In this dark place, the guards are gods, and they will find all kinds of reasons to punish the children, just to make these people live in fear, numbness, and finally become puppets at the mercy of others.

It is not known who invented this "black prison" punishment.

But one day it is certain, that this is the most terrible punishment for children, far more terrible than kicking and beating.

The black prison is a completely dark space, and the walls around it are all soundproof cotton, which is to isolate the outside sound and prevent the people inside from hitting the wall to commit suicide.

The interior is very narrow, the walls on both sides are very close together, there is no way to lie flat, the ceiling is low, and it is difficult to stand up straight, so you can only maintain a half-squatting position.

Once a person is imprisoned, the first thing to lose is vision, or it will not be long before the bent limbs will become numb from excessive exhaustion, and finally this numbness will spread throughout the body, from the body to the spirit, until it is completely unaware of its own existence.

Even the most rebellious child can be locked up for a few hours in a black cell, which is enough to break down emotionally and never dare to commit any more crimes.

And once the punishment time is measured in "days", it will be a terrifying and extreme torture.

When the black cell door in front of Zero was opened again, it was already three days later, and the soundproof cotton inside had become tattered, and the walls were all covered with blood stains that had been scratched by hands, as if painting a frenzied painting.

Zero's body fell out from behind the door, his eyes hollow, and he collapsed on the ground like a broken puppet.

The nails of the ten fingers of those little hands were all turned open, and there were thick bloody scabs, and the skin was covered with scratches, all of which were left by themselves in the black cell.

The saddest thing is that she was born without pain nerves, and she can't even get complete feedback on self-harm, so she can only use her insignificant sense of touch to fight the mania brought by the black prison.

The guard opened the door and threw only a bottle of water and a loaf of bread to Zero, and then left her to stoop there and stink.

Zero did not move, even though his body was extremely hungry and thirsty during the three days of detention, and did not grab the water and food in front of him.

The blood from the wound had dried up, the tears had long since dried, and even if the light was on the ceiling, it felt like the light was disappearing little by little, and the whole world turned black.

There is no expectation, only pain, and no hope in sight.

It doesn't make sense

What's the point of living like this.

Zero silently picked up the piece of bread and kneaded it in his hand, pressing the originally fluffy bread into a tight sphere

Then put it in your mouth and inhale violently.

The breadball got stuck in the trachea, and the suffocated Zero quickly collapsed to the ground, his face flushed and gradually turned purple.

But she didn't struggle, just lay silently, letting the darkness flood her vision.

That's fine

Go to sleep

Slept all the time and was very comfortable

The feeling of suffocation flooded through his body, and consciousness became more and more blurred.

I don't know how long it took.

"Zero, Zero"

There was a suppressed and urgent call in his ears, and his body was also hugged.

Zero felt two arms wrapped around him, tightening his waist and abdomen.

"Ahem—" With a restrictive impact, she jerked out the ball of bread stuck in her throat, and then lay on the ground and coughed violently, "Ahem! Ahem, ahem! ”

Fresh air poured into her lungs, bringing a sense of rejuvenation, and her vision gradually became clearer to see the girl crouched in front of her.

The girl's back to the lamp, her face faintly hazy in the backlight, but she could see that her jewel-like eyes were full of worry: "Zero, are you okay?" ”

"Xiaoqi." Zero muttered the other's name.

Xiaoqi looked at the balls of bread stained with saliva on the ground, and asked tentatively, "Are you choking or?"

Zero didn't speak, and there was only a deathly gloom in his eyes.

This kind of look quickly made Xiaoqi realize something.

Xiaoqi didn't feel dirty, and quickly hid the bread ball in her pocket, then came over and hugged Zero, and gently stroked her back: "Shh

Zero leaned weakly into Xiao Qi's arms and whispered, "Why does everyone hate me?"

Xiaoqi hugged Zero tighter and gently touched the back of her head: "They hate you, that's their badness, not your fault." ”

Zero: "But they all call me a monster, they call me ugly and disgusting."

"Hmm" Xiaoqi picked up Zero's face and looked at it carefully, "You have a lot of wounds on your head, you have no hair, and your face is so thin that you don't have any flesh, no matter how beautiful people become like this, they are all ugly." ”

"What's wrong with being called a monster, let them scream. When they call you a monster, they are actually jealous of your difference, and they are just the vent of the weak. ”

Xiaoqi sat next to Zero and comforted: "I think it's okay, when you get better in the future, grow hair, and have flesh on your face, you will definitely become super beautiful, and many people will like you." ”

Zero buried his head in his knees and whispered, "No one likes a monster"

"Whoever said it, I like it." Xiaoqi stretched out her hand to Zero, "I asked the supervisor to change the dormitory a few days ago, and the approval was passed. From today on, we are roommates~"

Zero froze there.

