Is That Prison Food That Smells Good? It’s the Judge! - Chapter 2

Yan Zhi’s gaze lingered on the little yellow comic for only a moment before he looked away. He glanced at Fan Jue, then released his grip.

Sheathing his Divine Sword, Yan Zhi stood up and looked down at Fan Jue. He finally spoke his first words. “It seems your life in prison has been quite eventful, Fan Jue.”

“Oh? The Grand Inquisitor is so concerned about me,” Fan Jue said, lying on the ground. He let out a lazy laugh and added with feigned nonchalance, “Perhaps you should be more concerned about how the Gecko Spirit managed to get a book like this.”

Yan Zhi only gave him a strange look.

Fan Jue froze. As if remembering something, he turned his head to look at the neighboring cell.

The Sparrow Spirit shifted its tiny claws to the side. The other side was already empty!

“The Gecko Spirit escaped!” Warden Feng cried out in anguish. Fearing Yan Zhi’s blame, he quickly pointed at Fan Jue’s nose from a distance. “This devil must have masterminded it! He’s bound by the Demon-Binding Chain and couldn’t escape himself, so he sent the Gecko Spirit out to get reinforcements! How cunning and evil! Lord Yan, you shouldn’t keep him alive. Why not just cut off both his horns and cripple him completely…”

Fan Jue slowly sat up, a faint smile on his lips as he looked at Warden Feng. Yet his eyes turned cold, a dark river of blood flowing within their crimson depths.

Warden Feng met his gaze, and his eyes began to glaze over.

“Fan Jue.”

Suddenly, Yan Zhi leaned down and grabbed Fan Jue’s chin, forcing him to look away.

Fan Jue didn’t stop his attack. He stared into Yan Zhi’s golden eyes.

Yan Zhi’s brow furrowed slightly. His expression remained unchanged as he spoke. “Zhang Xi, take him away.”

Zhang Xi scratched his head, glancing between Fan Jue and Warden Feng. With a flash of social brilliance, he decided that “him” meant Warden Feng and dragged the man out of the cell.

Only Fan Jue and Yan Zhi remained.

Fan Jue kept his gaze fixed on Yan Zhi’s clear eyes for a long moment before finally letting out a scoff. “You’re truly impressive, Grand Inquisitor. I can’t find a single trace of malice in you.”

As the Heavenly Devil, the living embodiment of all evil in the world, Fan Jue could seize a person’s soul and turn them into his puppet as long as he found a single spark of malice within them.

The moment Warden Feng accused Fan Jue, his malice—shirking responsibility, cruelty, and abuse of power became tangible, radiating from him like a physical mist.

A single glance was all Fan Jue needed to snatch a soul, seize control of a person’s memories and spiritual sense, or even possess their body.

But the Grand Inquisitor stopped him.

Fan Jue couldn’t find a single trace of malice in the Grand Inquisitor.

He had never met a human without it.

“Are you human?” Fan Jue asked abruptly.

Yan Zhi fell silent.

Realizing his words were ambiguous, Fan Jue rephrased the question. “I mean, what are you? You aren’t some divine artifact sent by the Heavenly Dao specifically to disgust me, are you?”

The Sparrow Spirit nearby couldn’t help but cover its ears. Doesn’t Fan Jue fear getting beaten for talking like that?

But Yan Zhi didn’t strike him. He merely looked down at Fan Jue for a moment before warning him coolly, “If you continue to misbehave, your punishment will be extended.”

“Misbehave?” Fan Jue scoffed. “As if Grand Inquisitor Yan cares so much about me.”

After all, wasn’t Yan Zhi the one who had imposed this punishment in the first place?

Fan Jue held his position, his gaze fixed on Yan Zhi. Yan Zhi was a man of icy demeanor, rarely deigning to even glance at others. This was a rare chance for Fan Jue to observe his face up close.

He actually started studying Yan Zhi’s features, searching for any clue that he wasn’t human.

Suddenly, Yan Zhi turned his head. The gold earring dangling from his right ear brushed against Fan Jue’s cheek.

It felt like the softest touch of a feather.

Fan Jue blinked. “What the… Are you blushing?”

Yan Zhi let go of him and glanced toward the door. “Warden Feng was right,” he said abruptly.

“Oh?” Fan Jue’s eyes turned cold. “You agree with him? And here I thought Grand Inquisitor Yan was so incorruptible…”

“Warden Feng was right that the Gecko Spirit will leak your location after escaping,” Yan Zhi interrupted, his hand slipping from Fan Jue’s chin. He looked down at him again. “You must be transferred. I will personally oversee your custody.”

Fan Jue stared at him, speechless.

