"Place of origin!" another voice pressed on, revealing an unquestionable firmness.
"I... I'm from a rural area in Zhongyuan Province. My family is poor, so I came out to make a living." Song Zhijun answered with a slight tremor, and his cracked lips were slightly bleeding from speaking.
"Stop talking nonsense and tell me what you have done!" The hoarse voice sounded again, accompanied by the sound of leather shoes pacing impatiently on the concrete floor.
Song Zhijun squinted, the bright light only allowing him to faintly make out two figures swaying in the shadows. He took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice steady. "I... I'm just doing odd jobs, helping people move things, to earn some hard-earned money. I don't know why I was brought here. Brother, did you make a mistake?"
He pretended to be pitiful, but was secretly alert in his heart, always paying attention to the reactions of the two.
"Hmph, you think we'll believe you? Stop playing tricks and tell the truth again!" The stern voice echoed again, accompanied by the flickering of a powerful light. The glaring beams shone across the warehouse walls, casting eerie shadows. Song Zhijun knew these two wouldn't easily believe him. A difficult negotiation had just begun, and he had to rely on his cunning and tenacity to find a glimmer of hope in this desperate situation.
For three days straight, the intense light, like the scorching sun, shone directly upon Song Zhijun, blinding him with stinging pain. His interrogators, like tireless vicious dogs, took turns peppering him with questions, a torrent of them that drowned him in exhaustion and fear.
"Tell me, what else did you do! Stop making up useless stories for me!" An interrogator with a fierce face roared, his voice echoing in the warehouse, making Song Zhijun's ears buzz.
Song Zhijun hung his head, his tangled hair obscuring his scarred face. Three days and three nights of exhausting interrogation had hammered at his nerves like a relentless hammer. His body was utterly weakened, his legs feeling heavy as lead, barely able to support him. Yet, even so, a glimmer of clarity remained within him. He knew he had fallen into the enemy's hands, and a single misstep could lead to his utter destruction.
"Brother, we can talk it out..." Song Zhijun's cracked lips trembled slightly, and his voice was weak but with a hint of flattery. "Look, as long as you let me go, I promise to give you a generous reward that will definitely satisfy you." He raised his head and looked at the interrogator pleadingly with his bloodshot eyes.
In response, he received a sneer of disdain from the interrogator.
"You? You still want to bribe me? Do you think you're still qualified to negotiate?" Before he could finish his words, another interrogator suddenly kicked Song Zhijun in the abdomen. Song Zhijun felt a sharp pain, and his body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, falling heavily to the ground.
"Ah..." Song Zhijun groaned in agony. Before he could recover, punches and kicks rained down on him. Each punch and kick was filled with endless anger and brutality, leaving his skin and flesh ripped. Blood gushed from the corners of his mouth and wounds, staining the ground a deep crimson.
"Stop hitting me... Stop hitting me..." Song Zhijun shouted weakly, his voice sounding so small and helpless in this empty warehouse.
"Tell me or not!" The interrogator with a fierce face grabbed Song Zhijun's hair, lifted his head up abruptly, and stared at him viciously.
Song Zhijun gasped, his eyes filled with pain and helplessness. He knew that if he didn't confess, the beating would probably not stop. "Okay... I'll tell you..." He spoke with difficulty, his voice as weak as a mosquito's.
"I... I participated in a robbery in Northeast China. I stole... I stole tens of thousands of yuan..." Song Zhijun confessed haltingly. However, even under such brutal torture, he gritted his teeth and refused to reveal his real name. He knew that if he did, he might face an abyss of no return.
"That's all? Do you think we'll believe it?" The interrogator raised his fist again, a fierce glint in his eyes. Song Zhijun looked at the raised fist, his heart filled with despair and unwillingness, but he still bit his lip tightly, guarding his last secret.
On the seventh day, the warehouse was filled with a suffocating stench, a blend of sweat, blood, and decay. Song Zhijun collapsed on the cold ground, like a soulless body. Days of exhausting interrogation had tormented him beyond recognition. His eyes were bloodshot, his lips cracked like a dry riverbed, and his body was covered in wounds, old and new, the nauseating stench emanating from the torn flesh.
"I'm telling you... everything I'm saying is true... Please, let me get some sleep..." Song Zhijun's voice was as weak as a thread, and every word he uttered seemed to exhaust all his strength. He felt his consciousness gradually dissipating. If he didn't rest, he was afraid he would really die here.
Perhaps the interrogator had grown tired of this protracted confession, or perhaps he had achieved his goal, the blazing spotlight finally stopped shining directly on him. The interrogation ceased abruptly, and the entire warehouse fell into an eerie silence, broken only by Song Zhijun's rapid, weak breathing.
Just as Song Zhijun was dozing off, a steady sound of footsteps came closer.
"Do you want to live?" A voice sounded in the silence, with a thick Russian accent, but strangely mixed with a bit of Chinese tone.
Song Zhijun seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw and hurriedly said, "I want... I want to live... Please..."
As the words fell, the light in the warehouse began to dim. Song Zhijun squinted, trying to adapt to this sudden change. When his vision gradually cleared, he was surprised to find a Russian in military uniform standing before him.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com