Chen Cheng's touch was indeed light and gentle. As he finished stitching the wound on the prisoner's left arm, the man felt no pain. In fact, as the sharp agony subsided, a vague sense of comfort washed over him, and he closed his eyes, drowsy.
SMACK!
Tearing off the cloth strip binding the prisoner's shoulder, Chen Cheng seized the opportunity to slap the wound hard.
"Hiss!"
The prisoner cried out in sudden agony, his eyes snapping open and blazing with fury!
'This seemingly harmless young Prison Guard was despicable! Didn't he promise his touch would be light and painless?'
"Sorry, I forgot to tell you. You can't sleep. A heavily injured person might not wake up if they fall asleep."
Chen Cheng offered an apologetic smile, trying his best to appear amicable.
Prison Chief Jiang Cheng wanted him alive, so he had to stay alive. That slap had been a necessary evil.
The prisoner failed to appreciate Chen Cheng's good intentions. The anger in his eyes gradually morphed into vicious hatred, brimming with killing intent. If not for his injuries, he would have undoubtedly cut down the young man before him without a second thought!
Chen Cheng, of course, couldn't be bothered with a dead man walking. He was already starting to bandage the prisoner's broken leg.
This time, his touch was even lighter, even gentler. The prisoner felt not a single twinge of pain.
Chen Cheng hadn't set the bone at all. He had simply wrapped it to stop the bleeding. No moving the bone, no pain.
The prisoner gritted his teeth, the hatred in his eyes deepening. 'Damn Prison Guards! Not a single one of them is any good!'
Without the bone being set, his legs would be crippled.
"See? I didn't lie this time. My treatment really is painless!" Chen Cheng stood up, his smile warm. "As long as you keep your eyes open, you won't die."
"Hmph!" the prisoner snorted, a rare sound from him.
Chen Cheng walked to the side and picked up a branding iron. Deciding it wasn't hot enough, he placed it back in the brazier and stoked the coals to make the fire burn hotter.
The prisoner closed his eyes in despair!
'Damn that Little Prison Guard! It's one thing not to set my bone, but now he's going to torture me with a branding iron! Hateful! Absolutely hateful!'
After heating in the brazier for a while, the branding iron was once again glowing red-hot. Chen Cheng picked it up and turned to leave the interrogation room.
"Wait!"
Chen Cheng turned back, looking at the prisoner in confusion.
"One hundred taels of silver! To save my legs."
The prisoner lowered his voice, making sure only Chen Cheng could hear him.
One hundred taels of silver. Even with Chen Cheng's firm resolve, he was deeply shocked!
This was one hundred taels of silver! Enough for Chen Cheng's family to live for ten years without worrying about food or drink!
"Sorry, my shift is almost over, and I still have some important things to do. I can't be delayed." After a moment's thought, Chen Cheng shrugged and politely refused.
The prisoners in this jail were a clever bunch. Making empty promises to the guards to lessen their suffering was a common occurrence. Even the most brutish Prison Guards wouldn't fall for it, let alone Chen Cheng, a man with the memories of two lifetimes.
"Is it too little? One hundred and fifty taels. That's all I have. The money's with my old flame. I'll give it to you once you fix my legs," the prisoner said anxiously.
He had probably never dealt with a Prison Guard before and had completely misunderstood Chen Cheng. It wasn't about the amount. It was clearly a matter of trust.
"Forget it. I'm just too kindhearted..."
Whether he believed him or not, setting a bone was a trivial matter for Chen Cheng.
A shrill, agonizing scream once again echoed from the interrogation room, ringing throughout the entire Prison.
A short while later, Chen Cheng emerged from the interrogation room, carrying the red-hot branding iron, and strode toward the death row cells.
Everywhere he passed, the Prison Guards trembled, their eyes filled with awe and fear. The inmates in their cells fell silent, shivering uncontrollably.
Everyone had the same thought: Fierce Ah Cheng had finally let loose and started torturing prisoners other than the bald one!
The South City Prison had a new demon!
