Chapter 111

The story splits into two.

Zhou Jing, Li Chun, Gao Yun, and Xiang Tianjie spent some time with Shi Qing, who slightly altered their appearances. Only then did they go to the prison together.

Unsurprisingly, the group was stopped at the gate by the guard.

At this time, Li Chun displayed his negotiation skills, immediately stepping forward to talk. He spoke a lot of flattery and secretly stuffed some silver, making the guard beam. Only then did the guard take them into the prison to find his superior, the jail warden.

When the warden saw the appearance of the four, he knew they were not ordinary people. Hearing that they wanted to visit Guo Haishen, he dared not make his own decision and quickly brought in the prison supervisor.

Before long, the supervisor strolled up to the four of them. After sizing them up, he said slowly:

"So, you are the ones who want to see the prisoner Guo Haishen? What is your relationship with him?"

Li Chun quickly stepped forward and said with a smile, "We are traveling merchants who once received his help. We are grateful for his kindness. We happened to know he was detained here, so we came to see him."

As he spoke, Li Chun took out a large ingot of silver from his pocket, concealing it with his sleeve, and stuffed it into the supervisor's hand. Then, he bowed and cupped his fist, earnestly saying:

"I hope Supervisor, please be accommodating."

The supervisor's face changed from cloudy to clear, revealing a smile, but he did not loosen his grip. Instead, he snorted:

"Do you know that this man dared to speak recklessly about the Emperor and committed a serious crime, not even death would be enough! Yet you come to visit him in prison. Could it be that you are the same kind of arrogant people?"

Gao Yun's fist instantly clenched.

However, seeing the calm appearance of the other three, he forcibly held back, keeping his mouth shut, not wanting to ruin things.

Hearing this, Li Chun showed a look of "panic" and quickly bowed to apologize, repeatedly denying it.

The supervisor snorted coldly and lectured unceremoniously:

"I advise you all not to interfere in other people's affairs, lest you get into trouble."

Although he said so, he stuffed the silver ingot into his pocket, obviously not planning to return it to them...

Li Chun repeatedly agreed, then took out a money bag and stuffed it into the supervisor's hand, panicking, "He spoke recklessly and deserves his punishment. We would never dare to have such thoughts. I hope you will be lenient! It's just that this person has been kind to us, so I hope you will take care of him."

The supervisor weighed the money bag, his smile even wider. He casually stuffed it into his pocket and said pretentiously, "I see that you are all people who value kindness, which is commendable. Alright, I agree to this matter."

"Thank you, thank you!" Li Chun quickly thanked him, then deliberately hesitated for a moment, took off a jade ornament from his waist, and stuffed it into the supervisor's hand, whispering, "Then, this matter of visiting the prison..."

"Haha, very good."

The supervisor accepted the jade ornament, his face becoming even brighter. Only then did he finally agree, calling a guard to take the four to see Guo Haishen, but he himself did not go with them.

Li Chun quickly thanked him, and led Zhou Jing and the other two to go deep into the prison with the guard.

The supervisor watched the four walk away, then looked at the jade ornament, playing with it in his hand, thinking:

‘This Guo fellow has a lot of oil to squeeze out of him…’

He had accepted money from a local tycoon to punish Guo Haishen. Now, he had accepted money from Li Chun and others to take care of this person. He was greedy and intended to profit from both sides.

In his opinion, the matter he had promised the local tycoon was not urgent and could be done after the wind had passed. Only when Guo Haishen was unharmed could he be a rare commodity. He would scrape the oil clean first before making any further plans.

...

The four followed the guard deep into the prison and finally stopped in front of a cell deep inside.

In the cell was a burly prisoner with a cangue and shackles, his ankles chained, his hair disheveled, his prison uniform dirty, and his appearance quite miserable.

"Brother Guo?!"

Gao Yun stepped forward two steps and called out quickly.

The burly prisoner heard the voice, raised his head, revealing his appearance. His eye sockets were deep, his cheeks were thin, and he looked quite weak, but his eyes were like lightning in a dark room, bright and piercing.

"It's Brother Guo!" Xiang Tianjie nodded, then felt a little sorry for his brother.

He still remembered Guo Haishen's former appearance, which could be described as dignified, but now a good man had been forced into this state, almost emaciated.

"You are?" Guo Haishen frowned slightly, not recognizing the disguised group.

At this time, Li Chun took out more silver and gave it to the guard beside him, politely saying, "This officer, we haven't seen each other for a long time and want to say a few words in private. I wonder if you can be accommodating?"

The guard glanced at them, took the silver, and walked away, no longer watching from the side.

At this time, Gao Yun dared to reveal his identity, suppressing his excitement, and said, "I am Gao Yun, here to see you!"

"Brother Gao!"

Guo Haishen was stunned and quickly got up, approaching the prison door. He looked carefully for a while before vaguely recognizing a familiar outline, and said in surprise:

"Aren't you in the north? Why have you come to the south?"

