Li Qingxian and Song Baige's squad finished making repairs and followed the main force onward, with Han Anbo, Yu Ping, and Zheng Gaojue guarding the rear.
As they passed Prison Passage Hall, Li Qingxian saw many people wearing shackles, standing beside broken walls and shivering.
Under the night sky, the prisoners were divided into two groups. One group stood.
The other crouched in a corner several zhang away, wrapped head to toe in straw and tattered cloth, covering their faces. A yellow talisman floated in midair, emitting a faint clear glow that enveloped them and cut them off from the outside world.
Song Baige and Li Qingxian looked over and both knew these were prisoners of the Ministry of Justice. Their crimes were not grave enough for judgment by the Autumn Review Bureau, yet they had not been convicted by the Divine Capital Prefecture and could not be sent to the Heavenly Prison. They could only be temporarily held in places like Prison Passage Hall before being transferred elsewhere.
Song Baige swept his gaze over them and said, "I heard that, aside from those formally sentenced, ninety percent of the people held by the Ministry of Justice were framed by Devil Sect members for silver or to practice demonic arts. Take the people in Prison Passage Hall, for example. In the end, they either hand over silver to save their lives, or slowly waste away here. As for those people..."
Everyone looked toward those in the corner. Song Baige opened his mouth, but in the end, he clenched his teeth and said nothing.
"People poisoned by demonic poison?"
As he spoke, Li Qingxian carefully examined the people in the corner. Though they had tried hard to wrap themselves up, parts of their skin and bodies still showed.
Every patch of