Chapter 22#
Zhao Xing’s expression immediately turned cold. “Who bullied you?”
He paused, then rephrased his question. “Who brought you in here? What exactly is going on? Explain clearly.”
Under Luo Mingshan’s account, Zhao Xing finally understood the whole story.
It turned out that Luo Mingshan, seeing Zhao Xing hadn’t returned for a long time, went to the woodworking factory to look for him.
A young prison guard told him that Zhao Xing had gone to work at the top-tier factory and asked if he wanted to go there too.
As soon as Luo Mingshan arrived, he was asked to have a device implanted in his body. He refused, and a robot grabbed him and threw him in here.
Zhao Xing: “…”
Zhao Xing was utterly speechless.
He poked Luo Mingshan’s head hard, his tone filled with exasperation. “How can you be so stupid? How can you have no wariness at all? Someone said I was here, and you just obediently followed?! Do you even know what this place is, and you dared to come?! You’d be sold out and not even know it!”
Luo Mingshan lowered his eyes. “But Brother Zhao, you really are here.”
Zhao Xing: “…”
Zhao Xing irritably rubbed his head, scooted back a bit, and leaned against the wall, his expression somewhat dejected. “Fine, since we’re stuck here, who knows if we’ll be let out tomorrow.”
After a while, feeling that being idle was just a waste of time, he simply ran a hand through his hair, pulled out the wood and carving knife he’d specially bought today, as well as a flashlight, and started preparing a birthday gift for Luo Mingshan.
Luo Mingshan leaned in, eyes bright. “Is this the eighteenth birthday gift Brother Zhao is preparing for me?”
Zhao Xing casually hummed in affirmation. “What do you want?”
Luo Mingshan smiled. “Brother Zhao, carve me a little tiger. Make it cute.”
Zhao Xing snorted derisively. “Rabbits are cute. What need does a tiger have for cuteness?! Watch, your big bro will carve you a fierce tiger!”
Once he started carving, Zhao Xing calmed down. Even the irritation and depression from being locked up were temporarily set aside. His expression was focused and serious. The simple carving knife in his hands was skillfully manipulated, and the unremarkable piece of wood gradually transformed into a lifelike tiger.
Luo Mingshan, with a slight smile, watched him intently.
Meanwhile, the prison warden, who had been waiting outside for a long time, cautiously sent a faint electrical pulse to Luo Mingshan’s wristband as a signal for instructions.
Luo Mingshan looked up at the surveillance camera, silently mouthing two words with his beautifully shaped lips: “Wait a little longer.”
After finishing the carving, Zhao Xing let out a long breath, stood up to stretch his arms and legs, and tossed the object in his hand to Luo Mingshan. “Happy birthday.”
Zhao Xing had spent considerable time on this tiger—at least two or three hours. Added to the time he had been unconscious, it was surely well past midnight by now, making it exactly Luo Mingshan’s eighteenth birthday.
Luo Mingshan also stood up, carefully holding the wooden carving in his hands.
It was a beautiful big tiger, with glaring eyes and a wide, blood-filled mouth, as if about to leap forward to capture its desired prey. It looked majestic and ferocious.
Luo Mingshan’s eyes curved as he reached out to poke the tiger’s teeth. “So cute.”
Just like Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing: “???”
Zhao Xing thought he had ruined the carving and hurriedly leaned in to look.
…No, it wasn’t ruined. The tiger looked fierce and ruthless, with a cruel and greedy gaze—an absolute apex predator.
Zhao Xing looked at Luo Mingshan with a complicated expression.
So young, and already blind.
…Wait!
Zhao Xing suddenly noticed something important.
He frowned and, with a serious expression, pulled Luo Mingshan over to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.
Then, to his horror, he realized that Luo Mingshan, who had just turned eighteen, was actually a bit taller than him!
Zhao Xing narrowed his eyes at Luo Mingshan, his expression unfriendly. “How tall are you?”
Luo Mingshan thought for a moment. Two months ago, when he had taken over this identity and entered the prison, he had been measured with human instruments and was 1.86 meters tall.
But since reuniting with Zhao Xing, his mood had improved, and his body had begun to grow rapidly. Over the past two months, not only had his abilities increased, but he had also grown two centimeters taller.
Luo Mingshan: “Probably 1.88 meters.”
