C9 Innate Realm Guard

Realizing someone else had entered, Mo Fanchen quickly pretended to wash his hands nonchalantly.

Catching sight of a man in the mirror donning a peculiar King Jiji mask, Mo Fanchen was initially puzzled, but then burst into laughter, teasing, "Hey, dude! I never pegged you for a die-hard 'Boonie Bears' fan, especially at your age! But man, your cosplay could use a little more effort, don't you think?"

King Jiji remained silent to Mo Fanchen's jests and stood behind him, uttering eight chilling words, "Punish the evil, show no mercy to the guilty!"

"What?" Mo Fanchen was taken aback, a sense of foreboding enveloping him.

King Jiji, with the solemnity of a judge delivering a sentence, continued, "Mo Fanchen, a wanderer who awakened his martial spirit just yesterday, you nearly killed a civilian by accident today! However, considering you're in the early stages of Body Tempering and the civilian's life isn't in danger, I hereby sentence you to one month of reformation at Scourgehold!"

"Scourgehold?" Suddenly grasping King Jiji's true identity, Mo Fanchen exclaimed in shock, "You're with Crime and Punishment!"

"Correct! It appears the Su family has informed you quite a bit about Crime and Punishment," King Jiji acknowledged, his voice growing stern, "Didn't they warn you that reckless use of martial skills against civilians would incur our organization's retribution?"

"How can you be so unreasonable? It was Zhang Xiaolong and his gang who provoked me first! Am I supposed to just stand there and let them disable me without fighting back?"

Mo Fanchen was frustrated with Crime and Punishment's rush to judgment without understanding the full context. As a civilian, he was blissfully unaware of even the location of the local police station, yet now, as a newly minted warrior, he was facing immediate transfer to Scourgehold, a prison for rogue warriors!

The injustice of it all was suffocating!

"Becoming a warrior means embracing the responsibilities and adhering to the code of conduct that comes with it."

King Jiji didn't allow Mo Fanchen any opportunity to defend himself. With his right hand shaped like a blade, he struck at Mo Fanchen's neck with the swiftness of lightning!

"Hey, does this count as kidnapping?" Mo Fanchen managed to think just before he blacked out, but he lost consciousness before the words could escape his lips.

King Jiji glanced down at Mo Fanchen, now sprawled on the ground. He flipped his right hand, and an ancient token inscribed with "Scourgehold" began to glow and hover in the air.

After executing a sequence of hand seals, a flash of green light enveloped them, and both King Jiji and Mo Fanchen vanished from the washroom.

The green light flared again, and King Jiji, carrying Mo Fanchen, materialized in front of an unremarkable two-story building.

Dim fluorescent lights were embedded in the surrounding walls, casting an eerie glow on the central building. The musty and damp air made it hard to breathe.

Sensing newcomers, two men emerged from the building, yawning continuously. Upon recognizing the visitor, an older man with a full beard rubbed his eyes and smacked his lips, saying, "Security in Zouver has been troubling lately! It's only been a few days since we received one, and now here's another! What did this kid do to end up here?"

Another man with disheveled hair cautiously assessed Mo Fanchen's level of cultivation and expressed his puzzlement, "Body Tempering Initial Stage? Could there be a mistake? We don't usually deal with those below the Innate Stage!"

"He intentionally hurt someone. I've brought you an extra hand to help out and to reflect on his actions," King Jiji explained evenly, and the two men responded with a knowing grunt.

The bearded man suddenly perked up, rubbing his hands together with a grin, "Oh right, did you bring any goodies for us this time? Being cooped up here every day is driving us nuts!"

"Going stir-crazy? How about we switch places then?" King Jiji offered.

"Ah, better not! With our level of cultivation, we'd just be a nuisance over there!" The bearded man quickly dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand.

"Is that so? When it comes to the work in the Crime and Punishment Department, you guys are the experts," the man with the unruly hair said, scratching his head that resembled a bird's nest, and offered an awkward smile.

"Though the work at Scourgehold can be monotonous, the benefits are good, and it's much quieter than the outside world. Actually, it's quite a good place to enhance one's cultivation. I've noticed both of you have made rapid progress lately and are on the verge of breaking through to the Inner Strength stage, right?" King Jiji remarked.

"Hehe, we're doing okay," the two men replied, laughing with a hint of self-satisfaction.

"Alright, I've got to get back to work. I'll leave him with you for now," King Jiji said, then nonchalantly dropped Mo Fanchen onto the ground. After performing another hand seal, he vanished on the spot.

Mo Fanchen, still in a daze, groaned as he came to. The grim surroundings and the sight of the two wild-looking men before him made his heart lurch in shock.

"This is Scourgehold?" he asked.

"What else did you think it was, a nightclub?" the man with the beard chuckled heartily.

"And who might you two be?" Mo Fanchen asked, eyeing the two men. As a warrior, he sensed their formidable strength. Though their exact level of cultivation was unclear, he knew they were not to be trifled with.

The man with the messy hair cleared his throat and introduced, "Allow me to formally introduce us. We are the guards of the Innate stage here at Scourgehold. My brother is Wu Chang, and I'm Wu Sheng. We're both at the Inner Strength stage."

He paused, then added, "And like you, we are both Wanderers."

"Wanderers?" Mo Fanchen's brow furrowed. This was the second time he'd encountered the term, but he quickly grasped its meaning. He glanced around and then inquired again, "By the way, where did that guy with the mask go? I have many questions for him!"

"Kid, I didn't expect you to be so full of surprises!" the bearded man said, clapping a hand on Mo Fanchen's shoulder. "But 'no mercy for the condemned' isn't just a saying. You'd better settle in and get through your month here."

"One month! If I vanish for an entire month without any explanation, my family is going to flip out!"

Mo Fanchen wrenched his arm free from the bearded man's grip and leaped to his feet, his eyes blazing with fury. "Tell me how to get out of here, now!"

"Don't worry about your family; the Veiled Masks have it covered," the man with the disheveled hair said with a smirk. Before Mo Fanchen could respond, he landed a heavy punch that sent Mo Fanchen flying three meters!

"Did you really think you could just walk in and out of Scourgehold as you please?"

Mo Fanchen, clutching his chest, slowly rose to his feet. Despite the rage seething within him, he knew better than to resist the Wu brothers, whose strength far surpassed his own. Any attempt at defiance would only earn him a more severe beating.

As Mo Fanchen's anger began to subside, Wu Chang, with his bushy beard, chuckled approvingly. "You're smart to recognize the situation! Kid, Scourgehold might be a nightmare for warriors on the outside, but for a novice like you who's just entered the Martial Stage, it's an invaluable place!"

Mo Fanchen's eyes flickered with uncertainty, prompting Wu Sheng, with his unkempt hair, to add, "Scourgehold is free from the chaos of the outside world, allowing you to advance your cultivation more rapidly. Plus, the experiences of the warriors imprisoned here are a treasure trove of knowledge for you!"

"A month in Scourgehold could be a great stroke of luck for you. Whether you appreciate it or not is entirely up to you."

With the brothers' words, the anger in Mo Fanchen's heart subsided significantly.

Mo Fanchen had already sensed that his lackluster talent didn't endear him to the Su family, which was why they had offhandedly given him such a basic skill.

Since he couldn't compensate for his lack of innate ability, he would have to capitalize on experience!

"Alright, now that you've had time to think, grab your gear and start cleaning the place up! Treat it as if it were your own home—our cleaners here don't take kindly to sloppiness! Once you're done, come find us in Room 201."

With that, the Wu brothers left Mo Fanchen to his thoughts as they yawned their way back into the building.