Qian's gaze involuntarily returned to E-98's cell. In his Qi Gazing Technique, the faintly purple aura of nobility wrapped in gray-black Death Qi appeared before his "eyes" once more, along with that stubborn glimmer of bright purple vitality within it.

Was he really going to stand by and watch the man get killed?

It wasn't that Xu Qian had suddenly grown a saintly heart. He just had a vague feeling that if the Prince died tonight, things wouldn't end there. If someone was willing to send assassins into the Heavenly Prison to silence him, then the forces involved must be extraordinary. As one of the jailers on duty that night, would Xu Qian be investigated afterward? Would they silence him too? And might Li Xi drag him down with him to save his own skin?