At many times, the saying "better off dead" is far from just an empty adjective.
Gao Yuan really was in so much pain that he felt life was worse than death; and often, when one uses this idiom, it comes with another — you wish for death but cannot have it, and wish for life but cannot obtain it.
Think about it, to not even be able to wish for death — how miserable that must be.
Gao Yuan was now in so much pain that he felt life was not worth living, and on top of that, he couldn't even seek death.
There wasn't a single part of his body that wasn't in pain, and that would have been bearable, but, unfortunately, Gao Yuan couldn't hear, couldn't see, and couldn't even speak.
But this time, unlike the last time when his consciousness was extremely clear but he just couldn't control his body's pain, he could control his body now, only he was firmly bound, and so tightly that struggling was impossible.