A gentle rain fell from noon till dusk before stopping.

  The water accumulated in the stone crevices is too much, and every breath has a dripping sound reminding of the dead silence inside the prison.

  The flower shriveled up at the foot of the wall, looking listlessly at the one foot that stretched out from the dark corner.

  "I haven't combed my hair for a long time, can you help me tidy it up?"

  In the darkness, the woman's voice floated gently.

  Hua Rou nodded slightly: "Good."

  The girl crawled out from the dark place, under the dim yellow light, her face which was clean just now had dust on it.

  "Do you like ponytails?" The woman sat in front of her, tilting her head to look at the air vent.

  "No, but I will weave a flowing cloud braid."

  "Alright, let's just go with this!"

  Without a comb, Hua Rou could only use her fingers as a comb, but when she started to untangle and comb the woman's hair, she found that it was all matted and knotted.

  "How long have you been here?"

  "It's been three years."

  "What?" Hua Rou was startled by the answer.

  "It's been a long time, hasn't it?" The woman looked at the air vent, her face without bitterness or resentment.

  "When can you go out?"

  "I don't know."

  Hua Rou was surprised again: "Isn't Xing Tang a place for punishing disciples? Doesn't every punishment have a time limit?"

  "That's not necessarily true, once you're in the detention house, it's hard to get out. Of course, you're different, she just threw you in for a few days, if you can hold on for three days, you'll be taken out and will even receive... a commendation."

  "Commendation?"

  "Really!" The woman turned her head to look at Hua Rou, and actually smiled at her: "Don't look at you entering the bitter prison, but...the gains and losses are not what everyone thinks they are."

  "What gain? What loss? How did you know these things?" Hua Rou was full of questions.

  The woman's smile turned bitter: "Because I used to be a poisoner!"

  "Huh?"

  "I was locked in here by your master, the one in charge of the Poison Room. Do you know why?"

  Hua Rou shook her head.

  The girl stretched out her hand and pointed to the opposite cell: "Do you think they are pitiful?"

  Hua Rou immediately nodded.

  The girl pouted and seemed to be disgusted. She turned back, staring at the air vent without speaking. Hua Rou saw that she was not making a sound, so she silently continued to comb her hair.

  "Listen carefully." After a while, the woman said in a low voice: "Everyone who comes in has made a mistake... is guilty of a serious offense, and I am no exception."

  Hua Rou's hand paused for a moment before continuing to comb: "You, what mistake have you made?"

  "I killed someone."

  The flower's soft body stiffened.

  "She always bullied me, I tolerated her for a long time, really a long time, but I couldn't take it anymore. They beat me, scolded me, bullied me, and I never fought back. But she actually called me a bastard, and my mother a prostitute in the alley... so I killed her!"

  Hua Ruo felt the tremble of the woman's body, she didn't know whether her current excitement was due to hatred in her heart or regret.

  "Do you... regret it?"

  "If I had known it would be like this...I wouldn't have killed her, but now..." The woman chuckled and touched her own face: "I'll never be able to leave here again."

  A tear dropped from the woman's eye and cut a clean path through the dust on her face.

  Hua Rou took a deep breath and continued to gently comb the woman's hair, braiding it.

  She knew she should say something at this time, but what?

  Words of comfort, words of hope, words of curse, whatever they are, will only be pale and powerless at this moment, in this bitter prison.

  Hua Rou silently smoothed out the woman's hair, braided flowers and tied them up. Then, looking at the finished flowing cloud braid, she couldn't help but touch it again and again.

  "Do you like this hairstyle?"

  Hua Rou's eyes moistened: "Uh-huh, when I was a kid, every birthday, my mother would braid me such braids, and as I grew older, she stopped braiding them. I kind of miss it."

  "I must look great now." The woman touched her braid: "Unfortunately, there is no mirror, I can't see it."

  Hua Rong's mouth opened slightly, unsure of how to respond to comfort her, while the woman seemed not to need her to say anything, and had already quietly crawled into that darkness, without even a thank you.

  Hua Rou gazed at the woman's foot exposed in the darkness outside and let out a soft sigh before closing her eyes.

  Mom, Dad, why has the enthusiasm in my heart disappeared?

  At the air vent, the water flow suddenly increased a bit, and soon the rustling sound of rain floated in, bringing with it a chilling cold air.

  It started raining at night, and the rain was much heavier than during the day...

  A night of rain, the temperature in the prison cell is getting lower and lower.

  The huddled and dazed flower fairy was frozen awake and had to get up and stomp her feet to warm up, but as she raised her eyes, she found that something in front of her was flickering in the dim light.

  Hua Rou rubbed her eyes and took a closer look, then rushed forward while shouting: "Come quick! Save me!"

  The rope was still swaying, and the woman had obviously just hanged herself.

  Hua Rong's emotions were stirred, and she rushed forward, embracing the woman's legs with both hands, sending her upwards to prevent her from being strangled to death. At the same time, she loudly cried out for help, hoping someone would come to their aid.

  "Let me go! Let me die!" The belt around her neck was not tight enough, the woman had to use her hands to hold it in place, while trying to struggle free with her legs, emphasizing: "Let me die! I want to be free..."

  "What are you talking nonsense about?" Hua Rou's face turned red with rage: "You're just going to die like this, does that do justice to the life your parents gave you?" As she spoke, she turned her head and continued shouting: "Someone come quickly!"

  "What's the point of being casual? Tell me, what's the meaning of living? It's dark and hopeless here, with no future!"

  "Don't say that! As long as we're alive, there's still hope for us to get out!"

  "No! There's no hope at all!" The woman's voice was filled with sorrow: "I can only stay in this darkness forever! I've been here for three years and twenty-seven days! One thousand one hundred and twenty-two days and nights, I'm really desperate..."

  The woman's voice was filled with tears of pain, dripping with sorrow, and dripping with a life without hope.

  "No, you can't give up, if... " Hua Rong's eyes sparkled: "If it's really like you said, I'll get Master's praise and I'll ask her to let you out!"

  "Really?" The woman's voice had a hint of anger, and her legs also stopped struggling.

  "Of course it's true, I can swear!"

  "I've said it before, don't give people false hope, it will only make them more desperate."

  "Aren't you already desperate? Then give me a chance and also give yourself a chance, see if there will be any change?"

  The woman fell silent, and in that instant Hua Rou thought she saw her intention to survive, but the next moment she heard the woman's negative voice: "Don't dream, she won't agree."

  "How would you know if you've never tried?" Hua Rou exclaimed excitedly: "You're not her! Nobody is always the same!"

  The air fell silent once again, and Hua Rou tightly hugged the woman's legs, trying to lift them up with all her might. Despite her hands aching and her waist hurting, she didn't dare relax in the slightest. She looked at the woman expectantly, repeating over and over: "Try it out, okay? Let's try it together, okay?"

  The girl finally pulled her head out of the waistband: "Put me down!"

  The woman looked like she wasn't going to kill herself anymore, so Hua Rou immediately let go of her legs. The woman fell to the ground, and a face full of tear stains clearly faced Hua Rou's eyes: "If... I really can get out, this life of mine will be yours."

  She spoke slowly and with a sob, but her words were very powerful, filled with her gamble and final hope.

  "I don't need your life. I just hope you won't give up hope."

  The girl blinked: "You, are you Hua Rou?"

  "Uh-huh."

  "My name is Yu'er, I'd rather be a shattered jade than an unbroken tile. I... have no surname."

  Hua Rou heard this and reached out to grab Yu Er's hand: "Believe me, you will get out of here."