Chapter 19 The Weird Sound of a Temple Block (1/2)

By the time Governor Shuo got to the hall, Shen Lian was already seated.

Shen Lian held his teacup up and carefully tasted its content, white steam rising from it.

Governor Shuo was an educated man, a phrase came to him – volatilizing jade.

He had got through the Imperial Examination. It goes without saying that he had seen his fair share of talented men and descendants of reputable families.

There were definitely men who were better looking than Shen Lian, but none of them looked as smart as him.

There were youths who were more mature than Shen Lian was, but they were not as carefree and more often than not, appeared as trying too hard.

Governor Shuo found it normal to judge a book by its cover, and the first impression was especially important. Even if Shen Lian was not from the Shen family, the Governor Shuo would still want to make his acquaintance.

Shen Lian saw Governor Shuo, then gently put down his cup and smiled politely at the Governor.

Governor Shuo felt as though he was like the ancient people meeting up with a friend, and sat down graciously.

”Young man, what are you doing here at my town hall?” said Governor Shuo.

”I have come to your rescue.” Shen Lian said softly; his voice was low, but his words were clear and carefully enunciated.

Governor Shuo was displeased to hear that. Due to the excellent first impression he had of Shen Lian and his family background, Governor Shuo did not react unpleasantly.

The steward who was waiting outside of the door heard a loud roar and wondered what happened, unsure if he should go in.

Moments of silence followed, which left the steward incredibly confused. In the end, a very pleased and joyous Governor Shuo escorted Shen Lian out from the hall. The Governor passed him a memo and ordered him to bring Shen Lian to the secret prison.

The steward noticed that something on Governor Shuo smelled charred, and he saw some ashes on the Governor's fat fair hand.

******

The prison in the State Capital of Qing was dirty and foul-smelling, even the wardens would not want to spend an extra minute there.

However, Shen Lian who was trailing behind the prison warden looked at ease and did not seem bothered at all.

After passing through a long corridor, they finally arrived at the deepest corner of the prison.

It was an iron cell made for the most heinous and dangerous criminals.

There were twelve locks on the iron gate, known collectively as the Gold Portico and Jade Lock.

Even the best of thieves would take at least fifteen minutes to open the locks.

The iron gate swung open slowly. Surprisingly, there was no foul smell from the inside. However, it was incredibly stuffy.

This was Shen Lian's second encounter with the man in green.

The circumstance of their last encounter was still fresh in his mind; he still remembered how arrogant and proud the man in green was.

There were two iron chains hooking onto his clavicle, and his limbs were cuffed to the corner of the cell.

The prison warden lighted up the oil lamp. Under the dim lighting, Shen Lian could see that the man in green had an untrimmed mustache and facial hair all over his face, and his hair was a tangled mess.

Shen Lian tried taking a step forward but was stopped by the prison warden. ”Young man, don't go any closer. Fix to six groups of people have visited this month, and all of them had to be carried out of the cell,” the prison warden advised.

Shen Lian took a better look at the cell. The reason why it did not smell rotten was because of its sheer size. It was wide and spacious. If anything, it was more like a hall than a prison cell.

”After having his clavicles pierced with the purest of iron, he is still capable of hurting someone?” Shen Lian asked.

He knew the answer but did not want others to suspect that he was privy to the knowledge.

”This man is capable of sorcery. When someone approaches him, he would notice and would put them down. I wondered how he was captured in the first place,” the prison warden nodded and replied.

To be honest, the prison warden was in fear. Ever since the man was caught, there had been many instances of break-ins by countless Jianghu drifters. All of them died in the prison. At the end of the day, the prison wardens were the ones who had to clear out the bodies.

Fortunately, the man in green would never strike first. So long as one remained thirty to fifty feet away, one would still be safe.

The Shen family wanted the man in green to be executed, but no one could go near him ever since he woke up.