Star Trace Gate

Chapter 868 Preparations before the Death Sacrifice, Action tonight

In the dim prison, Fat Li stood with his hands behind his back, his chin raised, his words frivolous, and a smirk on his face. No matter how you looked at him, he looked like someone who wanted to act big in front of his poor brothers.

He seemed to be saying, "Hurry up and take a good look. Although I am just a third-rank wild dog, the dignified prison commander, their descendants are all my grandchildren. I can control this entire prison with one hand."

"The true meaning of life is to show off. The only difference is whether it is simple or profound..." The value of Liu Jishan's summary of life continues to improve.

Ren didn't mind Fatty's pretentiousness; instead, he was secretly delighted. The two of them had been getting along well recently, having experienced the attempted crime involving the aphrodisiac powder together. Furthermore, during the dispute between Li and Yin, Fatty had insisted on letting the blind man stand in their own team, thus boosting his status.

Just based on this "strong brotherhood," if Xiaopang could dominate the Death Row, he'd be the most powerful lackey under that person. At least no one would dare use him as a slave anymore, and his work environment and personal freedom would be greatly improved. To put it bluntly, it would be much easier for him to do some sneaky things in the future.

The crowd dispersed, and Ren Ye smiled and greeted Xiao Pang, baring his teeth and asking, "Hey, Brother Li, why didn't you just stay home and enjoy your life? Why did you suddenly decide to come to this dark and boring prison?"

"I'm just sitting around at home doing nothing, so I thought of coming over to keep you company." Fat Li threw a coquettish glance at Ren Ye.

Haha, this little fat guy not only has high emotional intelligence, but also has a sweet mouth... Of course Ren Ye would not believe that the other party came to the Heavenly Prison for him, because although the two have a good relationship, in this illusory village where opportunities are scarce, time is the most precious wealth.

Children of ancient aristocratic families like Li Xiaopang were constantly preparing for their journey away from home, and their families' daily constraints and discipline were very strict. Therefore, without special reasons, the Li family would never allow Li Xiaopang to waste some of his time studying and cultivating just because the two children wanted to play together.

There must be a reason why he came to the Heavenly Prison, but it was most likely nothing to do with him, so the Little Bad King didn't ask any further questions.

"Brotherly indeed..." Ren Ye replied with a smile, "To be honest, I'm really happy that you're here. No one will dare to bully me anymore."

"That's for sure. From now on, you'll be with me. We'll work together, and I guarantee no one will dare to exploit you."

"Brother, I'm really touched. Otherwise... just use the aphrodisiac powder on me once, I can handle it." Ren Ye seemed to have made up his mind and said with gritted teeth.

"That's not necessary. I'm not interested in blind men." Fatty Li waved his hand decisively. "My grandson Fusheng just started his mission today. He's too young, and I'm afraid he won't be able to handle many things. You go ahead and do your work. I'll accompany him around the Death Prison for a while, and then I'll come find you."

"Okay, okay, then go and accompany your grandson." Ren was also planning to rescue No. 79 today, and there was still a lot to do, so he just took the opportunity to respond.

"Well, see you later!"

"Farewell."

After the two of them finished talking, Fat Li looked back at his eldest grandson, and when he saw that he had already walked into the inspection corridor, he immediately followed him.

Ren also turned and left, heading straight for the utility room that he had already marked out yesterday, where he planned to draw a simple map of the Heavenly Prison.

……

Patrol the corridor.

The senior jailer who had just notified all personnel to assemble was now accompanying Li Fusheng to familiarize himself with the environment and was taking over the work from Yin Ping.

"Da da……!"

Rhythmic footsteps echoed through the empty prison corridor. A senior jailer, half-bent over, explained in detail, "Master Prison Commander, this prison corridor is different from the other areas of Death Row. It runs north-south. Starting from your prison command room, after entering the corridor, go straight ahead to the core chamber of the Sky Prison. This design is due to the complex terrain in other areas of Death Row, and the deep entrances to each cell block prevent prisoners from communicating or plotting. Therefore, if an incident occurs in one cell, such as a prison break, it would be extremely time-consuming for the jailers to reach the scene. Any delay could potentially compromise the safety of other cells... But with this north-south corridor, if something unusual happens in one cell, we can traverse it as quickly as possible and control the affected area to prevent a negative chain reaction."

"Secondly, the core room is a crucial location for suppressing all death row prisoners and detecting abnormal spiritual energy. Placing it at the southernmost end will also cover the entire Sky Prison, not just the Death Prison."

"Oh, I see." Li Fusheng nodded slightly and said jokingly, "This is a reasonable design, but I really hope that we will never have a prison break and never need to use this patrol road..."

"Of course," the senior jailer replied with a smile. "The purpose of this patrol route is actually to be prepared for any eventuality. Anyway, since I entered the Death Row, there has never been anything unusual here. Those condemned prisoners are very obedient...!"

"Don't say such certain things, it's not auspicious." Li Fusheng hates it most when others set goals.

"Haha, yes, you are right." The senior prison guard immediately nodded with a smile.

"Tap tap...!"

As the two were walking and talking, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded from behind: "Wait for me."

The two turned around at the same time, only to see Fatty Li running over and saying with a grin, "Grandson Fusheng, I'm new here too. Let's get familiar with the environment together."

When Li Fusheng heard the word "grandson", he immediately said in a voice transmission with a frown on his face, "I told you before I came here that you should refer to your job title when you are working! Don't call me grandson, don't do that!!"

"Oh, okay." Fat Li nodded obediently.

