After a while, Qin Chong and the old ghost sneaked out of the barracks and went straight to the Shayuan Prison Prison.

The prison is in the north of the city, next to the Shayuan prison yamen. With the footsteps of the two of them, it didn't take half an hour to come to the vicinity of the prison. The night was quieter, there was no one on the street, and it was dark everywhere. Only two lanterns were lit at the entrance of the yamen, swaying in the wind with a faint yellow light.

Qin Chong grew up in Beicheng since he was a child, so he is naturally very familiar with this place. With the old ghost on three turns, he has come to a narrow alley.

Stop and look at the high wall. Flip through it, and you'll find the backyard of the prison. The yard had always been vacant, piled up with a mess of things, and was usually unattended at all. Between the backyard and the front yard, there is a corner door, and the door is locked, but it obviously can't stop the old ghost.

After the corner gate, there is a long corridor of dozens of steps. To the east is the prison officer's office, and to the west is the prison.

This prison covers an extremely large area, with hundreds of acres of land, divided into male and female prisons. If you look at it from a high place, the houses are uneven, and there are hundreds of prison houses. The cells are connected by narrow passages, and a gate is set up every few dozen steps, and people are questioned when they enter and leave. It stands to reason that it's hard to sneak in.

The prison is divided into two floors, one underground and one above ground. Only felons are kept underground.

The lock on the gate is nothing to the old ghost, and it can be opened with a little tinkering. Qin Zhong followed behind the old ghost, all the way unimpeded, and easily came to the underground entrance. In fact, the entry so smoothly is completely based on the understanding of prisons. Shayuan Prison is different from other places, there are few prisoners at all.

In the middle of the night, the only few jailers went to sleep under the bed.

Underground prisoners were kept in prison and were slightly more heavily defended. The so-called strictness means that there is an extra sentry at the entrance, and an oil lamp is lit.

However, at this time, the sentry was nowhere to be seen.

Hiding in the shadows in the corner, the two listened patiently for a long time, and there was no movement.

The old ghost waved his hand and made a gesture of action, and the tanuki ran out. Rushing to the gate, his body flickered against the wall, and he looked inside. Qin Zhong crouched in place and did not move, quietly waiting for the old ghost's order.

After another moment, the old ghost probe grabbed the lock, a thin copper needle, steadily inserted into the keyhole, and gently flicked it left and right a few times, and the copper lock opened with a "click". The old ghost gave Qin Zhong a gesture, then half-arched, stretched out his hand and silently pushed open the gate.

When Qin Zhong saw the gesture, he quickly approached with a half-squat, his toes were light and silent, and he followed the old ghost into the dungeon.

Turning around and closing the door, he reached out through the gap and relocked the copper lock.

This detail was taught by the old ghost, and Qin Chong had doubts. Say, why lock the door? Isn't that self-defeating in doing so?

That time, instead of beating him, the old ghost told a story.

In the story, the old ghost also led the team, and a group of ten people touched into the enemy prison to rescue the captured comrades. The ten of them were all elites in the army, all of them were extraordinary, and they easily infiltrated the prison and found their captured comrades. Until this point, the operation went well. However, while they were retreating, they were ambushed by the enemy.

The reason for the failure of the action is an open lock.

The enemy commander happened to patrol this area and found a lock hanging on the door. He knew that there was a change, but he did not immediately make a noise, but quietly mobilized troops and ambushed outside the prison gate. When the old ghosts came out, the enemy general gave a command, and the arrows were fired in unison. In an instant, a group of dozens of people fell.

The rescued comrades were all wounded and tortured, and they were unable to move. Hit by this blow, he was powerless to parry, and was slaughtered by the enemy's random arrows. Although the old ghost and others were strong in martial arts, they were deeply surrounded, and they sacrificed their lives to kill in the middle of the night, and only two escaped, and the rest of the people all died in the enemy camp.

In that battle, the old ghost was hit by thirteen arrows, and a spear pierced a hole in his waist.

To survive is purely fateful.

And the detail of the padlock on the door is a lesson learned from dozens of lives.

Entering the door, there is a downward corridor, and torches are inserted on the walls on both sides. The firelight jumped with the wind, and the corridor was also flickering and dark, looking eerie and terrifying.

The old ghost frowned slightly, and stopped abruptly. Turning his head to look at Qin Chong, he made a gesture.

Qin Zhong could see that it meant to be careful.

After walking more than ten steps, I have reached the bottom. Further on is a straight hole, the roof of which is more than a foot high and five feet wide. Caves were dug on both sides of the cave, and thigh-thick fences were sealed at the entrances. The cave was filled with felons, the smell was foul and unpleasant, and the sound of grinding teeth and snoring came from time to time.

The seven or eight caves were all dark, except for the backmost one, which showed light.

As the old ghost expected, a tragic thing is happening in the prison at this moment.

Jailer Chen Qi was wearing a public uniform, but he was sloppy and had not been washed for many years. There was another person beside him, dressed in black, and his face was covered with a cloth. At this moment, the two of them were staring at Qiu Min in the corner, slowly approaching step by step.

In the afternoon, Chen Qi got a hint from Shangguan that there was something big tonight. So, he pretended to take care of his colleague and sent the other two away.

Now he is the only one on duty in the dungeon.

