The Silent Throne and the Submission of the Vicious Dog

Some more time passed. In cell 107, the bloodstain that had long since dried and turned black still seemed to give off an invisible pressure. Lin Feng's "rule" grew ever more secure amid an eerie calm. Rumors had gilded him with a mysterious and terrifying aura, while the influx of outside funds allowed him to enjoy material comforts far beyond those of ordinary people. The few remaining prisoners had long since been tamed into quails, too afraid even to breathe loudly.

Yet beneath that calm, the undercurrents had never stopped surging. In particular, there was speculation about when that fiend Zheng Qi and that viper Qian Er would return, and... what kind of storm Scar would stir up if he came back, after being carried out looking barely human.

That afternoon, the iron door opened once again.

Everyone's eyes instantly turned toward it.

A tall man stood in the doorway with a few new scars on his face, a gaze so gloomy it could drip water, and a small bundle of belongings in his hand.

It was Scar!

He was back!

The air in the cell instantly froze! The prisoners hardly dared breathe. They instinctively shrank back, their terrified gazes darting between Lin Feng and Scar.

Scar's gaze swept slowly across the cell like a cold searchlight. He saw the familiar faces, silent as cicadas in winter, and he also saw Lin Feng sitting on the best bunk, the one that had originally belonged to him, calmly watching him.

Lin Feng's expression was composed. He even held an old, dog-eared magazine he had somehow acquired through unknown channels, as though the man who had arrived were not the enemy who had once nearly tortured him to death, but an ordinary cellmate.

The muscles in Scar's face twitched several times. A tangled mix of emotions churned in his eyes: anger, resentment, humiliation, and a trace of indelible fear that Zheng Qi and Qian Er had beaten into him. He stared fixedly at Lin Feng, as though he wanted to tear him apart with his gaze.

The guard shoved him from behind. "Get in! What are you standing there for?"

Scar took a deep breath, as though he had made some difficult decision, and stepped inside. Instead of arrogantly taking up the passage as he had before, he walked silently to the far end of the communal sleeping platform, to the spot closest to the toilet that had once belonged to Lin Feng, and tossed his belongings onto it.

The gesture stunned all the prisoners for a moment.

"Brother Scar... he..." one prisoner could not help muttering to the person beside him in a very low voice, his voice trembling badly.

"Did he chicken out? Did they beat the fear into him?" another whispered back, unable to believe it.

"No way... when has Brother Scar ever swallowed a loss like that..."

"But look at him... he actually didn't lash out?"

Scar seemed not to hear their mosquito-like murmurs. His face gloomy, he began arranging his meager bedding. But the corner of his eye never left Lin Feng.

He watched closely. Lin Feng's complexion was far better than before, with some color even returning to his face. He wore clean, new underwear, and cigarettes and snacks lay beside him. The way the other prisoners feared him as if he were a tiger told him everything.

He had heard plenty of the rumors outside, too. A mob prince? A high-ranking official's illegitimate son? Scar had spent many years running in the underworld; he was no three-year-old. He was more inclined to believe that Lin Feng had gotten lucky as hell, that two ruthless men who didn't value their lives had happened to land in the same cell with him, and he had merely seized the chance to stir up trouble. Now that neither of them was here-Zheng Qi was in solitary, and Qian Er seemed to have been transferred to another cell block for an investigation into the stabbing-Scar wanted to see what Lin Feng still had to rely on!

Resentment and the urge to test him sprouted in Scar's heart like poisonous weeds.

He finished arranging his things, straightened up, rolled his shoulder, which still ached faintly, and then started toward Lin Feng.

His footsteps sounded especially heavy in the silent cell.

The other prisoners' hearts leaped into their throats, and they held their breath.

Scar stopped in front of Lin Feng's bunk. He was tall, and the shadow he cast as he stood there almost completely engulfed Lin Feng, carrying an invisible pressure.

Lin Feng slowly lowered the magazine in his hand and looked up at him calmly, saying nothing.

Scar looked down at Lin Feng and lowered his voice. It was hoarse and full of menace, like sandpaper scraping:

"Everyone outside says you're some mob boss's only son, with influence reaching all the way to heaven?" A mocking curve pulled at the corner of his mouth. "But I don't believe it."

He paused and leaned forward slightly, fixing his gaze on Lin Feng like a venomous snake. He forced out each word, almost through clenched teeth:

"Now those two mad dogs aren't by your side. Let's see... what can you do?"

When his words fell, a terrifying deathly silence filled the cell. Everyone felt a chill rise from the soles of their feet! Scar was settling scores at last! Lin Feng was finished!

Yet faced with this blatant threat, Lin Feng showed not the slightest fear. Instead, he suddenly smiled. It was neither an angry smile nor a mocking one, but a smile tinged with pity... as though he had heard something amusing.

Under the astonished gazes of Scar and the others, Lin Feng slowly stood up. Though he was a little shorter than Scar, his bearing was no weaker in the slightest.

He reached out and patted Scar's sinewy shoulder quite naturally, even with a hint of warmth.

The gesture made Scar's entire body stiffen, and left all the prisoners watching slack-jawed!

As though he had not noticed Scar stiffen, Lin Feng spoke softly in a conversational yet bone-chilling tone:

"Brother Scar," he paused, as if recalling something, "your wife works at the Red Light Textile Factory, in workshop six, doesn't she? Rotating through three shifts-that's hard work."

The muscles in Scar's face twitched sharply!

