Is That Prison Food That Smells Good? It’s the Judge! - Chapter 1

The sky was pierced open.

Somber, dark clouds seemed poised to pour down through the jagged rift. A horned man raised his hand, tearing the heavens asunder, and stepped forth from the breach. Demonic Energy raged all around him, stirring the demons and monsters of the four directions into a restless frenzy.

The Heavenly Dao is nothing more than this.

The man raised his hand again, Demonic Energy condensing as he pointed it back toward the sky.

But the next second, a sharp sword aura tore through the air from behind him, slicing past one of his demonic horns. A sickening crack followed.

A viscous liquid slowly dripped from the man’s forehead.

The now-broken-horned man turned in shock, searching for the source of the sword aura that could sever a Heavenly Demon’s horn.

He met a pair of golden eyes, cold and sharp as blades.

The severed horn fell to the dust, its blood staining the withered yellow leaves.

****

Nine years later.

A maple leaf, carried by a gentle drizzle, drifted through the small, square window of the prison’s high walls and landed in Fan Jue’s hand.

“Oh, it’s raining outside! Hurry, shelter His Majesty from the rain,” a blue-furred Gecko Spirit nudged the Sparrow Spirit beside it. “Can’t you be a bit more observant?”

The Sparrow Spirit nodded and flew up, extending its wings through the iron bars into Fan Jue’s cell, perfectly shielding his head from the rain.

“You’re blocking the light,” Fan Jue said calmly.

Hearing this, the Sparrow Spirit hurriedly moved its wing. In its clumsiness, it shivered, and all the water on its wing poured directly onto Fan Jue.

Fan Jue: “…”

Moonlight once again streamed through the iron window, illuminating the dark interior. The figure in the cell, now bathed in the moonlight, finally came into focus.

He was a handsome man with strikingly deep features. Despite being securely shackled at his wrists, ankles, and neck, he leaned back with a casual air of contentment, reading a book. His long, grayish-brown hair fell loosely over his chest, save for the tips on the left side, which faded into a crimson hue, as if stained with blood.

The man lifted his gaze slightly, his eyes—more brilliantly crimson than blood—glancing upward.

The Sparrow Spirit: “…” It felt like it was about to have its feathers plucked.

Fan Jue withdrew his gaze and glanced at the soaked book in his hand.

Good news: the water didn’t land on Fan Jue’s head.

Bad news: Fan Jue had always been fiercely possessive of his belongings, including books.

Fan Jue rotated his wrist, a thin, joyless smile playing on his lips. “You know,” he said, “there are very few forms of entertainment in prison. Reading is one. The other…”

The other, of course, was fighting! When Fan Jue had first been thrown into this place, a few short-sighted demons and monsters had mistaken him for an easy target. They soon became his personal punching bags, learning to grovel in submission and never dare act out again.

Fan Jue had naturally become the undisputed king of the Stone Prison of Demon Suppression.

“Don’t… don’t!” the Gecko Spirit stammered, waving his hands frantically. He turned and rummaged through his hidden stash, pulling out a small booklet. “Your Majesty! I have one! Look, I have this one!”

Fan Jue glanced at the Gecko Spirit, then took the booklet.

The Gecko Spirit let out a long sigh of relief.

In truth, he had no real passion for reading. Fan Jue had been wounded by the Heavenly Dao and slept for a full thousand years. During that time, the world had advanced from a feudal era to a modern society. After finally tearing through the heavens to awaken, he hadn’t even had time to see the towering buildings before being imprisoned by the Grand Inquisitor.

He had slept for too long, his memories of the past fading, and he knew nothing of the modern world.

For instance… Fan Jue looked down at the maple leaf in his hand. He had never seen red fallen leaves before.

Reading was one way to learn about the outside world.

Tsk. If only I hadn’t been captured and brought here by that man…

Fan Jue’s mood soured.

He casually flipped open the small booklet in his hand, only to be stunned by the first image he saw. “Hmm?” What is this?

The book in Fan Jue’s hand was a BL manga titled Prison Escape Guide. The first panel depicted a prisoner-top handcuffing a prison-bottom to an execution table covered in various torture instruments, engaged in a scene too explicit to describe.

“This is my private collection!” the Gecko Spirit declared proudly. “Do you know how hard it is to get ahold of something like this here? Only for you, my lord, would I be willing to share it…”

Fan Jue frowned, quickly flipping through a few more pages. Aren’t males supposed to mate with females to reproduce? Has that changed after a thousand years?

