Chapter 26: Release

"Is there a need to be so reckless?" Du Huoguan felt compelled to remind him, "Lord of the Prison, although the Qi family's own strength is limited, their backing in the Heavenly Court is not to be underestimated. Killing someone's daughter without a reason is truly indefensible and cannot be explained to the Heavenly Court."

Nie turned and sat on the ornate couch, asking, "What was the reason Shi Chun was arrested?"

Du Huoguan replied, "Theft."

Nie said, "Then let it be theft."

"..." Du Huoguan was speechless. Qi Yueru came to visit a prisoner and casually stole something, and the city guards were all just decorations, then he personally killed her. Could such a reason possibly be convincing? No one would believe it.

However, he quickly understood Nie's intention. The more unbelievable the reason, the better, as it would provide a pretext to protect someone.

In any case, fabricating charges would still fall to him to handle later.

After realizing this, he reminded Nie, "Qi Yueru should know who the mole is."

"Investigating the mole is your concern." Nie dismissed the comment, clearly finding it too wordy. He lifted his feet, turned on his side, and lay back down on the couch, adding, "Shi Chun can be released. The theft case will remain open. Tell them that if new clues are found, they will be interrogated at any time."

"Huh?" Even Du Huoguan, with his imposing demeanor, was stunned. Releasing someone, letting them leave the place of exile, yet being able to re-arrest them at any time—how could that work? There was no such precedent in the Land of Exile. Fearing he had misunderstood, he couldn't help but confirm, "Do you mean released from the city, or released from the Living Prison?"

After asking, he immediately felt his question was somewhat redundant.

As expected, the Lord of the Prison looked too lazy to answer.

Yet, he steeled himself and voiced the doubt in his mind, "Lord of the Prison, why protect a minor figure like Shi Chun?"

"If you can ask, there's no need for an explanation," Nie responded indifferently, slowly closing his eyes.

The clear message was that he didn't want to be bothered anymore. Du Huoguan, feeling helpless, left with his questions unanswered.

Inside the dueling arena, Shi Chun kept looking around, bored and lonely. He wasn't sure what was going on; it seemed no one was paying him any attention. He looked at the city guard beating the drum; the guard stood motionless beside the drum stand, occasionally glancing at him.

In fact, Shi Chun had already noticed two more people on the pavilion roof, seen just before the strange vision in his right eye disappeared. However, he pretended not to have seen anything.

For him, the biggest discovery wasn't what his right eye saw, but confirming how to activate its ability.

Nervousness! Yes, that was it—nervousness. As long as his emotions entered a state of tension, the strange ability of his right eye would be activated.

He had vaguely realized this issue, which he had been pondering, while being tortured in prison.

When he first entered Zhixu City Prison and faced interrogation, he truly couldn't avoid feeling nervous. As soon as he became tense, his right eye's ability emerged, allowing him to vaguely grasp the commonalities in several instances where the special ability was activated, though he wasn't certain.

He hadn't expected the opportunity for confirmation to come so quickly. The sudden appearance of the Azure Fox Demon instantly brought him to a state of heightened tension.

Ultimately, his hypothesis was confirmed: nervousness could activate the special ability of his right eye.

Downstairs, at the entrance, Du Huoguan emerged. Shi Chun didn't know who he was, but he had seen him previously in prison.

Du Huoguan raised his hand, motioning for the drumming city guard to approach, and instructed him to take Shi Chun away for registration.

There was no other way. The Lord of the Prison had stated the case wouldn't be closed, so a basis for re-summoning Shi Chun at any time had to be established. Otherwise, how could they bring him back from the outside later? The Living Prison had no jurisdiction over the outside world, and others' spheres of power would not permit the Living Prison to interfere arbitrarily. Conversely, would the Living Prison allow outsiders to interfere freely?

At the guest wing, several city guards arrived and knocked on the door.

A nervous Qi Yueru opened the door. Seeing the several people outside, she became slightly wary and asked, "What is it?"

