The first cellmate kicked Lin Feng’s leg lightly, not hard enough to cause new injury but enough to confirm he was still conscious. "You hearing us, old man? This is your life now. This is what you deserve. And nobody out there cares enough to stop it."
Lin Feng made a sound, not words, not even a coherent cry, just a broken noise that conveyed the complete shattering of everything he’d once been. The powerful businessman who’d destroyed lives without hesitation had been reduced to sothing less than human, stripped of dignity and agency and the fundantal belief that his status could protect him from consequences.
"Get so sleep," Wang Jian said with cruel mockery. "You’re going to need your strength. We’re not nearly done with you yet."
The cell settled into an approximation of quiet as the n prepared for sleep. Lin Feng remained where he’d been left, curled on the filthy concrete, his torn clothing providing no warmth, his body wracked with pain and violation that would mark him far deeper than any physical bruise.
And outside the cell, the guards continued their rounds without pausing, without checking, without caring. Because certain prisoners had been marked for special treatnt, and what happened behind closed doors in those cases was none of their concern as long as the body count stayed at zero.
Lin Feng’s first night at Black Water Ridge was over. Four more stretched ahead of him like an endless nightmare from which there would be no waking until his court date arrived and he was finally, rcifully removed from this particular hell.
If he survived that long.
— — — — —
In the won’s section, Madam Chen faced similar horrors. Her cellmate was a woman who’d been incarcerated for violent assault, who’d built a reputation inside these walls for terrorizing weaker inmates. She looked at Madam Chen’s soft hands, her obvious lack of physical strength, her expensive appearance even in prison uniform, and smiled with cruel anticipation.
"Fresh at," she said conversationally. "Haven’t had soone new to break in for a while. This is going to be fun."
Madam Chen backed against the wall, her voice shaking as she tried to assert authority she no longer possessed. "I have money. I have connections. I can pay you to leave alone...."
"Your money don’t an anything in here," the woman interrupted. "And your connections? They put you in here with specifically because your connections don’t reach inside these walls. So save your breath. You’re going to learn real quick that you’re not special anymore. You’re just another inmate who needs to learn her place."
The beatings began as soon as the cell doors locked for the night. thodical, brutal, designed not to cause injuries visible enough to prompt official investigation but severe enough to establish complete dominance.
Just like Li Feng, Madam Chen fared no better. She’d spent her life using social position and manipulation to control others. Inside this cell, none of her skills mattered. Physical strength was the only currency that counted, and she had none. The beating left her huddled on the floor, crying, begging for rcy that didn’t co.
By the ti the violence stopped, not because of any intervention but simply because their attackers grew tired, both Lin Feng and Madam Chen were broken, terrified, completely understanding what the next five days would hold.
---
Back at the mansion, the feeding operation had concluded successfully. Two hundred children had consud their first real nutrition in days, their bodies beginning the long process of recovery. dical staff settled in for overnight monitoring, ensuring no one experienced complications from the refeeding process.
Shuyin had just finished checking the last few rooms when footsteps approached from the corridor behind her.
"Miss Shuyin."
She turned to see Ting Fei walking toward her, his expression composed but with a faint trace of dark satisfaction in his eyes.
"Yes?" she asked.
"I’ve just received an unusual call," Ting Fei said calmly. "From the director of Black Water Ridge Penitentiary. He wanted to inform about an... opportunity."
Shuyin’s brows drew together slightly. "What kind of opportunity?"
"There’s a ring fight," Ting Fei spoke up. "Fighting for entertainnt. The director wanted to know if we’d like him to arrange for Lin Feng and Madam Chen to participate in such a fight. Tonight. In approximately two hours."
Shuyin went very still, her entire body tensing at the ntion of that place. Black Water Ridge. The ring. She knew them intimately, not from stories or reports, but from brutal firsthand experience. The original Shuyin had been there for a few days, thrown into that very ring, beaten so severely on that blood-stained concrete floor that her body had given out completely. That’s where Shuyin had died. And that’s where the rmaid consciousness had rged with the dying girl’s body, taking over a life that had already been destroyed.
She’d never spoken about those days to anyone. The mories were fragnted, a mix of the original Shuyin’s dying monts and her own awakening in a broken body. But she rembered the ring with perfect, terrible clarity. The chain-link fencing. The harsh lights. The huge crowds and a few inmates watching with cruel anticipation. The complete helplessness of being forced to fight while people bet on how long you’d last or who would win.
"Shuyin?" Lu Yuze’s voice pulled her from the dark mories. He’d noticed her reaction, the way her face had gone pale.
She forced herself to focus on the present. "I’m surprised the director is calling you for authorization on sothing like this," she said to Ting Fei, her voice carefully controlled. "That’s not standard procedure for Black Water Ridge. They don’t usually seek outside permission for their internal... entertainnt."
Ting Fei glanced at Lu Yuze, clearly uncertain whether to answer. Lu Yuze’s expression shifted, becoming more serious, and he gestured for Ting Fei to give them privacy. The assistant bowed and stepped away, though he remained within earshot in case further instructions were needed.
Lu Yuze turned to Shuyin, taking her hand gently. "There’s sothing I should tell you. I own a significant share of Black Water Ridge Penitentiary. Not publicly, it’s held through several shell companies and investnt structures that keep my na out of official records. But I control approximately forty percent of the facility’s operations."
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