Crossing the Cultivation Realm: Two Souls Coexist

Chapter 329: Imperial City Prison

The sun was blazing, and the dust on the official road was kicked up by the horses' hooves.

Hu Qing narrowed his eyes and looked at the city ahead through the gaps in the iron bars of the prison van.

The towering city walls meandered for miles like a giant dragon, the city gates made of black iron hung high, and the dark liquid in the moat flowed slowly, giving off a strange oily sheen in the sunlight.

"stop!"

Suddenly a loud shout came from the city wall.

Dozens of crossbow carts adjusted their directions with a "click", and the gleaming arrows were all aimed at the troops under the city.

The archers in the back row pulled their bowstrings to their full extent, and the taut bowstrings made a teeth-grinding sound.

Zhou Tianxuan pulled the reins and the warhorse paced restlessly.

The guards beside him immediately stepped forward and shouted angrily, "You are blind! You even dare to stop the Second Prince?"

Under the sunlight, Zhou Tianxuan slowly raised the golden token in his hand.

The dragon pattern sparkled in the light, and the "two" at the bottom was as red as blood, causing the defenders on the city to squint their eyes.

"Open the city gate quickly!"

The captain of the garrison turned pale and waved his hands hastily, "Put down your weapons! If you hurt His Highness, how many heads do you have left to chop off?"

The heavy iron chains rattled, and the huge city gate slowly fell down.

Inside the city gate, two rows of armored soldiers knelt on one knee, and a scarlet carpet was laid all the way to the center of the street.

You guys, drag the remnants of the sea clan out for a parade.” Zhou Tianxuan tapped his whip, and the Deep Sea King’s prison cart was immediately dragged toward the main street by chains.

He turned to look at Hu Qing's prison van, a sneer on his face: "Put this spy in the Sky Prison and interrogate him thoroughly."

After saying this, he flicked his whip and the warhorse neighed as it rushed into the city.

The people on both sides of the city gate knelt down in panic. A vendor selling candied haws was a little slow, and the bright red hawthorn fruits on the bamboo sticks rolled to the ground and were crushed by the galloping horses.

Hu Qing's prison van followed and drove towards the dark city gate ahead.

As he passed the city gate, he saw the black liquid in the moat foaming strangely. When a few bubbles burst, a pungent fishy smell was emitted.

The soldiers guarding the city held long spears in their hands, and their eyes under the iron armor swept the prison cart coldly, as if they were looking at a dead object.

There was a noise in the distance, and the Deep Sea King's prison cart was being dragged towards the main street.

Several children hid behind their mother, peeking at the chained blue figure with fear and curiosity.

Farther away, the golden roof of the imperial palace shone in the scorching sun, like a dormant giant beast opening its eyes.

The prison van drove into a wide street and the light suddenly became brighter.

Hu Qing felt somewhat numb, for what awaited him was an enemy even more formidable than the Deep Sea King—the Heavenly Prison of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Outside the iron fence, the street scenes of the imperial city kept receding in the bumps.

Hu Qing pressed his face against the cold railing of the prison van, and the white breath he exhaled condensed into tiny water droplets on the iron bar.

Vermilion lacquered signs hung on the shops on both sides of the street, and merchants dressed in silk and satin rubbed shoulders with porters in coarse linen clothes on the cobblestone road.

This prosperous scene was more lively than anything he had ever seen.

At the front, Zhou Tianxuan's chestnut warhorse suddenly raised its front hooves, and the horseshoes rubbed out a few sparks on the bluestone slabs.

The golden python pattern on the second prince's brocade clothes sparkled in the sunlight. The crisp sound of the horse whip cutting through the air startled an old man selling vegetables on the roadside, and his hands trembled, and he almost fell to the ground and was crushed by the horse's hooves.

"kneel!"

Following the guards' loud shout, the people on both sides of the street fell to the ground like ears of wheat swept by a sickle.

However, Hu Qing saw several burly men kneeling behind the curtain of the silk shop, with their necks stiff and straight.

When Zhou Tianxuan's personal guards passed by, one of them suddenly turned his head and spat a mouthful of thick phlegm on the ground, which happened to fall next to the personal guard's black boots.

"If you look again, I'll dig out your eyes!" the guard who was guarding Hu Qing cursed angrily.

The sudden severe pain made Hu Qing's eyes go dark.

The tip of the cowhide whip tore open the blood scab on his chest, and the originally scabbed wound suddenly opened bright red.

Warm blood beads rolled down the whip marks, forming a dark red flower on the lapel.

He gritted his teeth and looked up at the sky - the orange sun seemed to be nailed to the indigo sky, and it hurt him so much that tears came to his eyes.

The prison van squeaked as it rolled over the cracks in the cobblestone road, and every bump caused the shackles to rub new wounds on the ankles.

The scorching sun at noon made the iron railings scorching hot. The festering wound on his back stuck to the iron plate, making a soft "hissing" sound and emitting a faint smell of burnt blood.

When the shadow finally covered the prison van, Hu Qing narrowed his sore eyes.

A huge building made of black stone stood before my eyes. On the lintel, the two large characters "Tianlao" engraved in relief still had traces of dark red paint.

Two jailers came over carrying iron chains, and the undried blood on the locks left several brown marks on the hems of their black clothes.

"The spirit vein is sealed, so don't struggle if you know what's best for you."

The moment the cold shackles were buckled around his wrists, Hu Qing felt a stabbing pain in his dantian.

The barbs on the inside of the shackles pierced into his flesh, and dark red runes lit up along his blood vessels, locking his spiritual power deep in his qi sea.

The moment the cell door opened, a foul smell mixed with the smell of blood hit me in the face.

Before Hu Qing could see the situation inside the prison clearly, he was hit hard on the back.

He stumbled into the cell, his cheek hitting the wet straw, and a few dry straw stalks pierced the corners of his cracked mouth.

"Boom!"

The muffled sound of the iron door closing echoed in the corridor for a long time.

Hu Qing turned over with difficulty and found that the so-called "clean" cell was just that there was no obvious rat feces in the pile of straw in the corner.

Sunlight slanted in through the palm-sized air vents, revealing the densely packed scratches on the wall—some so deep that you could see the blackened stone bones inside.

In the distance came the sound of iron chains on the Deep Sea King's prison cart, faintly mixed with the curses of the people and the screams of children.

Hu Qing curled up his wounded body and listened to his heartbeat which was getting slower and slower.

The spot of light cast by the air vent moved slowly on the ground, and eventually turned into a thin golden line, like an eyelid about to close.