Chapter 469: Prison of Time

While in a daze, Xu Zhiyan felt something rushing towards him from behind. He pretended to stagger two steps and moved sideways, and as he wished, he heard the sound of someone falling to the ground with a thump.

After a few seconds, a small cry of surprise was heard and the scene seemed to become even more chaotic.

Xu Zhiyan took advantage of the chaos to raise his hand, pinched a corner of the black cloth covering his eyes, and quickly scanned the surrounding environment through the gap.

With just one glance, he fell into deep thought again.

This is indeed a prison.

But those who were caught seemed... not to be human.

The huge space was very dark, the high ceiling exuded a sense of oppression, and there was an unknown liquid on the black ground. The whole area was so cold that it was hard to breathe. The humanoid creatures wearing prison guard uniforms had no faces. They held batons, and each one was exactly the same, as if they were carved from the same mold.

However, what is more terrifying than this dark and damp place and the prison guards without facial features are the guys standing next to Xu Zhiyan.

These are creatures that cannot be called human beings.

Humanoid monsters of varying heights huddled together like quails. They wore clothes of different styles. They were about two meters tall, with thin limbs and no heads. On their necks there was a flat round dial with a pointer ticking inside.

The one who fell down after being pushed from behind just now was such a monster.

After much thought, Xu Zhiyan decided to call them clock men.

Several prison guards picked up the clock man who had fallen out of the crowd and dragged him to a long table farther away. The faceless prison guard sitting behind the long table was the one who had called out the number earlier.

It threw down the piece of paper with '21512' printed on it and said viciously: "Each prisoner has a number. No one can escape."

After saying that, it waved its hands.

"Strip it and check for any prohibited items."

It was only then that the clock man who was trying to push Xu Zhiyan out realized that he was the next prisoner to get a number. He shook his head and struggled in the hands of the prison guard who came forward, and was pinned to the ground again in a moment.

It wasn't just a simple "peeling off", Xu Zhiyan watched helplessly as the clock man in strange costumes was skinned...

The prison guards not only stripped off the strange clothes on the clock man, but also directly cut open the pale and bloodless skin on his body, peeling off most of it to reveal the mechanical spine inside.

The inspection process was very rough. The guards had no expression on their faces, but they were impatient. Fortunately, unlike humans, the skin of the clock man was made of a waxy material. After the guards cut open his back for inspection, they wiped it with their fingers, and the clock man's back became smooth and there was no wound left.

Finally, the prison guard brought clean prison uniforms and threw them over, and the inspection was over.

"Next one, don't dawdle!"

The guard yelled to the huddled prisoners, "21513! Come here!"

The shivering clock people hesitated and pushed another one out.

“…”

Xu Zhiyan was overwhelmed. He began to understand a little bit what the system meant by danger.

This is definitely not a dungeon that humans should be in!

Thinking that he and the clock man were two different species, Xu Zhiyan shrank back again. Taking off clothes was a small matter, but skinning was a big deal.

There was no sign of the ghost, and there were only a few clock people left in his batch. He was thinking about how to avoid the inspection, but as soon as he entered the copy, he felt the densely intertwined rules pressing on him. Special means would not be able to work, and escaping without any clues was undoubtedly a fantasy.

As he was thinking about it, something went wrong during the inspection nearby - the watchmaker who was being inspected was found to have contraband items.

Xu Zhiyan looked at the fingernail-sized nut in the prison guard's hand and fell into deep thought again.

What the hell? A screw nut is also a prohibited item?

What should he do? He still had the lighter he borrowed from Jiang Huaiqiao's house in his pocket. Who knew that he would not clear out the items on his body when he entered this copy? If nuts are prohibited items, then lighters are even more prohibited?

The watchman who was searched for contraband cried out, and tried desperately to say that it was a screw from his body, not something from somewhere else. However, the prison guard didn't care about that. He simply and roughly determined the nature of the screw, and put a metal ring around his neck while cursing at him. The style of his prison uniform was also changed to a darker color, making him look like a more recognizable dangerous prisoner.

"21514..."

The calling continues.

Relying on his extraordinary body, Xu Zhiyan nimbly dodged the attackers from behind time and time again.

But it's not going to work if we continue like this.

Although it was a dungeon, the rules did not give players any room to play. All skills and props could not be used. There were only so many watchmakers standing here in the same batch as him. After all of them were checked, it would be his turn. He did not want to be skinned and checked.

Relying on his height advantage, Xu Zhiyan hid inconspicuously among the prisoners. He frowned and decided not to wait any longer.

The prison guards had just stripped a watchman naked, and before they could conduct a further inspection, they heard a 'bang' and something was thrown out from the pile of prisoners, followed by an explosion.

This low-quality lighter lived up to expectations and exploded.

"Who! What's going on?!"

"Enemy attack! Someone is attacking! Is this a prison break?"

"Report to the warden! Quick!"

