Soul of the Revered Banner
Chapter 42: Organ-Refining

A corpse lies in the ancestral hall. The death was kept secret.

At dawn, Old Xiang arrived at the prison as if everything was normal.

“Old Xiang, why didn’t you show up for duty yesterday?”

“Good thing I was on shift.”

“The higher-ups didn’t check, so we got away with it.”

Seeing Old Xiang approaching in his black, embroidered warden’s robe, a fellow elderly prison guard lowered his voice.

“Sickness. Thanks.”

He gave a brief response and walked on toward the prison without elaborating.

“Hey!”

The old guard didn’t think much of it, assuming Old Xiang was just in a bad mood.

Though the rumors were quiet, people had heard of Old Xiang’s reputation.

He had once been well-known within the Embroidered Guards. Unfortunately, age had caught up to him, and a severed arm had left him demoted to prison duty.

“You really missed something big yesterday.”

“Quite a few of those Wild Dog Gang thugs died.”

“Rumor is, some expert didn’t like their filth and wiped them out.”

“Bet the governor is losing his mind trying to clean up the mess.”

The old guard liked to talk. He didn’t stop just because Old Xiang seemed uninterested.

Instead, he went into detail about yesterday’s incident involving the Wild Dog Gang.

As they walked and talked, Old Xiang paused mid-step. “Did the Embroidered Guards get involved in the investigation?”

“Just a petty case. Why would they bother?”

“Give it a few days and the governor will close the case.”

“Old Xiang, you really should stop thinking about the Embroidered Guards,” the old guard sighed.

Cases like this were usually dead ends.

Eventually, they'd blame it on gang violence or pin it on a death row inmate and call it solved, nice and neat.

Hardly ever would the Embroidered Guards get involved.

Unless, of course, the governor was serious and some official who truly wanted to catch the real killer. Then maybe there’d be a chance.

Old Xiang thought back.

Other than the punishment techniques he used, he had left no clues.

All the victims’ souls had been drawn into the Soul Banner, ruling out the risk of even the dead leaking secrets.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to handle the bodies properly. The cover-up had been rushed.

Unless it was someone senior in the Embroidered Guards and familiar with the Three Needles of the Yama King, it would be difficult to detect anything.

By midmorning, the young guards were gathered around a table playing dice and stirring cheap porridge.

Old Xiang and a few older guards began distributing food to the prisoners.

They received two meals a day, watery in the morning, dry in the afternoon.

Most didn’t have the privilege of private cells. Four or five men were crammed together, sleeping on dry straw.

Those with money could bribe the guards for better treatment.

Such prisoners typically had two-person or even solo cells.

Liang City had three major prisons.

Collectively called the Three Realms Prison:

Heaven Prison, Earth Prison, Human Prison.

The Human Prison dealt with Ministry of Justice cases.

The Earth Prison was overseen jointly by the Ministry, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate.

The Heaven Prison handled cases directly assigned by the Emperor or royal princes themselves.

To the average citizen, the distinction didn’t matter, they were all just “prison.”

To martial artists, it was all called Heaven Prison anyway.

Old Xiang was currently working in the Earth Prison, which housed many prisoners sent in by the Embroidered Guards.

The Embroidered Guards had their own holding cells and Imperial Prisons, but those were only temporary.

Anyone sent to the Imperial Prison was usually executed on the spot.

Those with lighter crimes were transferred to the Earth Prison, which had become the largest detention center in Liang City, filled with a mixed crowd from all walks of life.

“Mealtime.”

An old guard scooped porridge into ceramic bowls placed near the barred doors.

Prisoners in filthy clothes scrambled to grab their bowls, eating with their hands, devouring the food like beasts.

With only two meals a day and not enough to fill the stomach, hunger was constant.

Not eating meant weakness.

And in prison, weakness meant losing status and being bullied.

No matter how proud someone was, once inside, they ended up like the rest.

Old Xiang kept the Soul Banner hidden in the inner lining of his chest pocket.

He wandered through the prison without purpose.

But of course, he was searching for the death-row inmates the evil ghost had spoken of.

If someone had recently died, he could absorb their soul to strengthen the Soul Banner.

After all, where in a prison were there no deaths?

Some committed suicide. Others were beaten to death by fellow inmates.

By late morning, he had harvested three new souls.

Unfortunately, none of them carried skill seeds.

Tu Shanjun had expected that someone from the Wild Dog Gang might carry skill seeds, but the results were just basic brawling techniques.

Compared to the experiences of Qi Refining cultivators, such crude martial arts were child’s play.

Tu Shanjun had no interest in such trivialities.

Old Xiang also realized that, while the Soul Banner could absorb souls, he never used his internal energy to extract the souls of his wife and child.

Who knew what would happen once their souls entered the artifact, perhaps the evil ghost would devour them.

He still hoped that their spirits could return to the underworld and be reborn.

Whatever life they reincarnated into would be better than being completely destroyed.

Though Tu Shanjun didn’t emerge, his spiritual senses remained sharp.

Not everyone in the prison was useless, some were skilled martial artists.

There was even a first-rate Organ-Refining expert locked away.

As Old Xiang passed that cell, Tu Shanjun stirred the Soul Banner as a signal.

Feeling the vibration from his chest, Old Xiang stopped and looked into the cell at the disheveled figure inside.

Shackled and chained, the man’s scapulae had been pierced, he was utterly incapacitated.

Old Xiang entered the cell, holding a bowl of porridge.

The man lifted his head. Hair matted, beard unkempt, he smiled faintly.

“I’ve seen you before.”

“Didn’t expect an old, one-armed jailer to be an Organ-Refining expert.”

“Breaking through even as your vitality wanes, truly impressive.”

He spoke in a low voice, audible only to Old Xiang.

Old Xiang wasn’t surprised. He had just broken through, and his aura hadn’t fully stabilized.

It wouldn’t be noticeable to an ordinary person but to someone at the same cultivation stage, it was easy to sense.

Once he grew used to the new qi flow, he could fully conceal it.

“Careless words can bring disaster.”

Old Xiang placed the bowl into the prisoner’s hands but ultimately, he did not strike.

Tu Shanjun didn’t protest.

If there was food, he’d take it. If not, it didn’t matter. He would simply watch how Old Xiang chose to act.

That evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon…

Old Xiang exited the prison.

“A magical treasure, huh… I know. I’m old now.”

He muttered to himself.

Had he obtained this treasure in his younger days, he would have killed without hesitation even in prison.

But now… he hesitated.

Maybe because the power of a first-rate expert was enough to fuel his revenge.

Or maybe, he just didn’t want to kill uninvolved people anymore.

Either way, he chose not to act.

Tu Shanjun was slightly disappointed, but said nothing.

Old Xiang didn’t return home after leaving.

Instead, he changed clothes and headed to the market.

Using silver to discretely purchase information about the steward of the second branch of the Marquis Jing'an Household.

Because the inquiries were scattered, few noticed the connections.

He didn’t need a layout of the mansion, he was already familiar, having visited many times due to the young heir.

He strapped on his waist blade, took his silver needles and a dagger.

And under cover of night, Old Xiang returned once more to the gates of the Marquis Jing'an estate.

This was his second visit.

Last time, he had barely taken a look before being driven off by the guards inside.

But now that he had reached the Organ-Refining stage, he could finally put up a fight.

(Chapter End)