Inside the county office prison, candles lining both sides of the corridor flickered weakly, their dim light falling over the battered, timeworn cells.
From deep within the prison came wave after wave of miserable screams—several men's voices, chilling enough to raise goosebumps.
"You bastards really have the nerve to defy heaven itself!"
"You even dared lay hands on the Lu Family Old Master? I'd say you're sick of living!"
"You useless trash, don't you know the Lu Family Old Master is Brother Cheng's uncle?"
"Brother Cheng ordered the two of us to stay up tonight and take good care of you pieces of trash."
"Talk! Who ordered you to assassinate the Lu Family Old Master? Tell us, and you won't have to suffer this bodily pain!"
Inside a rather crude-looking cell stood two young Yamen Runners.
Each held a short whip, lashing with all their strength at the bound men before them.
The bound Big Men were a gruesome sight. Their flesh had split open, leaving them bloody and mangled, while whip marks streaked their faces as well.
"Damn it, are you talking or not?!"
"Forget it. Let's rest for a while first. We'll properly deal with you later."
The two young Yamen Runners seemed to have grown tired from the beating.
Seeing that the men refused to speak, they left the cell together, sat beside a rotten wooden table, picked up the water on it, and drank deeply.
A breeze swept through, extinguishing more than half the candles placed along both sides of the prison corridor.
Only a few remained lit, making the already dim prison even darker and more sinister.
Before the two young Yamen Runners could react, darkness fell over their eyes, and they lost consciousness.
A tall, upright figure walked toward the cell where those men