Zhao Xing gritted his teeth.
Before he realized it, the little brat was already a centimeter taller than him.
A strong sense of crisis welled up in his heart.
Zhao Xing smacked Luo Mingshan on the head and ordered in a grim tone, “No growing any taller.”
Luo Mingshan was startled.
In truth, he could feel that this body would continue to grow taller, but…
He smiled at Zhao Xing, obediently saying, “Got it.”
Then he decided he wouldn’t grow anymore.
Although he knew such a promise wouldn’t be kept, Zhao Xing still felt a bit relieved. He picked up the flashlight and held it in front of Luo Mingshan. “Hurry up.”
He didn’t explain, but Luo Mingshan immediately understood what he meant, since this was something they had done every birthday since childhood.
Luo Mingshan clasped his hands together, lowered his head slightly, and said, “My wish this year is—”
“Wait,” Zhao Xing interrupted, looking at him suspiciously. “You forgot? Birthday wishes can’t be said out loud.”
Luo Mingshan: “I didn’t forget. But the birthday wishes I made before never came true, so it must be fake. Birthday wishes can only come true if you say them out loud.”
Luo Mingshan closed his eyes and, for the first time, spoke the wish he had made every birthday: “My wish this year is to… be with Zhao Xing forever.”
Then he gently blew out the flashlight.
Zhao Xing instinctively turned the flashlight off.
The wish was complete.
Zhao Xing: “…”
Zhao Xing turned the flashlight back on, his tone sharp. “Make a new wish. That one doesn’t count.”
“No.” Luo Mingshan rarely resisted him, speaking softly.
Zhao Xing: “…”
Zhao Xing sat down on the floor, his tone cold. “Suit yourself.”
After all, he would be leaving soon.
“Brother Zhao, are you not letting me make this wish because you’re about to leave?” Luo Mingshan suddenly asked.
Zhao Xing was startled and turned to look at him.
Luo Mingshan met Zhao Xing’s eyes and spoke softly. “Brother Zhao, you suddenly stopped caring about what I did, stopped hating me, stopped saying harsh things to me, and even applied medicine for me, celebrated my birthday, and gave me a gift… It’s all because you’re leaving. You’re going to the surface alone, aren’t you?”
Zhao Xing was stunned. “…How did you know?”
Luo Mingshan lowered his head. “I guessed it. Brother Zhao, you clearly hate fighting, but ever since you came here, you’ve been fighting constantly, every time loud and conspicuous, even deliberately doing it in front of the cameras, as if you’re afraid others won’t know how wicked you are. That’s because you know that only by being a sufficiently notorious villain can you become one of the 101 people and be chosen to go to the surface… The 101 criminals in this strange factory just confirmed that. You’re already halfway there.”
Zhao Xing looked at Luo Mingshan with some surprise.
He hadn’t expected Luo Mingshan, despite his timid nature, to have such a sharp mind.
Zhao Xing couldn’t help but say, “You were only four years old back then.”
And yet he still remembered the 101 people and being sent to the surface?
Luo Mingshan: “I remember everything I did and every word I said with Brother Zhao.”
So he also remembered the promise Zhao Xing had made to take him to the surface.
Luo Mingshan didn’t say that out loud.
But Zhao Xing understood, though he said nothing, as if he had never made such a promise.
Luo Mingshan forced a faint, bitter smile. “Over the past month, Brother Zhao, why did you teach me martial arts every day? Besides dealing with those scumbags and using me as a front to ruin your own reputation, you really did want me to learn something, didn’t you? Because you’ve offended many people and can’t cut ties with me, and you’re afraid I’ll be retaliated against after you leave, so you taught me to fight day after day, trying to teach me how to defend myself. Right?”
Zhao Xing: “…”
Zhao Xing really wanted to say no, wanted to tell him not to flatter himself.
But…
Damn it, when did this little brat get so smart?!
Zhao Xing felt a bit embarrassed.
Luo Mingshan looked at Zhao Xing, his voice very, very soft. “Brother Zhao, I’m very stupid. I didn’t learn what you taught me, and I can’t fight. Please take me with you, okay?”
Zhao Xing turned his face away, avoiding his gaze. “Your family is so rich, they can give you a hundred million anytime. You can spend repentance points to hire bodyguards. No one would dare touch you.”
