After breakfast time, there will be a period of free activities for the prisoners. There is a basketball court and other sports venues behind the prison, similar to a school playground. During this time, most of the prisoners are gathering there. There are also two or three prisoners wandering around in the corner of the hall, but Teal told me that I don’t need to care about those people. Anyway, we only need to be responsible for our work. We just have to make sure that when the prisoners return to the cell, all of them are back.
I asked Teal what if the prisoners didn’t come back? But Teal just looked indifferent. He patted me on the shoulder to reassure me. He said that it’s because the prisoners have no place to go except to go back to their cells.
I originally doubted the authenticity of Teal’s words, but when it was time to return to the cell, the prisoners did come back one by one almost every minute, and I didn’t even have to rush them back. I was amazed at the self-discipline inside the Absolute Wing Hall.
“It’s not because of self-discipline or non-self-discipline, it’s because of habit, but also because of the rules in the Absolute Wing Hall. If prisoners want to live in the Absolute Wing Hall, they have to get used to it and learn not to break the rules here.” Cang Wu clarifies to me.
Because Cang Wu’s jurisdiction building and mine’s are connected, after he confirmed that the prisoners in his building had returned to their cells, he came to my building to help me, a newbie, who is new to everything.
The two prisoners on the eighth floor, Nuo La and Yi OuMu, seem to be particularly hostile to me. They look at me with very unfriendly eyes. And I don’t think they are saying good things about me when they whisper with each other, and look at me with evil eyes and a snicker on their mouths.
“What do you think?” I ask, confirming that the prisoners on the eighth floor have returned to their cells.
“If you don’t get used to it, of course you can only break the rules. Trust me, it won’t be good for you to break the rules in the Hall.”
I nod, I understood that Cang Wu is trying to remind me not to break the rules in the Hall. This is one of the things I have been constantly warned about in the past two days. However…….In my heart, I still can’t agree with the rules in the Hall. Just like Li’s incident yesterday, it was an incident of assault and bullying, but because of the rules in the Hall, I couldn’t control it. I really couldn’t agree with this point alone.
Not to mention the existence of the ‘King’ system.
Cang Wu follows me to the ninth floor. I don’t really want to see Gu Yan, but when I realize that Gu Yan is not in the cell, I panic. I click my tongue,[1] feeling a little displeased with Gu Yan who troubles me on my first day of work.
I immediately want to go downstairs to find him, but Cang Wu stops me.
“You don’t need to rush. The king of each building can move around freely. It is up to him to decide when he wants to come back, not you.”
“Ye ShiJiu, you have to get used to it. This is the rule in the Absolute Wing Hall.” Cang Wu stares at me, his face still expressionless, but I hear him sigh slightly.
Cang Wu’s electronic watch rings again. It seems that Tian Hai cannot wait to find Cang Wu after lunch. I don’t understand what makes Tian Hai look for Cang Wu so frequently. But I vaguely realize that the relationship between Cang Wu and Tian Hai is not simple.
As I cross the gloomy corridor, I observe that today’s sunlight is still thin, the pale sky can make people feel dispirited, and the weak light shining on my face only makes me feel unpleasant.
After the prisoners return to their cells, there is still a long way to go before lunch. This gap becomes a leisure time for us prison guards—this is what Yaren told me. The wound on my head is still faintly aching. It has been hurting all morning, so I decided to use this time to go to the infirmary first and find HuiMeng LuoLuo to change my dressing.
Just as I am about to walk towards the floor of the infirmary, from the corner of my eye, I see Teal walking diagonally in front of me. I stop, but Teal doesn’t notice me.
There are two prisoners behind Teal. One is a man with short brown hair and dark skin. I have never seen him. The other is a teenager with short blond hair. His slightly scared face stuns me. It’s Josh.
It’s a strange thing to bring the prisoners out at this time, especially since one of them was just violated by Li.
My curiosity and conscience subconsciously want me to follow. At this time, Cang Wu and Yaren, as well as Teal’s voice of persuading me not to meddle, flashes through my mind.
I stand still in place and hesitate for a while, but when Teal and his group disappear at the corner, I can’t help but to also move and walk towards their direction.
I hide in the shadow at the corner, holding my breath and leaning out from behind the wall to observe secretly where Teal wants to take them.
At the junction area of Teal and Yaren’s building, there is a large garden outside the long corridor of the Prison Hall, as well as the junction between me and Cang Wu’s building. There is a fountain in the garden, which is filled with a bunch of colorful and sloppy flowers and all kinds of snow rock sculptures. Although it is not ugly, but the overall appearance isn’t that great. At most, it is appropriate to describe it as a flower display. It is said that this garden was built by Xue Luoyi, and it was built to decorate Absolute Wing Hall with a cold atmosphere.
Teal brings Josh and the other prisoner into the garden. There is a man sitting by the fountain with long black hair and a gorgeous, delicate face. I immediately recognized it as Li HongRan.
I hide behind the arch at the corner of the corridor. The granite wall is cold, and through my white-gloved fingers, the uncomfortable coldness spreads to my back. This story is hosted at novelping(.)com.
Their distance isn’t far from me, so I happen to hear their conversation.
“Li, I brought him for you.” Teal says to Li, and behind him is the trembling Josh.
“Leave him behind and you can roll away.” Li’s smiling eyes stare at Josh, without even looking at Teal.
“Hey! You are hard to please, you know? Just because you want to fight, I especially have to help you bring him here!” Teal curls his lips and puts his hands on his hips.
I am not a kid, and of course I understand what it means to fight. I feel the blood in my whole body cool down instantly, and my fingers are freezing.
“You’re so noisy! Do you want to be crushed?” Li turns his gaze to Teal, his blood-red eyes instantly become sinister.
“To be crushed? Please! If you really want to fight, I won’t lose, okay!” Teal seems to be immune to Li’s viciousness, he rolls his eyes at Li, and then sighs with a helpless look on his face. “Forget it, forget it, I don’t really want to fight with you, I’ve already brought him. You can eat if you want. Just don’t overdo it.”
Teal pulls Josh from behind him and pushes him to Li. After two steps forward, Josh falls on his knees in front of Li with the same look of fear as I saw him yesterday.
“Remember not to overdo it! Damn it…You’re so wild to fight in the field, you pervert.” Teal keeps babbling, but it is obviously annoying Li.
“Screw you! You’re the real f*ckin ‘pervert. I’m not like you who’s having fun playing mouse and cat and deceiving someone! Get out of here if you want to. Don’t disturb me! Or I’ll beat you like I did to that dog yesterday!
Li angrily stands up, but Teal just makes a face at him and then takes the other prisoner away.
I clench my white-gloved hands, finally figuring out why Josh, who is living on the second floor, appeared in Li’s cell yesterday. It turns out that it was because of Teal’s help! My gaze follows his back and moves away after he disappears around the corner. I knew that what Teal is going to do with the other prisoner will never be good.
Erza’s Note [Translator]: About Li and Teal’s conversation, I’m not sure but I think it has something to do with the ‘other’ prisoner with them and also about Teal’s story (Absolute Wing Hall #4). I’m just not too sure since I haven’t really read their story.
[1] a sharp noise with your tongue to show that you are annoyed or disappointed.