Chapter 0031: Skinny Monkey and Xiaoman

Yang Wu’s expression froze when he heard Lie Ziying’s words; he did not even have time to console Wan Lanxin.

Wan Lanxin came to a complete stop and locked her gaze with Lie Ziying’s. ”Lie Ziying, what exactly are you trying to do?”

Sneering, the man snapped back, “I’m the one who should be asking the questions.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “Yang Wu, prisoner from cellblock 68, was stripped of his title as a viscount and sentenced to ten years in prison for offending the Archduke. Am I mistaken?”

Wan Lanxin held her glare, but somewhat guiltily, she answered, “What of it?”

“‘What of it?’ He should be in block 68, but you decided to protect him, removing his chains and bringing him to block 8. This is no minor offense!” Lie Ziying cockily declared. He turned, addressing the guards around him. “What are you all still standing around for? Arrest that criminal immediately!”

Eighteen prison guards obediently stepped forward and approached Yang Wu.

“I’d like to see you try!” Wan Lanxin shouted. As her voice rang out, the guards froze in their tracks. None of them dared take a step farther.

“Lanxin, are you sure you want to continue down this erroneous path?” Lie Ziying demanded.

“Stop being a busybody! I will take care of this myself.” The young woman’s tone was domineering, and she hurried over to Yang Wu. “Come with me, Little Brother Wu.”

After a hesitant moment, Yang Wu replied, “Captain Wan, you should take me back to my cell. Although you ordered me to save Warden Wan, I am still a criminal, and my crimes outweigh my contributions. I do not wish to tarnish your reputation.”

Yang Wu’s thoughts flew through his head. He already realized that Lie Ziying wanted to use him as a threat, and he refused to let the man have his way.

He altered the way he addressed his big sister, informing everyone present that he had come here solely under Wan Lanxin’s orders to save her father, not because she wanted to protect him. With a single sentence, he had cleared her name and interfered with Lie Ziying’s plans.

Wan Lanxin wanted to say something, but she recognized the signals Yang Wu sent with his gaze. Ultimately, she could only give in, and she said gently, “Very well. I’ll have someone escort you back to cellblock 68. I am confident that everyone in this prison is grateful for your efforts to save my father’s life. Both contributions and offenses will be credited accordingly.”

“Thank you, Captain Wan!” Yang Wu responded, giving her a cupped-fist salute. He then turned to face Lie Ziying and smiled. “Long time, no see, Uncle. Please take care of me, since I am responsible for such major contributions to the prison. I’ll take my leave.”

Calling forth two of her most trusted guards, she ordered them to escort Yang Wu back to cellblock 68.

No one paid any attention to the skin-clad skeleton clinging to Yang Wu’s back. They simply assumed it was another prisoner, someone who had been stranded in the bloody pit.

Who would have guessed that man was primarily responsible for the pit itself?

Wan Lanxin did not linger, but before she left, she faced Lie Ziying. Her tone indifferent, she reminded him, “Don’t forget our deal. You’ll have to write your name backward!”

Helpless, Lie Ziying could only watch as Yang Wu and Wan Lanxin left. His expression twisted into something sinister, and a vicious wrath flashed in his eyes. Yang Wu had officially made it onto his kill list.

——

Cellblock 68:

Since Yang Wu’s crushing victory over Wang Yan, Centipede’s untimely demise, and Fei Leng and Bei Zi’s recruitment, none in cellblock 68 had dared to challenge Skinny Monkey’s position as boss.

The young man had been seriously injured during the wolf spirit attack. Fortunately, thanks to the blood ginseng and the healing pills Wan Lanxin had left, he had recovered in just two days. He had an extraordinary physique, and he had once again improved his strength, approaching the Superior Grade Foot Soldier Realm while Yang Wu had been away.

He cultivated diligently, practicing the first two moves of the Rainstorm Spear Arts and getting both to the Established Stage. In one fell swoop, he had grown to ten stones of strength, becoming a Superior Foot Soldier.

Not even Fei Leng and Bei Zi could keep up with his growth speed.

Furthermore, a red light had begun to flash in his eyes on occasion. It looked like fiery lightning strikes and made looking him directly in the eyes nearly impossible. He had been stunned at first, but as time passed, he realized how unnaturally far he could now see. His vision had become unobstructed; he could see through anything.

Testing this new ability, Skinny Monkey discovered he could even see through walls. This also allowed him to find the exact locations of Scarlet Steel Rock. The revelation was astounding!.

