Chapter Twenty-One: The Interrogation (Supplementary Chapter)

“The dead do not lie.”
Xie Mian gently shook the paper banner once more. The characters inscribed upon it gradually faded away. Lowering his gaze, he coughed softly as he spoke.
No one could say for certain whether his words were meant for Deputy Warden Shen and Deputy Warden Lin, or for the two spectral demon souls that hovered behind him.
“Xie Mian, matters outside the prison’s supervision are none of your concern.”
Lin, the deputy warden, stared at the fox demon, now lifeless at the guard’s waist. He raised his eyes to meet the face so much like his own—delicate, almost youthful—and his tone turned icy.
“You are right. Affairs outside the prison are not my responsibility. But perhaps you have forgotten—whenever there is a death in the prison, it falls to me to handle.”
Xie Mian crossed his arms, clutching the paper banner, his head resting lightly upon it. The dark circles beneath his eyes were so stark they looked painted with charcoal.
“You are a prison guard.”
Lin placed his hands behind his back, a steely glint in his eyes. At his waist hung the prison warden’s black-iron insignia, clearly visible.
“More precisely, I am a warden of spirits. But you forget I have never been subject to the rules of Bichen Prison, nor am I bound by the laws of the living. I answer only to the Yama Emperor of the Fifth Court, in the hell beneath this sea.
Would you like me to take you for a stroll through hell?”
Xie Mian coughed again, a peculiar smile curling at his lips.
A chill flashed in Lin’s eyes; he narrowed them slightly, gathering in his coldness, and in turn, a genial smile appeared on his face.
“By all means.”
Lin smiled, spreading his arms as he walked to the foot of the black wall.
“The rules of the prison were established beneath the altar of the Azure-Faced Saint. Should mortals or spirits neglect the prison’s code, the temple of the prison god before us is no mere ornament.
Look—the xiezhi atop the flying eaves has already turned its head.”
Shen, the other deputy warden, raised his brows and cast a languid gaze toward the xiezhi perched upon the eaves of the prison god’s temple. He corked the pale yellow gourd at his waist, speaking carelessly.
“At the hour of the rat tomorrow night, I will personally go to the prison god’s temple. I will relay every word these two spirits have uttered, in the presence of the Azure-Faced Saint, not omitting a single syllable.”
Xie Mian glanced up at the sculpted xiezhi upon the eaves, then turned and leapt from the black wall down into the death row cells. The spectral shapes behind him followed, one after another, as if plunging into a bottomless abyss.

The headless wolf soul and the weakened fox soul tumbled after him.
“It is you who have come, not Li Xiaoyan. I find that odd. When did you begin to take such an interest in prison matters? Have you abandoned your pursuit of immortality?”
Shen crouched beside the corpse of the bì’an beast, reaching out to caress the round wound on its forehead. Though this creature had been dead for some time, he could still feel the lingering chill of yin energy pricking his palm—refusing to dissipate.
Either it had been wounded by someone or something long steeped in places of death—battlefields or graveyards—or else by the underworld denizens from the Fifth Court of Hell beneath the sea, who had swum up to claim its life.
“The last I saw your thunder magic was twenty years ago, on the night of the Shaping Ritual. It is rare to witness it again today. Who knows if we’ll ever see such a case of mass prisoner destruction again?”
Lin Lan lowered his eyes, smiling as he watched Shen touch the bì’an’s head.
Xu Weiyang returned to his post, eyes flicking between the smiling Lin Lan and Shen by the dead beast.
He and Zhuang Xiaocheng had, five years ago, accidentally damaged the blue-glazed jade cup of Consort Ning in the Yixiu Palace. They should have been stripped of their armor, had not the commander of the Forbidden Army pleaded for them at court, turning their exile into a reassignment.
Their ranks remained; their armor was spared.
Thus, both had come to this Sanyu Island, isolated on the Cang Sea, obeying the warden’s orders and serving as the left and right guardians of Bichen Prison.
They took shifts with two other C-rank guards.
Yet, Xu had heard tell of that night, two decades past, when all but two of the hundred prisoners in the dungeon vanished.
Some said the ninety-eight perished, yet not a single corpse was found in the entire prison, the Stone Bamboo Mound, or even the island itself.
Others claimed the ninety-eight escaped, but without a boat or official permit to cross the sea, and even had they the strength to swim, the shrimp soldiers, crab generals, sea demons, and yakshas lurking beneath the waves would have dragged them forever to the ocean floor.
Now, hearing all this, it seemed the matter was not unrelated to Deputy Warden Shen.
“As is my duty, should I notice any prisoner attempting escape, I must act. Unlike some, who feign inspection while secretly siphoning demon energy to refine their own bodies in pursuit of immortality.
But if that path to immortality goes astray, it may well become corruption and evil, a calamity to the world. I should hate to see my thunder magic someday strike a colleague.”
Shen toyed with the bì’an’s horn, its texture smooth and fine—an excellent material for crafting.
“Shen Zhongzhu, do not think your Daoist heritage puts you above the law! Once you enter the mundane world, you must abide by its rules!”
Lin Lan’s gaze was cold as he watched Shen Zhongzhu idly fiddle with the horn, his smile fading.

“You are right, which is why I intend to use my wits this time.
That bì’an was the core of the prison’s Xuan Seal Array. Though not a true bì’an, through the array, it could wield eighty percent of a real one’s power—enough to suppress any unruly demon prisoners.
Now it is dead, and the demon prisoners are restless once more.”
Shen Zhongzhu’s fingers paused at the horn’s tip. He glanced aside at the half-wolf corpse sliding down the red wall.
“But the strange thing is, it has been dead for some time. Why was it only when I dragged the body out today that the array was completely destroyed?
And look—this wolf demon was bound by a demon-sealing chain, as was the twin-tailed fox.
Sanyu Island is not small, but not so large either. Its abundant spiritual energy can birth some spirit beasts, but these are all under the warden’s surveillance. The wolf and fox are not among them.”
Shen Zhongzhu spoke slowly.
“What are you getting at?”
Lin Lan had no patience for pretense; he glared at Shen Zhongzhu.
“The demons held here are all sent by the prisons of the twelve provinces, approved by the Ministry of Justice, and escorted every summer solstice by the warden’s office from the Cloud Sea port, aboard the Sancang Sea Ship, to Sanyu Island.”
Shen Zhongzhu smiled faintly.
“This year, it was indeed I who escorted this batch of demon prisoners.”
Lin Lan admitted coldly.
“Rest assured, I do not suspect you. You are not so foolish. Besides, the fox demon just now displayed abundant power, indicating it did not suffer the soul-leeching rod in the interrogation chamber.
So if we find the guard who carried out the punishment, we can learn the truth.”
Shen Zhongzhu shook his head.