Gao Yun: "I heard of your misfortune and came specifically to rescue you!"

Hearing this, Guo Haishen was greatly moved. If his arms were not shackled, he would have grabbed Gao Yun's hands to express his excitement.

At this time, Xiang Tianjie and Li Chun also revealed their identities. They both knew Guo Haishen and naturally exchanged greetings.

Afterward, Guo Haishen looked at Zhou Jing, the only one he did not recognize, and asked:

"May I know who this hero is..."

"This is Brother Chen Feng, the Life-Reaping Yama, with excellent skills. He has also come with us to rescue you."

Li Chun spoke, answering on his behalf.

Guo Haishen had been imprisoned for many days and naturally had not heard of the latest popular names outside, nor did he know who Zhou Jing was.

But this stranger was willing to save him, which was giving him face, so he would naturally not look down on him, and said seriously:

"I have never met Brother Chen, yet you have come to save me. I will remember this kindness!"

Zhou Jing said in a deep voice, "No need to say more. You stood up for the local people, but offended the powerful and wealthy, and were plotted against. When heroes like you are in trouble, ordinary people can stand by and watch, but if we martial artists with skills encounter such injustice and do not draw our swords to help, then what is the point of practicing martial arts? Never mind the Anlin Prefecture prison, even the capital's prison, I dare to break into!"

Guo Haishen was immediately moved:

"Truly, you are righteous! If I escape this disaster, I will definitely drink with you until we are both drunk!"

After exchanging names, everyone quickly talked about serious matters.

Xiang Tianjie asked, "Brother Guo, I see that you are emaciated. Have the prison guards made things difficult for you?"

"After I was imprisoned, I behaved myself. These guards had no reason to trouble me. Besides, they feared my skills, so in the early days, they only dared to lock me up and did not dare to use any severe torture on me."

As he spoke, Guo Haishen suddenly smiled self-deprecatingly and shook his head:

"It's just that no matter how good my martial arts are, I can't fight against so many people. That dog of a prefect took advantage of me being drunk and sent hundreds of officers and soldiers to arrest me. Many of the officers were experts in martial arts who knew their stuff. They pinned me to the ground and beat me severely. In court, the officers gave me fifty strokes with a bamboo cane.

These are nothing. With their little strength, they didn't hurt me much. But after I was detained, the guards first starved me for three to five days, and then only gave me a bowl of stale porridge every day, which I never had enough of. After so many days, they saw that I was weak and forced me to wear shackles and work, exhausting my energy. Right now, I can't muster any strength. Perhaps in another seven or eight days, they will start torturing me."

Hearing this, Gao Yun quickly took out a few baked pancakes from his pocket, as well as roast chicken wrapped in oiled paper, which he had specially brought in.

Guo Haishen was overjoyed and immediately took the food, devouring it hungrily.

Xiang Tianjie watched him eat, while lowering his voice and said:

"This time, we plan to rob the prison to save you. You must be vigilant these days, ready to cooperate with us from the inside and outside, and kill our way out together."

"I understand."

Guo Haishen nodded while gnawing on the roast chicken.

He was not a pedantic person and knew that if he stayed here, he would be at the mercy of others sooner or later. He had originally planned to wait for an opportunity to fight, and now that his brothers had come to save him, he naturally had no interest in continuing to be imprisoned.

"By the way, if it's convenient during the prison break, kill the supervisor here." Guo Haishen remembered this and said in a deep voice, "Brothers, you don't know, this supervisor is known as 'Little Impermanence' here. He enjoys torturing prisoners and is extremely greedy. If prisoners don't offer him tribute, he will use severe torture at every turn, ruining many heroes. Keeping him alive is a scourge!"

"That's simple." Xiang Tianjie had no objections and said, "This person just blackmailed us for money. His face was greedy. Obviously, he is used to doing this kind of thing. We'll just take care of him along the way."

The group talked for a while and soon agreed on the specific time for the prison break.

Because Guo Haishen was in prison and could not help from the outside, everyone did not discuss the specific plan with him in detail and planned to go back and discuss it further.

After Guo Haishen finished eating, the four called the guard and bid farewell.

Just as the four were walking out of the gate, the supervisor, who had been waiting on the side, came out leisurely and stopped them.

"What can I do for you, sir?"

Li Chun quickly stepped forward to greet him, putting on a complete act.

The supervisor smiled and said slowly:

"I didn't expect that Guo had such a group of righteous and wealthy friends. Let me be honest with you, his crime is actually neither big nor small, but someone behind the scenes wants to punish him. I have some connections. If you really want to take care of him, why not give me some money and let me take care of things for him?"

"This..."

Li Chun was really a little stunned.

How greedy could this person be? He had already squeezed them three times and still wanted to squeeze a big one?

Was he going to shear a sheep to death?!

