Chapter 827: Chapter 832: An Unexpected Gain
Seeing that Ling Chen had an expression of realization, Wu Zhaofeng sighed and said, "I know doing this goes against the martial artist’s ethics, but I have no choice. Sometimes, to survive, many things have to be compromised. I’m not expecting anything else from you, just hoping you can understand. At my age, ending up trapped in prison is a miserable fate, all I can ask for is to make my life a bit easier and live a few more years."
Ling Chen curiously asked, "Mr. Wu, may I ask what led to you being captured and brought to prison?"
"Me?" When this matter was mentioned, Wu Zhaofeng seemed full of anger, gritting his teeth as he said, "I was not arrested for committing a crime, but was forcibly brought here."
"Forcibly brought here?" Ling Chen was slightly startled, feeling a bit surprised by Wu Zhaofeng’s words. As far as he knew, it seemed that those imprisoned in Yan City Prison were all there because of severe legal violations that warranted the death penalty. However, because some prisoners had special skills, they were imprisoned for life in Yan City Prison. If needed, they could be called upon to serve the government at any time.
If they did well, there was a certain chance of a sentence reduction. Hence, Ling Chen didn’t quite understand what Wu Zhaofeng meant.
"Do you think Yu Peng is a good person? He desires power and wealth, and to have all this, he would stop at nothing. To have more people at his disposal, he sends people to capture experts everywhere and use various means to control them. The two who fought with you earlier were captured by Yu Peng’s men just like me. In fact, besides us, many innocent people were captured before and ended up sacrificing their lives for Yu Peng’s ambitions." Speaking of this, Wu Zhaofeng was both indignant and helpless.
Hearing this, Ling Chen became even more perplexed. He asked, "Mr. Wu, since you all hate Yu Peng so much, why don’t you unite? As far as I know, the president of the Metropolitan tried to collaborate with you all, combining your strength to escape together."
"I know about that, and I was the one who leaked the information to Yu Peng, revealing Tang Guolun’s intentions to him, which led to Tang Guolun’s plan failing." Wu Zhaofeng said, "Mr. Ling, you simplify things too much. Do you really think Yu Peng is that easy to deal with? I’ve mentioned earlier, we were all forcibly brought here. The people who could capture us are certainly not weaker than us in strength."
Ling Chen patted his forehead, almost forgetting about this matter.
"Mr. Wu, do you know how many powerful experts Yu Peng has under him?"
"If you want to meet those people, it’s simple, just go to Qingyang Society. The president of Qingyang Society is Yu Peng’s loyal lackey, and we were captured by people from Qingyang Society."
"Qingyang Society?" Ling Chen was taken aback.
"The people of Qingyang Society are real criminals. Outside, they bully the weak, and each has multiple lives on their hands. Because of their similar evil nature, they have gathered together, forming the Qingyang Society. Speaking of, Qingyang Society should be the oldest faction in Yan City Prison, while Hongmen and the Metropolitan are emerging forces established later. To win over Qingyang Society, Yu Peng offered them many benefits, essentially fulfilling any of their demands. Additionally, Yu Peng granted Qingyang Society a special privilege—once they capture someone, they can leave Yan City Prison and enjoy a few days outside."
"Is there such a thing?"
"Not many people know about this, only a few from Hongmen do. Initially, the president of Qingyang Society approached me, asking me to join him. Think about it, he was the one who captured me, in my eyes, he’s my enemy, so how could he expect me to follow him? Because of this, I found out about the shady dealings."
After a pause, Wu Zhaofeng continued, "Mr. Ling, there are many people in Qingyang Society, with four experts on the Earthly List, and three each on the Dragon List and Tiger List. Together, these people pose a significant threat. If we can’t deal with them, we can forget about escaping."
Ling Chen had heard Qin Genglong mention Qingyang Society’s president, named Liu Kui, a man in his fifties. Ling Chen had seen him from a distance once or twice, but never interacted.
"Mr. Wu, how is Liu Kui’s strength?"
"Stronger than me. He should be considered the most formidable person among us." Wu Zhaofeng asked, "Mr. Ling, do you have any thoughts?"
Ling Chen smiled slightly, "Mr. Wu, as you can see, I’m still young. I don’t want to waste my whole life in prison. Mr. Wu, since you have a relationship with my big brother, I want to ask you to do me a favor, keep this secret for me, and don’t let Yu Peng know."
"Rest assured, I won’t speak out of turn. Moreover, if you truly have the ability to escape, I hope you can take me with you; I don’t want to rot in here for life either." After speaking, Wu Zhaofeng suddenly asked, "Mr. Ling, may I ask, why did you come to my place to challenge, surely not without reason to cause me trouble, right?"
"Well..." Ling Chen rubbed his nose, smiling awkwardly, "Actually, it was nothing much, I just wanted to experience Mr. Wu’s skills."
Wu Zhaofeng gave Ling Chen a deep look, knowing he was brushing him off. Since Ling Chen was unwilling to say, he tactfully didn’t ask more. After chatting for a short while, Ling Chen left with Qin Genglong.
Returning to the cell, Qin Genglong curiously asked, "Ling Chen, what exactly did you go to Hongmen for? It couldn’t really have been to witness Wu Zhaofeng’s skill, right?"
Ling Chen smiled and said, "Of course not." The reason he went to Hongmen to challenge was quite simple: he wanted to see if there was an opportunity to cooperate with Hongmen. After talking with Pang Jiulin that day, Ling Chen lost his optimistic attitude. He was well aware that there was probably little chance of him being released. Therefore, to escape, he had to rely on himself.
After thinking it over, Ling Chen decided to follow Tang Guolun’s advice, starting with Hongmen and Qingyang Society. As long as he could persuade them to help, the chances of escaping would undoubtedly increase.
After talking with Wu Zhaofeng this time, Ling Chen felt it was a nice, unexpected gain. Since Qingyang Society was Yu Peng’s people, there was no need to look for them anymore.
Now, he just needed to notify Tang Guolun, formulate a plan, and then find the right time to act.
...
In the blink of an eye, two days passed.
After a few days of recuperation, the injury on Ling Chen’s back had almost fully healed.
As night fell, a prison security officer slid a plate of dinner under the cell door.
Ling Chen glanced at it, got up, picked up the plate, and began eating voraciously.