“Is this… authoritative?”

The Gecko Spirit glanced at Fan Jue’s expression. “Of course it’s authoritative. It’s a must-have handbook for the Stone Prison, okay?”

What shocked Fan Jue even more was that in the later chapters of the manga, the prison warden actually gave birth… gave birth…

“Is the rest… also authoritative?”

“Of course!” The Authoritative Sacred Tome of the Stone Prison was a book people fought over to read!!!

Fan Jue struggled to rebuild his worldview: So, a thousand years from now, the world has already evolved into same-sex unions and reproduction.

It’s not that strange, after all, the world is ever-changing…

Fan Jue tried to convince himself. With an open mind, he read the entire manga, his face ashen.

The night had grown late. The Sparrow Spirit and Gecko Spirit next door were already snoring loudly. Only Fan Jue remained, staring at the final page of the manga, the protagonist’s wedding night play—lost in thought…

He glanced at the red maple leaf in his hand, feeling that he could no longer keep up with this world.

He closed his eyes.

Soon, a tiny wisp of spiritual sense leaped from his body, transforming into a small, black-furred beast with wings and a broken horn. The little beast opened its eyes, its jewel-like red pupils rolling once, before it strained to squeeze through the gaps in the iron bars.

This was a miniature form created from Fan Jue’s spiritual sense. However, because of the Demon-Binding Chain, this miniature form could not escape the prison.

At least his range of movement had expanded slightly.

In his beast form, Fan Jue navigated the familiar turns and walked to a deserted corner of the prison.

There was only a single table in the corner. Moonlight from the window fell upon it, casting the shadow of another small beast.

Standing on the table was a white beast that looked remarkably like Fan Jue. The only differences were that it lacked horns, and its wings were larger, their edges shimmering with a hint of gold.

The beast stood there expressionless, its golden eyes cold and distant.

Fan Jue leaped onto the table and stood side-by-side with the white beast, his fluffy ears drooping. “Baibai.”

At the mention of his name, the white beast remained expressionless, yet it spread its wings to shield Fan Jue from the rain drifting in through the window.

“What’s it like outside now?” Fan Jue asked suddenly. “You must have seen it.”

Baibai turned to look at him. “…”

Fan Jue paused for a moment, then scoffed. “Forget it. What’s the point of asking? You can’t even talk.”

Baibai was a small beast Fan Jue had met after being imprisoned. The creature’s appearance was so similar to Fan Jue’s own true form that he had briefly wondered if he had a half-brother. It was rare to find a fellow clansman captured and imprisoned just like him, so Fan Jue instinctively felt a sense of kinship.

Perhaps his cultivation was simply too low, but Baibai couldn’t speak.

Baibai watched Fan Jue for a moment. Fan Jue’s tone carried its usual casualness, sounding as if he didn’t care much, but his spiritual sense, now a beastly form, couldn’t hide his disappointment. His ears were practically drooping.

Baibai leaned in and rubbed his head against Fan Jue’s ear.

“Are you trying to comfort me?” Fan Jue found it somewhat amusing. The tone of his voice created a stark contrast with the cute, fluffy beast’s appearance. “You’re imprisoned here too. I’ve been locked up for nine years, and I’ve seen you for those same nine years—you’ve probably been imprisoned here much longer than I have.”

Baibai’s movements paused.

“It’s nothing, really. I just suddenly realized today that I haven’t seen the world in a very long time. I don’t remember much of the past, and I have no idea how things have changed now.”

Baibai looked at Fan Jue, his expression clear: Why are you suddenly thinking about that?

“…”

Fan Jue couldn’t exactly say he’d been traumatized by the gay sex in a hentai manga. Instead, he stretched out his paw and offered a maple leaf resting in its fluffy pads. “I never knew fallen leaves could be red before. It’s like…”

Like the blood that stained the fallen leaves when my demon horn was broken.

Fan Jue left the words unspoken, but Baibai’s gaze drifted meaningfully to the broken horn.

Fan Jue handed the maple leaf to Baibai and joked, half-seriously, “Maybe one day I’ll take you with me when I escape…”

“Someone’s escaping!” Before Fan Jue could even finish, the shouts of prison guards erupted all around them.

Seriously? Someone dared to beat me to the punch?