However, he also came to realize how erratic this ability was. Sometimes it worked; sometimes it did not. Even after testing and practicing with this ability, he had yet to figure out its secrets, which frightened him a little. He still was unsure of whether this was a blessing or a curse.

Xiaoman’s development was equally shocking. Sooty occasionally gave her a variety of treasures, from spiritual fruits to herbs. However, she only ate a small number of the pup’s gifts, saving the majority for Yang Wu. Even so, the little she ate resulted in a significant strength increase.

In addition, a new name had appeared within her mind: Eight Barbarian Immortal Art.

This technique consisted of eight techniques, each tremendously increasing the available Barbarian Energy. This energy granted its wielder overwhelming strength.

After attempting to practice this art, Xiaoman found that she could easily move stones that weighed fifty kilograms with a gentle flick of her wrist.

She had begun to wonder if she were turning into some kind of monster. She was even concerned she might begin to grow a beard. If she continued to train with this art, would her arms and legs become as thick as a bull’s? Would her waist become as thick as a bear’s or a tiger’s?

Contemplating these questions terrified her, and she decided to stop cultivating.

Every day, however, Sooty stood before her, whining as if upset by her lack of effort. As the days passed, he brought fewer and fewer spiritual fruits and herbs. Of course, Xiaoman had no idea and could only wonder why Sooty acted this way.

Fortunately, no one noticed how Skinny Monkey or Xiaoman had changed.

Their situation had begun to improve, although problems were inevitable.

Black Ape, one of the prison’s big shots, had known of Centipede’s death for some time, but due to the disturbance in block 8, prisoners had been forbidden from moving between cellblocks.

Having waited for the right moment, Black Ape contacted Li Futu, block 45’s envoy. He ordered the envoy to dispatch a group to block 68 to take vengeance for Centipede’s death.

Normally, prisoners were not allowed to venture from the cellblocks containing stronger inmates to those containing weaker inmates. Allowing such a thing would only cause havoc for the block’s administration. But some rules could be bent if the guards permitted it.

On this day, the guards allowed Li Futu to leave his cellblock after handing over his Scarlet Steel Rock. He only had one day to take care of this issue, so he took eight subordinates with him to cellblock 68.

Despite the small group, each member was a Medial Grade Foot Soldier or stronger. Three were Superior Grade Foot Soldiers, and Li Futu had reached the Consummate Grade Foot Soldier Realm.

The man was confident that he could destroy the entire cellblock with this squad.

Li Futu was a stoic, unassuming gentleman with a crew cut and a powerful build. His gaze, however, held only a venomous ferocity. He did not take his crowbar with him, nor did his followers. Rather, they all entered cellblock 68 barehanded.

The weakest of the cellblocks, block 68 did not contain powerful inmates. Even with the few fights and murders, these inmates could not adversely affect the prison, and a few ordinary guards were enough to deal with any trouble.

But as Li Futu and his men entered the block, the atmosphere became far tenser.

“Does this cellblock only have low-grade prisoners? As expected, every person here is trash!” someone next to Li Futu commented disdainfully. This particular inmate seemed to have different levels of classification for prisoners.

“Right? Based on how weak they look, I’d be surprised if they dug up a single chunk of Scarlet Steel Rock per day!” Another prisoner commented.

“Cut the crap! Find out who killed Centipede, and finish the job quickly so we can report back to the boss,” Li Futu barked.

With that, one of the man’s followers attacked a nearby prisoner, interrogating him.

Li Futu and the others uncovered the name “Skinny Monkey” quite quickly and headed over to deal with him.

Meanwhile, Skinny Monkey was busy desperately digging for Scarlet Steel Rock.

Yang Wu had informed him that digging Scarlet Steel Rock was the most efficient method of tempering his body and that doing so would help him grow stronger more quickly. Since then, Skinny Monkey had not considered the work to be hard labor, but a form of cultivation.

He also wanted to collect fifty thousand kilograms before Yang Wu returned. Thus far, he had accumulated less than two thousand five hundred kilograms, which was a long way from his goal.

When Xiaoman had told him that Yang Wu had been taken by a beautiful prison guard, he knew his sworn brother might not return to block 68. Despite that, he wanted to collect the fifty thousand kilograms on the chance Yang Wu did return. If the managed that, Yang Wu could leave this prison and join the Death Legion, contributing to the war

Skinny Monkey only had Yang Wu’s best interest at heart if only because the man was his big brother.

As the young man continued to dig, he heard a disdainful voice from behind him. “Trash, are you Skinny Monkey?”