While considering his options, Yue Shi asked, "Is this the only place where people are being held?"
"There's another prison," the one-armed man replied.
"Where?"
"It's at..."
Just as the one-armed man started to speak, the sound of chains being unlocked and noisy footsteps echoed from the church's main entrance.
Yue Shi immediately hid his revealed eyes and mouth, vanishing completely.
The one-armed man was startled, but he reacted quickly. He retreated into the corner, leaned against the wall, and closed his eyes, pretending to be fast asleep. Only his chest, rising and falling slightly from tension, gave him away.
A group of armed men burst in, led by Zeng San. Despite his age, his steps were quick and steady. His eyes, sharp as a hawk's, scanned the depths of the prison. He carefully checked each cell, his cold gaze sweeping over the interiors to ensure the iron doors were intact and no one was missing.
Upon seeing him, the prisoners all cowered in their corners, trembling with fear.
When he reached the last cell and saw all five men, including the one-armed man, Zeng San's tense expression seemed to soften slightly.
He looked around but found nothing unusual. His subordinates had already combed through all of Peace Alley and found no trace of the two investigators.
"Was I really just being paranoid?" Zeng San thought to himself. Perhaps those two had indeed left, and he was simply jumping at shadows.
With that thought, he didn't linger. He led his men back the way they came.
The heavy iron doors were once again secured with thick iron chains, the sound of the lock clicking echoing through the empty church.
Only after the footsteps of Zeng San and his men had completely vanished did Yue Shi partially deactivate his invisibility, revealing only his eyes and mouth.
The one-armed man immediately lunged at the bars, his hands gripping the cold iron tightly. His voice shook with excitement. "Please, find a way to save me! If you let me out, I'll give you anything you want!"
Yue Shi scoffed. "Look at the state of you. What value do you have? What could you possibly give me?"
The one-armed man went silent for a moment before speaking frankly. "It's true that I have nothing now. But since you've gone through the trouble of sneaking in here, you must have some grievance with Zeng San. I can tell you the location of the other prison in Peace Alley."
"This church only holds ordinary people. That place... it holds transcendents and supernatural creatures!"
"I don't know what conspiracy Zeng San is plotting, but transcendents and supernatural creatures are very valuable. Even their corpses can be traded for money."
Yue Shi's eyes lit up. Captured supernatural creatures? This was perfect!
Seeing the almost crazed longing in the one-armed man's eyes, Yue Shi quickly calculated. Releasing these people wasn't out of the question. They could create chaos, distract Zeng San, and buy him time to fish in troubled waters.
Having made up his mind, Yue Shi walked to the sturdy iron bars of the cell. He raised his hand and activated 【Decaying Talons】. His nails instantly lengthened, becoming sharp, hooked, and curved.
He lightly swiped at the iron bars. Where his claws touched, dark red rust immediately bloomed on the surface of the steel. At a speed visible to the naked eye, the metal became brittle and crumbly, emitting a faint hissing sound.
Soon, a hole large enough for an adult to pass through appeared in the bars.
The one-armed man was overjoyed. Although he couldn't see Yue Shi's movements, he didn't hesitate to crawl through the hole. He breathed in the relatively free air greedily, his chest heaving as a terrifying light erupted in his eyes.
He suppressed the urge to howl at the ceiling, fearing he might attract pursuers.
Yue Shi moved to the next cell. The people inside were still licking the leftover slop from their fingers or searching the iron troughs for scraps.
The floating eyes and mouth made them retreat in terror, but the one-armed man immediately stepped forward and hissed at them to keep quiet.
These people seemed to hold the one-armed man in great awe, and they all covered their mouths.
Yue Shi repeated the process, corroding passages through the iron bars of each cell.
Then, he moved quickly through the corridor, destroying all the cells one by one. Nearly a hundred emaciated, rag-clad people were released, crowding into the narrow passage.
The scent of freedom ignited their numb nerves. Their breathing grew heavy, their chests heaving like old bellows, and the long-accumulated despair in their eyes instantly transformed into crazed resentment.
"Friend, I'm a man of my word," the one-armed man whispered urgently toward Yue Shi's direction. "Once we're out, I'll tell you the location of the other prison!"
Yue Shi wasn't worried about the man going back on his word. He had plenty of strength and methods to get the information he wanted.
"Ah—!" the one-armed man suddenly let out a long-suppressed roar.
"Ah—!"
"Ah—!"
The roars instantly ignited the crowd. Nearly a hundred people erupted in deafening bellows as their pent-up anger and humiliation found an outlet. Like a burst dike of filthy torrent, they rushed recklessly toward the church's closed doors!
Yue Shi stood at the back, calmly watching the scene. These people were skin and bones, and their long-term hunger had nearly drained their physical strength. But perhaps it was the adrenaline from regaining their freedom, or perhaps it was the fire of revenge, that gave them incredible power.
Boom!!!
With a loud crash, the heavy church doors were forced open. The crowd shrieked as they charged onto the street, bathed in the dim light of the sky.
The loud noise startled Zeng San and his group, who hadn't gone far. They whipped their heads around.
When he saw the mob of people looking like starving ghosts crawling out of hell, the cigarette in Zeng San's mouth fell to the ground. For the first time, an unmistakable look of shock appeared on his face.
"Damn it! How did they get out?!" His voice was full of annoyance.
"Stop them!" one of Zeng San's subordinates shouted, immediately drawing his gun and firing.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out. Several people at the front fell, but those behind them didn't seem to notice their companions' deaths—or perhaps they simply didn't care.
To a group of people driven mad and starving by imprisonment, death held no fear. Their faces twisted into morbidly fanatical smiles. Their steps went from stumbling to walking, and finally to a full sprint as they threw themselves fearlessly at Zeng San.
Zeng San's face was terrifyingly grim. He raised his hand to stop his subordinates from firing further. "Stop. Don't waste bullets on this trash. Let's go!"
"Boss?" his subordinate asked, confused.
Zeng San rubbed his throbbing temples and spoke rapidly. "For these people to escape the prison, someone must be working in the shadows, intentionally releasing them to create chaos! They must have a goal, likely something truly valuable in Peace Alley. We can't waste time on these small fries!"
It had to be said that Zeng San's IQ was always on point. He quickly saw through Yue Shi's intentions and decisively refused to get tangled up with the mob, not falling for the trap at all.
Zeng San led his subordinates quickly toward the streets lined with restaurants and grocery stores.
The mob pursued them relentlessly, but as they passed the shops on either side of the street, they began to stop one by one. They had smelled... the scent of food.
Rate on N.U.