Seeing the hesitation of the group, the supervisor immediately put on a stern face and shouted:

"Allowing you to visit the prison today is already giving you a great deal of face. Don't be ungrateful! You give me the money to take care of things. Whether things work out or not is another matter. At least I can let Guo do less work and have more food every day. Otherwise... hmph! Don't blame me for handling things according to official business and not being sentimental!"

The corner of Li Chun's mouth twitched. He took a deep look at him and said slowly:

"Alright, let us go back and raise some money. When we come to visit the prison next time, we will definitely satisfy you!"

Only then did the supervisor smile and watch the four leave.

...

The four returned to the inn and met with the others who were lying low, and told them about the situation.

Hearing about Guo Haishen's experiences, everyone was filled with righteous indignation.

However, being angry was one thing, discussing the specific plan was the real business.

Soon, Xiang Tianjie dipped his finger in water and drew a simple map on the table, and said in a deep voice:

"The date for the prison break has been set. We need to divide into three groups, one to rescue people, one to respond, and one to create a disturbance in the city to cover our actions and contain the prefecture's pursuers."

This plan was basically the standard procedure for Green Forest heroes to rob prisons and rescue people, and everyone present was familiar with it.

Rescuing people and responding were nothing to talk about. Xiang Tianjie and the other Heavenly King Fortress leaders had not been waiting these days for nothing and had already prepared a draft.

It was just that there were many options for this harassment mission. Without causing some commotion, it would not have a restraining effect and would be quite risky.

"The simplest way is to set fire in the city and burn some buildings, which will definitely cause a riot." A Heavenly King Fortress leader suggested.

"Or we can act recklessly in the downtown area, kill a few officers, and attract people to chase us." Another person said.

Shi Qing chuckled: "Why don't I go steal from the prefect's house, scare him, and make him summon soldiers to guard his own mansion? Then he won't have time to chase us."

Everyone spoke one after another, coming up with one idea after another.

At this time, Li Chun noticed that Zhou Jing had not spoken and could not help but ask:

"Brother Chen, do you have any suggestions?"

Everyone stopped talking and looked over, quite curious about the opinion of this "Green Forest newbie."

Zhou Jing stroked his chin and said slowly:

"If you have a grievance, you have a debtor. If you want to make trouble, make a big one! Since it was the local merchants and gentry who harmed Brother Guo, why not kill them all and burn their homes? This would not only cause a riot, but also avenge Brother Guo and eliminate a scourge for the local people."

Hearing this, everyone was stunned and their faces became subtle.

Xiang Tianjie couldn't help but say, "We have had this idea for a long time, but the local rich and powerful people have many servants and guards. We are weak and isolated and cannot easily provoke them. A misstep would cause us to be trapped inside... The most urgent task is to rescue Brother Guo. Let's talk about these things later."

"If you want to eliminate these local rich and powerful people, you must break through the prefecture. With us alone, we can't do it."

Li Chun also shook his head, not agreeing.

Zhou Jing looked at Xiang Tianjie and asked, "Among those present, only your Heavenly King Fortress has the ability to break through the prefecture, but your base is in the north. Can you cross the states and directly attack this Anlin Prefecture?"

"That is naturally impossible." Xiang Tianjie waved his hand helplessly.

Zhou Jing nodded, his tone sinking:

"Since that's the case, then no one can control the local gentry. Even if we rescue Brother Guo, we will only run away in disgrace. These rich people will still be powerful in the prefecture. Nothing will change, and Brother Guo will have suffered in vain.

These unbenevolent rich men are used to such good days. They will only be afraid and will never repent. Don't expect them to one day have a change of heart. They collude with the government, and the law is their protection. They do evil and make a lot of money, while the people suffer. In the end, these instigators can act like nothing happened... That's how the world is, but why the hell should we put up with it?

We have no power or influence. If we want to eliminate these deeply rooted local treacherous merchants, can we rely on the government and the law? The only thing we can do is eliminate evil with killing! Be willing to risk one's life to unhorse the emperor... Violence is our last reliance on those who are unbenevolent but wealthy!

If you don't dare, then I will go myself. I will do the thing of causing a riot, and by the way, use their dog lives to eliminate the sins they have committed in the past!"

These words were so violent and fierce that everyone was moved.

Those present were all old Green Foresters, but at this moment they were all startled by the murderous aura emanating from Zhou Jing.

The Life-Reaping Yama... the nickname was not wrong, this person was so bloodthirsty!

Fang Zhen, however, heard this with a flushed face. He slapped his thigh and shouted, "Well said! I will go with my brother and definitely cut off the heads of this bunch of bastards and hang them on the city gate!"

Gao Yun's eyes changed, and he slammed the table:

"That's right, why should these bastards bully our brothers, and we dare not provoke them and can only endure humiliation? Since Brother Chen has such heroic feelings, even if it is a dragon's pool or a tiger's den, I will accompany you!"