Chapter 14: Pure Prison Style

When Ji Huo first saw the "'One' Peak", his heart gave a violent thump, and upon seeing the rewards column, the corners of his eyes began to twitch wildly:
"No way, I can understand that you're restricted and have to be all secretive when sending messages, but why are you being so detailed when it comes to complaining? And were you secretly watching the whole time?"
The system remained completely unresponsive.
Ji Huo didn't expect much of a reaction from this piece-of-trash system either. Having guessed its background and calculated that the system was currently depending on him, he acted completely without restraint.
The system couldn't speak freely, but he, on the other hand, could talk as much as he wanted.
It was just like playing a video game where the opponent takes ages to squeeze out a single sentence like "You talk like a frog," while you, relying on the single-handed typing speed cultivated over years of being single, have already woven together a touching love story linking yourself and the opponent's relatives.
In the end, because both were idling at the fountain, they both got reported.
By now it was already noon, and Ji Huo couldn't be bothered to cook, so he went out to the street to grab some food and incidentally look for Big Brother to arrange matters regarding the shrine.
Combining what he had seen in his dream, Ji Huo always felt like he had stepped into a massive trap...
"I always feel that ever since I started practicing the 'Elemental Grimoire', the interactions between the system and me have become much more frequent."
Ji Huo mumbled casually with his hands pillowing the back of his head:
"It feels just like I've poked a hornet's nest, and the system is panicking and scrambling in all sorts of ways to patch things up and plug this leaky hole."
"Now it's even giving out things like fortune as rewards. No matter how I rolled in the past, I never saw it hand out anything good."
"Ah, it feels just like an old mother nag who worries herself sick~"
As soon as his voice trailed off,
With a sudden "boom", a tiny bolt of lightning struck a foot right in front of Ji Huo.
Being in such close contact with the lightning made Ji Huo's hairs stand on end, and he even felt the electricity race along the ground and up onto his head, making every single strand of his hair tingle with numbness.
He was someone who played with lightning himself, but he always felt this particular bolt was completely different from the ones he usually summoned.
It belonged to the category that even a Sword Saint would take a detour to avoid.
Cold sweat immediately broke out on Ji Huo's forehead. He looked up at the sky—blue skies, white clouds, and a blazing sun overhead, with not a single dark cloud in sight.
"You're overheating! You're definitely overheating!" Ji Huo wiped away his cold sweat and muttered in a low voice:
"Triggered this easily? Your temper is way too fierce..."

