Chapter 186: Prison Break

At the hour of Dog, about to put out the lamps and peacefully sleep, an inexplicable atmosphere of solemn killing pervaded the streets.

The long street, covered in white snow, had only sporadic horse hoof prints, empty and desolate, unlike the human world.

Inside the prison, two Li away, in a small alley south of the city with hidden light and excitement, Liang Mao was sitting on a broken basket and snoring. Liang Gou was holding the Liang family's long knife in his arms, biting a withered yellow grass stem in his mouth, leaning against the wall with nothing to do. "Hey, kid, how much longer do we have to wait?"

Yu Dengke was sneakily poking his head out to look around the alley outside. With his back to Liang Mao and Liang Gou, he said without turning his head, "Wait a little longer. In another quarter of an hour, it will be the hour of Pig. Once it's the hour of Pig, we'll be safe. Gou brother, stand under the eaves where there's no snow and don't move around. Someone will come to patrol later."

Liang Gou laughed once. "Safe? Trying to fish people out of the Yan Party inside the prison, how can you talk about safe?"

Just then, Yu Dengke, who was keeping watch, turned to them and waved his hand. "Quick, quick, quick, someone else is coming, hide well!"

Saying that, he stepped onto the spot under the eaves where there was no snow and squeezed himself into the broken basket.

Liang Gou turned to cover Liang Mao's mouth. With one grab, he lifted him up and hid behind a pile of broken baskets.

Outside the alley, the sound of horse hooves clipping da, da, da, da on the accumulated snow could be heard. The horse hooves gradually approached, like life-urging drums.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths... ten breaths later, a Troublesome Guard wearing a bamboo hat and draped in gown clothes rode past from outside the alley. He had his long knife horizontally across his lower back, and his gaze was fierce as he looked into the alley. He stood silently for a moment, confirmed there were no footprints in the accumulated snow inside the alley, and then rode off to patrol other places.

Liang Gou loosened his hand. Liang Mao panted silently. Yu Dengke also lifted the broken basket and let out a breath on the ground, his legs trembling.

Liang Gou turned his head to look at Yu Dengke. "You, a boy from a dock worker's family, are already trembling like this, yet you dare to rush into this dragon pool tiger den trap?"

Yu Dengke was surprised and doubtful. "This is a trap?"

Liang Gou counted with his fingers. "This morning, I pretended to be a pedestrian and wandered around the area. Not only are there scattered Troublesome Guards patrolling, but within one Li around the prison, there are who knows how many secret agents and Troublesome Guards hiding in the alleys. One Li further out, there are still troops from the Luocheng Military and Horse Office on standby, ready to provide support at any time. The Yan Party is clearly waiting for people to throw themselves into the net and take the opportunity to eradicate all remnants of the Jing Wang line."

Looking at Yu Dengke, he said mockingly, "A slightly smarter person could carefully observe once and discover this is a trap, but you several fools still go to deliver yourselves to death."

Yu Dengke turned his head and looked at him. "Aren't you going too?"

Liang Gou said impatiently, "Do I want to go myself? I'm being coerced and tempted by all of you to go! To me, everyone has their own fate, why must we save someone? In all these years, how few instances have there been in Jianghu of close friends with life-saving grace turning against each other? Friends are temporary, one's own life is the most important!"

Yu Dengke felt a bit wronged. "Clearly you were so good at the medical hall that time, you even said you wanted to drink together when we were old!"

Liang Gou's expression faltered, and his voice lowered somewhat. "Anyway, I'll say it beforehand, as long as I help bring the Shizi and Junzhu out of the prison, my task is complete. After that, I'll take Mao and escape. As for whether you all can get the Shizi and Junzhu out of Luocheng, that doesn't concern me."

Yu Dengke said in a low mood, "Got it, got it."

Liang Gou was doubtful. "Aren't you worried that you all can't get out? Now the guard troops at the four city gates have all been replaced by elites from the Wan Sui Army. Even the dung carts entering and exiting the city gates have to have their covers opened and be stabbed seven or eight times. This noon, a remnant of the Liu family hiding in a dung cart was captured and died. Before he died, he wailed once, and all the golden juice was poured into his mouth. What do you think he was thinking, still not as good as choosing a more refreshing way to die..."

Yu Dengke imagined that scene and felt a wave of chill.

Liang Gou said gleefully, "Even if you all can save the Shizi and Junzhu, how will you send them away?"

At this moment, a calm voice suddenly sounded behind the three people. "This matter, then, does not need Gou brother to worry."

Liang Gou turned his head to look. Only to see in the depths of Wangchun Alley, a person slowly walked out from the darkness, their figure gradually appearing.

Liang Gou turned his body and slightly raised his eyes to look at the masked person. "Why are you dressed like this and still severely injured... how can you still save people when you're injured like this?"

Chen Ji answered casually, "With you, a Seeking Dao Realm high official here, we can save them. Right, Gou brother, what cultivation path allows one to tattoo Buddha patterns on their body, and behind them bloom a Buddha dharma image?"

Ran Gou was startled. "You fought with Han Tong... is he the one who injured you? He cultivates the Hidden Python path, mixing heart blood with four-leaf grass juice and sprinkling gold emblem ink to tattoo patterns on the body and visualize daily. Ordinary people only dare to tattoo pythons. According to legend, when tattooing dragons, tigers, Buddhas, or immortals, it's easy to lose sanity when visualizing, so it was originally called Hidden Python." He continued, "Several people cultivate this path. When they meet each other, they will mutually kill, never stopping until death. I remember, Liu Ge Lao once had two by his side. The previous period, they were killed by Tianma."

Chen Ji nodded. "Understood. What's the situation near the prison?"