When he mentioned a hundred million, Zhao Xing’s voice suddenly weakened.
He felt slightly guilty.
He touched his nose, his gaze shifting as he looked at Luo Mingshan. “…Well, there was an accident today. I spent all my repentance points.”
Luo Mingshan took out his own card and handed it to Zhao Xing. “Brother Zhao, I topped it up again. Transfer it over.”
Zhao Xing didn’t take it. “No need. I realized that the people here don’t care how many repentance points you have when they want to mess with you.”
Zhao Xing told Luo Mingshan about how he had been deducted over a thousand repentance points for a single fight and was directly electrocuted unconscious.
Zhao Xing gritted his teeth. “It’s rigged. Unbelievable.”
“Yeah,” Luo Mingshan agreed, looking up at the surveillance camera in the corner, his expression cold. “Absolutely unbelievable.”
The prison warden, watching the monitor with a tablet outside, felt a chill run down his spine at that glance and almost accidentally turned off the surveillance feed.
But Luo Mingshan still transferred the repentance points from his card to Zhao Xing.
After all, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Zhao Xing took the card and saw the number was once again a neat ten thousand.
Zhao Xing: “…”
He was numb.
Zhao Xing had spent two or three hours carving that tiger. While working with his hands, his mind had also been pondering a way out of the predicament, and now he had basically made a decision.
Zhao Xing looked at Luo Mingshan and said, “Since I refused to have that device implanted, they were going to replace me, so they brought you in as a backup. But if I agree to have the device implanted, you can leave.”
Luo Mingshan frowned. “Brother Zhao, are you going to have that thing implanted in your body?”
Zhao Xing lowered his eyes. “I have no choice. I resisted, and now even a backup like you has appeared. If I firmly refuse to have it implanted, I might never get to the surface.”
He gave a wry smile and put on a nonchalant tone. “Besides, this thing probably just gets cut into the body. Once I’m on the surface, I can just cut it out and toss it. It’s not a big deal.”
“I can’t leave anymore, Brother Zhao.”
Luo Mingshan suddenly said, “It’s exactly 101 people, no backup. I wasn’t brought in because they gave up on you, but because someone suddenly died, so I was pulled in to fill that vacancy.”
He took out Zhang Yue’s electronic card from his pocket and handed it to Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing saw the code on the red card: F011.
“…How is that possible?”
Holding the card, Zhao Xing looked stunned.
But Luo Mingshan smiled, naive and foolish. “I think it’s great. This way, we can go to the surface together. I’m really happy.”
“You’re… happy?”
Zhao Xing frowned at him, his voice heavy.
“Luo Mingshan, do you think this is a game? Can you have some sense of danger? What kind of place is up there? 101 criminals shipped up like cargo, with some unknown device implanted in their bodies that could kill you at any moment… You were tricked into coming here, and instead of thinking about how to escape, you’re happy? What kind of stupidity is that?”
Luo Mingshan’s smile gradually faded.
He looked at Zhao Xing and slowly spoke.
“And what about you?”
He asked Zhao Xing, “You know the surface is unknown and dangerous. You know that going up there will most likely get you killed. You know that up there, it won’t just be spring flowers and warm sunshine, but more likely bones and poison smoke. So why do you still insist on going up? Why give up your life as a wealthy young master of the Zhao family, deliberately scheme to get into prison, ruin your own reputation, just to be sent to the surface?
“Using such dangerous means to get to the surface, having strange things implanted in your body, unable to guarantee your own safety or freedom… Even so, you still want to pursue that illusory freedom and light?
“…How can someone in chains pursue freedom? Unless they’re escaping from another hell.”
Luo Mingshan’s voice grew low and hoarse. His eyes, as he looked at Zhao Xing, seemed to hold endless sorrow and grief.
“Brother A-Xing… Has someone… bullied you?”
The air fell silent.
Suddenly, Zhao Xing let out a laugh. “Are you crazy? What are you imagining?”
“Do you think I’m a child? That I’d hate the whole world just because someone bullied me?”
“I’m Zhao Xing, damn it. Who the hell could bully me?”
Luo Mingshan pressed on stubbornly. “Then Brother Zhao, after you left District K13, why did you still train so hard in martial arts? Why did you practice seven hours a day? Why, when you’re already so good at fighting, do you still say you’re not good enough? Isn’t it because someone—”
“Are you not going to stop?!”
