IWBL: Chapter 229

“The welcome party is about to begin. All prisoners, leave the room and came to the lift platform within 10 minutes.”

“Repeating again. The welcome party is about to begin. All prisoners, leave the room and came to the lift platform within 10 minutes.”

The sudden broadcast at night interrupted the actions of everyone in the prison.

This voice wandered everywhere in the adjudication prison and wasn’t like the ordinary broadcast in reality. It was more like an echo with some type of spiritual power, leaving no corner of the prison untouched until everyone received the news and walked through the passage to the lift platform.

The man who committed suicide and fell to his death on the life platform had disappeared. No one had cleaned it up. In one second, the reincarnators saw the body from above. The next second, the body disappeared on the platform like it had melted. It was cleaned by some force.

The lift platform was large enough to hold several times as many people as those who were currently standing on it. Xiao Li stood in the middle. He had changed his clothes and was wearing the coat given by Shen Chenzhi. The neckline was pulled up and covered him tightly.

Wang Huai walked up to him and looked at him. “You took a shower? You are very idle.”

Xiao Li ignored him. He huddled up in Shen Chenzhi’s coat and waited for the next instructions from the broadcast. He hadn’t felt it before wearing it. Now that he wore the coat, Xiao Li found that Shen Chenzhi was a lot taller than him. His fingertips just touched the sleeve and…

He sucked in a breath. This coat was full of Shen Chenzhi’s smell.

In addition to Xiao Li’s group, Moss’ group, the three old prisoners on the same floor as them and Lian Susu were present. All three waves of newcomers were here.

The broadcast rang out again. “All prisoners have arrived. The welcome party has officially begun.”

“Welcome to the adjudication prison. Prisoners, please defend yourself against the crimes you have committed. A certain amount of artistic processing can be done but everything you say will become a testimony in the court.”

“During the narration process, the most popular live broadcast room will receive a pass to enter the library for an hour.”

During the broadcast’s explanation, the lift platform that was originally looking up at the major passages from the bottom level rose slowly. It was like a hand was holding it up from the bottom. Finally, it stopped in mid-air.

Such a height allowed the people on the lift platform to more intuitively bath in the ‘gazes’ of each room. They could detect the gazes of the jailers but they couldn’t see the jailers.

Was this the so-called welcome party?

‘It is a bit different from what I imagined but it is reasonable,’ Xiao Li thought.

The first person to stand up was Yu You. He raised his hand to the sky and his eyes were inexplicably excited. “I’ll come first. I know, I’m not guilty!”

Black smoke floated from his mouth and almost encased the rest of the group.

It was the fourth day since he had entered and he could feel his internal organs burning. Black smoke was creeping along his stomach and coming out of his throat. Under such endless torture, his mood was on the verge of collapse.

“This isn’t a defense. It is just a statement.” Yu You spoke loudly like he was venting his emotions. “Listen carefully. I wasn’t born into a good family. I was from the country and my mother gave birth to seven daughters before me. This obviously shows how hard it was for me. It took me a lot of effort to come to the city. I studied hard and finally became the class monitor. I caught the beauty of our class and we got married. You don’t know how much they envied me.”

Yu You asked, “This sounds inspirational, doesn’t it?”

Xiao Li’s mouth twitched. “…No one thinks it is inspirational.”

Yu You became even more excited from his lobbying as if he had suffered many injustices. “Do you know? My wife looks good on the surface but how exaggerated is she when secretly spending money? It isn’t enough for her to buy one brand-name bag in a year. Every time she goes shopping, she has to buy any good-looking bag she sees. How can her salary be enough for her spending habits? Didn’t she keep asking her parents for money? I feel sorry for her parents’ pension money. After her parents die, isn’t this pension money half mine? It is equivalent to spending my money.”

“My mother couldn’t keep watching and asked her to be frugal. She said that she is spending her own money, not my mother’s money. Isn’t it obvious that she is looking down on me?” Yu You complained. “It wasn’t just that. She complained thousands of times that I’m not motivated and that I’m too stingy. Is it wrong to make her save money?”

“My mother suffered all her life and just wanted to live in the city. I asked my wife for money to buy a house but she said she couldn’t afford it. Isn’t she pretending with me!?”

“I asked her to sell her bags and buy a house for investment. She still didn’t listen. Every day when I got home, she hasn’t washed or cooked for me. I really didn’t know what to do with her.”

