Imprisonment

Days passed, and the development of the situation was indeed as Li Feng had expected.

The Green Bamboo Gang thoroughly crushed the Black Tiger Gang in a short time. In just a few days and nights, it completely vanished, and half a gang member could no longer be seen. Meanwhile, the force gradually taking over the South City District changed from the Black Tiger Gang to the Green Bamboo Gang.

During these past few days, Li Feng still followed his usual routine: reporting for duty by day, practicing his saber art by night to repay his debts, and occasionally going to check on his sister-in-law.

On this day, the City Guard Office happened to have no urgent errands.

Li Feng simply left his shift early, hurried straight home, closed the courtyard gate, and began practicing the Water-Cutting Saber Art, pressing hard to pay off his advanced debt.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Saber light flickered like a silken ribbon, and fierce winds howled!

After finishing a set of saber art with flowing and effortless movements, Li Feng sheathed his saber, exhaled, and summoned the panel with a subtle shift of his mind:

[Heavenly Dao Advance Panel]

[Advanced Project 1: Archery Mastery (100% completed)]

[Advanced Project 2: "Water-Cutting Saber Art" Perfection (Debt completion progress: 10%)]

[Current available advanced projects: 0]

[Current realm: Qi-Blood First Stage]

Looking at the slowly rising progress, Li Feng nodded slightly, just about to step into the house to rest.

"Dong, dong, dong!"

Suddenly, urgent knocking came from outside the door.

Li Feng's brows furrowed slightly. It was growing late, the exact time when every household lit their stoves to cook. Who would visit at an hour like this?

Could Zhang San and the others have tracked him down? Was there some temporary urgent errand?

Li Feng put away his duty saber and hurriedly opened the courtyard gate.

"Cousin, why are you here? Oh, Yuner came too?"

Standing outside the door were none other than his cousin Chen Yulian and her daughter, Zhang Yuner.

Li Feng couldn't help starting slightly.

According to the original owner's memories, after his father passed away earlier, those distant relatives and neighbors were terrified of being implicated and mostly severed ties.

Only his cousin was warm-hearted. Seeing that their life was destitute, she occasionally brought some rice and flour to help them tide it over. A large part of the reason the original owner and his sister-in-law survived that most difficult period was thanks to his cousin's kindness.

His cousin's family ran a small grain shop in the south of the city. Her husband toiled from early till late, and their life was considered fairly decent.

They raised a son and a daughter. Their elder son, Zhang Qiang, was seventeen or eighteen, but he followed the unruly ways of the streets-neither practicing martial arts nor studying, idling away his days hanging out everywhere. Their younger daughter, Zhang Yuner, had just reached the age of fifteen not long ago. She looked clever and delicate, had even studied some books under a tutor, and possessed a very strong mind.

Yet usually his cousin always came alone. Why would she bring the young girl along today as well?

And... both of their complexions seemed rather poor.

Seeing Li Feng open the door, his cousin's face, brimming with sorrow, instantly reddened around the eyes, and she said anxiously, "Xiaofeng, you must help save your good-for-nothing nephew!"

Seeing this, Li Feng felt a slight chill in his heart. With so many eyes and ears outside, it was no place to talk. He quickly sidestepped, clearing a path: "Cousin, Yuner, the wind is strong outside. Come inside first, sit down, and talk slowly."

Chen Yulian wiped the corners of her eyes, nodding repeatedly, and pulled her daughter quickly into the courtyard.

Li Feng led the two of them into the main room. The interior furnishings were simple, consisting of only a table and a few chairs. After signaling them to sit, he casually picked up a kettle and poured two cups of hot water. "Cousin, have a sip of water first to catch your breath. Tell me slowly whatever happened. What kind of trouble has Xiaoqiang gotten into anyway?"

"Xiaofeng, your cousin is at her wit's end here. Only you can help me now. Your nephew, Zhang Qiang, has been dragged into the dungeons by men from the City Guard Office."

Hearing anything related to the City Guard Office, Li Feng frowned slightly, pulled over a long bench to sit down, and asked with a calm expression:

"Although Xiaoqiang usually idles away his time and likes hanging out in the streets, he has never had much courage-at most stealing chickens and dogs. How could he suddenly be dragged into the City Guard Office? What on earth did he do?"

At these words, Chen Yulian's tears could not stop falling as she sobbed out the whole story of what had happened.

It turned out that yesterday afternoon, Zhang Qiang was wandering around a dark alley with a few scoundrels when he happened to run into an extraordinary-looking young woman. Who knew if he had drunk too much horse piss, but under the bewitchment of lust, this brat actually made suggestive remarks to her in public.