Zhao Xing interrupted with a laugh, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.
After speaking, he stared coldly at Luo Mingshan, his lips pressed together, and a frost gradually formed in his gaze.
Anyone familiar with Zhao Xing, or anyone with any sense, would realize that Zhao Xing was already angry. If they wanted to end the conversation with some dignity, all they had to do was change the subject, and everything would be fine.
But Luo Mingshan refused.
It was as if he was blinded by a rising emotion. Even knowing Zhao Xing didn’t want to continue this topic, he still insisted on going on.
He stepped forward, grabbed Zhao Xing’s hand, his eyes reddening, his voice trembling. “Brother A-Xing, tell me who bullied you. I will avenge you.”
Since there was no avoiding this topic, then let it continue.
Since Luo Mingshan insisted on making him unhappy, then Luo Mingshan shouldn’t expect to feel good either.
A surge of violent rage rose within him, bringing forth a dark malevolence.
Zhao Xing pulled his hand out of Luo Mingshan’s grasp, looked at his reddened eyes, and said in a light, dismissive tone, “Oh? How does Luo Luo plan to avenge me? Will you kill those people for me?”
Luo Mingshan didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
Zhao Xing laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke, bending over.
He wiped the tears from his laughter and said, “Alright then, let Luo Luo start by killing himself, since you were the first one to bully me, weren’t you?”
Luo Mingshan froze, his face instantly turning deathly pale.
Zhao Xing felt a certain satisfaction from his malevolence.
But it wasn’t enough.
He stepped forward, his long fingers pinching Luo Mingshan’s chin, and leaned close to his ear, his voice as light as a lover’s whisper. “Do you know why I kept training in martial arts when I was little? Because my half-brothers kept beating me.”
“Do you know why they beat me? Because I’m an attempted murderer.”
“They all said that when I was seven, I almost killed someone, that I was too terrifying, too cruel, too evil, so they had to teach me a lesson, lock me up, set dogs on me.”
“Luo Luo, tell me, whose fault is that?”
Luo Mingshan’s face was utterly drained of color.
It was as if his soul had been ripped away in an instant, leaving him a beautiful, stiff puppet.
Zhao Xing felt a sense of relief seeing him like this.
He admitted he had said it intentionally.
Sure, his “brothers” called him a murderer when they hit and scolded him, often using that as an excuse to attack him.
But even if he hadn’t been a child with a “criminal record,” those scumbags would have found other excuses to torment him.
Because his birth meant they were natural enemies.
They just wanted to bully him; the excuse didn’t matter.
Before they learned about his prison experience, hadn’t those little bastards often attacked and beaten him with excuses like “bastard”?
But Zhao Xing deliberately said these things to Luo Mingshan, deliberately blaming everything on him, purposefully tormenting Luo Mingshan, making him sad, hurt, and guilty.
Who told Luo Mingshan to be so presumptuous, saying he wanted to escape the underground world because he had been bullied?
Ridiculous.
Zhao Xing squeezed Luo Mingshan’s chin so hard it would almost leave distinct marks. He gave a contemptuous laugh. “Luo Luo, you said one thing wrong earlier. I’m not trying to leave because I was bullied or scared. I just find this place too disgusting, so I want to go. This underground world isn’t a nightmare or a hell to me—it’s just a filthy garbage dump.”
“I want to go to the surface to completely leave this place, to sever all ties with it. Why do you have to be so clueless and insist on following me? Don’t you know that you’re part of the garbage to me too?”
Luo Mingshan looked at him blankly, dazed, with not a trace of light left in his eyes.
Zhao Xing suddenly found it hard to continue.
He lowered his eyes, avoiding Luo Mingshan’s gaze, and his tone became lazy and indifferent.
“Luo Luo, I was thinking, since I’m leaving anyway and we’ll never see each other again, it wouldn’t hurt to play the good big brother for a couple of days, end things on a decent note with you. But now that’s impossible. There’s no decency left. It’s all ruined.”
Zhao Xing released his grip and casually pushed Luo Mingshan away, sending him stumbling back.
Zhao Xing looked coldly at his disheveled, pale appearance, his tone vicious and scornful.
“And you still want to stick to me like a piece of flypaper. If you dare to follow me to the surface, I will be the first to kill you!”