What does it feel like to be discovered, then tied up with chains and captured?
As the "Fire Ghost King" of the Hundred Ghosts Gang, Mu Shuang had long been adept at ordering her subordinates to handle such matters.
After all, out-of-town gangs would occasionally come around Happiness City to cause trouble, disrupting its "peace."
Encountering such people, she always tied them up as examples, confiscating their assets.
But experiencing it personally, being shoved by militia towards the community while hearing their rebukes and feeling their surveillance, Mu Shuang found it somewhat novel, a very peculiar feeling.
Of course, this was under the premise of "absolute safety."
If she truly ended up in enemy hands, she would have already been thinking of escape, with no time to savor these experiences.
All the way to the entrance of the community.
From far away, she saw Elder He, who was in his sixties, eagerly waiting at the community entrance.
But as she got closer and he saw Mu Shuangâs face, Elder He was taken aback, "Why is it a girl?"
"Elder He, this is the person Lord Cheng specifically wants to interrogate; Iâm afraid we canât let you use torture first."
Er Long scratched his head awkwardly.
Since Cheng Ye interrogated the results, Elder He had been so angry he couldnât sleep all night, climbing out of bed to whip the four of them once more, yet still failed to get any information.
"Donât worry, Iâm just having a look, curious," Elder He chuckled sheepishly, but his eyes swept over Mu Shuangâs neck and wrists as if sizing up a piece of meat ready to be sliced.
Mu Shuang couldnât help but shiver, recalling the "Skinning Ghost" from the Hundred Ghosts Gang, known for interrogation through torture.
What kind of monsters live in this community?
Following the mall passage, she ran into Long and a bald middle-aged man.
"Thanks, Master Tian, for personally delivering her," Long smiled politely.
"Not at all, I was just idle at the time."
"Alright, letâs exchange phone numbers and keep in touch directly for future matters."
"Sure thing; Old Zhang told me about the community before, but Iâve been too busy to come over."
The two exchanged niceties like old friends.
As they brushed past, Master Tianâs gaze paused on Mu Shuangâs face for a few seconds before calmly moving away.
But that gaze made Mu Shuangâs heart flutter.
It was too steady, too calm.
Precisely like those âold huntersâ in the wilderness who preyed on humans, containing an inexplicable pressure.
And seemed to carry a bit of contemplation and memory.
But before she could think further, Er Long nudged her again, forcing her to stagger into the mall passage.
Through the dim passage, her sight suddenly broadened.
Mu Shuang instinctively looked up, only to be pinned in place by an unforgettable scene!
The mallâs layered mezzanines were packed with heads.
Countless eyes stared down from all directions like she was a prizefighter from bygone days about to mount the ring, subjected to universal attention.
But what awaited her were not cheers and liveliness, but anger, hatred, indifference, and an uncontrollable murderous intent, engulfing her like a tide.
Being watched by a thousand pairs of eyes suffocates far more than being aimed at by a thousand guns.
In this moment.
She suddenly understood the words Jiang Chuan said before.
He said:
That moment feels like your blood would freeze, not because of the fear of being pointed at by guns, afraid of death.
But being pressed by emotions fused from a thousand people, feeling that anything you do is wrong.
And at this time.
"Kill!"
It was unknown who shouted first, like igniting a powder keg.
"Kill!!"
"Kill!!!"
The cries for death erupted, growing from scattered few to resounding throughout the mall, the buzzing sound waves seemingly materializing, shaking the walls slightly.
Visibly, Mu Shuangâs face suddenly paled.
She had experienced life-and-death battles in the wilderness, fought hunters to the last moment.
Seen bloodbaths on the battlefield, infected bodies and humans fighting till extinction.
She also climbed out of mass graves, even survived multiple infection source invasions.
But those times, she was free, the Judge, holding othersâ lives and deaths.
And now, she is the judged, oppressed by countless peopleâs grievances and hatred, forced to taste this surging anger.
"Move, why are you standing there?" Er Long shoved her.
Mu Shuang stumbled and unexpectedly fell to the ground.
"Whatâs the matter, scared?"
Er Long squatted down, a smile that wasnât a smile tugging at his lips as the two locked eyes, "You opposed Inspector Cheng, making you our enemy!"
"Anyone who dares to rob us of our future, weâll crush them first!"
"Do you know, to keep an eye on you, over sixty brothers took shifts day and night, not daring to relax; hungrier or thirstier, they held on, preferring to wet their pants than leave to use the restroom."
"What do you think kept them going? Money? Orders?"
"You can never imagine; they competed to watch over you because you, ah, blocked Inspector Chengâs path and blocked..."
"Our path!"
With that, Er Long stood up, his arm muscles suddenly flexing.
The chains were dragged brutally, and Mu Shuangâs body was dragged step by step toward the holding room.
In this moment, she didnât struggle.
Because she suddenly felt a bit of regret. A surge of remorse rose from the bottom of her heart; the regret wasnât for testing Cheng Ye, deliberately playing a cat-and-mouse game, probing Cheng Yeâs methods.
Nor was it the regret of opposing so many people, becoming enemies with a community of thousands, blocking their "path."
But regretting why she mocked Jiang Chuan, mocked him for being captured by ordinary people.
Why did she look down on ordinary people?
Why did she feel that being captured by ordinary people was humiliating?