Escape from the Heavenly Prison

The man instinctively tilted his head, narrowly dodging the blow.

Taking advantage of this opening, Chen Ye had already closed the distance.

His five fingers hooked like claws, locking onto the man's wrist, and using that leverage, he spun around, positioning the man's body as a shield between himself and the other guard.

Chen Ye's physical strength was astonishing; the man couldn't break free at all, feeling only a sharp pain in his wrist before his grip loosened instinctively.

The long blade slipped from his hand and fell.

Chen Ye hooked the falling blade with his toe, caught it, and backhanded it against the man's throat.

"What was that you said earlier... about leaving a path?"

The man opened his mouth, his face deathly pale, unable to utter a single word.

Chen Ye didn't give him the chance to speak either.

A swipe of the long blade.

As easily as slaughtering a chicken or a dog, he cleanly slit the man's throat.

Fresh blood sprayed onto his face, carrying a hint of warmth.

Chen Ye shoved the corpse forward, sending it crashing into the other guard.

The two collided in a heap.

Without a moment's hesitation, Chen Ye charged forward, blade in hand.

The last remaining guard hurriedly raised his sword to block.

But caught off guard, how could he possibly withstand Chen Ye, who had already undergone one Mortal Shedding?

With a loud "clang," his long blade was sent flying, and he was knocked flat onto the ground.

His hands trembling, he begged incessantly, "Don't kill me... don't kill me... this is... this is the Master's order! None of us can defy him! Spare me, please, spare me!"

Chen Ye frowned.

The Master, Gao Boyan.

When he was a servant in the Gao Family, his status was low, and he had never had any dealings with this man.

Even when they occasionally crossed paths, it was only from a distance.

Yet, this man had identified him as a threat and wanted him dead.

These pursuers, just like him, were nothing more than expendable tools in the hands of the Gao Family.

Those who sold their lives for the Gao Family were not worth sparing.

"Where is Gao Yunheng?"

"The... the eldest young master left for the capital to take up his post a few days ago."

The capital?

Chen Ye remembered.

The Xie Family, it seemed, was also in the capital.

The guard's hand quietly reached toward a crossbow on the side.

He thought his movements were hidden, but Chen Ye had already noticed.

Chen Ye brought his blade down; with a soft thud, the begging ceased abruptly.

The bamboo forest fell completely silent.

Chen Ye stood amidst the three corpses, looking down at the long blade in his hand.

The edge was already notched.

He tossed the blade aside and swapped it for one in better condition.

Then, he crouched down to search the bodies one by one, gathering a total of four taels of broken silver.

Redeem!

[Current remaining lifespan: 43 days.]

Chen Ye stared at the line of numbers for a moment.

Forty-three days.

He had killed so many people and scavenged every bit of silver he could find, yet he still only had forty-three days.

Expressionless, he wrapped the long blade in cloth and strapped it to his back, hung the crossbow at his waist, and gathered some arrows and dry rations from the ground.

As he stood up, the wound under his ribs was pulled, causing him to gasp in pain.

The sound of barking dogs in the distance was drawing closer.

Chen Ye did not delay any longer and sprinted toward the foot of the mountain.

Leaving Spring Mountain and heading northeast would lead him to the main road out of Qinghe Prefecture.

The Gao Family's influence in Qinghe Prefecture was deeply entrenched; he no longer had a place to stand and had to leave as soon as possible.

Chen Ye had barely left when the Gao Family arrived in hot pursuit.

However, all they found were corpses littering the ground; there was no sign of Chen Ye anywhere.

A breeze swept through the bamboo sea, rustling the leaves.

The spirit hounds barked incessantly at the spot.

After leaving Spring Mountain, Chen Ye sprinted for over a hundred miles.

It took him a full day to finally cross the border of Qinghe Prefecture.

Only then did he dare to catch his breath.

Chen Ye crouched in a crevice by a stream and splashed a handful of cold water onto his face.

The scabs on his knuckles washed away, revealing pink wounds that began to ooze pale red blood once more.

He tore off a strip of his hem to re-bandage the wounds, then tucked his short blade back into his waistband.

The lingering pain made him wince, and it took a while for him to recover.

Forty-three days.

As Chen Ye crouched by the stream drinking water, he pulled up that number again.

