To Love You Again

WARNING: This chapter might contain slight gruesome, grisly, and disgusting content. Please be advised to not read this chapter while eating or gobbling on some snacks.

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The 'humble outside yet luxurious inside' prison he was waiting for was nowhere to be seen.

In front of him was a big, dusty, and worn-out facility. 

The walls were aged-black and there were some tinged with orange stains. He did not know what kind of stains caused the walls to appear like that. The ceiling was dusty, full of cobwebs, and appeared to be in the point of collapsing. As they walked in further in a narrow and dim hallway, Xiong De could feel the place was getting colder and creepier.

He thought at first that this poor maintenance was just a disguise to fool people who did not know just what kind of prison it was. Since the prison for the rich and wealthy were only known as an inside story in the upper society, there was still some disguises that needed to avoid public suspicion. 

He calmed his heart. He expected that once he came past the door, a neat and cozy room would be waiting for him. 

It should be...

However, as he walked in deeper, he only saw rows and rows of small rooms behind the bar. Some were bigger, but there were many bunk beds inside. 

His heart hung tight.

The small rooms have four bunk beds with one toilet for the inmates to take care of their private business. It was unclean and the disgusting smell was permeating the air. Just walking on the aisle made him already want to gag.

The inmates were all wearing those disgusting bright orange colored shirts like his, and the gazes they gave him were wicked. Some were giving threatening glares, greedy glances, and some even looked up and down at him, challenging him. 

Their mouths were foul. As they spout curses and some uncouth words.

All of them looked unscrupulously vulgar, unlike the people he usually met.

Xiong De gulped as he tried to calm his uneasy heart. Realizing that he had to live with these people under one roof gave him so much unease. He comforted himself that he would not be placed with them.

'This was a prison after all..'

He believed that perhaps after they passed this section, they would come to the room where the wealthy and powerful prisoners were gathered.

As he thought of this, they really passed by this block.

However, what met him was an even darker section with a chilling atmosphere.

The cell door was made of fortified metal and layers of bricks. This place was even dirtier than the last section.

Every time he passed by a door, he could hear some howling. Some were laughing and some were crying. There was even someone speaking to one's self.

Xiong De had goosebumps all over his body. He could not help but think that it was an isolation prison for the lunatic people.

Not only that, an incredibly abhorrent stench was mixed in the air. The disgusting smell was very strong in every cell door.

A desperate shout suddenly came from one of the doors they passed by.

"Officer! Thank goodness you came! My stomach hurts, I need a doctor urgently!"

The officer who was guiding Xiong De stopped in front of that door.

"You criminals don't have the right to visit a doctor anytime you want. You wait for the monthly check-up."

Then the officer walked past, dragging Xiong De with him. Xiong De could not tolerate the smell and scrunched up his nose, trying hard not to gag. His facial expression was not good. When had he ever faced this kind of situation? 

He was a man who lived in the best conditions, with everyone fawning over him!

'Let's pass this horrible section quickly!'

But the desperate man couldn't let them go.

"Wait! Officer! I have been here for three months already, yet I never received a single check-up! At this rate, if I don't see a doctor, I am going to die! I am seriously going to die!"

The officer frowned. It was clear as day that what they, the guards, hated the most was the shouts of justice and rights out of the mouth of these criminals.

"Then let me make it easier for you." 

As if on cue, the food personnel pulling a trolley came and began to deliver food to each door.

The officer called the personnel. He took the tray for the cell where the man who spoke was in.

Xiong De glanced at the plate. It only contained one hard and dark bread and a bowl of cold soup. He did not even know what kind of soup it was, but it was very unsightly. The water at the side looked turbid.

The officer spat on the soup and broke the bread in half. The dark yellow inside of the bread was exposed. He threw both on the ground and stepped on them. Then he only took one half off the ground and put it into the plate.

"..." Xiong De really felt disgusted.

"Here." He put the plates on the vent.

"Oh! Food!" Then the prisoner exclaimed. "Officer! Why is my bread smaller than the last time?!"

"Heh." The officer just snickered and walked away while towing Xiong De.

The man forgot his stomach ache and filled up his empty stomach with food.

Xiong De heard a sound of slurping behind that door. The man sounded like he was eating it as if it was the most delicious thing on earth. He could not help but gag, the acid in his stomach lurching up. 

That was just the soup that had been spat on and the bread that the officer stepped on.

But he did not speak for that man. Who cared if that man with unknown name died of infection? It had nothing to do with him.

He would not stay here in this disgusting section anyway. It was better to get out of here quickly without offending anyone and live quietly while he was waiting for a chance to come back.

However, deep in his heart, there was unease about this place.