In the Ming Dynasty, I became invincible simply by extracting memories!

"Shen Lian!" Yi Dong shouted and ran towards Shen Lian, but it was too late!

Just then, from the shadowy depths of the cell corner, from the thick, inky darkness, a hand suddenly emerged without warning, its five fingers gripping Shen Lian's collar like iron pincers, violently pulling him backward—almost simultaneously, a chilling blade, carrying a bone-chilling killing intent, narrowly grazed his throat, the force of the wind scraping painfully against his neck, barely managing to avoid this deadly blow.

The masked man's seemingly certain strike missed its mark, causing him to pause in surprise. In that moment of hesitation, a sharp blade pierced his chest, instantly killing him.

The person who came to the rescue never revealed their true face, leaving only a blurry black shadow in a flash. Taking advantage of the sudden chaos in the prison, they quickly disappeared behind the crisscrossing cell pillars, leaving Shen Lian standing alone. His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of his chest, a wave of fear washing over him, and cold sweat instantly soaked through his clothes. He stared at the empty shadow and instantly understood that someone had secretly helped him, but had no intention of revealing their identity, nor did they want to show themselves to him now.

Yi Dong pulled a dagger from behind the man, pushed the corpse aside, walked up to Shen Lian, and hurriedly asked, "Young Master Shen, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Shen Lian shook his head.

The surrounding prisoners were thrown into chaos by this sudden turn of events. Sharp shouts, chaotic running, the clanging of heavy chains, and the prisoners' terrified screams mingled together. The flickering torchlight cast distorted shadows, and the scene quickly spiraled out of control.

Shen Lian's eyes sharpened, his keen gaze sweeping across the chaotic crowd. Seizing a fleeting moment of chaos, relying on the prison paths he had memorized while imprisoned, and the memories he had gleaned from the jailer Sun and Zhou Kui, he ran back to the jailer Sun's corpse. He found the cell key and the packet of powder on Sun's waist, which he promptly pocketed. Under the cover of shadows, he reached the west side of the prison and stood before the doors of several cells. Inserting the key, he quickly turned the lock, secretly unlocking the doors of three cells on the west side.

"Who are you? Did Yan's faction send you to silence us?!"

Shh, I'm here to save you.

Shen Lian then removed the shackles from those people. "Leave here quickly while no one is around."

"But……"

"This isn't the place to talk," Shen Lian interrupted them.

"But why did you save us?"

"Because I know you are innocent, is that reason enough?" Shen Lian said, looking into the man's eyes.

"Sir, your kindness is beyond repayment!" the man said, bowing to Shen Lian. Then he beckoned to the others, "Quick! Let's get out!"

Watching the prisoners file out, Shen Lian couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

These people were either righteous individuals who had been oppressed and framed by the Yan Party, or innocent people who had been tortured into confessing. Shen Lian had paid close attention to them while he was imprisoned here, and today he was able to take advantage of the chaos to release them, which could be considered as doing a good deed.

"Young Master Shen, what's going on?" Yi Dong, who was following behind, was completely stunned by Shen Lian's behavior.

"It's okay, let's go out."

"oh oh……"

The two continued to walk cautiously outside.

When they reached a corridor, they saw two men in black walking towards them, and all four of them froze on the spot.

One of them shouted, "That's him! Attack!" The two men charged at Shen Lian with knives in hand.

Yi Dong, holding a dagger, was about to stand in front of Shen Lian, but Shen Lian raised his hand to stop her.

"Young Master Shen?" Yi Dong's eyes widened.

Shen Lian simply shook his head slightly.

"Die!" The two were only three or four steps away from Shen Lian.

In the blink of an eye, just as the masked man swung his knife, Shen Lian threw something out of his hand, hitting the two men squarely in the face—it was the packet of powder that had fallen from the prison guard Sun's arms earlier.

"Ahhhhh!"

The two masked men suddenly collapsed to the ground, covering their faces with their hands and screaming in agony.

"My eyes! Ughhhhh!"

The two screamed in agony, rolling around on the ground like two fish that had been pulled ashore.

Soon, the screams subsided, turning into low growls from their throats. The two men trembled on the ground, like old men struggling to breathe. Then the growls turned into faint groans, and finally, there was no sound at all.

What a potent poison! Shen Lian shuddered, thinking that if he were to be poisoned, he would suffer a fate worse than death.

Prison guard Sun, you really can't judge a book by its cover...

"Let's go." The two continued walking towards the exit.

As Shen Lian approached the exit, he heard the clanging of weapons, like the clashing of a table tennis ball. Turning a corner, he saw three people locked in combat, one of whom was Yi Xia. She dodged and weaved amidst the flashing blades of the two, occasionally retaliating, showing no signs of being at a disadvantage.

