A Will Eternal

Squad 9 rushed back into the cellblock, their hearts surging with excitement. The gray-robed prisoners had recovered from the sight of Bai Xiaochun interrogating Old Devil Zhou, and quickly rushed over.

Each and every one clasped hands and bowed, saying things like, “Heavens! The dark inquisitor is back!”

Not in the mood to pay any attention to the gray-robed prisoners, the guards rushed Bai Xiaochun toward one of the old-time prisoners who had never talked.

Bai Xiaochun kept his hands clasped behind his back as they neared one of the cells off in the distance. As they got closer, the gray-robed prisoners in the area eyed them nervously.

Glaring at the prisoner in the cage, the captain said, “Brother Bai, this is Old Devil Xu. It was an entire sixty-year-cycle ago that he was one of the most powerful Nascent Soul experts around. Back then, he murdered 99,999 pregnant women and used their placentas to forge a powerful magical device. It was really a shocking thing that got everyone up in arms!”

Bai Xiaochun could see an old man sitting cross-legged in the cage, looking very calm. The man’s eyes flickered up to look at him, and they were ice-cold, as if he didn’t care about any living thing in the world.

When he spoke, his voice was just as cold as his gaze. “It’s been a long time since anyone tried to get me to talk. Let the fun begin, shall we?”

After actually laying eyes on Old Devil Xu, Squad 9’s confidence in Bai Xiaochun suddenly began to wane. Old Devil Xu was extremely famous, and even Cellblock D’s dark inquisitor had repeatedly failed to get any information out of him.

“Let’s see how Squad 9’s inquisitor deals with Old Devil Xu!” Among the gray-robed prisoners in the area, there were many who already revered Bai Xiaochun. However, most of them were still more in awe of Old Devil Xu.

Even as everyone pondered what was going to happen, Bai Xiaochun looked Old Devil Xu up and down, then entered the cell. Moments later, a black smoke filled the area, and before long, howls rang out that were very similar to the howls that had just been heard from Old Devil Zhou.

Almost immediately, the eyes of the Squad 9 guards lit up. As for the gray-robed prisoners, their hearts began to pound, and many of them gasped.

“Even Old Devil Xu is reacting like this!?”

“No way! This is Old Devil Xu we’re talking about! Not even Cellblock D’s dark inquisitor could get him to talk!”

Roughly an hour later, the howls turned to pleas for mercy. Everyone was shaken, especially the dangerous prisoners in the nearby cells, whose faces had become masks of terror.

Then Bai Xiaochun emerged, looking as calm as ever, a jade slip in his hand.

“Here’s his confession,” he said. “Who’s next?”

Zhao Feng was shivering with excitement, and the captain looked extremely happy. By this point, Bai Xiaochun was like a god to the guards, and it was with great zeal that they led him to another area.

And that was how things went at the second cell, then the third, and then the fourth....

During the following three days, it was to the complete stupefaction of everyone present that Bai Xiaochun swept through each of the old-time prisoners in Cellblock D that he was taken to!

A few managed to hold out for as long as four hours. However, in the end, none of them could hold their tongues. All of them revealed their deepest secrets to Bai Xiaochun.

Bai Xiaochun was already very impressed by how he was benefiting from all of this. In fact, many of the old-time prisoners ended up telling him, not only their own secrets, but secrets belonging to other people....

There were secrets which had never before been uttered to anyone, which were now revealed because of Bai Xiaochun. At first he took it all in stride, but as more and more secrets were revealed, his eyes began to shine brightly.

He was really starting to feel that he fit in in Devil Penitentiary. Furthermore, as he interrogated all of the various prisoners, he came to the realization that all of them had really committed heinous crimes that were worthy of execution!

“I guess the giant ghost king... really knows what he’s doing,” he thought.

As for Squad 9, they were already starting to grow numb to what was happening. Considering how profoundly skilled Bai Xiaochun was at performing interrogations, and considering how many jade slips were piling up in the captain’s hands, their eyes began to shine like diamonds.

Every jade slip he held represented vast wealth, and when the guards thought about what their lives would be like going forward, their devotion to Bai Xiaochun grew stronger.

Of course, the gray-robed prisoners were even more profoundly affected, and would stare at Bai Xiaochun, trembling with fear and reverence.

Shaken, and filled with deep admiration, the captain gritted his teeth and paid a heavy price to make contact with the captains of the other squads. It was impossible to say exactly how he did it, but he managed to get Squad 9 assigned to patrol duty for an entire month straight.

When the rest of Squad 9 heard the news, they erupted into cheering. In sharp contrast, shocked expressions could be seen on the faces of the gray-robed prisoners and the prisoners in the cells.

Slowly but surely, the month went by.

During that time, Bai Xiaochun completely dominated Cellblock D. One by one, he visited all of the old-time prisoners.

During each interrogation session, screams would erupt from the cell, leading to widespread shock among everyone present.

It was all made even more terrifying by the fact that no one could actually see what was happening during the interrogation.

Whenever Bai Xiaochun emerged from an interrogation session, it didn't matter how brutal or savage the prisoner had been in the past, they all ended up trembling and terrified. In fact, for days after any given interrogation, such prisoners would lurk in their cells like scared rabbits, shaking physically.

Squad 9 was delighted by this, and Bai Xiaochun's fame spread throughout Cellblock D, until everyone stared at him with either terror or awe.

Bai Xiaochun was more entranced by Devil Penitentiary than ever, mostly because of all the secrets he was learning. Most such secrets pertained to the Wildlands, and to Giant Ghost City. In fact, during the month which passed, Bai Xiaochun came to learn... far too many secret matters.

When it finally came time for Squad 9 to end their patrol duty, the prisoners sighed in relief. Bai Xiaochun had created a nightmare for them the likes of which they had not experienced for years. As for those who had been interrogated, their fear could only be described as deep and profound.

Of course, Squad 9 really had struck the jackpot. Furthermore, as they collected and split all of their loot, the other squads in Cellblock D were completely shaken as they received the shares they had been promised in return for giving up their patrol duty.

Once inquiries were made, and the other squads came to realize that the reason for it all was the dark inquisitor Bai Hao, they couldn’t have been more shocked.

“What? He got all the old-time prisoners to talk in one month?!?! That’s impossible!!”

“Dammit! No wonder Squad 9 wanted to switch patrol duty with us....”

“I can’t believe that Bai Hao knows dark inquisitor techniques. If the stories are true, then he's no ordinary dark inquisitor. After all, not even Cellblock D’s official dark inquisitor could do what he did!”

As more inquiries were made, and the stories were confirmed, the other squads began to tremble and stare in jealousy at Squad 9.

Even the deputy warden of Cellblock D, Sun Peng, was completely shaken by the news.

“He got all the old-time prisoners to talk in only one month!?” When he saw all of the soul medicines and magical items that the captain of Squad 9 had sent him, he realized that he had no choice but to believe this unbelievable news.

“This Bai Hao is so vicious! Well, considering that he even reviled his own clan, I guess the role of dark inquisitor really does fit him.” Then Sun Peng realized that Cellblock D would finally have a chance to shine with glory in front of Warden Li Xu. Without any hesitation, he sent down orders that Bai Hao could enter the cellblock at any time he wanted, and interrogate even the most dangerous prisoners!

The other squads could only go into the cellblock itself once per month for three days. But Bai Hao faced no such limitations.

Ordinarily, such an arrangement would have caused widespread anger. However, because of Bai Xiaochun’s shocking performance, not a single person raised an objection.