Chapter 26 Prison

Chu Ge didn't think twice, and directly selected "Iron Will."

When he first entered this instance, he had thought this talent was the most useless one, only to find out later that this was the only correct choice in the instance.

Of course, this was his understanding of the game, and he didn't rule out the possibility that some players might be able to clear the instance without this talent, but Chu Ge found it hard to imagine what kind of ultimate tough person could do that.

The moment he selected his talent, time in the Trial Illusion began to flow.

Chu Ge felt a darkness before his eyes, and his consciousness instantly became muddled.

He didn't know how much time had passed before he gradually woke up to someone's soft calling.

"Ting Ji, Ting Ji!"

He could smell the corrupt stench in his nostrils, and waves of sharp pain came from his lower body.

This pain was special, indescribable, not the heart-wrenching kind but it gave off a signal of extreme danger.

As his consciousness gradually cleared, Chu Ge quickly remembered that he was already in the Scholar Trial instance.

Ting Ji was the courtesy name of the character he was playing, Yang Yan.

Chu Ge struggled to lift his head and saw a face outside the prison bars, marked by tears and filled with sorrow.

"Oh, Ting Ji, how could things have gotten so out of hand!"

An official, appearing to be over fifty years old with graying hair, was holding onto the bars, tears streaming down his face.

Chu Ge had already done a lot of research on the Scholar instance, so he clearly knew who this man was.

This was a long-time friend of Yang Yan's, a Mr. Miao.

Before submitting his remonstration, Yang Yan had already prepared his own coffin and entrusted his family to his friend's care.

At this point in time, it was clear he had already submitted his remonstration, been sentenced to prison after.

Yang Yan obviously hadn't told anyone about the remonstration in advance; otherwise, anyone would have tried everything to stop it.

Moreover, he didn't want to involve innocent people, nor did he want to give others a pretext to attack him.

"This will help with the pain, Ting Ji, please take it and be careful not to let the prison guard see."

His friend's hand reached through the bars, handing over something that was a mess of flesh and blood.

Even though it was quite dark in the dungeon and hard to see, Chu Ge knew clearly that it was a snake gallbladder.

Since Yang Yan was sentenced with a hundred strokes and thrown into the dungeon, family and friends had tried multiple times to smuggle medicine in, but the prison guard intercepted everything.

Clearly, Mr. Miao had gone through a lot of trouble to bring this snake gallbladder into the prison.

Chu Ge forced a smile and shook his head, "I have my own gall, I don't need this one.

"You should leave now too, so as not to involve you."

After sending away his friend Mr. Miao, Chu Ge silently sighed and then painfully turned over.

It wasn't that he was pretending to be cool by not taking the snake gallbladder, he had taken it the previous times.

But after trying it, he found that it was better not to take it.

On one hand, it tasted awful and the pain relief was not very effective. Most importantly, it was only effective for a short period, while the pain in the instance was constant and would continue hurting afterward.

On the other hand, once he accepted the snake gallbladder, no matter how well he hid it, it would still be discovered by the prison guard lurking in the shadows. This would then become one of the pieces of evidence used by others to accuse him of "having accomplices," and even his friend could potentially be implicated.

Chu Ge would rather rely on his "iron will" talent to endure.

In the dungeon filled with dilapidated straw and rampant rats and snakes, Chu Ge barely found a relatively comfortable position, propping himself up at an angle with the strength of his arms. Then, he looked at his own legs.

The first time he saw them, he was startled.

Even now, seeing them often, he still felt a heart-palpitating sensation.

Beneath the blood-stained prison clothes, his legs had swelled several times their normal size, completely squeezed together, unable to move at all. Pressing them gently with his hand felt like pressing on wood, almost entirely numb.

Chu Ge was very clear that this period was recorded in history like this: his legs were swollen and hard as wood, unable to bend or stretch.

This was the consequence of receiving one hundred cane strokes.

In fact, if the dungeon weren't too dim, and if Chu Ge could see the condition of the backs of his thighs, he would have been even more horrified.

The canes used for flogging were not ordinary sticks, but made of special hardwood wrapped in iron at the striking end. A single blow was enough to tear flesh, blood flying everywhere.

Thirty cane strokes, even with the executioner showing mercy, would result in blood and flesh flying, requiring several years of convalescence. Fifty or sixty strokes could easily kill a person or, if not fatal, leave them with a lifelong disability.

The maximum number of cane strokes was one hundred, but typically this was meaningless, as most people died by seventy or eighty blows. Those who could endure a hundred cane strokes throughout history were very few.

Yang Yan received the full one hundred cane strokes.

Of course, the reason he survived was partly because he was indeed tough, and on the other hand, because the Emperor did not wish for him to die so soon. The Emperor still suspected he was instigated by someone else and wanted to keep him for further interrogation.

But regardless, these one hundred cane strokes were enough to leave him permanently disabled, clinging to only half a life.

"Bring the prisoner for interrogation!"

Two prison guards arrived at the cell, lifted Chu Ge without any discussion, and walked him outside.

Chu Ge's legs had completely lost sensation and could not bend, so naturally, he couldn't walk on his own. The two guards on either side carried him, dragging him to another room designated for interrogating prisoners, where they stood him up and tied him to a wooden rack.

This so-called torture chamber, or interrogation room, contained various torture devices. For a long time to come, Chu Ge would be a regular visitor here.

The first time he came, Chu Ge had no knowledge of his real identity, utterly bewildered.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?

But now, having undergone many sessions, he was well aware of his current situation and able to remain calm.

In the Trial Illusion instance for scholars, players needed to play as Yang Yan, refute three rounds of interrogation, and somehow manage to survive in the dungeon to be considered as clearing the instance.

It sounded easy, but only after attempting did one realize that the difficulty was not any lower than that of the instance for soldiers.

With a clang, the door to the torture chamber opened.

Chu Ge saw Ting Ji and Shi walk in one after the other, taking their seats behind the desks in the torture chamber; one was dressed in official robes, and the other was a eunuch.

These two people, of course, Chu Ge had already come to know their identities from historical materials.

The one in official robes was He Xueyi, a senior minister in the Cabinet, and the eunuch was Shi, a favored confidant of the Emperor.

This was the first obstacle that Yang Yan, who was now Chu Ge, had to overcome.

He Xueyi and Shi took their seats behind the desks.

Shi had no intention of speaking; it was clear that He Xueyi was the main interrogator, while Shi's primary task was to report the events here to the Emperor.

The looks both men gave Yang Yan were filled with hostility.

The reason was simple; Yang Yan had infuriated the Emperor, causing them a great deal of trouble!