"Yi Xia!" Yi Dong called out.

The other two saw Shen Lian and his companion use a fierce attack to temporarily force Yi Xia back. After exchanging a glance, one of them decisively shouted, "Retreat!" and then turned and ran towards the exit.

With lightning speed, Yi Dong reversed his grip on the dagger and threw it at one of the men, hitting him squarely in the shin. The man collapsed onto the stairs. As he tried to get up, Yi Xia caught up from behind and stabbed him through the guts.

"I'll go after them." Without hesitation, Yi Xia sheathed her sword and ran towards the exit.

"Keep him alive!" Shen Lian shouted behind her, then walked towards the masked man who had been stabbed, seeing that he was barely breathing.

Shen Lian lifted his mask and saw a face covered in scars, looking extremely fierce; he seemed to be a martial arts practitioner.

Without hesitation, Shen Lian grabbed his arm...

In the darkness, an oil lamp was lit, making a "beep beep" sound, and Liu Fu stood in front of the group.

"Among you are Jinyiwei guards who broke the rules and were dismissed, wanted criminals by the court, swordsmen who would rather die than be caught, and death row inmates whose names have already been reported as executed." Liu Fu spread his hands. "But you are all standing here perfectly fine, being provided with food and drink without worry. Do you know why?"

The men replied in unison, "We are willing to go through fire and water for you, sir!"

"Very good, listen up, no matter what, Shen Lian must die! If that guy surnamed Sun succeeds, then naturally you won't need to take action, but if things change, then I won't need to say anything more."

"On the day of the operation, I will send all the people in the imperial prison out in advance. You will sneak in, and the prison guard Sun will meet you. Remember not to alert anyone and wait for Shen Lian to take the bait."

"After this is done, we will meet here again. I will arrange for someone to send you out of the capital. You will then be able to enjoy wealth and honor for the rest of your lives."

"But if we fail..." Liu Fu's eyes narrowed, "I don't want anyone to trace this back to me, understand?"

"yes!"

……

The man in his arms gradually lost his light, and Shen Lian released him.

"Young Master Shen, what's wrong?" Yi Dong asked.

"It's alright, let's go."

Just as he stepped out of the prison gate, a sharp shout suddenly rang out from outside, "Who dares to trespass into the Northern Garrison Prison? Seize him!"

A series of chaotic footsteps sounded, and a group of people dressed in Jinyiwei uniforms appeared and surrounded Shen Lian and his companion.

Shen Lian looked closely and saw that the person in the lead was none other than Liu Fu, the commander of a thousand households.

Upon seeing Shen Lian, Liu Fu frowned and shouted, "Why haven't you taken him down yet!"

Everyone drew their swords.

"Wait!" another person called out.

Everyone looked over and saw Wei Liangbi, a staff member directly under the Commander of the Northern Garrison.

When Liu Fu saw Wei Liangbi arrive, a look of displeasure flashed across his face. He pointed at Shen Lian and said, "Lord Wei, this brat Shen Lian has trespassed into the Northern Garrison Prison. According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, this is a serious crime!"

Wei Liangbi, however, remained unhurried, took out a piece of paper from his pocket, and handed it to Liu Fu, saying, "I have here a handwritten edict from Commander Zhu, proving that Shen Lian was ordered by Commander Zhu to interrogate the important prisoner in jail."

Liu Fu took it and saw that it was indeed Zhu Xixiao's order, and the ink on the paper was not yet dry.

Wei Liangbi walked up to Shen Lian and whispered, "Shen Lian, I went to your residence and saw Zhou Kui's body. Fang Xuejian told me you were heading towards the imperial prison. I was worried something might have happened, so I asked Lord Zhu for a warrant. What exactly is going on?"

"Lord Wei, I..." Shen Lian was about to speak.

At this moment, a captain ran out of the prison gate, knelt down and said, "Sir, there are five corpses in the prison! One of them is the jailer Sun, one of our men, and we don't recognize the other four."

"What?" Wei Liangbi's voice rose several octaves. "Why is there a stranger's body in the prison? Did they kill that jailer, Sun?"

At this moment, Shen Lian said expressionlessly, "I killed the jailer Sun."

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked.

Liu Fu shouted, "Shen Lian, do you know that murdering a court official is a capital offense? Guards, seize him! If he dares to resist, execute him on the spot!"

"Wait!" Wei Liangbi blocked the way for the crowd.

"Lord Wei, are you trying to protect a serious criminal?"

