If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

Heavy footsteps pounded on the stone slabs.

One string after another.

The glow of the torches flickered outside the cell door, casting long, distorted shadows on the iron bars, like the claws of a monster.

Zhou Yang sat cross-legged on the straw mat, his eyes half-open and half-closed.

He listened as the voice grew closer and closer, finally stopping in front of his cell door.

Beneath him, Zhang the Madman was still unconscious, breathing heavily with a bloody odor.

"Clang."

The chains were unlocked, and the cell door was pushed open with great force.

A man dressed in a black flying fish robe walked in. Behind him were four guards, each with his hands on the hilt of his sword, their expressions grim.

The newcomer was the head officer of the Imperial Prison, surnamed Zhao, a man with a scar on his face. His eyes were like an eagle's, sharp enough to pierce flesh.

"Zhou Yang." General Zhao's voice was harsh, like two stones rubbing against each other.

"Commander Zhao." Zhou Yang slowly opened his eyes, his tone calm. "Still making rounds this late?"

General Zhao ignored him.

His gaze swept across the cell.

In the empty corner, there were a few moldy straw mats and Zhang Fengzi, who remained motionless.

The faint smell of blood still lingered in the air.

He squatted down, rubbed the straw on the ground with his hands, and then turned over the straw mat.

There was nothing there.

His brow furrowed.

Wang Mang's meaning of "a thousand households" is very clear.

We must find evidence here to solidify Zhou Yang's claim.

But now, nothing has been gained.

General Zhao stood up and his gaze fell on Zhang Fengzi.

"Who is this person?" he asked.

"A madman I picked up on the street," Zhou Yang replied.

"A madman?" Commander Zhao sneered. "I think his martial arts skills are quite good. He seems more like a suicide squad member of the Heavenly Principle Sect."

As soon as he finished speaking, one of the guards behind him immediately stepped forward and reached out to tear off Zhang the Madman's clothes.

"The commander has ordered that your identity be verified!"

Zhang Fengzi was their last breakthrough.

If we find any tokens of the Heavenly Principle Sect or something else on him, we can completely destroy Zhou Yang.

Zhou Yang looked at the outstretched hand.

Suddenly, he smiled.

It wasn't a polite smile, nor a sarcastic one. The smile was deep, like a whirlpool beneath a cold pool.

"Commander Zhao."

He spoke, his voice not loud, but it made everyone in the cell stop what they were doing.

"You've come to the wrong thing, and you've come to the wrong person."

Commander Zhao turned around, squinting at him: "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is," Zhou Yang slowly stood up, cracking his knuckles, "that the inside man isn't me, Zhou Yang. Nor is it this madman."

He turned and walked towards the darkest corner of the cell.

There, huddled up a thin prisoner. Ever since he was locked up, he had been curled up with his head in his hands, like a quail, and no one had ever paid him any attention.

Zhou Yang grabbed him by the back of his collar and pulled him out of the haystack like he was a chick.

The man was dragged on the ground, struggling with his hands and feet, making "woo-woo" sounds.

It was that broker nicknamed "Smiling Buddha".

"Zhou Yang! What are you doing!" Commander Zhao shouted sternly.

Zhou Yang ignored him, flicked his hand, and threw the "Smiling Buddha" at Zhao Zongqi's feet.

"It's the real inside man." Zhou Yang's toes stepped on the back of "Smiling Buddha," rendering him unable to move.

"Of course, he was just a messenger." Zhou Yang's voice was calm, as if he were talking about something insignificant.

"The real mastermind was Wang Mang."

"Wang Mang, the commander of a thousand households, was the deepest spies that the Heavenly Principle Sect planted in the imperial prison."

The moment those words were spoken, the entire cell fell into a deathly silence.

The fierce look on Zhao Zongqi's face froze. The guards behind him looked at each other, not daring to breathe.

Wang Mang?

Lord Qianhu?

This is simply a fantasy.

Commander Zhao snapped out of his daze and roared, "Zhou Yang, you're spouting nonsense! How dare you slander a commander like you? Do you want to die?"

"Whether I've committed any wrongdoing or not, we'll find out by asking him, won't we?" Zhou Yang pressed down slightly with his toes, and "Smiling Buddha" cried out in pain.

