Save Li Feng Instead
A hushed voice echoed along the hallway of the fifth floor. Fu Xing recognized that voice as Liu Xiaodan's, and he felt goosebumps crawling on his skin.
He didn't know why this man was reading softly to himself in the middle of the night. However, none had complained about it as it was as if he was reading to a child at night. Most inmates in the floor even fall asleep after listening to him.
The fifth floor was rather stuffy and filled with solid caves. The smallest noises would travel and echo around, but only a few might be awakened by it. It was already past eleven, and Fu Xing's shift just started.
The guard clutched at his flashlight. He swung his light to the dead man's cell, only to find nothing. Unlike that night, there was no freezing draft coming from that place.
Fu Xing went to Liu Xiaodan's cell and saw him reading a book while lying on his side. There was also this huge black teddy bear he didn't notice before. That thing...
"Liu Xiaodan..." Fu Xing stood at his door and lighted his lower body to not blind the man. "How did you get that bear in here?" That bear was terrifying to Fu Xing. It could hide a body inside, and no one would even know.
"Ah, can't I keep him? He's my guard." Liu Xiaodan didn't shield his eyes from the light, but he paused reading. He then sat up and waited for the guard to reply.
"Your guard?" Fu Xing frowned, but he didn't dwell much on it... or so he thought. When he looked at it, he frowned deeper. Was it looking at him earlier? He shook his head. "How did you get that here?"
"...He just appeared..."
"I'll be reporting about that bear. It's too big to pass strict rules." Fu Xing hummed before sizing it up from his position. Why did it feel like someone was actually looking at him right now, begging him not to take the bear away?
No... begging the guard not to take him away. It was as if the bear was begging him.
Liu Xiaodan looked at the bear and reached out to pet the head, and the huge head moved to face away from the guard.
Fu Xing could say things like Liu Xiaodan moving it instead to convince his logical side, but he knew for a fact that the head moved on its own. Fu Xing then gulped the lump on his throat.
He then asked as he lowered the flashlight again. "Liu Xiaodan... is it true? You... you killed eighteen students from your school?"
The inmate was making his bed by then. He only gave him a look before smiling, sending a strange chill up the other man's spine. It was as if that smile from a ghost on the other side of the mirror.
"Good night, Officer Fu." Liu Xiaodan turned away, but Fu Xing continued to freeze in his spot.
"...how did you know my name?"
...
The same alarm that woke him up yesterday woke him up again. Liu Xiaodan tore his eyes open before sitting up and yawning in his place. When he looked down at the side, Guangru was curled up like an innocent child.
The father smiled and caressed his head and felt the silky hair of the child.
Liu Xiaodan got up and walked to the cafeteria for his morning food. He ate in peace for the very first time, but eyes would bore holes onto his back if gazes had blades.
However, he didn't ask for trouble. As long as no one came to disturb him, he wouldn't do anything.
What he didn't think would happen was the inmates figuring out what he was in for.
Today, almost everyone in the prison knew that he was in for eighteen counts of murder and would be in trial in two days. Of course, they all knew that his case was too sensitive to drag on for too long. Perhaps, in two days, he would be executed.
The library had always been his secret spot, but the librarian was too scared to even make contact with him. The others thought it was because of that eighteen counts, but the librarian knew better.
Ever since that night, he was so sure that Liu Xiaodan was carrying a ghost with him. That kid ghost was his... and the very reason why he was reading aloud at night.
"Ah... oh..."
Liu Xiaodan was about to pick out a book when he heard weird noises coming from the next shelf. It was the same voice from the cubicle yesterday. Instead of escaping them today, he spoke from the other side. "Please keep it down..."
"Huh? It's that strong guy. Did you hear him, Jun?"
"Mn."
A twitch came to Liu Xiaodan to his face as the two didn't even feel embarrassed at all. He only sighed as he picked out the book.
To his surprise, an eye peeked through the hole that the book made. Those eyes... it seemed to belong to a girl. The long lashes and the clear brightness in its purple beauty... wait, a woman?
The owner of the eye then seemed to smile at him. "Oh, hello, do you normally go here?"
Shucks, it was that noisy guy. Wait... those eyes belonged to a man?