"Shen Lian, what exactly happened?" Wei Liangbi looked at Shen Lian, he didn't believe that Shen Lian would kill someone for no reason.

"Was Zhou Kui killed by the jailer Sun?"

"What?"

"The jailer Sun gave Zhou Kui a jar of poisoned wine. Zhou Kui was unaware of this and brought the wine to my residence, intending to drink it with me. If I hadn't refused to drink it, I would be in the same situation as Zhou Kui now."

"Why would jailer Sun...?"

Shen Lian simply looked into Wei Liangbi's eyes without saying a word.

"So that's how it is..." Wei Liangbi murmured. "I've worked with him for over a decade, I never imagined he was a member of Yan's faction..."

"Lord Wei, step aside, or don't blame me for not showing any brotherly affection."

"Lord Liu, there must be some misunderstanding!"

"If there's a problem, I'll take it back and ask! Take it down!"

Just as everyone was about to step forward, a dark shadow "whooshed" down from the sky and crashed to the ground, startling them all into taking a step back. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was a corpse dressed in black.

"Who goes there!" Liu Fu shouted, looking around.

Another dark shadow flashed by, and suddenly another person appeared beside Shen Lian—it was Yi Xia.

Xia stood with his knife, protecting Shen Lian tightly, and whispered, "That man also has poison in his mouth; we can't leave him alive."

Shen Lian simply shook his head and said, "It's alright."

Liu Fu glared at the two women beside Shen Lian and angrily said, "Shen Lian, are you planning to resist arrest?"

Shen Lian, instead of being angry, laughed and said, "Lord Liu, you truly have excellent skills! Even I, a junior, have to admire you."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean, Lord Liu, don't you understand?"

Shen Lian took a step forward, his voice as cold as ice: "I originally came here just to investigate the background of Jailer Sun, but I didn't expect to not only dig out these assassins who wanted my life, but also to dig out Lord Liu. Speaking of which, I have to thank you for setting up this scheme, which helped me connect all the things together."

Liu Fu's expression changed drastically. He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and shouted fiercely, "You're spouting nonsense! When did I ever take your life?!"

"Just now in the prison, someone overheard your arrangements. You spent a fortune recruiting these desperate criminals, and then you sent away the guards from the Imperial Prison, having Jailer Sun help them kill me here. What, now that it's time, do you still want to deny it?" Shen Lian said, pointing to the corpse of the Jianghu swordsman on the ground. "This person is one of the assassins you recruited."

Upon hearing this, Wei Liangbi's face turned ashen. He turned to Liu Fu and asked, "Liu Fu, is what Shen Lian said true? You actually colluded with the enemy's faction and plotted to harm your colleague?"

"Bullshit!" Liu Fu retorted urgently, "This is all Shen Lian's side of the story! He killed someone and wants to get away with it, deliberately framing me!" Before he finished speaking, he waved to the captain beside him, "What are you all standing there for! Seize this traitor Shen Lian!"

Just as the Imperial Guards around them were about to make their move, Yi Xia and Yi Dong drew their swords, flanking Shen Lian on either side, their blades gleaming coldly at the crowd. Just as tensions were rising, the sound of horses' hooves came from afar, followed by a group of armored soldiers escorting a man in scarlet official robes—it was Zhu Xixiao, the commander of the Northern Garrison.

Zhu Xixiao glanced at the scene and said in a deep voice, "Put down your knives."

Seeing this, everyone had no choice but to temporarily sheathe their swords. Liu Fu hurriedly stepped forward and bowed respectfully: "Commander, Shen Lian has trespassed into the imperial prison, killed a prison guard, and even hired someone to kill someone else, falsely accusing me of colluding with the enemy and the Yan faction. I beg you, sir, to do me justice!"

Zhu Xixiao ignored Liu Fu and looked at Shen Lian instead: "Shen Lian, you speak."

Shen Lian bowed to Zhu Xixiao and calmly recounted in detail how Zhou Kui was killed, how he tracked down the prison guard Sun, and how he encountered the assassins arranged by Liu Fu in the imperial prison who were trying to kill him.

Liu Fu trembled all over upon hearing this, pointing at Shen Lian and shouting, "You're talking nonsense! You're talking nonsense!"

"Whether I'm talking nonsense or not, just search your body and check your residence, and you'll know. Oh, right, there's also a small house at the end of the alley in the west of the city. That's the hideout of that gang of desperados. Lord Zhu, you can send someone to investigate. I'm sure you'll find quite a few secret letters written by Lord Liu Fu."

Upon hearing this, Liu Fu's face turned deathly pale, and he stammered, "You, how could you...?"