It was the first time Zheng Yi had heard such a story. His facial features were twisted together and he looked embarrassed. “No, if I could see your wife then I would say two words to her: quickly leave.”

His voice was too weak and he was selectively ignored by the agitated Yu You. Yu You’s tone fell from a high to a low and almost became a whisper, “So, I couldn’t bear it. Killing her is forgivable. It isn’t my fault at all. I am completely qualified to inherit her family’s assets.”

Yu You coughed loudly. This time, he didn’t only cough up black smoke but also blood. If someone carefully examined the black blood stains he had coughed up on the platform, they would find there were even some internal organ fragments mixed in.

He should’ve died a long time ago but he didn’t die. The adjudication prison wouldn’t allow him to die so easily. It grabbed his life to watch him live through the pain of watching himself rot and melt.

Hearing this, Ye Zeqing watched Yu You’s broadcast room on the communicator screen. He saw that the ghosts in the broadcast room were full of malicious intent.

[Yes, it isn’t your fault. Kill a bit more. It is too boring to just kill her. You should’ve eaten her!]

[You are more ‘vicious’ than us. If you die, you will definitely become a demon.]

[However, you can’t die. You can’t die even if you want to die. Sometimes death is a luxury.]

[……]

***

Yu You left the field and sat on the side to rest, hoping to reduce his pain. The one who took over was Lian Susu. She had just taken a step when the pain in her eyes increased again. It was as if someone was sewing her eyes with a needle.

Lian Susu covered her eyes, bent down and avoided the blood that Yu You had just coughed out. She walked to the other side and spoke in a panic. “I haven’t done anything. Envy? How could I be sentenced for envy?”

“I just… I just, I know it was wrong but I just had a bad idea!” Lian Susu now completely believed in ghosts and gods and she confessed sincerely. “I… I entered this circle with a close female friend. Her looks are the type that the public likes and her resources have always been better than mine. On the surface, I congratulated her but I was unwilling in my heart.”

“Once, I desperately wanted to win the opportunity to be the heroine of a TV drama. I did so many things but she only needed to try out one scene during the time when she was busy falling in love. She was so talented that the director decided on her.”

“Why? Why? I memorized the script every day but the director didn’t even look at me. Yet as soon as she shows up, the director likes her?”

“I knew that she was in a private relationship. Even her agent didn’t know yet she trusted me with it. She never hid anything from me.”

“I became crazy with jealousy after knowing she got the role. I lost my mind. Thinking about it now, I don’t know why I did it. I recruited a reporter and made an appointment in the parking lot where she secretly dated with her amateur boyfriend. I exposed her secret love with her boyfriend. I also told her boyfriend that she often played around his back in the circle.”

“She had always appeared in the eyes of the audience with pure characteristics. At that time, she was exposed for things like love and alcoholism. This directly destroyed her acting career. She broke up with her boyfriend and never appeared in front of me again. Later, I heard that she committed suicide.”

“I…I got that role and since then, I opened the star path and became a popular artist. However, I still feel unhappy when I think of her. I shouldn’t have been jealous of her…”

“I was wrong. Can you let me go?”

[Poor little girl. She looks more delicious when she cries.]

[The deliciousness of sin.]

[However, what is the use? We aren’t her.]

[The next one. This is boring and hypocritical.]

***

Lian Susu cried for a long time before leaving. The next one who followed her was a woman with an upright posture. She was very dignified and every move was like a noble woman. It couldn’t be seen how she was suffering.

“I am just a bystander.” The woman spoke in an ordinary voice. She didn’t complain or feel any hatred. It was as if she was telling someone else’s story. “I’m not guilty. All I did was watch my husband and his mistress, who was also my friend, fall to the ground together.”

“We had known each other for 20 years yet they chose to join hands and betray me.”

“I was working outside and my daughter had asthma. She didn’t feel comfortable in PE class so she went home early to rest and fell ill in bed. They were busy in the next room and ignored the sound of my daughter’s illness. They indirectly killed my daughter.”

“On the seventh day after my daughter was buried, I invited them to eat at home. I fed them medicine and watched them ask for help, but I didn’t save them. That is it.” The woman raised her chin high.

Her speech was very short compared to the first two. It was just a few sentences but it depicted a thrilling scene.

[Short and strong.]

[There is revenge and grievances.]

[This human’s story is interesting…]

[I like this broadcast room.]

***

The next few people started to tell their stories one by one. Some of the later ones became crooked and it was more and more mysterious. For example, Ye Zeqing maintained his own character setting and spoke coldly, “It is nonsense to judge me as lazy. Am I lazy just because I have high talent and don’t want to train?”