The leader said, "You've been here too long. The Prison Inspector has ordered your expulsion. Take your belongings and leave."

Qi Yueru was eager to leave quickly, so she immediately complied, gathering her belongings and heading out.

After being led to the barbican gate, the final measure was to be carried out: a body search. Since she was a woman, a female city guard stepped forward to perform it.

Qi Yueru cooperated obediently. However, just as she turned around, she was struck violently, spitting blood. Before she could react, she was pinned to the ground.

Someone immediately covered her mouth, while others grabbed her arms and legs, snapping them one by one. She cried out in muffled agony.

They were truly ruthless, not playing games. The act of covering her mouth immediately made her realize she was exposed and that Ba Yingshan wanted to silence her!

Unwilling to accept her fate, she immediately wanted to cry out and expose him, but she forced herself to hold back the words.

If she exposed Ba Yingshan, she wouldn't survive, and Ba Yingshan would, in turn, implicate the Qi family, where her dearest relatives lived.

Before coming, her family had secretly instructed her that if her mission was exposed, she alone must bear all responsibility, as it would be considered her personal actions.

Had she not firmly remembered this point, she might indeed have screamed out Ba Yingshan's name just now.

"What are you doing? What are you doing...?" Qi Yueru groaned muffledly, screaming and struggling.

Seeing that she wouldn't reveal the other party even as she was about to be silenced, the person who had signaled the attack looked up at the barbican wall.

Du Huoguan appeared from behind the wall, looking at the person pinned below. He felt a little pity; if she wouldn't speak even now, he knew she would never open her mouth.

The Lord of the Prison only made decisions, while he also had to handle other matters. As the Lord of the Prison had said, finding the mole was his business.

Seeing that his goal had not been achieved, he tilted his head slightly to give a signal. The person below, who had looked up, understood and immediately walked to the subdued Qi Yueru. Leaning down, he delivered a punch to the small of her back, directly caving it in.

Blood spurted from between the fingers covering Qi Yueru's mouth. Blood seeped from her seven orifices, her face filled with agony and despair. She had no time for regret or remorse, twitching a few times before falling motionless.

Snap. Fearing she wasn't dead, someone else twisted her neck, breaking it.

The body was then dragged away, brazenly pulled all the way outside the inner city gate, where it was hung by a rope.

The execution process, from beginning to end, was swift, decisive, and merciless.

Soon, a crowd gathered to watch. The city guards deliberately spread the news that she had been personally killed by the Lord of the Prison for theft.

What? The Lord of the Prison personally acted? Like a stone thrown into a calm pool, it created a thousand ripples. People buzzed with discussion, and the news spread rapidly.

At Bowang Tower, Lan Qiaoyan, upon hearing the news, found it hard to believe. She personally rushed to the inner city gate to confirm that the deceased was indeed Qi Yueru.

Not only outsiders but even the city guards within the city were deeply shocked upon hearing the news, suspecting it was a rumor. Would the esteemed Lord of the Prison act over such a trivial matter? However, upon learning that their own colleagues were spreading the information, they had no choice but to believe it, as their colleagues would not dare to spread false rumors about the Lord of the Prison.

The news naturally reached Ba Yingshan, who was terrified out of his wits and continued to hide in his room to avoid suspicion.

He certainly didn't believe the Lord of the Prison would personally kill Qi Yueru over such a minor issue. It was clear what the true reason was. He could only hope that Qi Yueru hadn't implicated him before her death...

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang, ragged and covered in wounds, also emerged from the inner city gate. They had been released, and their weapons and belongings were returned to them.

Seeing the crowd blocking the entrance, Wu Jinliang chuckled, "Are they here to greet us, or just to watch us?"

He soon realized he was overthinking it. He saw everyone pointing towards the top of the city gate. The two men who had just walked out looked up and saw a hanging female corpse, whom neither recognized.

Wu Jinliang let out an exclamation and asked the onlookers, "What's going on here?"

There was much he didn't know; he wasn't even aware that Shi Chun, standing beside him, had just fought a duel for their lives.