Ji Liao was stunned, an indescribable pain spreading from the depths of her heart, coursing through her blood vessels and meridians to every part of her body.
The woman’s fate was a hundred times more heartbreaking than hearing Yu Nanzhi’s orders.
What exactly had she been through…
Watching the tear from the corner of the woman’s eye fall to the ground and bloom like a flower, Ji Liao felt as if she were trapped in a glacial lake, her entire body freezing cold.
“Ah!!” A fierce kick to the back of her knees forced her to kneel abruptly, followed by a series of kicks to her back, sending Ji Liao sprawling face-down on the ground.
The arrogant instigator lifted Ji Liao’s chin with the tip of her shoe. “Daring to space out at a time like this?”
Ji Liao struggled to sit up but was immediately restrained by several others pressing down on her shoulders.
Clenching her teeth, she glared at them resentfully, refusing to utter a word.
Falling into the hands of these people, nothing she said could deter their malicious intentions.
“Let’s see how long you can hold out. Sisters, beat her, beat her hard!”
Their fists and feet fell upon her like a landslide, merciless and relentless. Her body ached, but her heart ached even more.
If she had never married Yu Nanzhi, perhaps she wouldn’t be here today. How she hated it—hated herself for being wounded by love, hated herself for offending those she shouldn’t have and dragging her parents into this.
Tears blurred her vision, but she gritted her teeth and refused to make a sound—not out of fear, but to cling to her last shred of stubbornness.
A long time passed, long enough for the assailants to grow tired and stand panting to the side.
Ji Liao was in too much pain to move, her tears dried up, leaving only hollow, dazed eyes fixed on the woman who had also been beaten and lay motionless on the ground.
The female prisoner whom Ji Liao had once slapped crouched down, her arrogant demeanor and smug expression begging for a punch. “Remember, this is just the beginning.”
Ji Liao was deeply shaken, her internal organs aching as if displaced. Unable to cry out, she could only furrow her brows in agony.
After delivering that line, they left in high spirits, as if celebrating a victory, boasting to each other about their formidable fighting skills.
The woman sat up, aggravating her many wounds. Her pale lips let out a hiss of pain. Stubborn as ever, she leaned weakly against the edge of the bed and stared blankly in Ji Liao’s direction. “Stop being so stubborn. Admit you’re the murderer sooner, and you’ll suffer less.”
Ji Liao let out a bitter laugh. Why should she confess to something that never happened? Why should she bear the blame for a crime she didn’t commit?
No matter how rugged the road ahead, she would grit her teeth and remind herself not to forget that she was innocent.
“I didn’t kill Cheng Shuangshuang…” Before closing her eyes, she couldn’t help but clarify her stance to the woman, reaffirming her unwavering position.
The woman touched the half-finished sweater in her hands, her hollow eyes shedding crystal tears. “I was the same, but no matter how hard I tried to explain, no one believed me. After compromising and confessing, the physical pain lessened, and life became much easier.”
Ji Liao empathized deeply, letting out a bitter laugh as tears fell alongside the woman’s.
This prison was like hell, housing people without hearts, only endless, monstrous crimes.
Ji Liao had barely climbed onto her bed to catch her breath for less than two hours when the group returned, surrounding her bed with malicious intent and sinister, cunning smiles. “Thinking of sleeping? Did you ask for our permission?”
“Even sleeping requires your approval now? Is there no law left?!”The female prisoners exchanged glances at her words, then burst into raucous laughter as if hearing the world’s greatest joke, bending over with mirth. “Did you hear that? She’s talking to us about the rule of law, hahaha…”
Another inmate sneered, “You idiot! If we cared about the rule of law, we wouldn’t be here in the first place!”
As she spoke, several women crouched slightly and gripped the bed boards, heaving with all their might. Ji Liao was thrown to the ground, her head ringing.
The prisoners laughed even louder, shouting, “You’re a criminal! Your sins are beyond forgiveness!”
The expected outcome didn’t surprise her. Having no strength to resist, she could only endure their abuse. Three meals a day, each accompanied by their cruel and indifferent treatment.
She remembered how the woman had constantly tried to persuade her: Just confess. Life will be easier after you confess.
She’d also said: If that man believes you’re guilty, then you deserve to die a thousand deaths.
Like a sudden awakening, Ji Liao finally compromised in her third year of imprisonment. Forced to kneel on the ground, she confessed to being Cheng Shuangshuang’s murderer.
But human hearts are unpredictable. Her confession didn’t make them stop—instead, it drove them to greater frenzy, tormenting her with increased brutality.
Every time, she heard the prisoners repeat those words: “Following Mr. Yu’s instructions—we must never let her have it easy.”
Every time, those words pierced her heart like Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles, sending her soul through hellish torment.
How could she have forgotten? Yu Nanzhi had once said: If he suffered, she wouldn’t get off easy either. After all that had happened, how could he possibly let her go lightly…
He was so cruel. He had erased everything about her—her family, her education. The only thing remaining in her life was the crime of murdering Cheng Shuangshuang.
Even after serving her sentence, she would become a non-person in the outside world. Wherever she went, whatever she tried to do—without connections or education—only the label “Murderer #148” would follow her. She could go nowhere, accomplish nothing.
Ji Liao hugged her knees in the corner, motionless. In her vacant eyes, the pupils gradually lost focus. Her heartbeat grew faint.
A woman noticed something wrong, put down her work, and came over to shake her. “Hey, can you get up?”
Ji Liao tilted sideways and collapsed to the floor. Crimson blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, dripping to form plum blossom patterns on the ground.
The woman screamed hysterically, “Help! Prisoner 148 is dying!”
The cry pierced through the prison layers, drawing many inmates to watch.
“Quick, notify the guards!” The woman frantically pounded on the cell door like a vengeful spirit trying to break free.
“Tch, so she dies. Why bother saving her?”
“Exactly. If I went through daily beatings and humiliation like her, I’d rather die.”
“Serves her right for offending someone she shouldn’t have.”
The woman shouted back, “Who wants to offend people? Who wants to be in prison? You think you’re so great? You’re locked in the same darkness with her! If you think she’s vile, how are you any better?”
To save Ji Liao, the woman showed unprecedented strength for the first time in her years of imprisonment.
The other prisoners sneered, “Well, you go ahead and shout. Let’s see if the guards will bother to save her.”
As everyone knew, the prison guards were downstairs and would look up whenever someone shouted. It was just that today’s incident involved Ji Liao, so they had grown accustomed to it.
The woman clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and roared, “Prisoner 148 hasn’t served her full sentence! If she dies, do you think Yu Nanzhi will let any of you off easily?”
Yes, if Ji Liao died, Yu Nanzhi would not let it rest.
Soon, the prison guards arrived. Because Yu Nanzhi had once said that he wanted Ji Liao to live a life worse than death.
They dared not stand by and watch. They lifted Ji Liao onto a stretcher and took her away.
A few days later, Ji Liao was saved.
But for her, this was no different from returning to a living hell, once again leaving her unable to live or die.