Chen Cheng considered himself a good person. He got along well with his colleagues and always greeted the prisoners with a polite smile.
"Brother Li, I heard your wife gave you another big, healthy boy. Congratulations!"
"Uncle Zhou, want to grab a couple of drinks sometime?"
...
Greeting the guards he knew along the way, Chen Cheng arrived at the death row area.
These days, most serious criminals were killed on the spot; very few were captured and put on death row.
Winter had just begun, and a batch of the already few death row inmates had been executed after the autumn trials. The death row cells were mostly empty, with only a handful of prisoners left.
Seeing Fierce Ah Cheng arrive, the few remaining death row inmates wished they could bury their heads in the wall.
Naturally, Chen Cheng couldn't be bothered with them either.
He walked to the deepest cell and opened the door. The bald Master Xiu Chen was already cowering in the corner, his face etched with terror. He had long since spotted the red-hot branding iron in Chen Cheng's hand.
"Ah Cheng, I truly have nothing left to hide."
"Oh?" Chen Cheng raised the branding iron and slowly advanced, a faint smile on his face. "Actually, I wasn't planning on asking you anything. I just came to have a little chat."
In all the time since he had transmigrated, Master Xiu Chen was the only prisoner Chen Cheng had ever tortured.
Chen Cheng didn't actually know how to torture people, nor had he ever studied it. At first, he just used a whip, but Master Xiu Chen was a Skin Grinding Realm Martial Artist. Such superficial wounds were nothing to him.
So, Chen Cheng switched to a branding iron. The searing heat of the iron was unbearable, even for a Skin Grinding Realm Martial Artist.
The reason he tortured Master Xiu Chen was, in fact, to get his own revenge.
Master Xiu Chen had used an Incomplete Cultivation Technique Manual to trick Chen Cheng into bringing him fine wine and good food every day. This went on for half a month, not only draining all of Chen Cheng's savings but also causing him to suffer severe injuries and a drain of qi and blood from practicing the technique.
He had been bedridden for three full days before recovering. It was also because of this injury that Chen Cheng had awakened his Innate Wisdom.
After recovering, Chen Cheng made it a routine to "greet" Master Xiu Chen with the branding iron during his shift every day. This had continued for over ten days without a single break.
Torture itself wasn't so scary. Even being tortured with a branding iron, Master Xiu Chen could easily endure it with his strength.
But what he couldn't stand was Chen Cheng's persistence, his tireless, daily application of the branding iron.
And for this very reason, Chen Cheng had earned the formidable reputation of "Fierce Ah Cheng" within the Prison.
"Y-you... stay away!"
Master Xiu Chen was panicked and on the verge of a breakdown. 'Even Yama naps, but Fierce Ah Cheng torments me every single day without fail! Who could possibly stand this?'
Chen Cheng stopped and said leisurely, "Recite the Iron Armor Skill Cultivation Technique again. If you do it well, I'll only brand you once. But if it's different from yesterday's recitation, don't blame me. One brand for every wrong word."
"No, no, no! I'll talk! I have a secret incantation and a Dharma Gate I've been hiding." Master Xiu Chen's defenses finally crumbled. 'Yama is easy to provoke, but his imps are a nightmare. When an imp comes calling every single day, how could one not break?'
Besides, Fierce Ah Cheng wasn't just any ordinary imp. He had no credibility whatsoever. Yesterday was a perfect example. Even though he had recited it perfectly without a single mistake, hadn't Ah Cheng still given him three brands?
"Oh? What Dharma Gate?"
A blush suddenly appeared on Master Xiu Chen's handsome, almost bewitching face. He bent over and began to fumble with his waistband. With heavy shackles on his hands and feet, it was a considerable struggle.
...
The time it takes to drink half a cup of tea later, Chen Cheng strode out of the death row cell. A panel materialized out of thin air before him.
[Name: Chen Cheng
Realm: None
Skills: Iron Armor Skill (Incompleteness 85/100) (Uninitiated 8/10).
(Note: Incomplete Skills can be cultivated. The Cultivation Technique is automatically corrected during Cultivation, and progress is gained.)]