CHAPTER 83: CHAPTER 81: DON’T WORRY, OUR HARDSHIP WON’T LAST FOREVER

The border army, as the name implies, holds a higher status than those armored soldiers, and as proper soldiers, they naturally won’t show mercy.

Upon hearing this, Ruan Mian suddenly remembered something and asked, "Have you heard who commands these border troops?"

Shaoxi thought for a moment, then shook her head: "I haven’t heard about that."

Ruan Mian patted her on the shoulder, gazing at the endless reception camp, and asked her, "The environment here isn’t good, do you regret coming here?"

Unexpectedly, Shaoxi shook her head resolutely, not feeling the hardship at all: "I don’t regret it, I have you, Cui Zhu, Ah Qing, and many friends around me now, how could it be hard?"

Seeing her optimistic attitude, Ruan Mian felt relieved.

"This is only a temporary residence. Our Ruan Family didn’t commit a first-class crime, so after spending some time here, we should be able to move to the sheds behind the post station or stone houses in the area."

"Don’t worry, we won’t suffer forever."

Ruan Mian was confident, but others thought this was the place where they would stay for a long time.

They saw the cells inside, separated by simple stone walls, and sometimes, a whole family squeezed into a small cell, with all sorts of smells mixed together, and even in the freezing weather, the stench could not be concealed.

There weren’t even latrines here, just a trench within the cell used for excretion, with no separation between men and women, resulting in an excessively miserable condition here.

They also found that there were very few women in the cells, while their group had a majority of women, attracting many stares upon entering the reception camp.

Those gazes were enough to instill fear in anyone.

Ah Qing clutched Ruan Mian’s hand tightly: "Ah Mei, their eyes are so terrifying."

Ruan Mian calmly patted the back of her hand, comforting her, "It’s okay, I’m here."

The constables led them deeper into the reception camp, and upon arriving at a bonfire, they suddenly saw two government officers brandishing red-hot branding irons, pressing them harshly on a man’s shoulder.

The smell of burning flesh instantly hit their noses, and the man cried out miserably and struggled violently, heedless of anything else.

It was unknown where he found the strength, but he suddenly broke free from the government officer’s grip, drew the sword from the officer’s waist, and thrust it directly through the officer’s belly!

Blood splattered instantly!

The next moment, the man stabbed his wife beside him, tears in his eyes as he held her body, slit his own throat in suicide.

The brief bloodshed shocked them where they stood, and some women in the team closed their eyes tightly, trembling with fear.

They seemed to have felt the oppression here.

The road to exile was merely a bit bitter; compared to this reception camp, it was much better.

This was Abi Hell, the true beginning of their suffering.

But this didn’t stop the leading government officer from taking them forward, while Ruan Mian dared to inquire about the incident just now, giving the leading government officer a chance to warn everyone.

"The man just now tried to escape and was caught! You all saw what happened to him! Kill without mercy! So behave yourselves, and if you perform well, based on your crime, you might have a chance to leave this reception camp and register as a resident of Longchang, living in the sheds."

Those words gave many some hope.

However, before their anxious hearts could settle, the officer pointed to a mound not far away: "That pit is full of bones. If you don’t follow orders and play tricks, that will be your final resting place!"

They looked up, and upon closer inspection, could see some white bones at the edge of the pit.

Here, exiled prisoners were treated like beasts, without any humanity.

The man earlier killed his wife before committing suicide, probably not wanting her to suffer more, choosing death instead.

They were divided into different cells, usually by family unit, with more cells allocated if there were many people.

Their cell was at the innermost part of the reception camp, and when Ruan Mian saw a cellar beside it, she asked more about it.

"Lord, is that cellar also a holding cell?"

Seeing her pretty face and pleasant attitude, the officer snorted.

"Do you want to live there? It is indeed a cell, but many have died there. If you wish to go, I won’t stop you."

Dead people? So what, isn’t there death in every cell!

Ruan Mian decisively nodded, voluntarily requesting her family to move into the cell in the cellar.

Others thought she had a death wish, and the Liu Family even laughed out loud.

"The cellar is full of the stench of death, living there would only seek death, which is just right; that vile woman deserves to suffer!"

The Ruan Family believed her, with no complaints about moving into the cellar.

They were just a bit scared, that’s all.

Once inside, there was an indescribable smell, and it was not ventilated, pitch dark even if you stretched out your hand.

Ruan Mian took a torch from the constable, and upon lighting it, found that it was better than she had imagined.

Though it was bare, with no firewood, no straw mat, and even some unidentified bones, the space was warm and not drafty.

Compared to the cells outside without doors, where one would surely freeze in the wind!

Ruan Qingsong realized his sister’s thinking and smiled, comforting their parents and his wife.

"Mianmian’s idea is good, though it doesn’t look great here, it blocks the wind and snow, quite warm, after cleaning, it’ll be much better than outside?"

"As for those bones, they are just as pitiful as us, what’s there to fear? We’ll tidy them up and bury them, letting them rest in peace underground. This way, their spirits will surely bless our family."

What Ruan Qingsong said indeed helped a lot.

Ruan Qing was no longer afraid.

Yes, they went through the same, all pitiful people.

With this kindness, Ruan Qing was even brave enough to help his brother sort the bones.

Ruan Mian looked around, telling Cui Zhu to bring all their supplies inside with the rest of the family.

The officers didn’t confiscate their supplies, thinking they wouldn’t last long, just exiles, after all, apart from dry food and clothes, there wasn’t anything valuable.

They spread out all the animal hide blankets on one side, took out a few quilts, and neatly stored the rest in a box, hidden with hay in the cellar.

Cui Zhu noticed the remaining bit of charcoal at the bottom of the box and quickly informed Ruan Mian.

"Miss, we’re running low on charcoal, we need to be frugal."

Government officers did not supply charcoal in the cellar cells; if they wanted firewood, they had to cut it themselves, all while being assigned hard labor from dawn till dusk, leaving no time to fetch wood.

"No worries, let’s use it for now, I have a plan."

First, warm up the place.

But burning charcoal wasn’t suitable here, after all, the cellar wasn’t ventilated, so she had Wanshu take Old Ding to open the cover of the cellar entrance, instructing them.