Before his voice could fade away, his heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly dodged to the side.
Another bolt of lightning struck down, blasting a small crater into the ground.
This lightning was timed to absolute perfection, landing precisely the moment he barely managed to dodge. The shockwave made his entire body tremble with numbness, yet it didn't harm him by a single fraction.
Absolute confusion without brain damage.
"Hahahaha! You really are overheating!"
Ji Huo lay flat on his back on the ground, letting the surrounding pedestrians cast curious glances at him, and only recovered after quite a while.
At noon, he casually picked a restaurant for lunch. With many outsiders now opening shops in the capital, one could taste all kinds of culinary delicacies from the Central Plains.
Ji Huo ordered a serving of spicy boiled pork and tofu, a dish he hadn't tried before. Inside were tender bean curd, shiitake mushrooms, slippery pork slices, pork liver, vegetables, bean sprouts, and various other ingredients stewed together.
Served with a spicy chili oil dipping sauce, the combination of ingredients greatly stimulated one's appetite. Ji Huo directly devoured three large bowls of rice soaked in the broth, finally filling himself up.
After finishing his meal, he leisurely strolled over to the imperial palace, only to happen to see Scholar Wen coming from the other direction.
"哟, Scholar Wen, haven't seen you in days, why the sudden switch to the hardcore prisoner aesthetic?" Ji Huo's lips curled upward, his face full of astonishment.
Scholar Wen covered the corner of his mouth, his face bruised black and blue, while clear rope marks were visible around his neck and wrists. At a single glance, it was obvious he had been bound in the *Kuroko* style.
Ever since Little Red Sugar took charge of the penal department, she had continued using Ji Huo's frequently used *Kuroko* binding technique and even taught this method to the Six Fan Doors and the Dali Temple.
This binding technique received unanimous praise from both departments.
However, if one was a bit too heavy-handed with this bind, the marks left on the body would be extremely distinct, basically leaving behind this standard trademark that allowed passersby to recognize at a glance: this fellow was just released from prison.
With the capital currently bustling with all sorts of people, many offenses committed weren't that heavy—mostly just fighting and brawling—so the standard procedure was basically to tie them up, carry them into the prison for a beating, and then toss them right back out.
This resulted in many pugilists on the street bearing these binding wounds. Over the past few days, the cultural trend in the capital had even transformed into: "If you don't have rope marks from the *Kuroko* bind on your body, it means you've never been out of prison, and this lord looks down on you."
Consequently, some martial artists, out of concern for their pride yet unwilling to take a beating in prison, would secretly tie themselves up this way at home, or request some special adjustments when going for import-export trade at the Drunken Flower Tower.
Word had it that this trend had already spread outward and was rapidly circulating among the younger generation...
Because Ji Huo had achieved fame at a young age, his exploits in the pugilistic world were widely spread. Tale after tale, deed after deed, he could barely be considered worthy of the word "heroic chivalry".
Many young people had always been deeply interested in the martial world, and influenced by Ji Huo at this time, they rushed to take up martial arts, gradually sparking a rising tide of martial arts practice in Daqi.
In the fantasies of the younger generation, Ji Huo ought to have a very strong pugilistic flavor—standing eight feet tall, with a waist eight feet around, and his entire body covered in scars from the *Kuroko* bind.

Thus, quite a few young aristocratic young masters secretly experimented at home, and some scholars, in order to add a dash of the pugilistic atmosphere to themselves and project the demeanor of a youthful hero, would deliberately bind themselves up for a few hours before attending poetry gatherings.
If, while chanting poems and composing verses, their collars accidentally slipped down a fraction or their wrists inadvertently exposed themselves, it would invariably draw gasps of astonishment.
If they added a couple of lines like, "A few days ago, I saw a bully oppressing the common folk, and unable to bear it, I stepped in to lend a hand; I just didn't realize my hand was too heavy, and ended up taking a trip to the prison," it would draw even more envy from fellow scholars and deep admiration from talented maidens.
It was precisely that flavor they were after.
Scholar Wen winced, holding his face as he said with displeasure: "Last night, this scholar was careless and got beaten up by someone."
Ji Huo asked in surprise: "Ah? Do you know who did it? In broad daylight under the bright sun, to commit such a violent outrage!"
Scholar Wen stated with absolute certainty: "The Six Fan Doors!"
Ji Huo blinked: "Why are you so certain?"
Scholar Wen analyzed earnestly: "First, this binding technique is extremely professional! Second, the people in the capital who could knock me unconscious in a single move are only a handful; it must have been the Four Great Constables striking together!"
"Lastly, a few days ago, I was lecturing the younger generation and demonstrated divination on the spot, calculating the fact that Iron Hawk wasn't wearing underpants. I heard he was chased by a crowd that day asking 'How does the breezy feeling feel?', and eventually hid inside the Drunken Flower Tower. He must be holding a grudge over this!"
"..."
Constable Iron's temper really is amazing for not beating you up after all that... Ji Huo thought to himself with a covert grin.
Scholar Wen glanced at Ji Huo and likewise asked in astonishment:
"How come the Second Young Master has also changed his style?"
"Hahahahaha!" Ji Huo nonchalantly brushed his long hair, which had been curled by the lightning, and laughed heartily:
"Having nothing better to do today, I gave myself a perm to change my hairstyle and change my mood."
Scholar Wen muttered under his breath: "Then the Second Young Master needs to practice his craft more; this scholar can even smell the burnt scent."
Ji Huo's smile froze as he suddenly wondered if Little Red Sugar might have been a bit too gentle with her beatings.