Wei Ran sat cross-legged on the dirty floor, playing with the satellite phone he found on the other party's body. After finding Teacher Dalia's mobile phone number in it, he was not in a hurry to dial it.
"The clothes, mobile phone and ID are in the guard tower on the right side of the gate. The other things are in the car. The car has been driven away by Ji Ma." The old man tried to pinch his nose and complained with a gasp,
"You bastard, you are so mean. My nose seems to have been broken by you."
"How many companions do you have?" Wei Ran asked unmoved.
"Two" the old man wiped his nosebleed, "You haven't said how you escaped yet."
"Bite it open with your teeth," Wei Ran said perfunctorily, stood up and said, "I'll go get my clothes first and call Dalia by the way."
"up to you"
The old man angrily picked at the keyhole of the handcuffs that were nailed shut by wooden wedges, "You've gone too far, can't you save some face for me?"
"I've given you face by not putting you in a cell."
As Wei Ran spoke, he kicked the surrounding debris away, then took the other party's satellite phone and walkie-talkie and left the cell building, heading straight to the sentry tower on the right side of the gate.
To his surprise, although this three-story sentry tower looked shabby on the outside, it was very well maintained inside. On the first floor, there was a well-maintained fuel generator and a 200-liter oil tank filled with fuel.
There are buckets and a lot of chopped firewood in the corner.
Climbing up to the second floor, there are only four high and low bunks with iron shelves placed against the wall, surrounded by a small solid wood table. There are also many food items placed above and below the table and on two of the iron shelves.
He had some food to drink, a few boxes of bullets and a battery-powered radio set. His clothes and backpack were placed on one of the iron canopy beds.
After getting dressed and putting on the watch that Teacher Dalia had forced to sell to him, Wei Ran put on his bag and walked up to the top of the sentry tower.
The top floor of this sentry tower is circular, surrounded by a circle of glass windows, and there is a protective net shaped like blinds outside the windows. In the direction facing the prison interior and the lake in the distance, there are two shooting holes, each with
Behind each shooting hole, there is actually a PKM machine gun that can be fired at any time!
Behind the window facing the cell floor where he was originally imprisoned, there is a high-power viewing scope. Through this viewing scope, you can barely see the old man who is still handcuffed to the iron fence looking at him.
I'm waving my hand!
Sitting down on the recliner behind the target scope, Wei Ran used the old man's satellite phone to dial Teacher Dalia's phone number.
"Is there an accident?" On the other end of the phone, Teacher Dalia just answered the call and asked with a smile.
"There was indeed an accident," Wei Ran replied with the same smile, "I captured that old man."
"Well done." Teacher Dalia didn't seem to be surprised at all in her tone, "but the time went faster than I expected."
Wei Ran sighed helplessly, "So should I capture his companions next, or should I rush back to Hongqi Forest Farm now?"
“No need to rush back”
Teacher Dalia paused for a moment and made a decision, "For the next time, until the end of the month, you can study with him. Give him the phone number and I will help you arrange the study content."
"He is still locked in the cell." Wei Ran had no intention of saving face for the old man, "I am now monitoring him at the place where he originally monitored me."
"Then let him call me later." Dalia's tone seemed to be more and more satisfied, "This time it was done well, at least it was much better than the time in Yakutsk."
Wei Ran didn't pay attention to the compliment, "Dalia, what do I need to learn from that old man?"
"Let him teach you how to keep secrets, and learn from him how to ask for the secrets from other people's mouths." Dalia explained with a smile, "Also, the next time you go back to Hongqi Forest Farm for class is August 15th, remember to prepare in advance.
tuition fee."
Before Wei Ran could say anything else, Teacher Dalia simply hung up the phone.
It's been a year...
Wei Ran looked at the sparkling lake outside the window with emotion. At this time a year ago, not long after he got the metal book, Professor Alexai was still his boss.
But today, one year later, I am completely different from the international student who relied on connections to study abroad and relied on relatives to eat and wait until death.
So what about one year from now? What will you look like then?
Wei Ran looked away expectantly, left the sentry tower and returned to the cell building. While returning the satellite phone to the old man, he also informed him of Teacher Dalia's decision.
"I knew you were trouble."
The old man shook his feet, then leaned against the wall and said, "I'll call Dalia and you can help me get the handcuffs off."
"Would you like me to help you heal your nose?" Wei Ran picked up the windproof lighter that was pulled out from the other party's body and asked while burning the wood in the keyhole of the handcuffs.
"I can't trust your skills," the old man complained, sniffing, and then pressed the dial button.
To Wei Ran's surprise, the old man and Teacher Dalia actually communicated in English, which completely killed his idea of eavesdropping.
When the other party hung up the phone, Wei Ran had already opened the handcuffs. Almost at the same time as he stood up, two old men who looked to be in their fifties or sixties also walked out of the stairwell with guns in hand.