Liang Gou said, "Now there is a troop of Troublesome Guards stationed near the prison, approximately two hundred people. How do you plan to go in? Let me say this first, I may not be able to fight so many. Among the Troublesome Guards, there are hidden officials. If you haven't thought about how to deal with them, I advise you to turn back home."

Suddenly, Chen Ji raised his hand to signal him to be silent.

Liang Gou was slightly startled. The next moment, a fast horse could be heard stepping on the snow from afar. The secret agent on horseback intermittently blew a copper whistle. Que Que, one sound, this was the Secret Agent Office's whistle for summoning troops.

After one incense stick's time, horse hooves galloped on the long street outside the alley. Chen Ji and the others stuck to the shadows under the eaves and hid well. They saw teams of Troublesome Guards wearing bamboo hats and draped in gown clothes, with long knives horizontally across their lower backs, galloping past towards the east side.

After the night quieted down again, Liang Gou suddenly looked at Chen Ji. "What did you do to actually be able to lead away the Troublesome Guards here?"

Chen Ji didn't answer.

Liang Gou frowned, thinking, "If they were capturing ordinary characters, there would fundamentally be no need for so many Troublesome Guards to mobilize, unless it was a Seeking Dao Realm high official. But within Luocheng, the only Seeking Dao Realm are me and that one surnamed Feng. Wait, you took Han Tong as bait? As far as I know, he has no grudge or enmity with you..."

Chen Ji said calmly, "This is what he should do."

Liang Gou sized up Chen Ji for a moment, and finally sighed. "You're already a bit unscrupulous. Don't end up with the whole world as your enemy and regret it when it's too late."

Chen Ji shook his head. "It's not important."

Liang Gou looked at him with surprise and doubt. "You won't sell me and Mao after saving people, will you?" Chen Ji said expressionlessly, "No."

Saying that, he took out a masked gray cloth from his chest and handed it to the three people. He just raised his hand and suddenly coughed. He untied his own masked cloth and coughed up a mouthful of blood at the base of the wall.

Liang Mao said with concern, "Chen Ji, are you alright?" Chen Ji wiped away the trace of blood from the corner of his mouth. "I'm fine."

He lightly leaped onto the gray tiles of the roof, then crouched down low and reached out to pull Yu Dengke up as well.

Liang Gou followed suit and pulled Liang Mao onto the roof as well, muttering in his mouth, "You want to go from the roof without leaving footprints on the snowy ground, so people won't discover you. But let me remind you, further ahead, there are still people from the Secret Agent Office hiding in one of the alleys. You can't avoid them."

Chen Ji led the way forward without a change in expression. "I have my own method."

Row after row of pitched roofs, the roof ridges like a series of sharp mountains. A Troublesome Guard stood in the shadow of a small alley, like an armored sculpture with his hand on his waist knife. He pulled his bamboo hat down lower, closed his eyes to rest, waiting for prey to throw itself into the net.

The Troublesome Guard had just closed his eyes when his right ear under the bamboo hat trembled slightly. He suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze shooting out like electricity.

Only to see in the alley, a calico cat was stepping on the accumulated snow, walking step by step into the alley. Looking left and right, it seemed to be searching for food.

The Troublesome Guard's sharp gaze softened slightly. He thought for a moment, took out a piece of cake from under his masked clothes, broke off a small piece and held it in his palm, and squatted down.

The calico cat timidly meowed once, hesitated for a moment, then slowly approached, swallowed the cake into its mouth, and rubbed against the Troublesome Guard's palm.

The Troublesome Guard smiled and broke off another piece of cake.

Not far away, Chen Ji listened to the sound of the calico cat, his footsteps not stopping. He led Liang Gou to turn and go in another direction. As long as there was the sound of a cat meowing, he completely avoided it.

Several people shuttled and jumped among the gray mountains, continuously approaching the direction of the prison.

Liang Gou was masked with gray cloth. Doubt flashed in his eyes above the gray cloth. Where did all the Troublesome Guards hiding in this series of alleys go? How come they didn't run into a single one?

In addition, there seemed to be a lot of wild cats in this residential area.

At this time, they saw Chen Ji suddenly crouch down, raising his right hand in a fist.

Liang Gou bent down and approached. The two people used a roof ridge as cover and quietly looked outwards.

Chen Ji said in a low voice, "The iron door next to that household residence in the front is the prison. The tunnel after the door leads underground and connects to the underground river."

Liang Gou frowned. "How do we get in? If we chop open the iron door with a knife, the nearby Troublesome Guards will definitely hear the sound!"

Chen Ji picked up the accumulated snow from the roof, rubbed off the trace of blood on his face, then turned to Liang Gou. "You all wait for me here."

Liang Gou crouched behind the roof ridge and saw Chen Ji lightly float down from the eaves, landing on the snowy ground, silent like a calico cat.

Liang Gou frowned. "What does this kid want to do?" Yu Dengke shook his head. "I don't know."

However, they saw Chen Ji walk straight to the iron door and knock three times. Liang Gou suddenly gripped his knife sheath tightly.

The next moment, the small window on the iron door was pulled open. The jailer inside said doubtfully, "Chen adult, how did you come?"

Chen Ji flashed a waist badge in his hand once. "I have a prisoner to interrogate, open the door." The iron door opened.

Chen Ji was just about to make a move to kill when the jailer quickly retreated into the tunnel, entering the darkness inside the prison.

Chen Ji moved to chase, but saw a supervising arrow shoot out from inside the door. He barely avoided it sideways, and the arrow cut a shallow blood mark on his cheek.

The next moment, the jailer blew a sharp copper whistle. Que Que, one sound, summon!