Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
It both sounded like water dripping to the ground and the clock ticking away.
It was as though Gu Qingjiu was standing in the center of a light source.
She couldn’t make out any faces, yet she could hear voices talking continuously around her.
These words were the deeply carved descriptions of her wounded past, making her shiver with cold against her will.
Also, there were sounds of argument that came from God-knows-where.
All of these weaved into a messy, emotion-invoking symphony, piercing through Gu Qingjiu’s nerves.
Like a spirit, she stood where she was in horror, searching, yet unable to find the direction that would lead her back.
“Name: Gu Qingjiu. Age: 23. Crime: Driving without license leading to a fatal accident, hit-and-run. Sentenced twenty years in prison.”
“Who is she? What crime did she commit?”
“No idea. I heard it has something to do with a car accident. From the looks of it, someone got killed. She’s the driver, I guess.”
“Hehe, she seems like an easy target for bullying.”
“Heh, in the future you must hand us everything you have, you hear me?”
“In prison, very lonely… As a woman, you should know. Even women have needs in certain areas. Oh well, what to do? It’s all women in this prison.”
“… You… Ahhhhhh!!!! What are you doing!!”
The messily melded speech finally transformed into loud shrieks, like the howls of a ferocious ghost, threatening to pierce through Gu Qingjiu’s eardrums.
Holding her head with her hands, she stood in the center of that light source, feeling the onset of a meltdown.
She didn’t wish to recall certain things. But now, they were repeating themselves over and over again like a nightmare.
Tick.
Tick.
…
This voice, at times low and at times high in pitch, grew increasingly urgent.
“Gu Qingjiu, instead of repenting in prison, you smashed the head of a convict?! She had a concussion and is hospitalized now. You know that?”
“You sure bring a lot of troubles to our prison!”
“Reason? I don’t want to hear any excuses whatsoever! The verdict is out. You’ll be sentenced to ten more years in jail!”
Bang!
All of a sudden, all the sounds and voices exploded at a tremendous pace.
Amid the explosion sounds, she seemed to hear something changing.
“Ah…”
The person on the hospital bed suddenly widened her eyes and let out an extremely faint sigh.
The argument noise seemed to grow louder in her ears.
“What’s the deal with your department? Why would you assign a newbie to such a dangerous mission? I don’t even know what’s going on inside the head of your commanding officer.”
“Elder Gong, I know you’re outraged. But these are the higher-ups’ orders that even I can do nothing about it. But it was a misjudgment on my part on the spot. I hadn’t expected that drug had already been used up.”
“As I’ve said before, the thing that should not be known to the world should not be used to harm people in the first place. Just think about how many people your Ninth Department had sacrificed because of this thing alone. Even K… I don’t care about what had happened in the past. But I tell you, Gu Qingjiu’s talent in shooting is incredibly rare. She’s my current hope. God forbids anything should happen to her, or I’ll hold you people accountable!”
“But Elder Gong, you know that Gu Qingjiu’s strongest talent isn’t in shooting. If this talent of hers isn’t stimulated and groomed, we wouldn’t know when she can maintain it until…”