As a result, it provoked the other party into a rage. That woman actually turned out to be someone versed in martial arts, who not only beat Zhang Qiang viciously on the spot but subsequently summoned patrollers on street duty, directly escorting Zhang Qiang into the dungeons of the City Guard Office.

"Sigh, Cousin, I've long said that these troubled times make it easy to stumble, and with Xiaoqiang's personality, he should have reined himself in long ago. Now that it's turned out like this... for a matter like this, I'm afraid even I will find it hard to help."

Listening to Chen Yulian's narration, Li Feng couldn't help frowning.

Judging by this, the person Zhang Qiang offended was clearly extraordinary. They easily mobilized the City Guard Office and threw him straight into the dungeons-this must require at least the authority of a chief constable or higher.

If it were before, when his sister-in-law was still a chief constable, perhaps they could have pulled some strings to see if they could use connections to fish him out. Now, his sister-in-law was severely injured, her status as a chief constable was gone, and he himself was only a temporary bailiff. Even if he wanted to help, he couldn't.

Chen Yulian sobbed as she said, "Xiaofeng, your brother-in-law and I asked around everywhere, but the moment others heard it was an offense against the City Guard Office, they didn't even dare to accept silver. Absolutely no one is willing to help..."

As she spoke, she fished a floral cloth bundle from her bosom and peeled it open layer by layer, revealing three heavy silver ingots, amounting to around thirty taels or so. This was the savings their family of two had accumulated over many years.

"Cousin knows this puts you in a difficult position, and you just entered the City Guard Office not long ago; you don't have enough face to fish someone out." Chen Yulian held the silver in both hands, thrusting it toward Li Feng's hands with trembling movements as her tears streamed down like rain.

"Your cousin asks for nothing else, only that you take this silver and help grease palms in the dungeon, so the jailers don't subject him to heavy torture and they don't cut off his food and water. As long as they can spare his wretched life to survive this storm, we can look for other ways..."

Li Feng looked at the offered silver ingots without immediately taking them.

Although he had now reached the Qi-Blood First Stage and even forged Blade Force, in the eyes of real chief constables and powerful figures, he was still insignificant.

In the dungeons of the City Guard Office, having offended a person of high status, the jailers were very likely to be too lazy to send food and water, leaving him to fend for himself and die. If he ignored the matter, Zhang Qiang would probably become a stinking corpse in a few days.

Seeing Li Feng hesitate, Chen Yulian pleaded again, "Xiaofeng, your nephew may be good-for-nothing and constantly stirring up trouble, but after all, he is my only son. If you can help put in a good word in the dungeons of the City Guard Office and leave him a wretched life, our whole family will remember your kindness for a lifetime."

Li Feng looked at his cousin's sorrowful face and recalled how she had frequently helped them in the past, unable to hold back a sigh.

A debt of human favor is the hardest to repay.

"Cousin, wipe away your tears." Li Feng reached out and took the three silver ingots. "I'll accept this silver, but I must make the ugly truth clear first: I am only a temporary bailiff. I can only help you transfer the silver to the jailer to see if it can trade him a path to survival. As for when he can be released, I cannot guarantee it."

"As long as his life is saved! As long as his life is saved!" Chen Yulian felt as if she had received a royal pardon, nodding repeatedly and getting so emotional that she made as if to kneel and express her gratitude.

Seeing this, Li Feng was quick-witted and caught his cousin's arm with one hand, saying in a deep voice, "Cousin, there is no need for that. It's getting late, and the defenses of the dungeon are stricter after nightfall. I'll make a trip to the inner offices of the City Guard Office right now to find the jailer. You two sit at home and rest a while."

With that, Li Feng delayed no longer, tucked the silver into his bosom, grabbed his duty saber, and hurried out of the house.

Walking halfway there, Li Feng pondered to himself.

If his sister-in-law were still a chief constable, this matter would naturally be much easier to handle; at the very least, he could ask a jailer about the specific situation. But now that his sister-in-law was severely injured and he was still only a temporary bailiff, this matter became a bit tricky.

It was only right for Zhang Qiang to suffer this trial. Idling away his days normally was one thing, but to actually be that stupid.

In this day and age, any pretty woman born must certainly have an extraordinary background-was that someone just anyone could casually harass? It was fortunate he had only spoken insolently; if he had truly dared to take liberties while drunk, he probably would have had his blood spattered across the street on the spot, without even getting the chance to enter the dungeon.