Seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune: Starting with death row inmates

Shen Chen held his breath, shrank back into the corner, and cautiously observed the movements outside the door.

As a figure gradually approached the torture chamber, Shen Chen's heart pounded. He gripped the knife in his hand, wondering whether he should attack the person.

You happen to encounter a jailer stealing ironware in the middle of the night. What is your choice?

[Good fortune: Pretend you are also a thief stealing ironware, and avoid conflict; auspicious.]

[Bad Fortune: You attempted to ambush him, but having just fought, you are exhausted and severely injured. Unlucky.]

Shen Chen's heart immediately settled down. The door to the torture chamber was almost never locked, and the iron torture instruments were quite valuable, so it was common for guards to steal from each other.

He stuffed a bundle of iron sheets into his sleeve and walked straight out. Just as he reached the door, he bumped into a jailer who was trying to sneak into the torture chamber.

The jailer was startled and hurriedly shouted, "Who goes there?"

Shen Chen shook his hands, and the metal piece in his sleeve fell to the ground with a clatter.

The jailer looked down at the piece of iron lying on the ground, seemed to understand something, composed himself, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Shen Chen said impatiently, "What bad luck... everyone who sees this gets a share."

He then broke off half of the iron piece and placed it in the jailer's hand: "You know the rules."

"I understand, I understand." The jailer grinned. He had come to the torture chamber in the middle of the night to steal iron for resale, and he happened to run into a fellow jailer who offered him hush money.

"We haven't seen him tonight." The jailer deftly stuffed half of the iron sheet into his pocket and kindly pointed out a path to Shen Chen, "Take the left path, Zhang Si and Liu Wu are on night watch on the right."

"Alright." Shen Chen patted the jailer on the shoulder and walked to the left. Sure enough, he didn't encounter any guards along the way.

He went around in circles and returned to the cell where Qin Pi was being held.

"The knife you wanted." Shen Chen called out in a low voice, then threw a six-inch curved knife through the crack in the cell door onto the ground three feet away from Qin Pi.

Qin Pi looked up at the knife and reached out to try to touch it, but he always missed.

Qin Pi's arms were both locked with iron chains, and the chains attached to the wall made it difficult for him to move. Like a grasshopper caught in a spider web, he could barely hop around.

Shen Chen frowned slightly. Did Qin Pi really have a way to escape with just a knife?

"Crack." Just then, a sound rang out from Qin Pi's arm, and his forearm suddenly stretched out a few inches, successfully touching the knife on the ground.

"He's ruthless." Shen Chen's eyelids twitched; Qin Pi had just forcibly dislocated his arm.

After Qin Pi got the knife, he became very alert, like a hungry wolf that had just tasted blood. He gripped the blade tightly and exhaled a breath of white air like an arrow.

Two seconds later, he suddenly threw the knife at the iron chain binding his ankles. A flash of silver light appeared, the iron chain snapped, and Qin Pi, who was hanging upside down, was slammed to the ground with a thud.

He groaned, and crackling sounds came from all over his body. His muscles writhed like snakes, and chains clattered off his body and fell to the ground.

Qin Pi straightened his dislocated arm, then picked up the knife from the ground, strode to the cell door, and violently inserted the blade into the keyhole. With a click, the cell door opened.

Shen Chen tilted his head slightly. Qin Pi was a head taller than him. His face, with its plain features, had a long, narrow scar, and he exuded a fierce aura.

"Thank you." Qin Pi, who had a fierce appearance, spoke in a very gentle voice. He peeked out and looked outside warily before taking a step and coming to the cell.

"Let's go." Shen Chen quickly walked outside.

Qin Pi followed behind Shen Chen, and after walking for a while, they came to a fork in the road.

Qin Pi was hesitating about which path to take when Shen Chen, who was ahead of him, made a decision in an instant: "Take the left, trust me."

Qin Pi followed Shen Chen, and after a moment he realized that there were indeed no guards on this road. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "How did you know there was no one on this road?"

Shen Chen casually replied, "I can divine the secrets of heaven."

Qin Pi chuckled: "Since you have such abilities, how come you ended up in jail?"

"Man proposes, God disposes." Shen Chen smiled bitterly. The two quickly approached the main gate of the prison. Seven or eight guards were chatting nearby. The view was wide open, with nowhere to hide or avoid.

Shen Chen looked up at the city wall, which was dozens of meters high, and wondered, "How am I supposed to get out now? I can't just fight my way out, can I?"

Qin Pi, standing nearby, stared at the guards ahead and stretched his arms: "Fight your way out! I'll clear the path."

Shen Chen frowned slightly as he looked at the virtual text in front of him.

You and Qin Pi arrived at the main gate of the prison. Faced with fully armed guards, you chose—

[Medium to low fortune: Find another way, try to climb the city wall and escape; slightly unlucky]

[The worst possible outcome: Following Qin Pi and forcibly breaking through the main gate, you, with no martial arts skills whatsoever, are instantly killed by a flying arrow. Qin Pi did not expect you to be so weak, and has no choice but to abandon your body and flee alone. Extremely unlucky.]

Shen Chen immediately stopped Qin Pi, who was eager to try: "Brother Qin, don't be impulsive. You may be able to fight your way out, but I don't have that skill."

Qin Pi was somewhat surprised: "You must have studied martial arts, otherwise how did you kill that jailer and escape?"

Shen Chen shook his head: "I have never practiced martial arts... Killing that jailer was just a fluke."

Qin Pi frowned, seemingly hesitant about whether to abandon Shen Chen and run away alone.

But his sense of brotherhood ultimately prevailed, and Qin Pi sighed, "Then you stay behind me, and I'll try to protect you as you get out."

Shen Chen looked at the city wall, which was dozens of meters high, and said, "Actually, we can climb over the wall and get out."

Qin Pi laughed: "Brother Shen, to tell you the truth, if I could help you climb up there, I could take down seven or eight armored guards at the city gate, let alone seven or eight, I could take them all down at once."

Shen Chen scratched the city wall with his fingernail and, seeing that it left a mark, immediately knew what to do: "Use crossbows."

"Huh?" Qin Pi didn't understand.

"Use crossbows to shoot at the city walls, and use arrows as stepping stones," Shen Chen explained.

Qin Pi understood now. He nodded and said admiringly, "No wonder you're a clerk, your mind is really sharp."

A moment later, a guard carrying a crossbow collapsed limply in the corner.

Qin Pi aimed his crossbow at the city wall and fired, the arrow embedding itself firmly in the wall.

Shen Chen stepped on an arrow, his body weight only slightly bending it. To ensure that the arrows in this world could restrain powerful martial artists like Qin Pi, the quality of the arrows was quite good.

Using arrows as stepping stones, the two gradually climbed the city wall. Shen Chen tried hard not to lower his head, knowing that if he got dizzy, he would end up falling to his death.

Qin Pi was the first to reach the top of the city wall. A moment later, Shen Chen, panting heavily, climbed up. Before he could even catch his breath, Qin Pi asked, "How do we get down?"