"If you dare to tell me what happened just now, you will be the best teaching tool these days." The old man threatened in a low voice.
"Deal" Wei Ran agreed with a smile.
"Gorman, what's going on?" One of the old men wearing old-fashioned Russian striped camouflage asked, "Dalia just informed us that it's over?"
“It is indeed over”
The old man who was captured by Wei Ran wiped the blood on his hands and said, "This little guy will experience life with us in the next few days."
"Looks like someone got beat up."
Another old man came over and looked at Gorman's bloody nose with gloating eyes, then opened his backpack and took out a medical box.
"We are old, and this little guy's fighting style is very weird." Gorman raised his head and allowed the other party to help him heal the wound on his nose.
“Don’t use age as an excuse”
While the old man was speaking, he had stuffed a large ball of absorbent cotton soaked in medicine into both of Gorman's nostrils.
"Gorman has no excuses."
The old man who spoke first put away his gun and said, "I heard that Kuzmic and the others have fought against this weird little guy. Recently, they have been practicing dislocation resets with a crazy mute smuggler."
"I've heard about this too"
The old man who was treating Gorman's nose continued to gloat and joke, "But he only injured your nose and didn't dislocate it. It's a pity."
Gorman said angrily, "If your movements are still so rough, I will dislocate your retired third leg later."
"It's far from retirement." The old man quickly completed the final treatment and asked while packing up the medical supplies, "What's the next plan?"
"You go back first." Gorman touched his nose that was propped up by the cotton ball. "Just leave us a boat."
"Little one, I wish you a happy time in the bell tower."
The old man who put away the medical box smiled and shook hands with Wei Ran, then called to another companion and turned around to leave without even leaving a name.
It wasn't until the two hurried old men left the abandoned prison and disappeared into the surrounding coniferous forest that Gorman, whose nostrils were stuffed with cotton balls, leaned against the window at the end of the corridor and asked, "Victor
, Dalia asked me to teach you some knowledge about torture and counter-torture. Now tell me what you think is the most terrifying method of torture."
"Waterboarding?" Wei Ran asked uncertainly. Although he had learned some torture techniques at the Hongqi Forest Farm, they could only be regarded as a subsidiary subject of psychology and he had not had too in-depth understanding.
“Waterboarding is really scary”
Gorman said as he walked downstairs, "The most horrific method of torture is to destroy the victim's psychology. You have to remember that psychological trauma is permanent, and it is far more lasting than physical discomfort.
It is also more effective. Of course, just like the waterboarding you mentioned, physical discomfort can accelerate the generation of psychological trauma, but at the same time it can easily turn the victim into a worthless lunatic."
At this point, the two of them had already reached the door of the first floor of the cell building. Gorman turned to look at Wei Ran and said, "Just like they mentioned just now, I think you must have met the smuggler in Yakutsk.
Get past him, right?"
Wei Ran nodded silently. Of course he remembered the smuggler who was hung in the warehouse of the power station. He also remembered the people who acted as his nannies. He casually decided to have an operation on his vocal cords, but planned to use him to contact the dislocated vocal cords.
Reset, and he even remembered that before those people made this decision, they were originally planning to send the smuggler directly into the power furnace and burn him to death.
Do you sympathize with the smuggler? Of course Wei Ran doesn't, but he can predict the experiences he will suffer in the days to come that are worse than death.
"That was a failed torture"
Gorman didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave. He sat on the steps covered with grass, took out a pack of cigarettes and gave one to Wei Ran.
We needed to get any information out of the smuggler, so we didn't leave him any hope.
Anyone, including you, me or Dalia, regardless of anything, when they can't see any hope, the only choice is to die as soon as possible. If he can't die and has to suffer a long period of torture, then he is very likely to die.
He will soon collapse and become a worthless lunatic. This is the worst possible outcome when it comes to torture."
Wei Ran, who rarely smoked, lit the cigarette that the other party handed him, but let it burn slowly on his fingertips, creating light blue smoke.
Gorman blew out a cloud of smoke from his mouth and continued slowly, "So the first lesson you have to learn is to build a hope for yourself that will not be destroyed under any circumstances. It can be a person,
It can be a secret or something that must be done.
As long as you still have hope, as long as you insist on not saying what your hope is, no matter how horrific the torture or how difficult the life, you can survive."
“Building hope?”
Wei Ran raised his left hand and took a puff of cigarette. At the same time, he casually glanced at the book and feather tattoo at the tiger's mouth of his left hand. Then he blew out a large cloud of smoke that was not inhaled into his lungs, blocking his sight.
Gorman, who looked up at the sky, nodded, "In the same way, during torture, the first thing we have to do is to build a hope for the victim. It is not until he believes this hope that the torturer begins to destroy it.
