The sun had shone, and Liu Xiaodan was woken up by that ring to call the inmates. He sat up and stretched before noticing that Guangru had already gone out. That child, running around like the prison was his playground.
He got to his feet and combed his hair with his hands. Leaving the cell which door had already opened, he gave the black bear a look before walking out.
It's in charge of the fort now.
Liu Xiaodan came to the canteen to have his breakfast. He could overhear people talking about that incident from last night. Since he couldn't be bothered to be involved, he just quietly got his food from the attendant and went to eat.
As he walked to find a seat, he felt a lot of eyes were on him. Right, they hadn't forgotten Dong Qiu's reaction from last night.
He then chose a bench and ate, but the people on it ended up leaving and taking their breakfast with them. Liu Xiaodan only shrugged; well, wasn't this third grade all over again?
"Xiaodan..." Another person came to disturb him, and Liu Xiaodan was tired of them. He didn't even hide his annoyance as he brought down his chopsticks and pinched his glabella.
The man was offended by his action and decided to grab onto his hair and pull Liu Xiaodan's head back. "You just shooed away little dogs, and you think you can just get away with everything?!"
"Why don't you just leave me alone?" Liu Xiaodan wasn't in pain, but he couldn't eat if his head was pulled like this. His eyes slid to the side to gaze at the man next to him.
According to whispers, this man's the Black Boss' right-hand-man, Brother Niu. If anything, he must be the highest authority next to a boss that wouldn't speak. "Mr. Niu, it's not worth it."
"Huh! So you know me!" The man eyed at the guards who shuddered at his glare. He then got off the chair and dragged Liu Xiaodan by the hair. "You think just because this man could make Qin Rong and Dong Qiu run like eunuchs, you can all do the same to us?!"
He threw Liu Xiaodan's head to the ground and continued with his speech that Liu Xiaodan didn't listen to.
Liu Xiaodan only stayed down as if letting the mad dog be. When the man finished and even spat at him, the young man finally got up. He dusted his clothes before going back to where his food was.
If anything was weird with this power Guangru shared with him, it was the hunger. He could not sleep, not drink... not feel pain... but he must always eat.
After eating, Liu Xiaodan felt like something sticky was on his head. He should get rid of that guy's spit when he went to shower.
He went back to his cell and used a random cloth to wipe his head first. He then collected the complimentary towel that smelled like it had gone inside a man's butt. Liu Xiaodan almost gagged and prayed that his mother would at least visit once to give him proper toiletries.
Making sure that Guangru wasn't going back anytime soon, he just left on his own. The shower room was quite tidy, but it had a rather menacing feel.
To Liu Xiaodan, this shower room must have seen a lot of deaths and had held so many secrets. He went to a side to collect a complimentary shampoo sachet and a small pack of soap for single use.
Choosing a cubicle was also a key in surviving the place. He noticed that a party seemed to be happening at the other end so he went for the one farthest from it.
Someone was groaning and giving out muffled moaning. The person was in pain, and yet he wasn't screaming out loud. Liu Xiaodan's skin crawled at the noises so he just turned on the shower after stripping inside the cubicle.
"No, please stop... no more..."
Liu Xiaodan tried to drown out the noises as he took a shower. As long as the other person wouldn't ask for help, it wasn't his business to engage them.
Moreover, even if the door was shaking, there was nothing but shadows on the floor. Whatever was inside didn't seem to be live inmates.
Gulp. Liu Xiaodan should leave this place at once! If he walked into a haunting and the ghosts attacked him while showering, would he be going around naked? Worse, if the blood splattered, it would be all over his body.
However, before he could even completely wash off the soap in his body, a voice called out as soon as the doors loudly opened. "Yo, babe, where are you?"
The young man inwardly cussed. That was Qin Rong's voice, accompanied by a few more voices.
"Oh, looks like something fun is going on there!" He knocked on the other cubicle aggressively, not knowing what could happen if he opened it. "Hey, let's all have fun!"
"Leave them alone." Liu Xiaodan sighed in his heart. Well, whether he spoke or not, he would still be found out. At least, that way, he wouldn't have to deal with people dying from the hands of ghosts again.
"Hahah, there you are!" Qin Rong was mad. Of course, he got reprimanded and heavily humiliated by what happened yesterday. He then kicked on Liu Xiaodan's cubicle. "Get out here! We're talking!"