She has been a person for as long as she can remember.

The guards hated her.

The other children hated her.

No one wants to be in the company of monsters.

roommate

She never thought she would have a roommate.

Zero: "Why do you"

Xiao Qi looked at her with a smile, and the softness in her eyes was as warm as the green sun: "Because, I like your eyes." ”

Zero: "Eyes? ”

Xiaoqi said seriously: "Well, I used to see books that said that the eyes are the windows of the soul. ”

"The eyes of other people here are cold, and it makes people feel uncomfortable when they look at them."

"Although your eyes are always dull, they are very beautiful~ I think you must also have a beautiful heart, but others and yourself haven't noticed it."

Zero lowered his head, a little overwhelmed for a moment.

Xiao Qi pulled Zero to stand up, and said with a smile: "Let's go, take you to wash the dirt on your body, and then we will sleep~"

It's bedtime and there are guards patrolling the hallways.

As soon as he saw someone walking, he walked over with a cold face: "What are you doing?" ”

"Good evening, uncle." Xiaoqi bowed politely to the guard and smiled sweetly, "Can I take Zero to take a shower?" ”

The guard glanced at them, didn't say anything, and pointed back: "Go back before the lights go out." ”

"Thank you, uncle!" Xiaoqi bows to the guard again and pulls Zero towards the public bath.

The water in the bathroom is very cold, but the children here don't know what a hot bath is like, and they have long been used to it.

Zero washed the dirt on his body and looked at Xiao Qi beside him blankly: "Why are the guards so kind to you?"

Xiaoqi turned her head and said with a smile: "Hmph, do you want to know my secret?" Of course, it's because of laughter~"

"Laugh?" Zero asked blankly.

"yes, laugh!" Xiao Qi put her finger against the corner of her lips and gently pulled up the arc of her smile, "No matter who it is, as long as you see other people's smiles, your mood will improve." No one likes to see each other with a straight face all day long. ”

"So, my secret is to laugh~ smile and talk to the guards when you face them, and the happier you laugh, the better, so that they feel like a welcome person."

"After a long time, their attitude towards you will also improve, and sometimes you make a little mistake, they will not be so harsh."

Xiaoqi walked to Zero's side, held the little face with her little hand, and deliberately grinned a very exaggerated smile: "Come, I'll teach you my secrets now, laugh with me~"

Laugh?

What a strange word

In this dark place, Zero had forgotten what laughter was.

She twitched the corners of her lips stiffly and grinned.

Xiaoqi looked frightened, and shook her head: "No, no!" Where are you laughing, it's like crying. Again, make a voice like me – ahahaha! Ahahahaha! ”

"Aha, ahahaha."

"It's still not right, think of something happy, like the guard gave you two more pieces of bread during the meal, think about how happy that is! Come on, laugh~ ahahaha! Ahahahaha! ”

They were like two little fools, laughing and laughing face to face in the bathroom.

laughed until the lights were about to go out, Xiaoqi quickly took Zero to dry her body and ran out of the bathroom.

On the way, they met the guard again.

The guard scolded: "Why are you so slow, you want to be beaten, right?!" ”

Xiao Qi poked Zero's waist and winked at her.

Zero plucked up his courage and tried to smile apologetically at the guard: "I'm sorry, uncle, we'll go back for the trouble."

The other party was laughing, and the guard was not embarrassed to hit someone, so he waved his hand impatiently: "Hurry up, don't waste time." ”

The two returned to the room, and Zero muttered, "Laughter really works"

Xiao Qi confided the tip of her tongue and smiled like a little bad cat: "Yes, this is my unique secret~ A smile is the best weapon to protect yourself." ”

At this time, Xiaoqi suddenly remembered something and looked at the empty lower bunk: "Ah, it's too bad, I forgot to move my futon over."

"Bell, bell." In the corridor, there was the sound of sticks hitting the iron bars, and the voice of the guards came: "The lights are out, all lie down in bed, and don't speak." ”

Xiaoqi put Zero on the top bunk: "You go to bed and sleep first." ”

Zero: "What about you?" ”

Xiaoqi: "I'm going to beg the guards to let me take down the futon." ”

Zero hurriedly said, "If you don't let you take it, let's just sleep on the top bunk together." ”

"Got it, go to sleep." Xiaoqi ran out of the door.

