With the good news that they had gotten, Lin Mu and Wu Hei were certainly pleased. But this good news also left them questioning several things.
"Why is it that some of them died while Wu Teng and the others are still alive?" Wu Hei couldn't help but wonder.
"Hmm… we can't say for sure until we see them in person, but from the information that is given here, the ones that died are all those in the Nascent soul realm." Lin Mu said.
As soon as Wu Hei heard this, an idea appeared in his mind.
"Hang on… only Nascent soul realm?" Wu Hei furrowed his brows.
Lin Mu watched on as Wu Hei thought of something to himself. But after not speaking for a minute, Lin Mu decided to ask him.
"Did you figure out something?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Perhaps… but I'll need to confirm it." Wu Hei answered.
"We can do that." Lin Mu replied.
"Yes… but to do that, we need to go somewhere." Wu Hei spoke.
"Where? No place is too far for us now." Lin Mu replied.
"Prison."
…
Lin Mu had not expected that he would be making a trip to the Great Zhou Empire's capital for such a reason before.
Wu Hei had told him that they needed to go to a prison, but the prison he was talking about was located in the capital. It was none other than the biggest prison on the entire continent.
This was where most of the prisoners with life sentences were kept. These were the ones that weren't deemed worthy of an execution and had crimes that weren't that heinous. Though it was also the place that housed the nobles and aristocrats that could not be placed in other prisons.
These people usually had enough of an influence that they might just escape using that, thus it was best to keep them under close observation of those that could not be easily bribed.
"So who are we here for?" Lin Mu asked as he walked through the stone corridors of the prison.
"A man named Lu Gan." Wu Hei replied.
"Lu Gan? Hmm… I don't think I know of him." Lin Mu spoke.
"He's not someone you would have come across. Besides, he's been in prison for over twenty years now." Wu Hei replied.
"Twenty years?" Lin Mu was surprised.
But after thinking about it, found it to be strange.
"Wait, if he was in here for twenty years, what use is he to us?" Lin Mu asked.
"Well, since we are looking to test out that theory, we need someone that was under control of Gu Yao and still isolated from others. Someone who was not found out by anyone else." Wu Hei answered.
"He was under Gu Yao's control? Why would he get a prisoner under his control?" Lin Mu couldn't help but ask. "And even if he did, why let him stay in prison even now?"
"Its the place he's supposed to be… it's basically a home to him, a place where he can be safe." Wu Hei replied.
"Home? In a prison? Thats ridiculous." Lin Mu chuckled.
"Well, you know what they say… home is the place where you feel safe at. And for Lu Gan, prison is the safest. If he gets out, he will be killed within minutes of leaving it." Wu Hei stated.
"He has enemies?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Indeed… far too many. Lu Gan was, or rather is… a big businessman. But he was also a great gambler. His skills were certainly top notch in gambling and got him a lot of gains. He was so good that others would loan him money so that he could multiply it for them and also get a cut from it." Wu Hei answered.
"Hmm… that's something… but what'd he do to get in prison?" Lin Mu asked.
"He offended the very people that loaned him the money. Or rather… he almost bankrupted them. Lu Gan was not just a businessman and gambler, but also a big con artist. All his wins weren't just due to his skill, but rather due to the fact that it was all an elaborate setup.
Lu Gan was secretly the owner of many gambling dens and was manipulating a lot of things. He made it so that the wins were always skewed in his favor. This gave him a cut of profits that he could pour back in." Wu Hei replied.
"That isn't really sustainable, though." Lin Mu could see the fallacy of this plan.
"Indeed. It wasn't something he could keep up. His final goal was to get the aristocrats to loan him a massive amount, which he would never repay. And he never did either. He faked his death and disappeared with the amount.
No one knew that he was in the prison this entire time." Wu Hei explained.
"How would he do that? You said that he would be killed if he stepped out," Lin Mu asked in confusion.
"You see… Lu Gao had another identity… the name Lu Gao itself was just something he had made up. Lu Gao was actually the illegitimate son of the emperor." Wu Hei revealed.
"What?!" Lin Mu was stunned.
"Yes… he is actually the oldest son too… but due to being born from a maid, could not be shown legally. Even the emperor's many wives and concubines don't know about Lu Gao. And neither do the princes.
The Emperor had made sure to keep it a deep secret. Which was only helped with the fact that the man never interacted with Lu Gao directly." Wu Hei explained further. "Still, the emperor gave Lu Gao enough fortune to set up his businesses… and Lu Gao went ahead and made gambling dens instead.
It was also the Emperor's favor that he managed to stay in prison. There is a great chance that the moment he gets out, he'd be found out. His true identity is also what is a shackle on him and would keep him scared enough to never leave this place." Wu Hei elaborated.