"Stop kicking the door. How can I open it?" Liu Xiaodan couldn't help but be sarcastic. He never really liked talking to other people. Even the other horsemen took months to be able to get so close to him.
The only exception would be Chuan Nayi who got close to him as soon as they spoke.
Liu Xiaodan opened the door and still stood inside. His hair was still dripping wet since he couldn't bear to put that towel anywhere near his face. He barely dried his body with it so his clothes were rather sticking to his skin at some places. His dark eyes peeked through the slits of his fringe. "What is it?"
The other person wanted to punch him directly, but he was too far. Even if he was in range, he could still block using the cubicle door. "Get out of there."
Cold air started creeping inside the shower room, but none had felt it right now. Even the silence and lack of movement coming from the other cubicle went unnoticed.
Liu Xiaodan stepped out of the cubicle as the men who gathered around him stepped back to give him space. He could feel the killing intent from them all. What he didn't see was that someone would suddenly grab him by the neck, bringing him into a headlock.
As soon as he couldn't evade anymore, the rest of the goons revealed their little knives and stabbed him all over the stomach. Liu Xiaodan's eyes widened as his shirt had been dyed blood-red, and it even dripped down to his pants. His wide eyes then started twitching as he internally cursed these goons.
Like the rest, he couldn't feel pain. However, how was he supposed to explain all this blood?
"You piece of shit! Die, you—!" Qin Rong was about to stab him again, but Liu Xiaodan kicked up to disarm him.
The supposed skinny film student also huffed before throwing the big fella behind him to the ground. As the place was narrow, he managed to hit everyone with the size of the big fella.
"Crap, he's strong!" A voice came from the cubicle. Liu Xiaodan glanced at the other cubicle and saw a human eye peeking from the crack. However, it was better if he didn't make eye contact with the ghost.
Liu Xiaodan then looked down at his shirt before sighing. With all that blood on him, he should at least find a nurse. He held onto his belly and felt something strange in the area.
Qin Rong started moving to get out from under the big guy. He was then about to say something when he gazed at the floor. Some of them started struggling from the impact, and most cried as they seemingly broke their arms. One was even pierced by the knife he was holding.
Upon seeing this, Liu Xiaodan bolted out of the shower room. So that was why he wasn't feeling awful after getting stabbed multiple times. He had unknowingly killed a few people with such a stunt.
...
"Officer Fu, you know I can't release inmate records without proper causes." A woman who was in charge of the inmate records raised a brow at Fu Xing. She had short hair complemented with a blue fish hairpin. Her eyes then left his face as she continued working.
"Come on, I'm not asking you to pull out everything. I just wanted to know what he did to be sent here." Fu Xing was begging her like she was some kind of fortune tree. "Look. You don't even have to be giving out any physical copies."
The head officer in that records room noticed Fu Xing and the woman. He then huffed and went to them. "Officer Fu, stop disturbing Ms. Chu and go back to your own—wait, aren't you supposed to be in the graveyard shift?"
Fu Xing gazed at the bigger fortune tree and even kowtowed at him. "Please let me see records of that guy named Liu Xiaodan!"
Chu Youlan was about to chastise him when the head officer narrowed his gaze at him, hiding a smirk. "Why? Is Liu Xiaodan doing something in the prison?
"He's here for eighteen counts of murder and possibly signing up for death row soon." He hummed for a pause. "If you noticed him doing something awful, you should better report to your supervisor."
The woman quickly went to check what her officer said while Fu Xing was stunned on the ground. He looked up and stared at the head officer before turning to the woman who paled on her seat. "Oh, my God, it's true. Eighteen students had died by his hands it said here."
"Eighteen?" Fu Xing paled as he remembered how the young man's presence felt like. Also, even the fact that Liu Xiaodan smuggled him inside the cell without opening the door. If that guy was capable of many tricks, then it was possible that he had killed all those students.
"Thanks, I'll keep an eye on that guy." Fu Xing pulled on his collar to make it less restraining. He then walked out as if he was about to walk into a death trap tonight.
The head officer then lowered his head and whispered at Chu Youlan, "Watch Officer Fu for me, will you? Someone jumped off the fifth floor last night, but none of the inmates were missing.
"If he knew something about what happened, it should be connected to his queries and what he wanted to know about Liu Xiaodan.
"Liu Xiaodan is drawing the attention of the Black Boss. Make sure to keep surveillance up twenty-four-seven." He chuckled. "We might be in for a show."
Did you spot the long-term villain?