"Tell me," Zhou Yang said softly, bowing his head.

"Tell Commander Zhao everything you've done, in detail."

"Don't forget, the piece of gold I gave you is still warm."

"If you dare to utter a single wrong word, or utter any nonsense..."

He paused, a hint of coldness creeping into his voice.

"You know my methods."

The "Smiling Buddha" trembled like a leaf.

He raised his head, his oily face filled with terror and struggle. He looked at Zhou Yang, then at Zhao Zongqi, whose face was deathly pale.

gold.

The piece of gold Zhou Yang gave him felt like a branding iron burning his chest.

He knew that if he didn't speak up today, he would die. If he did speak up, he might still die. But Zhou Yang gave him a chance to live.

He opened his mouth, his voice trembling, like a piece of torn paper in the wind.

"I'll tell you... I'll tell you everything..."

"It was Commander Wang... it was Lord Wang Mang who forced me to do it..."

General Zhao's heart sank.

The "Smiling Buddha's" voice was choked with sobs as it began to speak haltingly.

"On the fifteenth of last month, at midnight, Commander Wang asked me to slip a note into the third brick joint of the drain on the north side."

"The note said... I don't know what it said, I sealed it with wax."

"Also, three days ago, Commander Wang said he wanted to interrogate a believer named 'Grey Dove.' He had me send a message outside a day in advance, instructing them to make arrangements and prepare to recant their testimony."

"Just this afternoon, I heard that Brother Zhou Yang... no, I heard that Zhou Yang killed someone, and Wang Mang came to me, handed me a packet of medicine, and told me to find a way to put it in Zhang Fengzi's food... He said... he said that as long as Zhang Fengzi is dead, there will be no one to testify, and everything can be pinned on Zhou Yang!"

With each word he spoke, Zhao Zongqi's face paled a fraction.

These things are all too specific.

It's so specific that it doesn't seem fabricated.

In particular, Wang Mang's style of doing things was characterized by advance planning and meticulous thinking.

The details mentioned by the "Smiling Buddha" are like keys, unlocking the locked situation one by one.

The air in the cell seemed to freeze.

The torchlight danced on everyone's faces, reflecting different expressions.

There was shock, doubt, and a hint of fear.

Zhou Yang withdrew his foot and stood up straight again.

He looked at General Zhao, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Commander Zhao, do you still think I'm making baseless accusations?"

General Zhao frowned deeply.

He glanced at the "Smiling Buddha" kneeling on the ground, trembling, and then at Zhou Yang, who was frighteningly calm.

My mind is a complete mess.

He was merely following orders to search for evidence. Little did he know, he would uncover an even more powerful explosive.

The explosives were aimed directly at his superior.

What should he do?

Believe it or not?

Believing him meant personally arresting Wang Mang. But Wang Mang had deep roots in the imperial prison; could he bear the consequences?

I don't believe it, but the "Smiling Buddha" is too convincing. If it really is true, and I let go of an inside agent of the Heavenly Principle Sect, that would be a capital offense.

Just when he was in a dilemma.

A figure appeared at the cell door.

The man was dressed in a smart flying fish robe, with an embroidered spring knife at his waist, and his face was gloomy.

It was Wang Mang.

He seemed to have heard about the commotion and rushed over.

As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he saw this bizarre scene. His own captain and his men were surrounding Zhou Yang's cell. And Zhou Yang was standing there perfectly fine. On the ground, a "smiling Buddha" was kneeling, lodgement for complaint.

Wang Mang's face turned as white as a sheet of paper in an instant.

His lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single word.

For the first time, his eyes, which always held a calculating edge, revealed an undisguised panic.

He saw the "Smiling Buddha".

He heard the phrase, "It was Lord Wang Mang who forced me to do it."

It's all over.

His plans and schemes were completely overturned by Zhou Yang in a way he never expected.

The cauldron has been removed, and the fire has been extinguished.

Zhou Yang also saw him.

He didn't speak, he just smiled. There was a hint of mockery in that smile.

It's as if it's saying...

You came.

Perfect timing, all the main characters have arrived.

General Zhao stood frozen in place, glancing at the suddenly appearing Wang Mang, then turning back to look at Zhou Yang.

At that moment, he finally made his judgment.