Invincible Soul Emperor

Chapter 804: Chapter 804: One Missing

As Ye Qingchen and Xue Zhao were carefully inspecting the condition of these poor prisoners.

The warden walked in with a few subordinates.

He surveyed the cells and, upon seeing two prisoners inside, immediately wore a smug expression on his face.

He strode towards Ye Qingchen, his eyes full of mockery.

”Ye Qingchen,” the warden sneered, ”look around, not a single prisoner is missing. Where is your so-called escapee? I told you before, it’s impossible for anyone to escape from our prison’s defense system.”

”Lord Xue Zhao, you can see the situation now. This Ye Qingchen is simply talking nonsense! Do not let yourself be deceived by him.”

Xue Zhao said nothing, looking over at Ye Qingchen.

Ye Qingchen stood up, his brow furrowed, his tone calm but firm: ”Warden, I can be sure that either you found the wrong room, or there were originally three people here. The person I’m looking for is not here. Moreover, the condition of these prisoners is unusual; they’ve clearly suffered inhuman torture, and these methods are not something your Xue Family would use. There may very well be other circumstances.”

The two prisoners in front of them were none other than Zheng Xiao’s parents, but the injuries on their bodies were not ordinary, emitting wisps of Demonic Qi.

Ye Qingchen could easily imagine that perhaps it was Zheng Xiao who laid hands on these two.

The warden snorted disdainfully, arms crossed, eyes full of contempt.

”Ye Qingchen, aren’t you just making excuses for your incompetence? Every inch of this place is under my control; any minute change doesn’t escape my sight. You say I found the wrong room? Nonsense! I remember everything here clearly; how could a foreigner like you know more than I do?”

He looked back at his subordinates and continued proudly: ”Look at this, Ye Qingchen dares to question our work, utterly wasting our time. His so-called escapee is nothing but a figment of imagination!”

Several subordinates echoed, their eyes full of disdain for Ye Qingchen. ”The warden is right, Ye Qingchen is just bluffing without any real basis.”

The warden turned to Xue Zhao: ”Lord Xue Zhao, now you see. This Ye Qingchen already agreed with me, if no one escaped, he’d fulfill my any condition.”

Xue Zhao said nothing.

The warden, seeing Xue Zhao had no objections, proudly strode over to the two broken prisoners, kicking one roughly.

Coldly he said, ”See? These people are all here, so where’s the escapee? Ye Qingchen, shouldn’t you apologize for your ignorance?”

Ye Qingchen wasn’t angered by the warden’s taunts. He took a deep breath and calmly said: ”Warden, as I told you, the person I’m looking for isn’t here now! And their injuries don’t match!”

A grim smile appeared on the warden’s face, his voice full of sarcasm: ”Ye Qingchen, you’re laughably naive. What’s so strange about prisoners in jail being tortured? They’re all heinous criminals, suffering a bit is expected. And the person you’re talking about, isn’t she just a woman lying down there?”

Seeing this, Xue Zhao coldly said: ”Warden, are you sure you don’t want to investigate properly?”

Xue Zhao’s words carried a powerful aura.

The warden’s expression froze, and his breath caught, but he thought it was impossible for anyone to escape.

He quickly recovered his sneer, ”Lord Xue Zhao, you let yourself be influenced by him too? Anyway, the result will prove I’m right.”

As the warden was arrogantly taunting Ye Qingchen, a soldier hurried in, panic-stricken. He stood panting before the warden, his voice urgent: ”Warden, something’s wrong! Originally, there were three people held here, but now there’s one less!”

The pride on the warden’s face instantly froze, replaced by astonishment and shock. He suddenly turned to look at the soldier, his voice raised by eight pitches.

”What did you say? One’s missing? How is that possible?”

The soldier nodded frantically, his face pale, clearly terrified by the news.

”Yes, Warden, I just checked the list and records, confirming there should be three prisoners here, but now there are only two. The missing one was slipped in last time, you were too busy currying favor with that person and didn’t pay attention to these little matters!”

The warden’s face instantly turned ashen, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

He hurried to those two prisoners, roughly shaking them in an attempt to validate the soldier’s words. The prisoners, weakened by torture, were unable to respond effectively, only groaning lowly.

”Damn it, why aren’t these people moving!”

The warden was almost dead with anxiety; he had just sworn to Ye Qingchen that no one had escaped.

But in the blink of an eye, there was one person less!

The embarrassing part is small, but if the higher-ups find out someone escaped from the prison under his watch, his fate would not be good!

The key is that Lord Xue Zhao is watching over there with wide-open eyes!

Finished!

It’s completely over now!

Ye Qingchen coldly watched the warden, his voice tinged with a hint of sarcasm: ”Warden, didn’t you say no one escaped? How do you explain the disappearance of the third person?”

The warden’s lips trembled, for a moment unable to find words. He clenched his fists tightly, his heart filled with frustration and fear.

This mistake not only cost him his reputation but also meant there was indeed a flaw in the prison’s defense system, and such a flaw could lead to unpredictable consequences.

Xue Zhao stepped forward, eyes like a torch, his tone calm yet firm: ”Now is not the time to argue. We must immediately seal all exits and thoroughly search the entire prison. Also, investigate why these two suffered such severe torture and see if it’s linked to the escapee.”

The warden barely recovered from his shock, taking a deep breath to forcibly calm down, nodding. ”You’re right, we can’t delay. Everyone, act immediately! Seal off all exits, conduct a full search!”

Yes, perhaps that escapee merely fled to another room!

Maybe hasn’t even escaped this prison yet!

He doesn’t need to panic so much right now!

Things aren’t as terrifying as he imagined.

He turned to give orders to the soldiers, his tone laced with urgency and anger: ”Go! Seal all passages, no one is to enter or leave! Thoroughly search the entire prison, make sure to find that escapee!”

”Sorry, no need to search. I forgot to tell you, that prisoner is now in my courtyard, and I’ve already dealt with them.”