Otherworldly Affairs Office

After walking around without being able to see the situation behind the prison door, Pei Yan was taken by Director Wei to a large door at the end of the corridor. Pushing it open, Director Wei pointed inside and said, "Go in, the second to last room at the end is open, your people are waiting there."

After Gu Shenghui thanked him, the two strode in, and Pei Yan turned back to see that Director Wei quietly closed the door without following them in.

Walking inside, there was another straight long corridor, with prison doors on both sides. However, it was evident that the density of cells here was less than outside, and each cell door was bigger and seemed heavier. Compared to the occasional wailing from outside, the corridor, once the door shut behind them, seemed completely isolated from the world. The silence was so intense that only their footsteps could be heard, making one's skin tingle.

Pei Yan wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but in such a repressive environment, time seemed to pass particularly slowly. Although the corridor seemed to end with just a glance, he felt he had walked for a long time and still couldn't reach the end. This sense of dislocation between time and space gradually made him anxious, and his breathing became heavy.

Just then, a large hand clapped on his shoulder, and Pei Yan whipped his head around to see Gu Shenghui! As he turned, he realized they had already reached the open prison door that Director Wei mentioned.

Wiping the cold sweat off his forehead, Pei Yan turned back again to look at the door at the other end of the corridor. The ease he felt before entering the corridor had vanished. The entire corridor now seemed no less than a heart-devouring monster in his eyes. There was something odd about it!

"Stop overthinking, this place is under multiple Array restrictions. Remember not to counteract that bizarre feeling by trying to use your abilities when you go out later, otherwise, it will cause a stronger rebound from the Array. Let's go in!" Gu Shenghui said to Pei Yan, who was staring blankly at the corridor, giving him a shove into the room.

Casting that annoying feeling aside, Pei Yan walked in past the prison door and found it was a large room already filled with people. In addition to Elder Lin, Elder Zuo, Mei Simiao, Yu Zhongmin, and Wenlin, there was also Gao Yaping from the equipment department, and a slightly older but elegant-looking unfamiliar woman, along with two elderly men Pei Yan had never seen before. Including Gu Shenghui, a total of ten people had gathered there for his matter.

When Pei Yan entered the room, everyone's eyes turned to him. The unfamiliar woman stared at him intently, occasionally whispering with Gao Yaping beside her. Whatever Gao Yaping said must have amused her, as she erupted into a cheerful giggle.

"Xiaopei is here. Has Director Gu explained to you exactly what to do? Time is tight, no need to say more, you should head inside! We will assist you from the side!" Elder Lin stood up, patting Pei Yan's shoulder and pointing to a small door inside the room.

"Alright!" Pei Yan readily agreed, striding towards the door, pushing it open to see Song Mingyuan seated on a large chair with his hands and feet bound by shackles.

The noise from outside had already caught his attention, and upon seeing Pei Yan enter, Song Mingyuan was initially stunned before shaking his head with a wry smile, sarcastically remarking, "So you're the one who's going to absorb my ability? It seems you've indeed gained the government's favor, no wonder you keep talking about law and justice."

Pei Yan stared coldly at Song Mingyuan. Compared to when they first met, he looked even more bedraggled. Although his prison uniform was still fairly tidy, his mental state had obviously collapsed. Pei Yan had never imagined that someone could become so emaciated in just two months.

"Looks like you're not having a good time here!" Pei Yan glanced around at a row of chairs in the corner, walking over, grabbing one, and sitting down in front of Song Mingyuan, curling his lips as he spoke.

"Got a cigarette?" Song Mingyuan leaned back in his chair, looking up at Pei Yan, who was blocking the door with others from the investigation office. Elder Lin stopped them, signaling for the two to speak.

Faced with this request, Pei Yan had no qualms, taking out a pack of cigarettes, pulling one out, and sticking it into his mouth, lighting it with a lighter for him.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Watching Song Mingyuan choke violently after taking a drag and dropping the cigarette, Pei Yan bent down to pick it up again, sticking it back into his mouth, "You don't know how to smoke!"

"Never smoked before. Always thought it was funny watching prisoners ask cops for cigarettes in movies; now I realize it's not funny at all!" Song Mingyuan took a few puffs before holding the cigarette in his shackled hands, tilting his head to stare at Pei Yan's eyes, asking, "Do you know what this place is?"

"Prison!" Pei Yan answered casually, lighting a cigarette for himself.

"This is no place for humans. I'm like a cow being milked daily, having my internal energy forcibly extracted for various experiments. Look here, here, all needle marks and scars!" Looking at Pei Yan's relaxed expression, Song Mingyuan's anger flared as he pulled open his collar, showing the marks to Pei Yan, then roared, "This is what you call justice! Law!"

"What does that have to do with me?" Pei Yan stood expressionless, watching the agitated Song Mingyuan, letting his saliva splatter across his face. After he finished roaring, Pei Yan wiped his face with his sleeve, speaking disdainfully.

"Yeah, you're the winner! The government's dog, well done, you've been given a bone to chew. I'm just the bone you're about to shatter." Song Mingyuan sat back in his chair, letting out a bitter laugh before sighing.

Pei Yan extended his foot, extinguishing the cigarette butt Song Mingyuan had spat onto the floor, exhaling a plume of smoke as he asked casually, "You know it all!"

"I know, after tormenting me for over a month, your superiors came to talk, asking me to cooperate with you to extract my ability. If I comply, my death sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment, after which I will only undergo reform through labor and no longer suffer these experiments."

At this point, Song Mingyuan provocatively looked at Pei Yan, "You know, in the end, it proves I was right! In this world, having power allows you to trample on what you call law and justice. The only reason I ended up like this is that I wasn't strong enough! But I will live on, and keep living, think about it, hero, isn't it ironic?"

"Say whatever you like!" Pei Yan shrugged indifferently, standing up, throwing the cigarette on the ground, and extinguishing it. He turned toward the door, "Elder Lin, can we begin?"

Hearing this, Elder Lin and the others stormed into the room, with Gu Shenghui and Wenlin stepping forward to seize the unresisting yet grimly smiling Song Mingyuan, tearing his prison uniform open.

Their palms pressed on him, and a jet black ink emerged from Gu Shenghui's body, forming the character for seal on his back. Simultaneously, a bizarre pattern emerged from Wenlin's palm, branding itself onto Song Mingyuan's back.