Chapter 8 · The Night He Walked Away

The wooden tag is cold in my hand. My mother's name carved into the front. My name on the back.

Su Qing's standing there with this smile like she just won something. "Three years ago. You were down here with her, weren't you?"

I don't answer. Can't. My throat's locked up.

"I found this in the old records," Su Qing says. She's talking slow, like she's explaining something to a kid. "Prisoner logs. Your mother died down here. And you—" She points at the tag. "You were her cellmate for two months before she passed."

Gu Hanchuan's standing a few steps behind her. His face is blank. Completely blank.

"So what?" I manage to get out. My voice sounds like gravel.

Su Qing laughs. It's not a nice sound. "So what? Lin Wei, do you remember screaming that night? Because I do. I was doing rounds with Senior Brother Gu. We heard you all the way from the upper corridor."

My stomach drops.

"You were begging someone to help your mother. Said she was dying. Said she needed medicine." Su Qing tilts her head. "Senior Brother Gu wanted to check. I told him not to. Sect rules—