Zhou Xuennian didn’t realize he had actually been captured until he found himself locked in the pitch-dark, damp, and gloomy dungeon.
Coming to terms with this fact, and then seeing those incarcerated prisoners, along with the harrowing sounds of whipping and screaming from an unknown location during interrogations, left Zhou Xuennian utterly pale, nearly wetting himself.
Especially concerning were the cellmates who, for some unknown reason, looked fierce and terrifying, terrifying Zhou Xuennian to the verge of tears.
In all his life, aside from repeatedly failing his exams, he had never suffered much. Merely devoted to his studies, he had never witnessed such scenes, even the mere sound of those screams causing his heart to bristle with fear.
How could this happen? It was supposed to be just a simple examination to become a scholar, nothing more. So much time had passed since then; why did this happen now?
Zhou Xuennian was utterly perplexed and clueless about what lay ahead for him.
Zhou Xuennian looked over and threw himself at the wooden bars of the cell, staring at the person opposite him. He wore scholarly attire too; Zhou Xuennian recognized him as a fellow examinee. Had he also been arrested?
When that person saw Zhou Xuennian, he also clutched the bars and called out in terror, "Brother Zhou."
"Brother Xiao, you..." Zhou Xuennian covered his mouth, not daring to ask.
The two exchanged a glance, each seeing the despair and resignation in the other’s eyes.
Zhou Xuennian slumped to the ground, sitting on the dirty straw, when he suddenly heard a squeaking sound beneath him, as if something was moving, which startled him into jumping up to look.
A rat had scurried past his feet.
Zhou Xuennian shrieked, watching as the rat was deftly caught by someone. Following the line of action, it was one of the menacing figures, who, holding the rat, squeezed it forcefully. The rat let out a piercing shriek and soon went still.
That person bit into the rat, spitting out a mouthful of fur, and shockingly started chewing the raw flesh.
Zhou Xuennian’s stomach churned, and he turned his head to vomit.
A sour stench began to spread throughout the cell.
Zhou Xuennian couldn’t bear it any longer, grabbing the bars and shouting, "Let me out, let me out! I am innocent, official, Brother Runner, I am innocent!"
He could not stay here, not even for a day, for he was sure he would die in this place.
"What’s that infernal noise about?" A Yamen Runner approached and knocked on the bars with the hilt of his sword, barking, "Keep it down, or I’ll drag you to the torture chamber. Quiet!"
Zhou Xuennian reached out and grabbed his sleeve, pleading, "Brother Runner, I am innocent. Please, I didn’t cheat, Brother Runner."
The Yamen Runner snorted, "Guilty or not, that’s for the judge to decide. Just stay put." He then looked Zhou up and down with derision and mocked, "Just by your looks, you don’t seem capable of scholarship. Honestly, your scholar title seems undeserved to me."
Zhou Xuennian was ridiculed and furious but dared not say anything in return.
The Yamen Runner spat and walked away with his hands behind his back.
Zhou Xuennian collapsed on the ground, hugging his knees, and began to whimper and cry.
Who would come to save him?
Thus, two or three days passed, and Zhou Xuennian had neither heard of any forthcoming interrogation nor seen any of his family members come to visit, sinking further into despair.
Listening to the screams emanating from the depths of the cellblock, he shuddered; the brief days of his prison life were already bringing him close to the edge of a breakdown.
Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he shouted, "Brother Runner, I want to see the official, I know your superior, Brother Runner!"