bookpub Chapter 91 Demon Prison
Chapter 91 Demon Prison
Chapter 91 Demon Prison
It was early morning.
The Demon Prison was surrounded by hunched black trees, twisted old vines, and a chilling atmosphere.
We walked along the way without seeing a soul.
The entrance to the Demon Prison is filled with jagged rocks, sharp as blades, resembling fangs.
A black staircase descends steeply, disappearing into the darkness below, with no end in sight.
On either side of the entrance sit two black stone monster sculptures.
It resembled a lion, but had two heads with red eyes, a long tail like a snake, and was covered in scales.
It resembled a tiger, with wings on its back and two heads, one facing forward with a gentle smile, and the other facing backward with a fierce and ferocious expression.
On the stone wall directly above the entrance, two large characters are written in scarlet blood: Demon Prison.
The last stroke of the character "狱" (prison) is drawn long and crooked downwards, like real blood overflowing the engraved groove before flowing down.
Below the characters are carved a series of hideous and terrifying ghost faces.
"Thump—"
"Thump!" As Luo Qingchen stepped onto the downward-facing black stone steps and walked down, a series of clear echoes of footsteps immediately resounded in the dark space below.
It sounded like the beating of a heart.
The lower you go, the dimmer the light becomes.
The deeper they went, the clearer the footsteps became.
Two dark figures suddenly appeared on either side of the stone steps ahead, near the wall.
The two dark figures, clad in armor and wearing iron helmets, stood motionless, wielding long spears.
When Luo Qingchen approached, he discovered that they were actually two stone statues.
The statue's two eyes are black holes, without pupils, and its mouth reveals fangs, making it look like a demon.
"Thump, thump—"
Luo Qingchen continued walking downhill.
After walking for about half an incense stick's time, we finally descended the last stone step and arrived at a narrow passage.
Bronze lanterns hung on the walls on both sides of the passage.
The dim light stretched his shadow long and thin, making him look like a strange giant clinging to the ground.
Just as he reached a corner, a cold glint suddenly flashed out and stopped at his throat.
"Who is it?"
Two tall men dressed in black armor stood on either side of the corner, one holding an iron spear that was pointed directly at him.
Luo Qingchen took out her waist token and said, "I am a disciple of Black Phoenix Peak, here to do some work."
The man glanced at the waist token in his hand, put away his iron spear, and said coldly, "Go to the stone house ahead to register."
Luo Qingchen continued walking forward.
The passage began to widen, and soon a stone house appeared ahead.
Inside sat a gaunt, white-haired old man. His wrinkled body, sunken eye sockets, and long, noseless face made him look rather frightening.
Luo Qingchen handed over her mission token and called out "Senior Uncle".
The old man took the waist token and examined it, then said, "Let me see your disciple's waist token as well."
Luo Qingchen took out her identity token and handed it over.
The old man glanced at it, lightly rubbed it on a black stone on the table, and handed it back to him, saying, "Alright, I'll take the mission token. From now on, just bring your own disciple token. Your main responsibility is feeding the magical beasts in Prison Number Five. There are fifteen cells in total, and each cell holds a magical beast. You don't need to go inside; just put the food in through the feeding slit next to the cell door. Five days a month; the specific days will be assigned by your cell boss, Yao Yu."
Luo Qingchen wanted to ask a few questions, but the old man waved his hand and said, "Go ahead, Yao Yu is inside. Go find him directly and ask him anything."
"Thank you, Senior Uncle."
Luo Qingchen had no choice but to put away her waist token and continue walking forward.
We walked another hundred meters or so.
An iron fence appeared ahead, and behind the fence sat a chubby-faced young man dressed in a black robe, with his legs crossed, picking his teeth.
There was a table in front of the chubby-faced youth, and on the table were several sets of keys.
As Luo Qingchen approached, his gaze swept over him, sizing him up before a smile appeared on his face: "This must be the junior brother who just started working here, right? I am Yao Yu, the prison warden. I'm currently troubled by the lack of food for the magical beasts in cell number five."
Luo Qingchen walked over, handed over her waist token, and respectfully greeted, "Senior Brother Yao."
Yao Yu remained seated, taking the waist token and casually glancing at the name. She smiled and said, "Junior Brother Luo, you probably heard about the situation here before you came. Everyone says it's dangerous, a nine-out-of-ten chance of death. But it's not that exaggerated. As long as you're careful, there won't be any major problems. If it were truly a nine-out-of-ten chance of death, why would the sect waste time and energy training you, only to send you here to your deaths? It's all just hearsay, deliberately scaring cowards."
As he spoke, he returned the waist token to him, took out a piece of paper from the drawer, and said with a smile, "This is a life-and-death contract. Junior Brother Luo, you just need to put your fingerprint on it."
Luo Qingchen said, "May I take a look first?"
"certainly."
Yao Yu smiled and handed him the contract.
Luo Qingchen took it, carefully read it word by word, and pondered for a moment.
Then he bit his fingertip and pressed his handprint onto it.
