Chapter 1: The Uncertainty of Life
Midsummer, 2003.
At just nineteen, Chen Xue Wen found himself shackled in iron fetters, escorted into the imposing walls of Peaceful City Prison.
A mere week earlier, he had attended a gathering with his fellow classmates. Spurred on by their prodding, he finally confessed his long-hidden admiration to the School Beauty, the maiden he had secretly adored for three years. Her rejection was swift and merciless.
That very night, crushed by despair, Chen Xue Wen drowned his sorrow in wine until he lost all sense of the world.
When he came to, it was to a living nightmare: the School Beauty lay beside him—lifeless, unclothed, and clearly violated. The brutality of the deed was undeniable.
Several witnesses claimed to have seen Chen Xue Wen force her into a hotel during the dark hours. Their testimony sealed his fate.
In less than a week, he was declared guilty and sentenced.
No one heeded his frantic cries of innocence.
Outside the main gate of Peaceful City Prison, his parents knelt on the ground, clutching a makeshift sign stained with blood, displaying the single word “Injustice.” His father, Chen Jian Guo, roared for all to hear that his son was innocent.
Facing them was the School Beauty’s family, clad in mourning garments, wailing in grief. Her father, overcome with rage, rushed forward as the prison transport pulled in, his finger shaking with fury.
“Chen Xue Wen! You beast! You deserve to die!”
“Why wasn’t he sentenced to death?”
“I will appeal! He must be executed!”
Chen Jian Guo bellowed back, “My son is innocent!”
The grieving father’s fist crashed into Chen Jian Guo’s head. “Innocent?! My daughter is dead because of him! I’ll kill you, monster!”
The School Beauty’s kin joined the assault, dragging Chen Jian Guo to the ground and raining blows upon him.
Prison guards finally intervened, stopping the assault.
Blood trickled down Chen Jian Guo’s face, but he ignored his wounds, crying out as his son was led beyond the prison gates:
“Son, don’t be afraid!”
“I know you’ve been wronged!”
“Even if it costs me my life, I’ll prove your innocence!”
Tears blurred Chen Xue Wen’s vision as he was led away.
After the usual procedures, he was thrown into his new cell—a dim, cramped chamber housing seven hardened men.
They eyed the skinny newcomer with cruel amusement.
As soon as the guards left, the group encircled him.
Their leader was a brawny man with a sinister scar across his face—Scarface.
He studied Chen Xue Wen, speaking with a frosty sneer: “Kid, what’re you in for?”
Chen Xue Wen murmured, “I… I was framed…”
Before he could finish, Scarface’s fist slammed into his abdomen.
Pain exploded through him, and he collapsed, retching.
Scarface planted a foot on his head. “Nonsense. If you ended up here, you did something.”
“When I ask a question, you answer properly!”
“No rules, no respect—only pain. Got it?”
Gasping for breath, Chen Xue Wen pleaded, “I swear, I’m innocent…”
Scarface scoffed. “Still stubborn?”
He gestured to his underlings.
They fell upon Chen Xue Wen with fists and kicks, beating him bloody. Once they were done, they hauled his limp form before Scarface.
“Now, once more—what did you do?”
Through gritted teeth, Chen Xue Wen rasped, “I was framed…”
Rage contorted Scarface’s face. “Still have the gall to lie to me? String him up!”
They tore bedsheets into strips, bound Chen Xue Wen’s wrists, and hoisted him against the bed frame, taking turns pummeling him for over an hour.
Even as his vision darkened, Chen Xue Wen refused to change his answer.
At last, fearing they might kill him, Scarface’s men let him down.
From then on, they treated him like a mere insect, striking him at the slightest provocation.
Once, Chen Xue Wen tried reporting them to the guards. One of Scarface’s lackeys was punished.
That very night, they came for him again—hoisted him up, beat him near to death, leaving him barely breathing.
After that, he stopped resisting and tried to dodge Scarface’s group as best he could, pinning his hopes on his parents to prove his innocence.
Three months crawled by.
Of late, an ominous unrest gnawed at his heart.
For over a month, he had received no news from his parents. There was a visitation day each month—a day he and his parents never missed. But this time, they didn’t come. That absence ate at him. [They wouldn’t abandon me. Something must have happened…]
That night, Chen Xue Wen summoned his nerve and approached a somewhat kindly guard named Zhang Dong, begging him to find out what had happened to his parents.
By noon the next day, as Chen Xue Wen was taking his midday meal, Zhang Dong approached, his face solemn.
“Xiao Chen, I just got word… You… you must be strong.”
A tremor passed through Chen Xue Wen’s hands, and tears welled in his eyes. [No… Not this…]
Taking a shaky breath, Zhang Dong lowered his voice. “Your parents… Half a month ago, they had an accident. They were riding their motorcycle to the Provincial City to file your appeal. On the way, they crashed… They… they didn’t make it.”
It was as if a dam burst within Chen Xue Wen, tears streaming uncontrollably.
His worst fear had become reality.
His parents—gone.
Zhang Dong sighed, placing a consoling hand on his shoulder. “Xiao Chen, I’m sorry for your loss.”
But Chen Xue Wen just sat there, hollow-eyed, his spirit seemingly wrenched from his body. Every thought was filled with memories of his parents, their faces, their voices.
After Zhang Dong left, Scarface and his gang swaggered over.
With a mocking grin, Scarface snatched half of Chen Xue Wen’s meal and plopped it onto his own tray. Then he dropped some scraps onto Chen Xue Wen’s plate.
“Hey kid, today’s your lucky day! You get to eat meat! Enjoy these bones—my treat!” He laughed, his lackeys echoing him.
Still reeling from grief, Chen Xue Wen remained silent, staring blankly.
Scarface, mistaking his hollow gaze for insolence, bristled. “Who do you think you’re looking at, huh?!”
“What? Upset that I took your food?” Scarface’s lips curled. “Fine, I’ll share something else with you!”
He spat onto Chen Xue Wen’s tray. “Eat it, every last bit. Or you won’t be sleeping tonight.”
Chen Xue Wen did not move. But in his eyes, something shifted—an icy glimmer, sharp and lethal.
Slowly, his mind cleared, though his entire body trembled. He wasn’t sure if it was grief or fury.
He gripped his chopsticks so tightly that his knuckles whitened. His blood roared in his ears as he glared at Scarface and his cronies.
He had lost everything. He had been thrown into this hell on a false charge. His parents died struggling to prove his innocence. He had no future, nothing left. No reason to live.
[But before I die, I’ll make them pay for every ounce of suffering.]
Scarface, seeing Chen Xue Wen unmoving, grew more enraged. “Are you deaf?! I said eat, damn it!”
He grabbed the tray, ready to slam it into Chen Xue Wen’s face.
In that instant, Chen Xue Wen sprang into motion.
With a roar, he tightened his hold on the chopsticks—then drove them straight toward Scarface’s eyes!
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation