The man groped around on the ground and finally found a broken tile. He gripped the tile tightly and forcefully carved a scratch into the wall.
As time passed, the sun moved its trajectory across the sky, and at this moment, the sunlight changed its angle, casting its rays in and illuminating the wall.
There were many crooked "正" characters drawn on the wall. I counted them, there were thirty-seven in total, plus one that had just been added with a horizontal stroke. If we count one stroke per day, this man has been in this room for 186 days.
After the man finished carving, he threw the tile on the ground, his gaze somewhat vacant. Looking at the locked wooden door and rusty iron window, he couldn't help but cry.
His name is Xiang Yu, which sounds similar to that of the ancient overlord, but he is very different from that overlord.
He was small in stature and gentle in nature, and no one who knew him would associate him with the Hegemon of ancient books.
At the age of twenty, burdened by family pressure, he had no choice but to drop out of school and work. He came to another province alone, but he didn't expect to be knocked unconscious at the train station the next day. When he woke up, he found that he could not move and his legs were wrapped in gauze. When he lifted the gauze, he found that his legs had been cut off.
And so, he survived a month in this room on the food brought in by a few burly men. The only way to keep track of time was by watching the sunrise and sunset through the window and marking the time on the tiles.
In the days that followed, he was taken to the streets to beg every day. Because he had lost both legs, he could not escape. He had to beg for a certain amount each day, otherwise he would be beaten when he returned home.
He did consider calling the police, but every time he tried to take action, he was forcibly dragged into a car by people hiding in the crowd and beaten. After this happened repeatedly, Xiang Yu gave up on the unrealistic idea. The only thought that kept him going was to go back and see his parents.
There were originally seven people in this house, but most of them died from illness or from being severely injured. The last one also tried to escape yesterday but was thrown into the water and drowned.
While eating, Xiang Yu overheard those people discussing their plan to recruit a few more people to bolster their begging force and expand their beggar gang.
That's right, it's the Beggars' Sect!
However, this Beggars' Sect is different from the one in the novel. They have no sense of brotherhood or the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms. They are a huge organization that controls disabled people to beg and even traffics people. They lure children from remote inland areas to coastal areas to sell them or break their arms and legs to make them disabled, in order to obtain a lot of money.
This organization has suffered numerous setbacks but remains active in coastal and remote western regions, committing a wide range of evil deeds. (Based on a true story broadcast on CCTV, although the real beggar was likely beaten to death.)
Looking at the light outside the window, Xiang Yu's eyes felt a little sore, and she murmured to herself, "God, why do you punish evil and save us!"
After saying that, Xiang Yu said with a self-deprecating laugh, "I'm getting more and more confused. Where do gods come from in this world? They're just figments of human imagination."
A sliver of blue light shone through the window and fell on Xiang Yu's face, attracting his attention.
Bang!
The rusty iron railings were blasted open, dust and smoke swirled everywhere, and a blue ball of light slowly flew in through the window and drifted to Xiang Yu's front.
The blue light cluster was crystal clear, like a precious gem, with a red-crested rooster staring at Xiang Yu in the center.
When Xiang Yu met its gaze, she felt no fear whatsoever. Instead, she felt a sense of familiarity, as if she had an inexplicable connection with this strange rooster.
Although she was somewhat afraid of this strange thing, Xiang Yu couldn't resist her curiosity and slowly reached her hand into the ball of light, touching the rooster's comb.
So soft!
With her last thought, Xiang Yu was overwhelmed by a massive flow of information and lost consciousness, some knowledge also flooding into her mind...
About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a bald, burly man strode in. Seeing the window bars had been smashed open, veins bulged on his forehead. Looking at Xiang Yu on the ground, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes as he cursed, "You bastard, how dare you break into this house! Get up right now, or I'll beat you to death..."
The big man's words went unanswered; Xiang Yu remained lying on the ground, sleeping peacefully, seemingly enjoying a deep sleep.
The burly man frowned, glancing at a short wooden stick by the door. He smiled coldly, picked up the stick, and started to strike Xiang Yu's arm. He hadn't forgotten that Xiang Yu was the only one here; without him, everyone would starve. So the burly man didn't go for the kill, intending to beat him even more miserably. In any case, this would more easily arouse the sympathy of the people in society, thus increasing their income.
Snap!
The bald, burly man was jolted by the immense force of the impact, causing his hands to go numb. The wooden stick in his hand shattered from the top, breaking into three pieces that lay scattered on the ground.
"What's going on...?"
The burly man retreated several steps, his hand pointing at Xiang Yu trembling uncontrollably, and his words becoming somewhat incoherent.
The spot where Xiang Yu had been standing suddenly glowed with a ghostly blue light, and his eyes turned azure as he stared intently at the bald, burly man.
Although Xiang Yu already knew about this power in his memory, he still found it incredible when he actually used it, and he felt a sense of awe for the great Emperor.
Fortunately, even when he woke up and found that this guy wanted to break his hand, he clearly remembered that this guy was one of the people who had tormented him in the past, punching and kicking him every day and venting all his negative emotions on him.
Xiang Yu didn't have the ability to take revenge before, but things are different now.
"Don't come any closer!" the big man screamed, turning and running away. After all, Xiang Yu was emitting blue light all over her body, which clearly indicated that she was possessed, which terrified the big man. After all, what they had done deserved to be sent to the eighteenth level of hell.
Those who have done many wrong things are most afraid of ghosts knocking at their door!
After gaining power, Xiang Yu's negative emotions surged, but he didn't rush to kill the guy. His goal was to gather everyone together.
The bald, burly man lived up to Xiang Yu's expectations; his screams drew everyone out, and they all gathered in the open space.
The Beggars' Sect leader frowned as he looked at the bald, burly man's startled expression and asked, "Little Wang, what happened?"
The bald, burly man, whom the Beggar Clan leader called Little Wang, gasped for breath, "Boss... no... something bad has happened... that guy's possessed..."
"What is it? Take a breath before you talk to me!" The boss was completely confused and couldn't help but scold him.
"No need for further words, I'm here. I will make you taste every bit of the pain you've inflicted on me over the past six months!"
Xiang Yu's voice came from not far away. Because his legs had been cut off, he could no longer walk, so he used his telekinesis to control his body to fly from the thatched hut to the open ground and look down at these beggar gang villains.
The sight of Xiang Yu floating in the air greatly shocked these wicked villains. The crowd began to stir, and panic appeared in everyone's eyes. Several people had already begun to retreat slowly, after all, humans are always filled with fear of unknown and mysterious forces.
Seeing his members showing signs of wanting to quit, the Beggars' Clan leader knew he couldn't let things continue like this, otherwise Xiang Yu alone would frighten them into disbanding.
Although he was afraid of this strange guy, years of experience gave him the courage to pull out a gun he bought on the black market, aim at Xiang Yu in the sky, and pull the trigger.
Snap!
The bullet made a crisp sound as it left the chamber, but things didn't turn out as he expected, killing Xiang Yu. The bullet was stopped by a blue wall and became deeply embedded, unable to move.