Xiao Li listened to his words and inexplicably thought of the saying: I’m rich and talented, is it my fault?

Ye Zeqing added, “Even if it is my fault, it definitely isn’t so serious.”

He was about to leave in an unhurried manner when he suddenly thought of something. “Could it be that when I was a child, I invited my classmate out to play but it rained. I was too lazy to go out of the door. She waited for me outside and got a high fever. I heard she was sick for a while?”

“However, I also got in trouble during that time. My mother led me to apologize many times…”

[This crime is minor. I want something more aggressive.]

[Who wants to watch this type of child’s play? End it quickly. I want to see the next one.]

[I am asking for a friend of mine. Does anyone know when Moriarty will come?]

***

The one after Ye Zeqing was a young prisoner who was in the same passage as the reincarnators. He looked dull and his straw-like hair was oily.

His words were also vague. “They all hurt people but I didn’t. I am really the most innocent one.”

“I don’t need to elaborate. I just killed a few hundred cats and dogs while making videos of the process. It is really nothing, right?”

“…Then why do I see them biting at my side? It isn’t just them. There were stranger things. A fire is burning me…”

This young man was in a trance. His spirit was completely abnormal and he kept rubbing his feet back and forth on the ground. He even deliberately touched the blood coughed up by Yu You with his toes, crushing the internal organ fragments and letting out a hoarse ‘hehe’…

[Bullying animals weaker than yourself, even if I am a ghost, I want to be the first to take you.]

[Life seems to be the same in the adjudication prison. Just wait to reach the bottom of the prison.]

[This dirty soul, I don’t want to eat it. I’m afraid I will vomit after eating it.]

The young man walked away and it was Wang Huai’s turn.

Wang Huai had obviously made a decision. The facts were simple. The presence of Sherlock meant the popularity of his live broadcast room would never be able to surpass the other person. Therefore, the library might hold a certain attraction for him but he still chose to protect himself. He didn’t disclose his story but randomly selected a point with a similar plot, such as the one time he slept for three days and almost passed out from hunger.

***

Soon, it was Xiao Li’s turn.

Xiao Li didn’t stand in the centre of the platform like everyone else. He stood in the same spot while thinking. Then he spoke with a hint of doubt, “Frankly speaking, I don’t know what I was convicted of pride. The opposite is more suited for me. If I had to choose among the seven deadly sins, I can choose at least two that are more suitable for me.”

“So there is nothing to defend. I will instead tell you why I am more suitable for the opposite of pride, which is being modest and warm-hearted.”

Xiao Li gave an example. “For example, some time ago, I met an old grandfather at an art exhibition. His lifelong dream was to get a painting that I painted. He exchanged clues with me and I satisfied his wish.”

The painter ghost watching the live broadcast, “???”

This didn’t make sense. Don’t reverse black and white. It was nonsense!

Xiao Li continued, “In addition, I met a woman who haunted a studio late at night. I was looking for a late night snack. I could’ve just taken the dessert directly and left but I chose to stick to my three views. I painted her a portrait and left it for trading.”

“I also helped a little girl recognize her identity and return home. In return, she gave me the key to her house so I could find her at any time.”

“In addition, I rescued a pirate ship from a certain evil force, saving the captain and leaving him with the lingering desire to help others.”

Captain Sturt who was watching the live broadcast, “……”

“Yes, it wasn’t just a lingering desire. He also left tons of psychological shadows.

At the same time, the underworld’s live broadcast barrage;

[He is actually saying this. He believes in himself too much. There is only one person in his world, which is another type of lonely pride.]

[?? Suddenly cueing me? Shut up, Sherlock!]

[A beautiful story, meaningful behaviour (rose)]

[This was supposed to be a time for us to laugh. I don’t know why but listening to the story of Sherlock and his two identities, I feel a bit of sadness.]

[The rabbit died and the fox is sad. At this time, a ghost is leaving the live broadcast room while cursing.]

[Every time he moves, the victim is wondering if this damn Sherlock is going to do something again.]

[Ghost lovers strongly condemn him.]

[You all say that but why are there more and more ghosts watching the live broadcast? Why is the popularity becoming higher?]

[Oh, you might not believe it but it isn’t only ghosts who are watching the live broadcast. There are also gods.]

[Um? As the evil force mentioned by him, it seems that I shouldn’t speak.]

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