"It feels awkward that you're not even scramming..." Liu Xiaodan sighed before turning around and sitting on the floor. He didn't want to disturb them anymore as they had their own business happening on the other side.
Right now, he just wanted to pass the time by reading something. As he did so, he would envision how he would direct it if it was turned into a movie.
"Liu Xiaodan... right?"
The father twitched as he was pulled away from his reading. He turned to the side and saw a rather beautiful male next to him. If Liu Xiaodan was only twenty-one, this young man didn't seem to be past twenty even. A smile was curling his lips, and there was a clear joy in his eyes as if they weren't in prison.
For a moment, Liu Xiaodan was like a director who had seen a very fitting lead male actor for his coming-of-age romance movie. His eyes flickered for a while before breaking into a friendly smile. "Yes, you are?"
"Tang Mingming. You can call me Ming if you like." Tang Mingming flashed a nice smile, sending Liu Xiaodan into his director euphoria. Wow, such a perfect specimen to be found inside prison walls.
What a pity, he could have made it big if they were outside this prison hellhole.
"Hehe, Ming. I have to be very honest. You look so pretty; what could possibly send you here?" Liu Xiaodan was smiling.
Yes, he was... only because it was his professional demeanor toward their actors and actresses when they had to film things for class. This was also the reason why they could manage to cast some girls from the female-dominated courses for their projects.
"Uhm, could you not call me that? 'Pretty'..." Tang Mingming's eyes slid to the side for a second before smiling back at him. "About your question... arson."
"Arson?" Liu Xiaodan murmured, but he quickly disassociated in their conversation.
Instead of asking what he burned, Liu Xiaodan's first thought was how he looked in the middle of the night, with only the burning flames lighting up his face. It could easily be dramatic or sinister depending on the context...
"Ah, crap. Sorry, I was distracted." He then remembered that he was talking to someone. Liu Xiaodan didn't ask deeper as he closed his book. Instead, he asked him about other things. Perhaps, he grew sensitive enough not to ask.
No one wanted to talk about their crimes after all.
However, the animated and casual talk between Liu Xiaodan and Tang Mingming ended after a couple of hours. The four guards sought for the man again.
This time, his lawyer had come to see him. Liu Xiaodan only grinned bitterly as he sighed inwardly. What was the use of a lawyer if he was going to die after all?
Liu Xiaodan only left Tang Mingming a glance before he went with the guards. The younger male only stayed on the floor and murmured, "Jun, did you see that...?
"I think he likes me."
...
Since it was his lawyer, Liu Xiaodan was given an hour to talk with him under the supervision of almost everyone who knew him.
The smart-looking man was explaining to him the intricacies of the lawsuit filed by the Ren family and the fact that even the Li family was willing to testify for it. Even if the odds were grim, the lawyer was confident that he could win the case.
It was easy to find evidence after all. Ren Ditian attacked Ruan Jin and the others first. If they were extremely lucky, Liu Xiaodan would still be absolved for the murder of the fifteen students.
As for the others, both sides were heading to war blindly. There was a good chance that he couldn't be tied to those as well.
"...if I don't take the fall, Li Feng will. I'm not taking that path," Liu Xiaodan spoke and silenced his lawyer. The lawyer then adjusted his glasses, hoping Liu Xiaodan would elaborate. The student only continued in a low voice. "I brought those deaths with me. I'm taking them with me to the grave as well."
"Mr. Liu, even if we plead guilty, there is no lighter sentence." The lawyer couldn't go against his client. If he did, his client would only do awful things on the stand that the lawyer couldn't control or get ready for.
"Like I said... I know I have to die to fix this." Liu Xiaodan only gave a smile. "I'm sorry if I wouldn't be needing much of your help. I really don't want Li Feng to be hurt more than he already was. Also, Nayi needed someone to be accountable."
"Li Feng... the first young master of the Li family?" The lawyer frowned. "Why are you protecting him, Mr. Liu? Was he the one behind this?"
"No, no, don't get me wrong." Liu Xiaodan only shook his head. "Everything happened because of me. It's just that Li Feng was helping me get out of this, but I kept on rejecting his help. In the end, I got his best friend killed. He didn't deserve to be locked in a place like this.
"Don't save me, Atty. Cao. Save Li Feng instead."