Chapter Sixty-Three: Willing to Be a Prisoner

When the man saw it was Mu You, he froze for less than a second before quickly turning to leave. Mu You seized the young man's long hair and yanked him ruthlessly into the elevator.

As the elevator doors slid shut under the youth’s terrified gaze, everyone inside looked at Mu You in astonishment. He remained silent, staring coldly at the young man bent over by his grip on his hair, his hand tightening with growing force.

"Ow, ow, ow! I haven't done anything to you—let me go, please." The youth tried to maintain his composure through the pain, speaking with forced calm and dignity.

"Jing Fei?" He Jing, having recognized the youth’s face, was taken aback.

"You know him?" Mu You’s tone was icy, his gaze fixed on the man before him as if looking at a dead dog, his expression sharp and menacing—a stark contrast to his demeanor moments ago.

"Yes." He Jing hesitated, then nodded. "He’s from our floor as well. He was the one distributing the mechanical watches. During the tag game, he was hospitalized because he was seriously injured by Zuo Canglang, so he didn’t participate. Um... he’s generally an honest person." At the end, He Jing added this, a subtle plea on Jing Fei’s behalf.

Hearing this, Mu You nodded, loosened his grip, and released Jing Fei. The others sighed in relief, but then Mu You suddenly kicked Jing Fei viciously in the knee. Jing Fei crumpled forward, and without hesitation, Mu You delivered another loathing kick, sending Jing Fei crashing into the elevator’s metal door frame, where he rolled on the floor, howling in pain.

"Look at you—someone just called you honest, but tell us yourself: are you really?"

Jing Fei struggled to rise, but as soon as he moved, he coughed up a mouthful of blood. He looked at Mu You, bewildered. "I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you want to kill me, do it. Dangerous convicts have that privilege, but don’t insult me!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... So upright, so manly. Now I almost feel embarrassed!"

With a bang, Mu You stomped on Jing Fei’s face, pressing his head against the elevator’s steel door. Blood immediately streamed from the back of Jing Fei’s head.

Xu Chen wanted to intervene—he’d always gotten along well with Jing Fei—but He Jing quickly stopped him, shaking his head and signaling not to provoke Mu You at this moment.

"Your strength is probably at the level of a dangerous convict, isn’t it? Otherwise, that kick just now would have smashed an ordinary man’s skull. You’ve been hiding your abilities well."

At this, the elevator’s atmosphere grew tense. He Jing and Xu Chen stared at Jing Fei in shock, while An Ruxiang remained composed, though her eyes seemed to drift into some distant memory.

"Back then, you deliberately bumped into me, stealing my candy when I wasn’t paying attention. You fooled all of us, but Zuo Canglang found you out and ordered you to hand over the candy. You were about to play dumb, but Zuo Canglang struck ruthlessly—am I right?"

Hearing this, Jing Fei’s hands slowly loosened their grip on Mu You’s foot. He stopped struggling, letting Mu You continue.

"It wasn’t just a casual slash from Zuo Canglang. That blow could have killed an ordinary convict—a punishment exactly equal to the value of a single ten-thousand-point candy. At the time, you were marked by Dongguan with the Phoenix Butterfly Seal. That way, you had an excuse to avoid the tag game, escaped a certain-death ‘extra meal’ punishment, and gained a candy worth ten thousand points. Three gains in one stroke."

At these words, Jing Fei’s expression finally changed. His body began to tremble, and, unexpectedly, he began to laugh.

"Heh... No wonder you became the leader of Building A so quickly. I, Jing Fei, truly admire you. I was the one at fault first. Even if you want to kill me now, I understand. I only ask one thing: let me live for now. Six months from now, my life will be yours. Whatever I owe you, I’ll pay back with interest! But if you insist on killing me now, I’ll fight to the death. We’re both dangerous convicts—neither of us can escape the Final Judgment’s death sentence. You know that."

Jing Fei’s words were muffled under Mu You’s foot.

At that moment, the elevator chimed and stopped at the sixth floor. An Ruxiang tossed her head, her wavy hair brushing Mu You’s shoulder. "I’m off," she said, striding out on her long legs. As she passed Jing Fei, she gave him a smile before disappearing.

Jing Fei, unlike most convicts, didn’t seem flustered by her attention. He got up calmly, nodded with a resigned smile, then turned to face Mu You as the elevator doors slowly closed.

"Ruxiang, if you see Xuan Yao, please thank her for the apple," Mu You called out in a silly, innocent tone.

At the word "sister," An Ruxiang paused slightly, then, with her back to Mu You, made an OK gesture before vanishing through the closing doors.

Now, only four remained in the elevator. Mu You spread his hand before Jing Fei.

"What do you want?" Jing Fei asked warily.

"I have no interest in killing you, and I don’t intend to acknowledge you. Your life means nothing to me. Return my candy. Find a way within three days, or..."

Mu You’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I’ll kill you before the Final Judgment detects it. Do you believe me?"

Jing Fei’s face reddened as his fists clenched and unclenched, but seeing Mu You’s utter disregard, he finally let go.

"Fine... I’ll give it to you."

With that, Jing Fei took a pill from the slot in his mechanical watch and placed it in Mu You’s hand.

"Not give—return," Mu You corrected him, slowly closing his hand around the pill until his knuckles cracked. Just then, the elevator reached the rooftop, and the three of them exited single file, ignoring Jing Fei.

"Boss, since we know the death penalty is useless and even beneficial to us, why not kill him and eliminate future trouble?" Xu Chen made a throat-cutting gesture.

"Kill him? Any time. But the secret we fought so hard for shouldn’t be handed to someone else for free. Since the Convicts’ Paradise pretends not to notice, we’ll keep being model prisoners. Right now, we’re still too weak—so weak we haven’t even caught the upper echelons’ eye."

He Jing frowned in thought. "Then why did you help Jing Fei and force him to discover this secret?"

"If someone’s willing to risk death for candy, I don’t know why he’s desperate to amass points in the short term. But in this Convicts’ Paradise, there must be something he values more than his life. And you must have noticed—when I wanted to kill him, An Ruxiang’s scent changed, calming and soothing me. She didn’t want me to kill Jing Fei. Since she hinted at it, I’ll return the favor I owe her. By the way, in this place, does Jing Fei have any relatives? Did he have any connection to An Ruxiang?"

He Jing thought carefully. "Since entering the Convicts’ Paradise, Jing Fei has been as industrious as a lackey, busying himself around the compound, sometimes without any reward. We used to think he was networking for survival, but now it seems there’s something suspicious in his behavior. Oh, right!"

He Jing’s eyes lit up and he clapped his hands, suddenly remembering something.

"Go on," Mu You said, intrigued.

"I just recalled the strangest thing about him—he volunteered to become a convict here."

"You can volunteer for this?" Mu You was stunned. Why would anyone throw away a good life to seek death?

"It’s bizarre, but possible... and there’s someone else like him, who willingly became a convict."

"Who?"

Mu You stopped, looking sideways.

"An Ruxiang."