It was morning, inside the Stone House. Bai Ya and the girl sat facing each other, with four moldy steamed buns lying between their crossed legs.
The girl swallowed and stared at the buns with a look of longing.
Those four moldy buns were called breakfast. Early in the morning, the Stone House guard had tossed the buns through the gaps between the iron bars and cursed a few times before leaving.
The buns were filthy, having rolled on the ground, their already pale surface covered with dirt.
But the mold was the real problem. To Bai Ya, moldy food was inedible—absolutely forbidden!
Thus, this scene unfolded: under Bai Ya’s insistence on inspecting the food, the girl reluctantly placed her share of the buns together with Bai Ya’s, sitting upright facing her.
Bai Ya squinted at the buns, muttering, “Definitely can’t eat this.”
The girl grew impatient, her stomach growling. She reached out toward the buns.
“If you eat that, you’ll get sick.”
Quick as a flash, Bai Ya grabbed the buns to throw them away just before the girl’s hand landed on them. At that moment, the girl’s small body suddenly pressed against her, the softness of the contact making Bai Ya momentarily lose focus.
“Ah!”
The girl swiftly snatched the buns from her hands and hurriedly stuffed them into her mouth, chewing heartily.
“You can’t eat that. It’s bad for your health.”
Bai Ya straightened up, trying to stop the girl with words now that she had regained her composure.
“If you don’t eat, you’ll die!”
The girl shot Bai Ya a fierce glare and kept chewing forcefully. The moldy taste twisted her expression with pain, leaving Bai Ya somewhat helpless.
For a while, the only sound in the Stone House was the girl’s labored chewing.
“Gurgle~~”
Bai Ya’s stomach loudly protested. Hearing this, the girl paused for a moment. Hesitating, she picked up the bun next to her leg with her empty hand and offered it to Bai Ya.
A bun covered in green mold appeared before her eyes. Bai Ya’s appetite vanished completely, and she even felt like vomiting.
She turned her head aside with a look of disgust, which sparked a flicker of anger inside the girl.
In this place, I thought maybe we’d get some decent food. You talked so big, but if I starve and can’t walk before then, that’d be ridiculous.
What annoyed the girl even more was that Bai Ya began humming a little tune, looking carefree. The girl frowned as Bai Ya hummed a melody she had never heard before.
Watching this carefree person, the girl recalled what Bai Ya had said last night. Her expression softened.
Hope… maybe I never really gave up after all. I do eat every day. I could starve to death without eating anything, but hope—such a tiny thing—is really strange. That sister said some odd things, but her body seems to have gained a little strength. If that’s so…
The girl smiled with innocent, harmless warmth and spoke in her gentlest voice:
“Sis~”
“…What is it?”
At that moment when Bai Ya turned her head, the green-molded bun forcefully broke through the defense of her teeth and, with lightning speed, entered her mouth.
“You told me not to give up hope, and starving to death is absolutely not allowed!!! Eat it!”
The girl pressed the bun hard into Bai Ya’s mouth with her palm, her eyes shining with a newfound excitement she had only regained today.
“Ugh ah.”
Mouth stuffed full, the palm blocking the mouth suddenly let go. Bai Ya didn’t have time to spit the bun out before she felt her crown and jaw firmly held down.
Struggling, Bai Ya lifted her head. The girl tilted her head slightly, meeting her gaze.
“Eat it~”
To Bai Ya, what came from the girl’s mouth was a voice unlike her innocent appearance—it sounded like something straight from hell.
A d-demon!
With the girl’s “help,” Bai Ya ate her breakfast.
*****
“Behold the wisdom of Bai Ya! Today I have eaten two moldy steamed buns. What punishment should you, my audience, suffer!”
“Sis, why are you saying such weird things?”
“Nothing. I’m breaking out of here. Don’t disturb me.”
Bai Ya chuckled quietly, flailing her arms vigorously at the wall. To the girl, this action looked strange.
Curious despite knowing escape was impossible, the girl felt a flicker of hope seeing Bai Ya’s enthusiasm.
“Sis, what are you doing?”
Treating Bai Ya like a harmless girl, the girl approached without suspicion, bending down and blinking her big eyes.
“—”
Using a silver spoon, Bai Ya dug fervently at the wall. Realizing the girl was beside her, she began humming to hide her nervousness: “Dig fast, dig hard, don’t care how tough the work is~ Dig fast, dig hard, from dawn till dusk…” Meanwhile, she carefully avoided flicking dirt from the spoon onto the girl.
The girl felt as if she had discovered something terrifying.
“Um, sis.”
“Hey! Don’t bother me when I’m working, I don’t like that. What’s up?”
“What are you planning… for escaping?”
“Of course, dig through this wall, then swagger out. Honestly, this wall is pretty sturdy.”
Bai Ya said with fighting spirit. The girl shook her head sadly.
“Sis… you’re already crazy.”
The girl let go of her worries. No wonder Bai Ya wasn’t afraid of the death she was facing, acting so strangely and saying weird things. Yeah, only a crazy person who knows nothing would face death without fear.
She was moved by a madwoman’s words, rekindling a faint hope. She should’ve known better—every time it’s like this. The hope she holds shatters the next moment.
A slave, what hope is there to hold on to…
“You called me crazy? I didn’t ignore that. I’m seriously breaking out of here. Using a spoon to dig through a wall, yeah, it sounds ridiculous.”
Bai Ya scratched her head and noticed her hair was no longer black and short but long and white. Her palms sank deep into her hair as she continued gloomily.
“Andy Dufresne broke out of prison using only a small pickaxe. Why can’t I? Besides, this spoon the neighbor gave me might hold the spirit of the Spoon Killer’s perseverance. As long as I keep digging, I’ll definitely break through this wall!”
The girl scoffed, mocking Bai Ya with biting sarcasm: “Sis, how long do you think that will take? Five years? Ten? Twenty? Don’t joke. In two days, you’ll be dead. Me too…”
“Only… two days.”
Bai Ya finally snapped back to reality. She clearly remembered in The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne spent twenty years using a small pickaxe to break out.
Two days. If she managed to dig a hole in the wall in two days, it would be a miracle.
Her expression froze instantly. After a while, she threw the spoon aside and despairingly said, “Then I’ll just wait to die,” lying down with arms and legs spread wide.
Bai Ya’s careless surrender stunned the girl for a moment. After regaining her senses, she looked at Bai Ya with complicated feelings, sighed, and imitated her by lying down in a star shape.
“Sis, you really are a strange person.”
“Is that a compliment? If so, I accept it. Sigh, how can I get out of here?”
“Soon, we’ll be leaving this place.”
“What?! We can leave this damn place? Why didn’t you say so earlier? Being stuck here is suffocating. Wait, we can leave?”
Leaving here meant escaping prison, didn’t it?
“Yes. Soon the guards will bring all the slaves, prisoners of war, and death row inmates here to the arena. That’s where we’ll face our future.”
The girl covered her eyes with one hand to hold back tears.
This would be her fifth time watching the arena battles. Once again, she would imagine her miserable end in her mind.
She tilted her head toward Bai Ya. She wondered if this sister would still keep this relaxed attitude after seeing the arena fights.
Maybe she’d be like her, sinking into despair, giving up struggling, just counting down her remaining days.
Such a hateful feeling.
The Spoon Killer, an American horror movie—or so it should be. Some killers need hours, some minutes, some seconds, but the Spoon Killer took… years. He kept hitting people with a spoon, causing unbearable pain~
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