"Junior Brother Luo is much more decisive. The others who came before were terrified when they saw this life-and-death contract. They were timid and hesitant, asking all sorts of questions, but they didn't dare to put their fingerprints on it."
As Yao Yu spoke, she put away the contract.
Then he looked at him and laughed, "I hate people who are unhappy and cowardly the most, so in the end I made them go in to clean the cells. There were three of them, but only half of one came out; he had to be scooped up from the ground with a shovel."
Luo Qingchen met his gaze and asked curiously, "Senior Brother Yao, do you know why so many magical beasts are imprisoned here?"
Yao Yu smiled and said, "Everyone who comes here asks this question. We spend manpower, food, and even lives to raise these things, so of course they are useful. As for what they are useful for, you will naturally find out in time, so I won't say."
Luo Qingchen nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
Yao Yu took a key from the table and handed it to him, saying, "Cell number five. The food is already placed at the door. You just need to go to each cell and throw the food to them. It's very simple."
Just as Luo Qingchen was about to reach for the key, Yao Yu withdrew it, smiling broadly, and asked, "Junior Brother Luo, are you new to the sect?"
Luo Qingchen looked at him and said, "What Senior Brother Yao means is—"
Yao Yu shook the keys in his hand and smiled, "This task is very simple and there's no danger, so, Junior Brother Luo, aren't you going to express your gratitude to your senior brother?"
Luo Qingchen paused for a moment, then said, "Isn't this a task assigned by the person in charge?"
Yao Yu burst out laughing, took out his prison warden's badge, and looked at him with a smile, saying, "The task was indeed assigned by the management office, but once you're here, you have to listen to me. I'm the warden, so you have to do whatever I tell you to do. Junior Brother Luo, do you have any objections?"
Luo Qingchen paused for a moment, then asked, "How much does Senior Brother Yao need?"
Yao Yu smiled and said, "It's not about how much I need, but how much Junior Brother Luo should give. Usually, for the safest missions like this, everyone else gets 500 taels of silver, but it seems Junior Brother Luo is a new disciple, so I can give you a discount, 450 taels."
Luo Qingchen said, "I have no money."
Yao Yu smiled, took out an IOU from the drawer, and said, "It's alright, your senior brother can lend it to you."
Luo Qingchen looked at the IOU on the table, remained silent for a while, then looked at him and said, "I'm sorry, Senior Brother Yao, I don't want to lend you money."
"Sure?"
Yao Yu still had a smile on her face.
Luo Qingchen didn't say anything more.
Yao Yu nodded, put down the key in her hand, picked out a bunch of keys from the table, handed them to him, and said with a smile, "Junior Brother Luo, there are fifteen cells in Cell Number Five. Remember to open them one by one, and then go in and clean up all the food scraps, monster excrement, and other garbage inside."
Luo Qingchen silently took the keys and prepared to leave.
Yao Yu suddenly laughed and said, "Oh right, some magical beasts might be sleeping, or they might already be dead. When you go to clean, remember to wake them up one by one to check."
Luo Qingchen turned around and glanced at him, then at the skull embroidered on his chest, before leaving.
After he walked away, Yao Yu's smile gradually disappeared. She closed her eyes, crossed her legs, leaned back in the chair behind her, and sighed, "Sigh, 450 for a life, and they can't even part with it. These young people nowadays really value money over life."
"Thump—thump—"
Luo Qingchen took the key and continued forward through the quiet passage.
He was initially disappointed when the white-haired old man said that feeding the magical beasts wouldn't require entering the cell, but only placing the food outside. He thought his plan had failed. But to his surprise, he was now able to enter the cell again.
Only by entering the cell could he have the opportunity to obtain blood.
However, if you don't offer silver as a bribe, you'll be sent to your death—that really fits the style of the Demonic Sect disciples.
"That Senior Brother Yao must have amassed quite a bit of silver, right?"
Walking through the dark passage, the dim light cast flickering shadows on his face, making him look for a moment like a terrifying ghost face at the entrance.
After turning through a passage filled with torches, several forks in the road suddenly appeared ahead.
He found the location of cell number five and went inside.
Ahead, a heavy, massive iron gate appeared, with a small door in the lower right corner.
In the corner outside the door, there were several baskets piled with severed limbs and intact corpses.
Some are wild animals, some are poultry, and some are human.
A short boy was looking down, diligently filling a basin on the ground with meat.
As Luo Qingchen approached, the boy heard footsteps but didn't look up, continuing his busy work. He said, "Is this the new one to feed? Fill the bowls, then go in and distribute them one by one. Number three, number five, number ten, number fifteen, feed this one."
He raised a bloody arm in his hand.
Luo Qingchen said, "I'm here to clean the cells."
Upon hearing this, the boy paused in his work, then looked up at him: "Cleaning the cells?"
Luo Qingchen then realized that the boy had a very handsome face.
However, it only has one eye.
The other eye socket, which should have held the eyeball, contained something else.
Upon closer inspection, it appears to be a Buddhist rosary.