Crossing the small gate in the iron bars, Jiang Wang stepped into the corridor, with cells on both sides. He suddenly felt much heavier, even taking a simple step requiring more strength.
"In this area, everyone is subjected to greater pressure. It's to keep certain prisoners from having too much energy," Granny Bizhu explained.
The cells on both sides had iron-bar walls, making it easy for the guards to keep an eye on the prisoners inside.
The tapping of Granny Bizhu's Dragon-Headed Cane rang clearly through the corridor. But not one of the prisoners curled up in their cells looked out.
It was as if they had all lost the emotion called curiosity.
That cast a shadow over Jiang Wang's heart.
Farther in, the iron bars gave way to a series of stone doors. Apart from a small, square opening, there was no way to see inside. The prisoners here must have been more important, so the cells had likely been designed with greater emphasis on security.
The corridor was still long, stretching beyond sight.
Though luminous pearls had been embedded in the ceiling at regular intervals, the end of the corridor still seemed to lead into a bottomless Abyss. It was impossible to see clearly, and a sense of dread lurked there.
Granny Bizhu stopped here.
"I won't go in," she said mournfully. "I can't bear to see Qiong'er suffer."
On the wall between two stone cells was a small stand resembling a candleholder. Jiang Wang hadn't known what it was for until Granny Bizhu took out a stick of incense and placed it on the stand.
She gave it a light flick with her withered index finger, snapping off four-fifths of the incense. The remaining stub ignited on its own.
"You have only this much time," Granny Bizhu