96 A Nighttime Ruckus at the Board of Justice (1/2)

That night, the Board of Justice served dishes and wine to Shui Yuehan and Fu Guansan as a sign of apology.

”Everything has happened within expectations. We shall be returning tomorrow. This unexpected turn of events can finally be put to rest.” Although both Shui Yuehan and Fu Guansan heaved sighs of relief, they still felt uneasy -this case with Cirrus House did not seem so simple after all.

They had not really done anything but they had already put themselves in trouble and exposed themselves. It was time to change up the game.

…

In the residence of Old Marshal Qiu, feelings were running riot.

”They were only held for a day?” Qiu Jianhan was adamant that they shouldn't have been let off that lightly.

It was the Dictum of Supreme Cloud!

Supreme Cloud’s men usually made a move with the foresight of ten moves; how could there be something so simple and easy? So much effort had been wasted to go through to the Board of War to pressure the Board of Justice, then with the execution of the nation’s law through the Board of Justice, suppressing the crown prince’s residence, the martial arts world, and the noble families!

Had they utilized the government's arm to suppress all the influences and send them to the Board of Justice only to keep them in the prison for a single night?

How could it be so trivial and insignificant?

”If nothing happens until the next morning…” Old Marshal Qiu Jianhan mumbled to himself with a frown, ”I'll go stark raving mad.”

”If something really had happened, there shouldn’t be any deaths at all. Supreme Cloud’s plot wouldn't have been so shallow.” Old Marshal Qiu was thinking hard now. ”Maybe they were beating around the bush just to create suspicion? Lure them out to catch the real culprit?”

”But that can't be it either. The mastermind behind all these wouldn’t be moved from such petty matters. Who would dare to make a move before feeling a strong sense of danger?”

”This is extremely odd. What do they really want to do?”

The old marshal sat in his study room and mumbled to himself as if crazed. He could not discuss this with anyone else.

Although everything seemed to have happened out in public, only he knew the ins and outs of this situation in the entire Empire of Yutang! If anything had been leaked out, the aftermath would be unimaginable.

Thinking about it, Old Marshal Qiu grew even more despondent; the sense of creeping madness began to grow stronger.

…

Night came around soon enough. Borderless darkness enclosed the land as silence wrapped Tiantang City, the prison cells even more so.

Although Shui Yuehan was in a prison cell, he was very much at peace. He looked like he was just sitting with his legs folded but he was cultivating, inhaling and exhaling deeply in a regular pattern as his breaths grew longer.

There was nothing else more suitable to be done other than cultivating in this silent night, especially so for the prison was quiet; not even the insects’ chirping could be heard.

The peaceful silence even made Shui Yuehan think to himself, ”It’s not bad to cultivate here, the efficiency is high. Let me see if I could make some connections and come here to cultivate in the future.”

From this train of thought, he recalled a legend in the martial arts world. Word had it that a martial arts expert was captured while committing a crime. The crime was not small but it was not severe enough to incur the death penalty either. The expert was sentenced to a long eight years in prison. When he was released, however, he had actually become an intimidating expert, with few men who dared to challenge him.

The entire myth seemed outrageous but it was logical – this man's ability was not restrained so naturally, he became the lord of all the prisoners. People served him every day in the prison so he had no worries, not even the petty matters of socializing and hobnobbing. Under such circumstances, cultivating actually became the only way to curb boredom and so, he broke through several levels within the eight years as his capability increased by leaps and bounds. After this man was released, his proclamation was always the same – eight years of prison had built his valiant reputation!

Prison was a good place indeed.

Thinking about this, Shui Yuehan broke out into a smile and murmured, ”This man might have really been speaking the truth. With some planning, this prison could become a good place for cultivation.”

The night became deeper as the surroundings grew quieter.

Shui Yuehan ended his cultivation and began immersing himself in his train of thoughts, combing through what he had done so far in his mind.

Just wait until I’m released.

There had to be something going on at the Cirrus House!

Perhaps it was related to the escape of the Nine Supremes. Was it a coincidence for all three young masters of the noble families to gather here or was it all a set-up? I can use this unfortunate prison night and the power of the crown prince’s residence to reveal all the details of this incident!

He was thinking hard with his eyes closed, completely unaware that something with no color nor scent had somehow appeared in his cell. A faint, wispy smoke issued from a corner under the cell’s bed, merging into the air as it coalesced.

There was no scent at all as the smoke entered in an endless stream. After a very long time, Shui Yuehan felt himself getting drowsy, his eyelids fighting to stay open.

”How can I be so sleepy…” Just as this instinctual exclamation came out from his mouth, Shui Yuehan jumped in surprise. A rarely - seen look of shock adorned his sculptured face.

With his cultivation base, he would not be this tired even if he had not slept for a whole month. What was going on today?

Something was wrong.