When Mu Xuanyi woke up, she found herself in a place similar to a darkroom.
There was an indescribable stench in the room, and there were many girls about her age next to her.
They were all dressed in shabby clothes, with ropes tied around their feet. They hugged their knees with their hands and buried their heads in them to sleep.
There were also some who were sobbing quietly, and from time to time, comforting sounds came from them, as thin as a mosquito.
The moonlight poured in through the small skylight that was open high up, and could not illuminate the whole room at all. Most places were dark.
But Mu Xuanyi knew that in those dark places, there were many women hunkering down and leaning against the wall.
That group seemed to specialize in kidnapping women and then bringing them to this place, not knowing what they wanted to do.
"I don't want to die."
Just as Mu Xuanyi was observing the surrounding situation, the girl next to her suddenly said this in a low voice, and then started crying.
With a sigh, someone tapped the girl on the shoulder.
"Actually, being dead is better than living in such a state of confusion."
"I want to live, I don't want to die... Wuwu, dad, mom, where are you? I miss you so much..."
The man's comfort had no effect, and the girl cried even louder.
Her emotions also moved many people. After all, women are inherently emotional creatures.
For a time, the room was filled with the sound of women crying.
But before the cries could be heard together, a violent vibration came from the opposite side of Mu Xuanyi. She squinted and looked, and there should be a door over there.
"Stop crying. Why are you crying in the middle of the night? If anyone cries again, I will pull her out right now and send her to Yihong Building to pick up guests!"
The man shouted sternly.
Then the whole room fell silent, and everyone knew that what this man said was not a lie, and that he would really do this.
Everyone remained quiet for nearly a quarter of an hour, and then returned to the way they were when Mu Xuanyi just woke up.
As long as the sound is not too loud and does not disturb people outside, they will not be punished.
And for them, rather than crying endlessly, it is better to save more energy so that they can survive this long night.
There are only two meals a day served here, and each meal gives one steamed bun, not one per person.
If you want to avoid starving to death, you can only reduce your consumption as much as possible and conserve your energy so that you can grab something to eat during mealtime.
But a bite of food could only ensure that they would not starve to death.
This was what the nearby women whispered to the girl next to Mu Xuanyi.
The girl, like Mu Xuanyi, had just been arrested. She was unclear about many things and was still looking forward to going home.
But after being explained like this by a woman, the girl also looked in disbelief.
"Why are you not even allowed to eat? Isn't this intentional to starve people to death?"
"They won't let you starve to death. They will come over every day to check on everyone's situation. If someone is about to starve to death, they will throw her a steamed bun alone to keep her alive."
The girl's eyebrows widened as she listened to her explanation: "So, they are not willing to let us die?"
"Of course they don't want to, but I hope you won't be forced to this point." The woman sighed. The girl was naive and ignorant and had no idea what this meant.
In the girl's confused eyes, the woman touched her head with a complicated expression: "You'd better not ask. Knowing too much will affect your mood."
"What price do I need to pay to get this steamed bun?" Mu Xuanyi already had a guess in her mind, but she wasn't completely sure yet.
The woman knew that she was also new here, and she had no dissatisfaction with her move to come closer and listen to the conversation between the two of them.
After all, when she first came here, she only understood the rules here after receiving guidance from others.
"Yes, you have to accompany him once before he will give you steamed buns."
The men who hand out steamed buns here are equivalent to controlling their lifeblood, and can naturally use their bodies as they please.
The girl couldn't imagine such a situation and exclaimed.
"Isn't this too terrible? How dare they do this?"
"The scarier thing is yet to come. If your appearance is iconic enough, you will be selected and sent to a brothel to sell yourself, or marry some old bachelor who cannot find a wife."
"As for those who look ordinary, leave it to themselves or their brothers to enjoy and vent."
The woman didn't know how many times she had experienced this kind of thing. Her expression was gloomy: "You can only escape if you are pregnant, because they want to carry forward their power. If you are pregnant, they will send you out alone.
I will keep you fed and clothed until the child is weaned, and then I will throw you back here."
"Unless you have been tortured until you are no longer of use, they will kill you. Otherwise, everyone will only face such inhumane torture."
Because she has experienced too many things, when talking about these things, the woman behaves very calmly, as if she is telling someone else's story.
"Aren't they afraid that the government will know what they are doing? If the government knows..."
The girl still felt uneasy. How could such a thing be allowed?
Mu Xuanyi also pricked up his ears.
"The government doesn't care about this. They only attack women. Women's status is low. In the eyes of their men, they are just like goods."
"What they want to do with us is not a matter of a word for them."
The woman spoke very bleakly. The moonlight fell on her face at this time. Her hair was like withered grass and her face was tired. The experience here had made her very numb.
No matter who she was in the past, it doesn't matter now.
Because she only has one identity left, and that is the slave here.
"With a deed of prostitution, you can send people away at will. Not to mention that they have controlled our freedom. They can just fabricate a few deeds of prostitution. Even if they beat us all to death, the government will have nothing to do with it."
"Can the deed of sale be forged? That shouldn't be done by the government..." The girl's eyes widened.
What happened today was beyond her expectations.
"They would often send a few beautiful women, including some silver coins, to help the officials in the government, so until now, they are still able to run rampant here."
"No one will come to save us. This is hell, a place where even the sun doesn't shine. How can we be saved?"
The woman's heart was filled with despair, and her words were naturally extremely dejected.
Mu Xuanyi could feel that the girl next to him was trembling.