*****

In the corridor of Stone Prison, Zhang Xi was berating Warden Feng, pointing a finger right at his nose. “Look at you! You drank so much you messed everything up. It’s bad enough you didn’t notice the demons escaping in a mass breakout, but now you’re badmouthing Yan Zhi right in front of him…”

Warden Feng kept his head down, stealing glances at the figure behind Zhang Xi. “Deputy Director… I’m not wrong! The Heavenly Devil was never anything good to begin with. I refuse to believe he wasn’t involved in this…”

“Whether he was involved or not is for the Inquisitor to decide. Don’t you know that, Yan Zhi? He treats everyone the same, whether they are a demon or a god… Just do your job.”

“I was only…” Warden Feng started to argue, but he suddenly froze, staring at something behind Zhang Xi.

Zhang Xi turned around, as if he’d just remembered something.

Yan Zhi had come out. And not just Yan Zhi—Fan Jue was with him. Yan Zhi held the Demon-Binding Chain that was fastened around Fan Jue’s neck. Normally, this would be a humiliating sight, but Fan Jue still wore a lazy smile, looking as if he were casually strolling through a market.

Fan Jue held the chain around his neck with one hand, casually chatting with Yan Zhi. “You know, Warden Feng was only right about one thing. Does that mean you think I’m not the least bit cunning or wicked?”

Yan Zhi ignored him.

Zhang Xi rushed over, his expression urgent. “Lord Yan! The Director emphasized that Fan Jue cannot leave this place…”

“The Demon-Suppressing Stone in the prison was stolen,” Yan Zhi said, glancing at him. “The Demon-Binding Chain will soon lose its power. If you keep him here, how long do you think you can hold him?”

“This… Then I will ask the Director for instructions…”

Yan Zhi stopped abruptly and looked at Deputy Director Zhang. “No one but me can contain him.”

Fan Jue let out a supportive “Wow” and turned to Yan Zhi. “So if I want to escape, I just need to kill you.”

Yan Zhi still ignored him and continued, “Or you could be the one to guard him, Zhang Xi.”

Fan Jue stared at Zhang Xi and remarked with complete objectivity, “Him? I could finish him off in five minutes.”

“No, no, no, no,” Zhang Xi waved his hands frantically, bowing deeply as he humbly ushered the two powerful figures away. “Please, Lord Yan, you should be the one to keep him under your watch…”

With a few sharp words, Yan Zhi dealt with Zhang Xi and led Fan Jue away.

Just as everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Yan Zhi suddenly turned his head and looked at Warden Feng, who was cowering in the corner.

Warden Feng froze.

“Feng Xuanxie,” Yan Zhi’s voice was cold. “Neglect of duty, evasion of responsibility, and insolence toward an Inquisitor. For these combined crimes, Zhang Xi, you are to handle him according to the law.”

Warden Feng broke out in a cold sweat and tried to step forward to defend himself. “Lord Yan! I—” When was I ever insolent to you?

Zhang Xi clamped a hand over the warden’s mouth and dragged him aside. “That’s enough! Stop talking. I’m afraid you’ll just add another charge to your list. Just lie still and take it!”

Yan Zhi turned away without a word and left with Fan Jue.

Zhang Xi quickly ordered his men to drag the warden away for solitary confinement before hurrying to catch up with them.

****

The farce in the prison had dragged on for so long that Fan Jue didn’t even notice the sky outside had already begun to brighten. Morning dew clung to the edges of grass blades, rolling from one leaf to another.

A gentle breeze stirred Fan Jue’s hair. He squinted, quietly taking in this strange, new world.

A thousand years… The mortal realm seemed to have changed. Buildings were now tall and straight, trees grew in neat rows, and a web of long, intersecting lines stretched across the sky.

Fan Jue observed his surroundings with keen interest.

Yan Zhi stood silently beside him, making no move to hurry him along.

“Are there no trees with red leaves around here?” Fan Jue asked after scanning the nearby greenery.

Zhang Xi looked confused. “Where would we find any—”

Before he could finish, Yan Zhi interrupted him, surprisingly responding to Fan Jue. “Those are maple leaves.”

Oh, but I don’t see any maple trees nearby. Just as Fan Jue was about to ask further, a small car nearby let out a soft beep.

Fan Jue’s attention was immediately drawn to the beeping metal box.

Yan Zhi led him toward it.

“I’ll drive you, sir…” Zhang Xi said.

His gloved hand reached for the door handle, but Yan Zhi opened the rear door himself and looked at Fan Jue. “Get in.”

Curiosity piqued, Fan Jue slid into the back seat. Yan Zhi followed, sitting right beside him.

Zhang Xi watched this unfold, a strange feeling settling in his gut. In all his time serving, no one had ever sat in the back with Yan Zhi.

Makes sense, though, he reasoned. The Grand Inquisitor needs to keep a close eye on the Great Arch-Demon.