Although Zero wanted to wait for Xiaoqi to come back, the three-day black prison had already overdrawn her mental and physical strength.

She lay on the bed, only to feel the world spinning, and fell asleep in a daze.

Waking up the next day, Zero finds it empty.

She looked and found that Xiaoqi was sleeping in the lower bunk, without sheets or quilts, and she was curled up together in winter.

Apparently, the guards did not agree to Xiaoqi's request to carry the bedding after the lights were turned off.

And in order to let the exhausted zero sleep as peacefully as possible, she didn't squeeze into the upper bunk last night, and slept alone on the lower bunk bed.

Zero only felt a sour feeling welling up in his nose, hugged the quilt to the lower bunk, covered Xiaoqi, and then squeezed into the quilt and hugged her cold skin, using her body temperature to help her warm

Xiao Qi turned over in a daze, and muttered with a smile: "Morning, little monster, you are so warm"

Zero hugged Xiaoqi and closed his eyes, tears overflowed between his eyes, and the transparent and clear liquid flowed silently on his face.

After today's experiment, it's time to let the wind out.

Xiao Qi walked to the activity area with Zero and asked in a low voice, "Have you memorized everything you taught?" ”

Zero rubbed the corners of his coat a little nervously and nodded slightly.

As soon as they entered the activity area, the two saw the boy who had taken the lead in beating people before.

The boy had been bitten hard by Zero three days earlier, and there was a clear bloody tooth mark on his hand.

As soon as he saw Zero approaching, his gaze suddenly became hostile: "Stay away from me, monster." ”

Zero lowered his head, carefully took out the apple he hadn't eaten for lunch from his arms, and handed it to the boy with both hands: "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have bitten you that day."

"Huh?" The boy was stunned.

He thought that this ugly monster would come up and fight him, but he didn't expect it to be an apology.

For a moment, he wondered if it was some trick, such as something dirty on the apple, deliberately tricking him into eating it.

He stood motionless, looking at Zero warily.

Zero looked up, the corners of his lips twitching slightly, squeezing out a friendly smile.

This made the boy even more confused.

Xiaoqi spoke out at the right time: "Everyone and the girls have taken the initiative to apologize, you are still so abrasive, are you a boy?" ”

The boy felt that his face was hot, and looked at the zero who took the initiative to show goodwill, she really couldn't pull her face and continue to argue, so she could only take the apple and said vaguely: "I'm also at fault. I shouldn't have hit you."

"That's right!" Xiaoqi took the hands of the two and folded them together, and said with a smile, "We are all poor creatures locked up here, no father or mother, only take care of each other." ”

"If all of us of our kind hate each other, there really won't be anyone in the world who cares about us."

The boy whispered, "But the intensity of this experiment has been too great lately. I know it's not up to Zero to decide, but there's no denying that it has something to do with her, and everyone is angry. ”

Xiao Qi smiled evilly, lowered her voice and said, "So I thought of a way~"

"What's the solution?" The boy hurriedly asked.

Xiaoqi picked up Zero, and lowered her voice: "Zero, as long as the group does a high-current experiment in the future, you will be unconscious." ”

Zero muttered, "But I've never been unconscious."

"Oops, little fool." Xiao Qi pinched Zero's face, "Of course it's a pretend!" ”

"You just close your eyes, ignore the researchers, and pretend to have cramps, drool, foam at the mouth, or something."

"Then they will think that you can't bear it, and they won't dare to increase the intensity of the current indiscriminately, and the other children won't suffer with it."

The boy exclaimed, "What a good idea!" Please, Zero, you must help everyone! ”

Zero stared blankly at the boy in front of him, at those eyes full of urgency.

It was the first time she felt needed by someone else.

Later, due to the fact that Zero often fell into a "coma" in the impact of high currents, the various research groups felt that the intensity of the experiment was too high, and they all slowed down the pace.

The children's stress has plummeted, their mood has improved, and the atmosphere has become more relaxed.

This made Zero seem to be a different person, no longer the lifeless appearance she once had, and made many friends, including the boy who beat her the most at the time, and they often played games together in the activity area and caught insects.

No one calls Monster Zero anymore, everyone affectionately calls her by her name, and there are even children who think Zero is too thin, and take the initiative to leave some of what they eat at each meal for her to replenish her nutrition

In this dark and lightless cage, Xiaoqi is like a torch, becoming the only light in Zero's life.

She will follow this ray of light all the way.

She was looking forward to it.

(End of chapter)