His entire net worth now consisted of these forty-three days of life, a short blade, a crossbow, a few arrows, and a meager amount of dry rations scavenged from corpses.

He had to go to the capital.

The Xie Family and Gao Yunheng were all in the capital.

The cultivation techniques and medicinal pills that could extend one's lifespan were also in the capital.

In the Jing Kingdom, the aristocratic clans held a tight monopoly, and martial arts were mostly family secrets that were never leaked.

The top-tier clans were mostly entrenched in the capital region.

To completely solve the problem of his lifespan, he had no choice but to find a way through those clans.

There was no other path to survival.

He filled his waterskin, stood up, and continued his journey.

Two days later, with his rations nearly exhausted, he finally arrived at the Anhuai docks.

The Anhuai docks were located on Great Peace Lake and connected to the Grand Canal, serving as a vital hub for travel from the Jiangnan region to the capital; it was bustling with activity.

Porters carrying sacks, hawking merchants, wandering swordsmen with blades at their hips, boatmen soliciting passengers... it was a chaotic mix of people from all walks of life.

Chen Ye wrapped his crossbow and arrows in a burlap sack and slung them over his back. With his blade hanging at his waist, he looked no different from an ordinary wandering swordsman and did not stand out.

Only the dried blood on his clothes, which gave off the distinct, pungent stench of human blood, made him seem slightly different from the others.

But he had no mind to worry about that.

Three days had passed since he left Spring Mountain.

His forty-three days of life had now dwindled to forty.

He had to find a ship to the capital as soon as possible.

Chen Ye first went to the notice board by the docks to see if there were any ships heading to the capital.

It would be best if there was work available along the way to cover his living expenses and perhaps earn a bit more time.

A crowd had gathered in front of the notice board.

Chen Ye squeezed through to take a look; most were jobs for porters to unload cargo, which paid very little.

Only one notice had ink that hadn't yet dried, appearing to have been posted recently.

It was a merchant fleet recruiting temporary guards to escort a ship to the capital.

The requirements were for someone strong and capable of basic martial arts, with daily pay.

Chen Ye grabbed a loafer nearby and asked, "Has this ship filled its quota? Can I still apply?"

The man looked him up and down, noting that he wasn't very old and his build wasn't particularly imposing, and couldn't help but laugh. "You? The people they're hiring are meant to risk their lives; it's licking blood off a blade, not a child's game."

"Hey, making a living isn't easy, why mock him?" Another loafer helpfully pointed the way. "Walk straight down this road and you'll see Boss Zhou's ship. They're recruiting right below the vessel. Go ask them yourself."

Chen Ye cupped his hands in thanks and headed in the direction indicated.

Sure enough, he saw a flat-bottomed, shallow-draft cargo ship docked at the pier.

In the open space below the ship, many wandering swordsmen were gathered, shouting and arguing.

Chen Ye moved closer and realized that the fleet was selecting guards, but they had to pass a test of strength first.

Those who could use blades or bows were prioritized.

Those with great physical strength came second.

He found the boatswain in charge of the selection and bowed. "Boss, I'm here to apply."

The boatswain glanced at him, seeing Chen Ye's disheveled appearance and catching the faint, pungent stench on his body, and couldn't help but frown.

He recognized the scent; it wasn't the blood of livestock, but of a human.

The boatman's gaze lingered on the blade at Chen Ye's waist and the crossbow wrapped in a burlap sack on his back. Without shooing him away, he asked, "Can you shoot?"

Chen Ye patted the crossbow behind him and nodded, "I can!"

"What about swords and blades?"

"I can handle those too."

"Good. Go lift a stone and let me see."

Chen Ye scanned his surroundings. Scattered along the pier were several stone padlocks used for training, toys for the dock laborers to test their strength during idle hours.

The heaviest one likely weighed no more than a hundred catties.

Many wanderers seeking a living would grab these stones, their faces turning beet red with the effort.

Chen Ye walked over, gripped the handle of the stone padlock with one hand, and hoisted it to his chest.

The movement tugged at the wound under his ribs, causing him to knit his brows, but his arm remained as steady as ever.

After a brief pause, he lifted it above his head.

The surrounding noise fell silent for a fleeting moment.