The prison was only part of a much larger building.
Xia Mo unlocked the door with his key. Instead of an exit, there were stairs leading up. Thanks to the muscle relaxant effect of the medication, Xia Mo helped me ascend. This building defied common sense—I was being held in the basement, somewhere between three and four floors below. When I reached the ground floor, I finally saw light—the sunlight filtered through the dusty, cobweb-covered glass, turning it a dead gray. The cement floor was littered with dead leaves, garbage, and the carcasses of rats.
Have you ever seen those abandoned factories in remote corners of towns? This is probably what they are.
"...Can I ask about those photos and videos?" I had to stop and rest for a moment on the second-floor steps. "What happened to you?"
He also sat down beside me, and the sunlight fell on us like a quilt, bringing a kind of dull warmth.
"When I see Chinese students studying in California now, they all look so well-off and don't have to worry about living expenses and tuition fees," he said with a wry smile. "I went abroad when I was 16, but back then, life wasn't easy for international students."
There were no subsidies or scholarships, no language courses, and even no way to live in the school dormitories; he had to find housing outside. Xia Mo was enrolled in the School of Psychology. His parents, both traditional intellectuals, preferred a science or engineering degree. Perhaps because of Xia Mo's congenital anomaly, his father was uneasy about his child's apparent emotional gifts.
In addition to his studies, he also had to work part-time to earn tuition and living expenses. Living this way, he celebrated his eighteenth birthday in the United States. That year, the School of Psychology established a scholarship for Asian students, and because of his outstanding academic performance, a state psychology institute offered him a summer internship. His life was moving steadily upward. If nothing unexpected had happened, he would have received the scholarship, no longer had to work part-time, successfully completed his studies, entered graduate school, worked, and grown old, leaving behind several books.
"During one of our annual course presentations, my senior was in the hospital due to a car accident, so I gave the speech in his place."
I remember the video on the first disc. In the large classroom of the School of Psychology, Xia Mo held a manuscript and stumbled through his speech.
This must be an important turning point, because the man beside me had dimmed his eyes.
"Someone recorded my video and gave it to that person."
The university has its sponsors, the largest of which is the Lee Foundation.
"Is this the Li Group I know?" I took economics in my freshman year and had heard about this family's history. "They started out as a notorious Chinese dock gang on the American coast in the 1940s, then later branched out into shipping and military smuggling to Southeast Asia. By the 1970s, they had become a giant conglomerate..."
If it was the Li Consortium, then Qi Mengzhu's family would be nothing more than a baby-level opponent. This old capital consortium's presence was so wide and its penetration so deep that it had almost touched every industry in the world.
"The reason they funded the School of Psychology... not everyone in a large family like this is involved in business. The Li family once had a psychologist named..."
"——Li Fen?"
Xia Mo nodded.
At that time, the heir of the Li family was named Brooke, and people generally referred to him by his Chinese surname "Li". Brooke Li was the son of Li Fen.
When Xia Mo was eighteen, Li Fen's son was in his thirties. The Li family's business had already expanded unstoppably to every corner of the world. However, Brooke was inspired by the articles left by his father and had something he wanted to do.
He wanted to restore the hypothesis proposed by his father Li Fen - "Class L".
"If you'd paid attention to business news at the time, you'd know his reputation was somewhat..." Xia Mo didn't know what words to use to describe it, so he could only shrug, "...notorious. He was in his thirties at the time, but he had been married five times, two of his wives had died of unexplained causes, and there were constant lawsuits against him for violence... So in my impression, the college's sponsor was a rich playboy who loved fighting. The reason he asked his assistant to contact me was just to do some small charity work like providing financial aid to students occasionally to save his image... Yes, I thought it was just that..."
Brook's assistant came to the school to find him and brought him good news - the Li Group was going to sponsor financially challenged international students until graduation, and Xia Mo was selected. That summer, he was first taken to Brook's private estate in Los Angeles.
It was difficult to recall the details of their first encounter; the memory was starting to blur. He only remembered that Brook was tall, with the physique of a basketball player in his youth, and his hands were broad and strong. He was wearing a tracksuit when he met Xia Mo, who had just come off the court.
"Those were very pleasant days," Xia Mo said. They chatted at the manor, organized dances and parties, and Brooke invited many experts to hold academic discussions in the study. This man displayed a primitive yet powerful mind, wild, vibrant, and untamed by academics...
He was not as rude and arrogant as Xia Mo had imagined.
"Easygoing, cheerful, and approachable. Sometimes acts like a child."
"Considering he imprisoned you there for so long and even founded Class L, that's definitely not his nature."
"…As summer was drawing to a close, he invited me to travel with him. From the United States to Egypt, and then back to China. Do you have trouble sleeping before traveling? Hahaha… I started suffering from insomnia half a month before departure. I'm the kind of person who gets easily excited about traveling. However…"
Having said this, Xia Mo's voice softened.
"My journey ends here."
This is a place in southwestern China. Twenty years ago, this building was abandoned due to disrepair. Many foreign businesses, anticipating the upcoming opening to foreign investment, began scouting factory locations in advance.
When the travel plan reached China, Xia Mo was taken underground here.
After that, there was endless abuse, intimidation and mental destruction for more than two years. Brooke would come every two to four months and stay for about a week each time.
