"Then what about him?"

"Brother Carter is different, maybe he has a lover outside who gives him money?"

Henry Clark said this, then turned to Brian Carter with a fawning smile: "Right? Brother Carter, if you ask me, you and Brother William should just let this go, don't you think?"

Only then did Brian Carter open his eyes, looked at William Thompson, and said, "Kid, I clearly killed you once, yet you're alive again—must be fate. Since we're both in the same cell, both waiting to be executed, I won't bother trying to mess with you anymore. Let's just get some decent sleep for the days we have left, and forget any grudges, how about it?"

William Thompson's gaze sharpened slightly. He thought for a moment and said, "Alright."

"Good, you're ruthless and lucky, I respect that," Brian Carter said with feeling. "From now on, we're all brothers sharing the same cell."

"Alright."

"Straightforward." Brian Carter grinned, as if a weight had been lifted from his mind.

Henry Clark chuckled again, clapping his hands. "That's good. From now on, the three of us will share a cell, so we should get along. If Brother Carter wants to have some fun, just come to me."

"Get lost..."

The atmosphere seemed to become harmonious.

That evening, nothing was served to eat in the cell. It was said that food was only given once a day here.

William Thompson had hoped someone might come to visit, but no one did.

The light from the air vent grew weaker and weaker, until it was completely dark.

Night fell. There were no candles in the cell, only a bit of moonlight, just enough to make out people's outlines.

Brian Carter was already lying on the straw, asleep. After a while, faint snoring could be heard.

William Thompson also lay down on the straw, feeling the hunger and this new world, pondering how he, now a condemned prisoner, might escape.

……

Late at night.

Brian Carter's faint snoring gradually stopped.

He quietly turned over and got up, pulling out from under himself a bone shard as sharp as a dagger, and stabbed fiercely toward where William Thompson was hiding!

Chapter 2: Bone Knife

Brian Carter gripped the sharp bone knife and stabbed down hard.

But, the expected resistance of piercing flesh did not come...

William Thompson, who should have been lying there, was gone, and Brian Carter hadn't heard a sound of him moving the whole time.

There were no torches in the cell, only darkness.

Brian Carter steadied his breathing, turned his body gently, and, using the slivers of moonlight coming through the air vent, tried hard to find William Thompson.

There was a figure on the ground—judging by the build, it was Henry Clark, who was much smaller than William Thompson.

Looking around again, Brian Carter saw a dark shadow on the wall, which made his heart skip a beat.

The shadow was very tall and thin—it was William Thompson, standing against the wall.

Without hesitation, Brian Carter stabbed the bone knife at the shadow.

With a "thud," the bone knife pierced through the shadow, but hit the wall.

No one? Brian Carter was stunned. He reached out to grab the shadow and found it was just a piece of clothing hanging there.

A chill ran down his spine, goosebumps rising on his skin. He thought, "Did that kid figure something out? Why is he doing this?"

The next moment, he took a heavy kick to the stomach.

Pain!

Brian Carter's veins bulged on his forehead from the pain, his body curled up like a shrimp, and his fingers went numb.

Immediately after, someone kneed Brian Carter hard in the face. Another "thud"—the sound of his nose breaking.

Stars danced before his eyes, and the bone knife fell to the ground.

"Ah!"

……

"What happened?" Henry Clark sat up, shouting, "You two are fighting again?!"

He didn't want to get involved, so he scurried to the corner and shouted, "Brother Carter, are you really set on taking out Brother William?"

Prisoners in the surrounding cells were startled awake. Someone jeered, "Hoo, Big Carter is going after that pretty boy again."

"Get him, get him, Big Carter... let us all hear some action."

"Everyone, get up and catch them in the act!"

"Haha, Big Carter killed three people caught in the act before, everyone be careful..."

"......"

All sorts of rowdy voices echoed in the dark cell.

William Thompson, however, seemed not to hear any of it. He had already knocked Brian Carter to the ground, pinning his hands down and pressing his knee against his throat.

William Thompson had indeed anticipated that Brian Carter would try to kill him.

But he didn't think it was because Brian Carter had lost a finger. When Brian Carter said "let's forget any grudges," he had sounded very sincere.

What really made William Thompson feel in danger was the phrase he lip-read from Edward Brooks: "He won't survive two days."

Even stranger, last night Brian Carter killed the original owner of this body, but the jailers didn't call a doctor. Instead, they waited until long after he woke up to take Brian Carter out to see a doctor.

There were so many sick prisoners in the cell who couldn't get treatment, yet they took a condemned man out to treat a broken finger?

William Thompson judged that he must have offended someone, and that person bribed Brian Carter to kill him under the pretense of seeing a doctor.

Why didn't this person have the jailers do it? Was it because having Brian Carter do the killing would leave fewer traces?

He was already a condemned prisoner—why couldn't the other party wait for the execution, why the rush to kill him now?

William Thompson had no answer.