Black Myth: Starting from the Destined One-Chapter 77 - 73 The Strange Person in Prison
Chapter 77: Chapter 73: The Strange Person in Prison
Chapter 77 -73: The Strange Person in Prison
The shop assistant and the shopkeeper immediately began to snicker gleefully.
Li Ping’an had been traveling for many days, cautious and vigilant, and although he had encountered numerous evil spirits, bandits, and Demon Monsters, he hadn’t suffered the slightest loss. He never expected that right beneath the Emperor’s nose, within the jurisdiction of the capital city, he would encounter a black shop, and not just any black shop—it was in a “Peaceful World,” a “vast universe” within the town, blatantly harming people without any fear. It was utterly absurd!
But by the time Li Ping’an realized all this, it was already too late. The effects of the Knockout Drug took hold, and he immediately collapsed to the ground.
“Hahaha! You two, come out!”
The shopkeeper shouted toward the back courtyard, and soon a Colonel and soldiers appeared, the same troublemakers Li Ping’an had encountered when he entered the city.
The Colonel, with a smug look, walked up to Li Ping’an and kicked him twice:
“Damn it, you ate a catty of beef and still claim to be a Taoist? I was almost fooled by you!”
After saying that, the Colonel picked up Li Ping’an’s travel bag, placed it on the table, opened it, and at the sight of the shiny Silver, was instantly blinded:
“Damn, he really is loaded, at least more than nine hundred taels of Silver!”
The shopkeeper also immediately crowded in, greedily grabbing a handful:
“Military sir, don’t forget to tell the county magistrate about our split, twenty-eighty!”
“Got it, got it, I’ll lock this guy up in the cell first to avoid any trouble.”
Thus, Li Ping’an was carried by the Colonel and soldiers and taken into Qi County Prison City.
Qi County Prison City, the cell for death-row inmates.
Not knowing how long he had been unconscious, Li Ping’an finally woke up, rubbed his still sore head, and abruptly opened his eyes:
“Where the hell is this? I wasn’t killed by the black shop people and turned into human meat buns, was I?”
After getting up, Li Ping’an carefully checked his body and confirmed he was still very much alive and unharmed, except that his travel bag and provisions were gone, and his hands and feet were locked tightly with iron chains.
The surroundings resembled a cell; everything was similar to when he had been captured by the Human-Headed Dog Demon, except back then he was locked in a cage, and now he was locked in a cell.
“Why am I here?”
Looking through the window bars, Li Ping’an saw that it was the beginning of the Hai Hour (21.00), then he examined his surroundings and tried hard to recall everything before he was drugged:
Entering the city, being inspected, encountering difficulties, wearing a red scarf, being invited for a meal, entering a black shop, and being drugged to the ground.
But what the hell does all this have to do with a cell!
Injustice! I must have been wronged! This is right beneath the Emperor, as long as I plead my innocence, I must be able to get out!
Li Ping’an couldn’t fathom why he was here. Although the Imperial Court was utterly corrupt, this was still beneath the Emperor’s nose, where the law was supposedly strict and the governance clear, so he stuck his head out and shouted into the corridor:
“Injustice! Injustice!”
Li Ping’an yelled several times, but the response was only mocking laughter from the surrounding cells.
“Young man… stop shouting… it’s useless…”
“Who?”
Li Ping’an was startled; he thought he was the only person in the cell. Following the voice, he turned and saw a person lying in a dark corner of the dimly lit cell, half-covered by straw.
“Who are you?”
Li Ping’an approached and, aided by the faint light from the corridor, he could finally see the person clearly—white beard, white hair, a face full of wrinkles, and covered in wounds with no uninjured skin, dried blood on his prison uniform soaked with fresh blood, some wounds already harboring maggots; the whole person was locked next to a urine bucket, a truly pitiful and harrowing sight.
“Old man, you don’t shout yourself, why won’t you let me shout for justice?”
“I have been locked in Qi County Prison City for a year; there hasn’t been a single inmate who has entered this death-row cell and left alive!”
The old man replied weakly.
“Absolute nonsense! I haven’t broken the law, how could I be in death-row?”
Li Ping’an glanced coldly at the old man with a mouth like a jinx but immediately realized that something was wrong:
“What did you say? This is a death-row prison?”
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“You’re just figuring that out now?”
“Impossible! I’ve never killed, committed arson, raped, or plundered; how could I be locked up in a death-row prison?”
Li Ping’an panicked for a moment, but after thinking it carefully, he truly hadn’t done anything along the way, so he glared at the old man and scolded:
“You indestructible and unkillable hard convict, some criminal from nowhere in the bandit soldiers, surely involved in terrible crimes outside, locked up here to be tortured, yet you try to scare me? If you scare me again, I’ll give your criminal bones a good handling once more and show you some effect in no time.”
“Scare you? Idiot!”
The old man looked at Li Ping’an as if he was a fool and laughed and scolded.
“Oh, and you’re cursing at me too…”
Li Ping’an was so tempted to slap this rotten-mouthed death row prisoner across the face. Just as he was about to explode, suddenly, he heard someone approaching from outside, walking up to the front of Li Ping’an’s cell.
“So, you are the new prisoner today?”
The constable asked disdainfully, followed by a jailer carrying food.
“Yes, yes, but I am wronged!”
“Wronged?”
The constable paused, then shook his head and mocked:
“Oh, you’re the great river bandit Zhang San, caught by our official residence today, and still you have the nerve to claim you’re wronged?”
“Big brother constable, I’m truly wronged, my name is Li Ping’an, not Zhang San. If you help me get out, I will be deeply grateful to you.”
“Got it, murderer Li Si, eat your meal first.”
The constable turned his head and the jailer placed the food inside the cell, then they both left without looking back.
“Li Si? When did I become Li Si?”
Upon waking up and realizing his environment, Li Ping’an had thought that his identity as the gang leader Supreme Treasure of the Axe Guild had been discovered, which was why he was captured.
Yet to his surprise, the constable didn’t even know what his name was or what crime he had committed.
“Hey, hey, hey! Big brother constable, you must clarify my innocence, I am Li Ping’an, not Zhang San or Li Si!”
“Got it, got it, Wang Ermazi.”
The constable replied carelessly, then disappeared into the corridor.
“Huh?”
Li Ping’an was about to squat down to eat when he suddenly noticed several wanted posters on the cell wall across, one of which was the warrant for the capture of Supreme Treasure; yet, the constable had still not realized that he was Supreme Treasure, which was really strange.
“Anyway, I’m hungry, I’ll talk after I’ve eaten!”
Since Li Ping’an could absorb Spiritual Essence, he would get dizzyingly hungry within three two-hour periods, and now that good food and drink had been delivered, he quickly sat down to enjoy himself, waiting for the official residence to clear his name and release him.
“Tastes good, does it?”
The old man asked with a mocking tone.
“Delicious, absolutely delicious!”
Li Ping’an responded proudly while eating, boasting:
“That soldier you cursed at me just a while ago, you forgot to tell you, I have some standing on the outside too, even the county magistrate has to show me some respect, otherwise, why would he send someone to bring me good food?”