The sudden explosion startled everyone. The prison guards standing on both sides guarding the prisoners were the closest to them and they shouted out on the spot. The scene became chaotic, but soon, the faceless prison guards behind the long table slammed the table and gave orders. All the prisoners who had not yet been checked were handcuffed, and no one could escape.

Xu Zhiyan was also among them. He wore a silver bracelet obediently and put his hands behind his head like a group of other watch-makers with slender limbs. Compared with the weird-looking guys, he looked more innocent.

His purpose was to see ghosts and gods, not to really crack the other party's copy. Only by creating chaos could he attract attention...

As expected, just one minute later, Xu Zhiyan saw the warden coming from a distance.

The familiar face came closer and closer. Bai Jin at this moment was completely different from the one Xu Zhiyan had in mind. Even though his facial features were still the same as before, his brows were filled with hostility, and his slightly narrowed eyes were filled with condescending scrutiny. From a distance, he looked like a cold and emotionless mountain, which made people unable to help but feel fear.

Xu Zhiyan was a little confused at first, then he moved out from the covered gap so that the other party could see him clearly.

The next moment, he saw Party A's indifferent expression crack as he wished.

Now Xu Zhiyan was completely relieved.

Fortunately, I didn’t lose my memory.

Warden Bai paused for a moment, then his pace became more rapid.

The originally noisy and chaotic scene turned into dead silence in a second. Not only did the prison guards shut their mouths, but even the watchman was so quiet that it seemed as if he was scared to death.

After a moment, Xu Zhiyan heard Bai Jin's low voice.

"how?"

It was clearly just two words. All the faceless prison guards around shrank their necks. After a few seconds, the prison guard who was originally sitting behind the long table spoke with a trembling voice.

"Warden...Warden, there was an explosion here just now. I, we suspect that something unusual is happening." At this time, it had already given up its seat and stood aside. After it finished speaking, a look from the warden made it almost kneel down on the spot. There was no trace of the arrogance it had at the beginning.

Fortunately, the warden didn't say anything after listening. He leaned against the table and glanced at the prisoners who had not yet been checked.

Xu Zhiyan pursed his lips and gave an innocent expression.

He originally wanted to give the other party a surprise.

"continue."

Bai Jin said these two words while staring at Xu Zhiyan.

The prison inspection of the prisoners continued quickly under the supervision of the warden. The prison guards who were originally not in a hurry to deal with the clock people seemed to be under the law and moved frighteningly fast. After a while, the remaining dozen clock people were checked and got their own prison uniforms.

"21531——"

The faceless prison guard's voice was loud and clear.

Xu Zhiyan became the last one.

He walked forward slowly, and before he reached the long table, he heard Bai Jin speak again.

"Let me check this."

His voice was much gentler than before.

The prison guard wearing gloves nearby quickly jumped away, and no one at the scene dared to refute.

“…”

Xu Zhiyan slipped and almost fell.

Well, so you still can’t escape inspection, right?

Walking a little closer, he smelled the familiar scent of ashes. When he looked up and met the ghost's eyes, the hostility in them had disappeared, as if it had never existed.

This time, there was no prison guard to unlock his shackles. Xu Zhiyan could only imitate the movements of the watchman and walk over and put his hands on the long table.

The man's large palm soon followed and fell on his waist. Then, he leaned over and pressed against his back. Xu Zhiyan could feel the other's scorching body temperature through his clothes, not to mention the hot breath hitting his ears, which almost burned his ears.

His breathing became heavier, and Xu Zhiyan could feel his shirt being lifted up. His waist and abdomen trembled slightly when they touched the cold air.

With his back to the other prison guards, the cloak concealed Bai Jin's movements and Xu Zhiyan's reactions.

The two people were very close to each other and their voices rang out at the same time.

"The remaining data of the main system is hiding in the time fragments. I have trapped all the concrete time fragments in the Prison of Time for screening. There are too many rules here. After you go in, don't run around. Stay in the cell. I will find a way to get you out..." Bai Jin's voice was very light.

This is not a good place to talk, so He tries to simplify the language and compress the necessary information, and then explain it in detail when there is enough time.

But on the other side, Xu Zhiyan had already started talking nonsense.

"Sir, I am innocent. I have been an honest and upright person since I was young. Unfortunately, I was blinded by my beautiful mistress last year. I spent a lot of money on her and was sent here to take the blame for her. Can you please give me a single room?"

Before Xu Zhiyan could finish his words, he felt a light pressure on his waist.

He wanted to be naughty again, but found that the other party's hand fell on his belt and seemed to be about to untie it.

"...Sir!" He stiffened his neck and raised his voice a little, trying to remind the other party that there were NPCs watching nearby, and it would not be good for them to be so blatant.

"Yeah." Bai Jin answered with a hint of smile.

He pressed closer, biting the tip of Xu Zhiyan's ear as if to punish him, his voice a little hoarse, "I sympathize with your situation, but now we have to check whether your body has been hollowed out by your beautiful mistress."

"???"

Xu Zhiyan felt that the ghost had become a bad person, as he clearly would not respond to his teasing in the past.