Convinced, Zhang Xi turned and climbed into the passenger seat.

The driver was a new hire named Wang Yisun. Zhang Xi gave him a quick instruction. “Xiao Sun, drive carefully.”

The driver nodded vigorously.

Fan Jue didn’t understand what “drive” meant. He glanced at Yan Zhi.

Yan Zhi met his gaze, then suddenly leaned over to pull the seatbelt across Fan Jue’s chest. His figure blocked out the light, and as the Grand Inquisitor bent down to buckle the belt, he got so close that Fan Jue felt the single earring on Yan Zhi’s ear brush against his cheek like a feather.

Fan Jue tilted his head away.

Click.

The seatbelt was fastened, and Yan Zhi settled back into his seat.

Fan Jue stared intently at the strap across his chest. What kind of new imprisonment method is this? he wondered. Hmph. This flimsy strip of fabric doesn’t look like it could hold me at all…

Vroom—

In the front, Zhang Xi and Xiao Sun had just finished setting the GPS. They missed the silent exchange in the back. With a roar of the engine, the car sped forward.

Fan Jue’s crimson eyes widened slightly. What kind of mount is this? A Spiritual Tool? But I can’t sense any Spiritual Qi from it…

“It’s a car,” Yan Zhi said, as if reading his mind.

Fan Jue looked at him.

Yan Zhi glanced at Zhang Xi.

Zhang Xi paused for a moment before quickly catching on. He turned to explain to Fan Jue, “Hey, Great Arch-Demon, you’ve been asleep for thousands of years, so you probably don’t recognize this. It’s called a car. Basically, you put gasoline in it, steer, and the four wheels on the bottom start rolling. Then it just… goes.”

Fan Jue leaned his head on his hand, gazing lazily out the window. “At this speed, I could fly faster on my own…”

“Big Brother, you know demons aren’t allowed to roam free in the modern era,” Zhang Xi said, rubbing his forehead. “Humans have no idea we exist. If you just fly around like that, do you know how many people you’ll scare to death? Just thinking about it makes me furious… Do you have any idea how many people’s memories I had to erase the day you tore through the Firmament and woke up?”

“What do I care if they know or not?” Fan Jue replied flippantly.

“The Heavenly Dao forbids it,” Yan Zhi suddenly interjected from the side. “This is the world of humans now.”

“Hmph.” Fan Jue, who hated the Heavenly Dao more than anything, didn’t even blink. Instead, he continued, “The Heavenly Dao again. I haven’t even gotten revenge for making me sleep for a thousand years… What a shame. If it weren’t for you, I would have stabbed it to pieces by now.”

Yan Zhi frowned.

Seeing the displeasure on Yan Zhi’s face, Zhang Xi quickly intervened. “Are you trying to get another thousand years in prison? If Lord Yan hadn’t used his Divine Power to mend the sky, we would have had to…”

CRASH—

The car swerved and slammed on the brakes, throwing everyone to the right.

Fan Jue’s head smacked against the window. At the same time, someone was thrown into his arms from the left. He instinctively wrapped an arm around them to steady them.

“Holy shit, Xiao Sun! What the hell happened?” Zhang Xi yelled, still shaken, and slapped the driver’s shoulder.

Wang Yisun scratched his head. “Probably a flat tire. I’ll go check.”

Fan Jue watched as Zhang Xi followed Wang Yisun out of the car.

“How much longer are you going to hold me?” Yan Zhi’s cold voice cut through the air.

Fan Jue glanced down at the man in his arms, then finally let go. He couldn’t help thinking that the Grand Inquisitor had a surprisingly slim waist. “I just saved you. Does that get me a sentence reduction?”

Yan Zhi looked at Fan Jue’s head. “I don’t think a car ride could possibly injure someone like you, or me.”

Fan Jue glanced at the window he had just shattered with his head, then looked back. “…Actually, my head really hurts.”

Yan Zhi ignored him and stepped out of the car.

The vehicle had broken down on a deserted stretch of highway. While Wang Yisun tried to fix the car, Yan Zhi took a phone call from Zhang Xi.

Fan Jue watched with curiosity as Yan Zhi held the rectangular device that emitted sound to his ear.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!” a voice suddenly called out from beside the shattered car window.

Fan Jue froze for a moment before glancing outside. Wang Yisun was stealthily crawling out from under the car, waving at him.

“You really didn’t have to go that far,” Fan Jue said.

After all, as the Co-Lord of Demons, Fan Jue had recognized Wang Yisun as a Pallas’s Cat Spirit the moment he saw him.

“Your Majesty, I finally found this job and got to see you!” Wang Yisun waved, tears in his eyes. He held up a handful of tire-popping nails. “Let’s make a run for it while we can!”

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