Fan Jue paused, nuzzled Baibai’s head, and then swiftly leaped off the table. “I’m going back to check.”

The small white beast watched Fan Jue with his golden eyes until his figure vanished from sight.

****

The entire prison had descended into absolute chaos. The screams of demons and guards nearly tore the roof off. Fan Jue noticed that many of the cells were now empty, and a sense of dread washed over him. He quickened his pace, rushing back to his own cell.

The moment his spiritual sense entered his body, all the noise around him vanished.

What? I can’t hear anything?

Fan Jue’s eyes snapped open.

He found himself staring into a pair of gold eyes, as cold and ruthless as a god looking down upon the mortal realm.

Fan Jue’s own gaze turned glacial. He sized up the man with the high ponytail standing outside the iron bars, then glanced at the sword in his hand. “Well, well,” he drawled. “I wondered who it could be. To silence this whole chattering lot in an instant… you’re even more effective than a block of ice. Long time no see, Grand Inquisitor.”

The man addressed as the Grand Inquisitor didn’t spare him a glance. Instead, he looked at Deputy Director Zhang Xi, who had just arrived. A shiver ran down Zhang Xi’s spine as he immediately understood the silent command. He snatched the keys from the Warden and unlocked the cell door.

When chaos erupted in the prison, everyone’s first instinct was to check if Fan Jue had escaped. They feared him too much to approach him, which was why they had naturally summoned Grand Inquisitor Yan.

Yan Zhi.

Fan Jue watched as the golden-eyed man walked in. Though he wore only a simple trench coat, Yan Zhi possessed an aura that could intimidate anyone. Whether it was his face, which seemed meticulously sculpted by the gods, his golden eyes that looked down upon all mortals, or his expression, so cold it appeared devoid of all emotion, it all made people instinctively feel a sense of dread.

Not to mention, he held that Divine Sword in his hand.

The Sparrow Spirit next to him silently shrank back.

At the very moment everyone else retreated, Fan Jue suddenly let out a cold snort. The next second, he swung his hand, unleashing a wave of Demonic Energy with a speed no ordinary person could react to!

“Lord! Watch out for the sneak attack!” Zhang Xi shouted frantically from behind.

The Demonic Energy around Fan Jue surged even more violently. “Sneak attack? If not for Grand Inquisitor Yan’s sneak attack nine years ago, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Yan Zhi’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. He drew the Divine Sword halfway out of its scabbard and directly unleashed a sharp sword qi.

The Demonic Energy in Fan Jue’s hand and the sword qi from the Divine Sword canceled each other out the instant they clashed. His blood-red eyes grew even darker as the Demonic Energy radiating from his body instantly expanded, launching an indiscriminate attack on everyone!

Yan Zhi’s brow finally furrowed slightly. The next second, a flash of sword light erupted, and the Divine Sword was drawn in an instant, striking toward Fan Jue!

Fan Jue sneered, channeling his Demonic Energy to meet the attack head-on. But the Demon-Binding Chain around his neck suddenly tightened, violently yanking him backward.

Yan Zhi’s Divine Sword descended without meeting any resistance!

Everyone else covered their eyes in terror.

The air fell silent.

Finally, Deputy Director Zhang was the first to cautiously pry his fingers apart, trembling as he stole a glance.

He saw the Devil and the Lord Inquisitor entangled on the ground. Fan Jue, thrown by his own momentum, lay flat on his back, while Yan Zhi knelt astride him, pinning him down with one hand and pointing the Divine Sword at Fan Jue’s heart with the other.

The blade had pierced Fan Jue’s tight-fitting prisoner’s uniform, and beads of blood were slowly seeping out.

Faced with this situation, Fan Jue didn’t panic in the slightest. He even managed a smile. “Are you going to kill me, Grand Inquisitor?”

Yan Zhi glanced indifferently at Fan Jue. Just as he was about to sheath his sword, his gaze caught something, and he froze.

Fan Jue also paused, confused by Yan Zhi’s sudden reaction. He followed Yan Zhi’s gaze, turning his head to look beside it.

On the ground, right next to his head, lay an open book.

It was that BL manga about imprisonment and forced sex.

The open page happened to be the one where the prisoner was holding the prison guard in his arms, playing with his navel.

The pose was exactly the same as Fan Jue and Yan Zhi’s current position.

Fan Jue: “…”

No, wait, let me explain.

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