He had a strong interest in studying Xia Mo's body, and one of his "research results" eventually led to the birth of Xue Ya.
"After Xueya was born, my performance satisfied him. So I was allowed to leave here."
However, just one week later, Xia Mo managed to secure enough funds to flee with his daughter. The two of them stayed in many regions and countries, and during their escape, he adopted two homeless children who were dependent on each other.
——Those were the young Xu Tuo and Jackman, maybe seven, nine, or ten. Since they didn't know their birthdays, neither of them could clearly tell their own age.
The four of them spent a relatively peaceful few years together. When Brook's pursuit slackened, Xia Mo even managed to take them to the United States, using shady channels but also acquiring new identities. They had a chance to breathe, perhaps even start a new life.
Until a shooting occurred at Xueya's school.
Xia Mo's recollection stopped. He suddenly chuckled and asked me, "Has the time been delayed enough?"
Not enough. The muscle relaxants were still effective, and I only regained the strength to walk.
"It's no use recovering, silly child. I'm not the only one watching over you here." He gently touched my head. At this moment, footsteps sounded on the stairs above.
——There was a middle-aged man in a suit standing there. He urged Xia Mo in English: "Li asked you to go over quickly."
"He needs to rest for a while."
"He's rested long enough."
The man reached out to grab me, but was blocked by Xia Mo. That gentle smile disappeared, and he looked at the man expressionlessly until the other party gave up.
We reached the fifth floor. On the stairs leading from the fourth to the fifth floor, there were already bodyguards. I suspected there were also bodyguards outside the building. Even if I regained my strength, I wouldn't be able to rush out.
On the fifth floor, the space suddenly became darker than the rest of the room. All the windows were sealed shut, the light coming from the old-fashioned chandelier above. Inside the dilapidated space, there was surprisingly a set of Chinese-style family tables and chairs.
A tall old man sat at the table, his eyes impatient. I didn't realize who he was at first, until I remembered that Xia Mo was eighteen years old, more than twenty years ago.
Brook is now in his sixties.
When he saw Xia Mo, his eyes softened a little: "Is this the person you recommended?"
"I need help."
The old man's eyes fell on me. How should I put it? It was like when you see the product you want during a big shopping trip, but you just spend an extra second to look at the gift, a perfunctory look.
This look makes me very uncomfortable.
"What is he mumbling?" He noticed my lips moving, so he asked Xia Mo.
"He's greeting you in English."
There was silence for a few seconds. Then, Brooke waved to him.
Xia Mo walked over to him. Even though he was already over sixty years old, the old man still gave people a terrifying sense of oppression. He was obviously maintaining a high-intensity exercise and did not show any signs of fatigue.
Then, I was left alone. The two of them talked quietly, and Brooke would laugh from time to time. I could even make out the curse words from his mouth shape.
I was tired, so I walked forward and grabbed an empty chair at the other end of the table and tried to sit down. His bodyguard tried to stop me, but my legs gave out and I fell to the ground with the chair.
My ugly appearance made him laugh again.
"Say hello to me again in English?" he said. "If I don't like it, let them put your tongue on a plate."
Xia Mo smiled at me, and I knew it was some kind of hint, meaning "don't make trouble."
So I didn't say anything for a while.
"Have you seen those photos and videos in the basement?" he asked. "Those are records of Xia Mo's transformation. He has to review them twice a year. But soon, they will all be yours."
"I don't like having my picture taken," I said.
The room was quiet. I could feel the atmosphere change.
I still couldn't help it and got offended.
never mind.
This kind of person, if you provoke him once, he will never let you go.
"I heard you've been married five times. I wonder how many times you've been married now," I said. Meanwhile, Xia Mo sighed and closed his eyes. "—You're already this old, you're not still getting married and divorced, are you?"
He asked Xia Mo: "What medicine did you give him?"
"Some tranquilizers. He hasn't regained consciousness yet."
"What's your name?"
"Dai Xueming."
The old man leaned back in his chair and looked at me again. This time, he looked at me for a long time.
"Dai Xueming, what do you think domesticated humans?"
What is the problem?
I hesitated for a few seconds, then he stood up and walked over to me.
My back is slightly hairy.
Brooke gripped my wrist like a weak straw, his fingers slowly tapping against mine, like a countdown.
"On my way here, I saw nearby farmers using a blender to crush rice," he said. "I was curious, so I asked someone to bring one over too."
In the corner of the room, a machine was covered in cloth. A bodyguard pulled back the cloth, revealing the army-green blender underneath. He plugged it in, and the whole machine suddenly began to rumble, its blades spinning rapidly.
"Seeing it reminds me of my third wife. It was at the Czech manor, and she chattered for ten minutes about her new shoes. But I don't like noisy people." His finger lingered on my little finger, and his voice became softer and softer. "There were lumberjacks using a wood chipper near the manor. The principle of this machine is very similar. I first threw her tongue in there, but she was still very noisy. Later, I just had her thrown in there whole."
I fell silent.
"So, Dai Xueming, humans are domesticated by death," he said. "Because of the fear of death and the desire to control it, humans have gradually become what they are today."
Then, I heard a soft sound.
My little finger was broken.