Chapter 724 - 486: Carrot and Stick

As her thoughts drifted, she rolled over.

The sleeping area in the detention center wasn’t equipped with bunk beds. To eliminate any potential dangers from uncontrolled furnishings, the room was terrifyingly spartan.

It was just one large, communal sleeping platform for twelve people.

Everyone had only a fist’s breadth of space between them and the inmate next to them. The slightest movement could disturb someone else.

Besides, in weather like this, you’d have to be a saint to get any sleep.

The entire cell block was quiet—so quiet you could hear every breath—but few were actually asleep.

Everyone was silently lost in their own thoughts, tormented by their present circumstances and uncertain about the future.

The not knowing was what made it torture. Would they be released, or would they receive a harsh sentence? This was especially true for those completely cut off from news of the outside world. For them, every minute, every second spent here felt as long as a century.

A few days ago, Jiangg Ruxue had been in the same state.

Now, however, she felt a sense of relief, as if she’d survived a disaster.

’Just two more days,’ she thought. ’Lie low, wait for things outside to blow over completely, and then I’ll be released.’

The detention center had an unwritten rule.

The toilet was located right next to the communal platform, on the side closest to the door, barely a stone’s throw from the nearest sleeping spot. The person sleeping there had to endure an unimaginable stench. It wasn’t that the detention center was intentionally inhumane; it was simply that once you were in here, you lost the right to choose your surroundings.

Usually, the person who slept next to the latrine pit was the newest arrival.

They only got to move up in the pecking order when the next newcomer arrived.

Jiangg Ruxue had slept next to the toilet for over a week, enduring unimaginable misery. The worst part, without a doubt, was when someone needed to use it in the middle of the night.

Whenever that happened, she would turn her face away, close her eyes, and silently hold her breath until they were done.

The reason she felt so comfortable today was because a new inmate had arrived. She had finally escaped that spot and, just as she’d hoped, managed to shuffle further inward.

’Soon...’

’Just two more days of endurance,’ she thought. ’Then all this torture and suffering will be over. Once I’m out, I can go back to my glamorous life and never think about this hellish time again.’

Lost in her meandering thoughts, she didn’t realize that more than an hour had passed since lights-out.

Soft snores had already started from the person beside her.

Jiangg Ruxue tried to will herself to sleep, but the harder she tried, the more awake she felt. In the end, she simply closed her eyes and rested.

...

Suddenly, the sound of leather shoes on the concrete floor echoed from the hallway—a rhythmic CLACK-CLACK-CLACK, punctuated by the faint murmur of conversation.

Anyone who’d spent more than a few days in the detention center was exceptionally sensitive to the sound of leather shoes.

It meant the guards were coming.

Countless sleepless inmates opened their eyes, craning their necks slightly to peer out into the hallway.

Jiangg Ruxue was one of them.

But she hadn’t expected the CLACK-CLACKING to draw closer and closer to her cell, until finally, it stopped right outside.

A sudden feeling seized her, and her heart began to THUMP-THUMP. A gut instinct told her they were coming for her.

"Inmate 057, Jiangg Ruxue, step forward!"

The stern voice echoed down the empty corridor, exceptionally jarring.

Countless people were startled awake from their sleep.

Jiangg Ruxue pushed herself up with one hand. A stray lock of hair fell across her forehead, her eyes filled with a mix of confusion and panic.

"Here."

"Come with me," the guard said coldly.

"Ah, okay."

The beam of a powerful flashlight shone in, painfully bright. Jiangg Ruxue ducked her head to avoid it, climbed off the platform, slipped on her slippers, and timidly walked to the door.

For the first half of her life, she had never met anyone without a face full of beautiful makeup. Now, she was bare-faced, her short hair lying flat against her shoulders.

You could vaguely make out the delicate features of her past, but her aura was a far cry from what it once was.

"The rest of you, back to sleep!"

At the guard’s sharp rebuke, the inmates who had craned their necks to see quickly ducked their heads, not daring to look again.

With a JANGLE-JANGLE of keys, the cell door swung open.

Another guard stood to the side, keenly observing the inmates’ movements as they singled out Jiangg Ruxue.

She was completely bewildered, with no idea what was happening. But when the guards summoned her, she had no choice but to follow one of them. They walked together down a long, dark corridor. She didn’t dare say a word, let alone ask what this was about, and a sense of unease gnawed at her.

She was led out of the cell block, taking a long, roundabout route that went through the main front hall. Along the way, they even passed the towering main gate she had entered through.

In a situation like this, even someone with the strongest self-control couldn’t help but steal a glance or two.

After all, beyond that gate lay the free world.

They walked in silence until she was led to a room. A heavy security door was pulled open with a CREAK. The guard pocketed his keys and stood by the door. His voice, when he spoke, was finally a little softer, not so hard and emotionless.

"Go on in."

Jiangg Ruxue walked in, full of apprehension.

It was the middle of the night. Dressed in the standard-issue detention center uniform, her face haggard, she looked like a ghost under the building’s white fluorescent lights.

As she stepped into the office and took a quick look around, she couldn’t help but feel a jolt of alarm.

This was clearly the office of a high-ranking official. It was decorated in a traditional, antique style, and the furnishings created a solemn atmosphere. In the center of the room stood a tea table.

A short-haired woman in a dark, tailored suit was standing there, pouring herself a cup of tea.