In a moment, the man in black appeared in the dungeon. The two tacitly acknowledged, and neither spoke. locked the cell door and followed him to Qiu Min's prison. This kind of thing, Chen Qi is not the first time to do it, and his heart is clear. But he has a principle, don't talk, don't ask, don't meddle.

At this moment, there was a hint of pity in his cloudy eyes. Qiu Min stole horses, causing a lot of trouble in the Shayuan prison, and even his home was raided, so he naturally heard about it while guarding the prison. Now at this point, there are still people who refuse to let go, and they are chased and killed in prison.

can let his superiors hint, which means that the person is more powerful and important. is a small person, and he obeys orders.

It's just that this world is becoming more and more disgusting, and I can't afford to have the slightest nostalgia.

Qiu Min was poured wine, and at this time he was already drunk, huddled in the corner and fell asleep. The man in black slowly approached Qiu Min, stood there and looked at it for a moment, then kicked it with his foot, and saw that he was sleeping and would not wake up at all. The man in black relieved his heart, reached out and took out a cloth bag from his arms, which jingled softly.

Unwrap the cloth bag, and inside is a pile of pieces of iron. The iron piece is an inch square, and the thin one has a slight weight. He pinched a piece with his fingers and gently placed it on Qiu Min's chest, just above his heart. Then, he sat down cross-legged on one side, silently counting the numbers and counting the time in his mind.

After about a hundred breaths, he stood up again, and pressed another piece of iron in the same way.

Time passed little by little, Qiu Min's chest had been stacked with seven pieces of iron, his breathing became low, and the ups and downs of his chest became slower and slower.

But Qiu Min was still asleep, and he didn't seem to wake up.

After another hundred breaths, the man in black added another piece. At this time, Qiu Min's chest no longer rose and fell, and gradually lost his breath.

In an instant, the entire cell was silently pin dropping.

.........

Qin Chong, who was hiding in the shadows, was already stunned when he witnessed the whole process.

Fortunately, the old ghost was there, and he secretly pulled Qin Chong's clothes, and left the dungeon before the man in black came out. He unlocked the door again, returned to the same way, and went out of the prison the same way. But the old ghost and Qin Chong did not leave just now, but hid in the darkness, waiting for the man in black to come out.

After a while, the man in black walked out of the cell, glanced around, and hurried away into the darkness.

The old ghost and Qin Chong quietly followed, forty or fifty steps away. Be cautious in your feet, but you won't be discovered.

The man in black was very familiar with the road, turning left and right, fast and slow, and obviously extremely cautious. But how did the man in black know that he was followed by a top-level scout, stepping on the enemy camp as if he were walking on the ground. The tricks of the man in black are not bullshit in the eyes of the old ghost.

After half an hour, the man in black finally made sure that he was safe and came to the door of a small courtyard.

There were already people waiting behind the door, and when they heard the voice, they quickly opened the door, and the man in black flashed in, and the door closed silently.

Qin Zhong looked around and recognized that this place was still in the north of the city, and it was already very close to the "River Boundary".

"Let's go, let's go home." The old ghost said, turned around and left.

"Wait." Qin Chong's stomach was full of words, and he wanted to ask the old ghost, but he was willing to let him go.

"If there's a fart, let it go." The old ghost was a little impatient.

"You know there's something going on tonight?" This sentence is what Qin Chong wants to ask the most. An old ghost in the barracks, how does he know what is going on in the prison? I actually learned in advance that I took myself to watch a shocking drama, this is too mysterious, right? If he didn't ask to understand, Qin Chong would definitely not be able to sleep tonight.

"I don't know." The old ghost is on his head, and he takes it for granted.

"Then you're taking me to the show?" Qin wanted to jump his feet angrily, but he couldn't do anything about the old ghost.

"That's right, after the play, go home and sleep." With that, he sped up and dodged into the alley.

"You?" Qin Zhong was deflated, the old ghost didn't want to say it, no matter how much persecution was useless. Qin Zhong stood in place, stunned for a long time, and finally sighed faintly, and reflexively walked in the direction of home. Until this moment, Qin Chong still couldn't believe that Qiu Min had died like this, and his hidden dangers had subsided.

Someone went one step ahead of him and bribed the jailer to kill Qiu Min. It sounded incredible, but he saw it with his own eyes.

As soon as the night breeze blew, Qin Chong's chaotic thoughts seemed to be cleared suddenly. He gradually calmed down, speculating on the possibilities.

Perhaps, someone doesn't want Qiu Min to overturn the case? The same state came to investigate the case, and the targets were Shayuan Jian and officials from Dali County. Qiu Min is among them, and he can only be regarded as a chess piece, a chess piece of officialdom. As long as Qiu Min was induced to retract his confession, Tongzhou would have evidence to deal with Shayuan Jian and Dali County.

I can't say it, and I will be accused of embezzlement and perverting the law and seeking people's money.

Thinking about it this way, there are indeed many people who don't want to see Qiu Min alive.

As long as Qiu Min is dead, the crime of stealing horses will be completely confirmed. There is no proof of death, and no one can turn it over.

In this way, if the Qiu family is copied, there will be an official statement.

What a terrible officialdom, such a dark calculation. For the first time, Qin Chong had a deep understanding of the government and the officials of the Great Song Dynasty.

As if facing the abyss, walking on thin ice.