The Western Sea Prison is located at the heart of a desert, its management quite lax. There is no concern about prisoners escaping on their own, because survival is almost guaranteed within the prison. On the contrary, escaping into the desert would mostly lead to death.
The convicts housed here were those sentenced to severe penalties. Many were in, but few come out.
Normally, a vehicle would arrive on the 15th of every month, transporting food, prisoners and facilitating the handover of staff.
Yet today, the 7th day of the month, a vehicle has arrived.
The massive doors of the Western Sea Prison slowly opened. In the shouting of the prisoners, a frail man was taken out.
"Sign here, and you're free to go," the prison officer handed him a pen and a sheet of paper, gesturing for him to sign.
The vehicle traversed the endless desert, carrying four special agents with the man sitting in the middle.
The man remained silent, his head constantly bowed. Occasionally, he would glance outside the window; his expression somewhat dull. Only when he spotted the thorny plants in the desert did his eyes show slight liveliness.
The special agents remained silent as their superiors had instructed. Ensure utmost security and safely deliver the man back home.
The man had kindly offered a ride to a passerby eleven years ago, which led to death and was subsequently sentenced to a fifteen-year term. Today, after eleven years, he was granted early release due to good behavior.
Indeed, good behavior within the confines of Western Sea Prison seemed rather ironic. The special agents chatted privately, curious about this.
The car sped through the vast desert, from the barren desert to the desolate Gobi sands, and from the limitless Gobi to grasslands where herds of cattle and sheep started appearing along with signs of human habitation.
Seated in the passenger seat was a newly recruited special agent, Xiao Yu. It was his first mission: to pick up a person from prison with the senior officers. His enthusiasm from the beginning of the journey had turned into boredom, yawning continuously. Upon spotting a roadside fruit stand selling cantaloupe, he suggested, "Brothers, let's buy some melons."
The two officers seated at the back nodded approvingly as the car pulled over.
The driver and one of the officers in the back swapped seats, who then accompanied Xiao Yu on his melon purchasing mission.
Xiao Yu curiously asked, "Senior brother, isn't he just a common peasant? Why are we so uptight about it?"
Looking at the youth beside him, the seasoned policeman scoffed, "He might have been an ordinary farmer before, but remaining ten years in the West Sea Prison changed that. He is not an ordinary farmer anymore."
Seeing Xiao Yu's look of disbelief, he didn't say more.
This man, Zhou Mu, just got out of the West Sea Prison only to find his parents dead, his wife gone, and his house taken. He might return to prison in a few days after returning home.
Zhou Mu was sent back in a high-profile manner.
His home village was poor, remote, and backward. People still talked about the incident eleven years ago when a police car took Zhou Mu away. That promising young man who was more ambitious than most had now become a homicidal maniac in everyone's eyes. All his money for buying cars, building houses, marrying a wife, were all obtained through murder.
The head of the village, Li Changgeng, who was Zhou Mu’s elementary schoolmate, warmly welcomed the four special policemen. He wanted to invite them for dinner but was rejected. He politely said goodbye to them and then turned to address Zhou Mu.
"Zhou Mu, live a good life after you return. If you encounter any difficulties, the village will do everything possible to help you." Li Changgeng lectured in an official tone.
Zhou Mu did not respond, but just stupefiedly looked at the village.
As the village head, Li Changgeng really did not want to receive Zhou Mu. Zhou Mu had no family left. His house was now occupied by Li Changgeng's uncle. And the mountain under Zhou Mu's name was naturally gone. But he could not just send him away as Zhou Mu was, after all, a resident in his village.
"Cough cough, the village has arranged accommodation for you, the old house at the end of the village. You can live there temporarily." Seeing Zhou Mu still silent, Li Changgeng couldn't help but reprimand him, "You should be grateful that the state has released you in advance. Start over, be a good person!"
Zhou Mu finally looked at Li Changgeng and said, "I will."
Li Changgeng was startled by his gaze. Seeing his quiet demeanor, Li Changgeng felt uneasy and quickly left after giving a few words of advice.
In the afternoon, the sun was still bright. Zhou Mu headed alone to the end of the village. That place was on the west side of the village- also known as the West Mouth; the older generation of the village said that the Feng Shui was bad there. Consequently, almost no one lived there except for an ancient house that hadn't been demolished.
Zhou Mu pushed the door open - inside was dark, yet roomy. A dim beam of sunlight slanted from the dark atrium.
Seeing that beam of sunlight, Zhou Mu sat directly on the ground and burst into tears.
Throughout the day, villagers passing by the West Mouth whispered rumors of a ghost haunting, as they heard intermittent sobs that sounded like a ghost crying.