As though he had not seen it, Lin Feng continued in the same matter-of-fact tone, "And your daughter goes to Red Star Primary School, third grade, class two. I hear she's a clever girl and does well in school, too. She even got a ninety-eight on her last Chinese test, didn't she?"

Boom!!!

It was as though a thunderbolt had exploded in Scar's head! The ferocity and mockery vanished from his face without a trace, replaced by utter shock and disbelief! His pupils abruptly contracted to dangerously small pinpoints!

This information! The most essential, most closely guarded information about his family! This vulnerable spot, which he had never discussed in detail with outsiders and had even deliberately concealed! How could Lin Feng know it so clearly?! He even knew the workshop, the class, and the test score?!

An icy fear instantly drowned out all his anger and resentment, plunging him into an ice cave! He was a thousand times more frightened than he had been facing Zheng Qi's fists and Qian Er's toothbrush!

"You...!" Scar suddenly drew a ragged breath. Like a beast with its throat gripped, he let out a low roar full of horror and fury. "You fucking investigated me?! What the hell do you want?!!"

His voice warped with extreme terror, and his body trembled slightly beyond his control.

That was right. During those seemingly "humiliating" days, Lin Feng had not been idle. Through that invisible mental link, his orders had quietly reached beyond the high walls long ago.

He had not only ordered the deathsworn outside to closely monitor Sun Tingting, Li Jing, and Zhang Qian's every move, but had also issued another command: thoroughly investigate the backgrounds of his main enemies in cell 107, especially Scar, Iron Head, and Skinny Monkey.

For deathsworn with all manner of identities at the bottom of society-beggars, delivery workers, even hackers-finding out about a gang leader's family was no difficult task. Lin Feng had long since committed this information to memory, making it an invisible weapon in his hand, more deadly than any blade.

Faced with Scar's shock and fury, Lin Feng's smile remained mild. He even reached out again and patted Scar's shoulder, which had gone rigid as iron.

"Nothing," Lin Feng said lightly, as though discussing a trivial matter. "I just happened to remember and felt a little moved."

He paused, calmly looking into Scar's terrified eyes, and slowly, clearly delivered the rest:

"So, Brother Scar, considering how hard things are for your wife and daughter..."

"Don't go causing them trouble."

"While you're at it," Lin Feng added, his voice still mild but carrying an unquestionable command, "sorry for the trouble, Brother Scar, but kowtow to me."

Those final words struck Scar's heart like a heavy hammer and pounded in the ears of every prisoner watching in the cell!

Kowtow?!

He wanted Scar, the once-arrogant cell boss, to kneel and kowtow in front of everyone to the person he had once bullied at will?!

All the prisoners were stunned, scarcely able to believe their ears! They had thought it would be good enough if Lin Feng could protect himself; they had never expected him to dare make such a demand!

"He... he's gone mad..."

"Brother Scar will kill him..."

"It's over, it's over..."

Extremely low, trembling whispers sounded faintly in the deathly silent cell.

Scar's face instantly turned paper-white, then flushed crimson, before finally settling into a deathly gray. Veins bulged on his forehead, his teeth ground together, and his fists clenched so tightly that his nails nearly dug into his flesh!

Utter humiliation and overwhelming fear for his family's safety battled wildly inside him!

He stared fixedly at Lin Feng, his expression shifting: anger, murderous intent, struggle, and finally... all of it turned into bottomless despair and fear.

He understood.

He understood completely.

This Lin Feng had not relied on luck at all. He was more terrifying than Zheng Qi and Qian Er combined! Those two were merely blades out in the open, while this seemingly calm young man was the one wielding them, the one who truly held the power of life and death! If he could find out about Scar's family, he could do even more terrifying things!

Scar's own street toughness was laughable, like children playing house, in the face of such precise and vicious leverage!

Time seemed to stretch on for ages, yet also seemed to last only an instant.

Under everyone's disbelieving gazes, Scar's tall frame began to tremble slightly. His tightly clenched fists slowly opened. The bulging veins gradually subsided.

The ferocity in his eyes went out completely, leaving only desolation and submission.

At last, an almost inaudible whimper escaped his throat, like a sigh.

Then, slowly and with great difficulty, he bent his knees.

Thud.

The dull sound struck everyone's heart.

Scar, the former overlord of cell 107, fell to both knees on the cement floor before Lin Feng, as though every bone had been pulled from his body.

His head was lowered, hiding his expression; only his graying stubble and slightly trembling shoulders could be seen.

Then his upper body slowly bowed, and his forehead lightly touched the cold floor.

A proper, humiliating kowtow.

The entire process passed in silence.

Yet it was more shocking than any roar or fight!

Inside the cell, all the prisoners watching seemed to have been struck by an immobilization spell. They were completely petrified on the spot, their expressions frozen in identical shock and fear!

Lin Feng stood where he was, looking down at Scar prostrate at his feet. His face remained expressionless, as though he were merely witnessing something only natural.

He spoke mildly. His voice was quiet, but it reached everyone's ears clearly:

"Get up."

"Behave yourself from now on."

Scar's body trembled. As though granted a pardon, he struggled to his feet, staggering. He did not dare look at Lin Feng again the entire time. Silently, his back hunched, he returned to the worst bunk and curled up, as though he had aged ten years in an instant.

At that moment, the invisible throne, cast with this final blood and humiliation, solidified completely.

Cell 107 had welcomed its true master.

And the master's will would be carried into every corner through fear.