"...We are in the process of changing guards. What are you doing here?"

Li Fusheng had no good way to deal with the troublemaker Xiaopang. Before coming here, he had even cried in front of Li Taishan, hoping that he wouldn't agree to let his little grandfather work in the prison. But his second uncle replied, "If you don't let him go, he'll sneak over to bother you every day. Wouldn't that be even more troublesome? Besides, the road to the village is about to open. It would be good to let him interact with those intruders on death row so that he can have a better idea of ​​what to do."

This sentence made Li Fusheng feel even more desperate.

Inside the patrol corridor, Fatty Li scratched his head and said with a grin, "Just hand over as normal. I won't say anything, so what's the problem if I just follow along?"

Li Fusheng had no choice but to acquiesce. Although the senior jailer felt that Li Xiaopang's rank was not suitable for hearing the secrets of the Death Prison, after all, the law did not clearly state that a jailer could not be present during the handover of prison control. Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, he did not make any blind suggestions.

In this way, Li Xiaopang also joined the handover work.

Along the way, senior prison guards introduced the environment of the death row prison, various functional venues, and the specific tasks that the prison commander is responsible for every day.

Soon, the three of them arrived at the door of the formation's center room together.

The center room of the formation is six meters high and is sealed by two heavy stone doors. The door panels are also engraved with various complex runes, talismans, and glittering rare and precious spiritual stones.

A senior jailer stood before the door to the core chamber and whispered, "This core chamber houses the ancient and mysterious Soul-Locking Formation. It was constructed by the forefathers of Xuwang Village over twelve hundred years ago. Before officially taking up their duties, every jailer in our Heavenly Prison receives a jailer token and must inject a strand of their divine soul into it. This process is called Soul Infusion. The token acts as a medium; once infused with soul, it can be sensed by the Soul-Locking Formation. Therefore, if anyone in the Death Prison attempts to escape and uses divine power, emitting their own aura... they will be instantly detected by the Soul-Locking Formation. Since they lack a token, they will not be recognized by the formation, and will immediately feel a terrifying pressure. All the jailers' tokens will also glow simultaneously, allowing them to use the formation's guidance to locate the escaping prisoner...!"

"Reasonable design." Li Fusheng nodded with satisfaction.

"brush!"

After the senior jailer explained the basics of the Soul-Locking Formation, he took off a stone pillar about half the size of his arm from his waist.

He paused briefly, then held up the stone pillar and said, "This is called the Dragon Pillar. It's the only key to the center of the formation. There are only two of them in the entire prison, one for the Day Prison Master and the other for the Night Prison Master. But you can't take this thing home, because in case of an emergency, you need a spare key. When you're off duty, lock it in your own prison room and check it every morning."

"I understand." Li Fusheng nodded.

"Then I will open the center room of the formation." The senior jailer grasped the dragon pillar with both hands, stepped forward, and carefully inserted it into the round hole in the stone door on the right.

"Ong!"

When entering the Dragon Pillar, there was only a very slight shaking feeling around, but there was nothing too shocking or strange.

"Squeak...squeak...!"

There was a slight grinding sound as two dusty stone doors slowly opened.

"Master, please!" The senior jailer stepped aside and said respectfully, "Every time the Dragon Pillar is used, the door to the core room will open for a quarter of an hour and then automatically close. Therefore, if you wish to remain in the core room for a long time, you must carry the Dragon Pillar with you... Otherwise, hehe... you may be trapped inside."

"Yeah." When Li Fusheng nodded, he had already walked into the center room of the formation.

The dome of the array's eye room is very high, more than twenty meters high, but the space around it is not too big, and it looks like the size of a clan ancestral hall.

In the eight corners of this secret room, there were sculptures of various ferocious beasts, including thunder bat dragons, Zhu Huai, eight-clawed fire dragons, etc. They all looked lifelike and emitted a faint light, which made them obvious that they were essential for setting up the formation.

At the same time, there is a blurry sculpture enshrined in the center of the secret room. The sculpture holds a pagoda and a spirit flag, looking solemn and cold, but there is thick fog surrounding it, and its face and body cannot be seen at all.

This is the centerpiece of the entire sky prison, the statue of the great psychic wizard.

After Li Fusheng took a look around, he saw a desk on the high platform on the south side of the secret room, with dozens of talismans placed on it.

He was somewhat curious, so he frowned and asked, "Is this the guiding talisman for finding the False God's Tomb?"

"Yes."

The senior warden immediately rushed over and replied with a smile, "This is the guiding talisman used on every death memorial day. On the day of the memorial day, all wardens and guards from both the day and night shifts must be present to perform the 'casting of the golden body' ceremony. After all the condemned prisoners have been sacrificed, only twelve remain to guard the prison. Then, two wardens will jointly activate the guiding talisman, guiding everyone to the outer perimeter of the divine tomb to place the atonement golden body."

"Yeah, I know that." Li Fusheng responded.

For most people in Xuwang Village, the Xuwang God's Tomb is a place that cannot be found or seen. No one knows where it is hidden, and even its approximate direction is unidentifiable. Therefore, on every anniversary of the death, the Prison Master must activate a guiding talisman to help everyone find the way to the Xuwang God's Tomb.

Its entry point may be next to a puddle in the south of the village, or at the foot of a green mountain... In short, it is different every time, and it does not stay in the world for long.

On the high platform, the senior jailer glanced at Li Fusheng's profile and gently reminded him, "Master Prison Commander, this morning I came here with the previous Master Commander to verify that there are currently 38 guide talismans stored here. Please count them now. If the number matches, the handover is complete."