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墨書 Inktalez
I collapsed onto the ground, my pants soaked. I lived like a rat, each day in Nanjing a torment. I decided to escape once more, this time to a farther place. I stole a worker's wallet and bought a train ticket south.
"I'm sorry, brother," I silently said to myself, "I have no other choice." On the train to Nanning, I was jolted awake from nightmares countless times. The weather in Nanning was warmer than in the north. During the day, I hid in crowded places, pretending to be a tourist or a worker. At night, I sought out secluded spots to sleep.
I relied mainly on rummaging through trash bins and stealing leftover food from small stalls. I had lost weight and my clothes were so dirty that their original color was unrecognizable. For three weeks, I hadn’t spoken a proper word to anyone. Loneliness could destroy a person more than hunger or fear. There were times when I almost wanted to walk into the police station and confess; at least in prison, I could talk to someone.
"It's all my fault..." I murmured to myself, curled up in a corner of a construction site in Nanning. "I really shouldn’t have become a nanny... I shouldn’t have picked up that hammer..." In the end, I made the decision to go to Beihai, which was the farthest place I could imagine.
On my first day in Beihai, I discovered that there were many tourist attractions where I could blend in with visitors and not draw too much attention. On the second night in Beihai, which marked the twentieth day of my escape, I curled up on a bench in a square. Although this city was warmer than others, the sea breeze at night was still biting cold.
I missed my family, longed for a normal life, and even began to miss Ms. Zhang, the woman I had killed. Just then, three men approached me.
These three men were not police; they were a group of thugs.
Seeing my bearded face and tattered clothes, a glimmer of greed flashed in their eyes.
"Brothers, look at this! A stray dog!" the leader of the group laughed at the other two.
I naively thought they were just passing by.
But soon, I realized I was wrong. They closed in on me, and one of them touched my clothes.
"Hey, Old Thing, what do you have in your pockets?"
I nervously shook my head. "Nothing... just a few coins..."
"A few coins?"
The leader scoffed, "Then hand it over!"
Before I could react, one of them grabbed my collar and dragged me into a dark corner by the edge of the square.
I wanted to struggle, but my body, weakened from twenty days without proper food, had no strength left.
"Don't move! Old Man!" One of them kneed me hard in the stomach, causing me to curl up on the ground in pain.
They began to search my pockets, finding the remaining 86 coins and a wallet stolen from Nanning (which was already empty).
The leader looked at this meager "haul" and kicked me angrily.
"This is it? Are you messing with us?"
I quickly shook my head. "There's really nothing else... I swear..."
"What else are you?"
He interrupted me. "Are you a thief too? Hahaha, a thief being robbed by us—what do we call that?"
"The mantis stalks the cicada, while the yellow bird hides behind," another chimed in, prompting laughter from the group.
Then the beating began.
They kicked me, stomped on my fingers, and even spat on my face.
I curled up into a ball, silently enduring it all.
Even in such a situation, I didn't dare to scream for help or attract the police.
I had no idea how long the torment lasted.
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