The words of the prison guard were like a decree; just a few simple phrases plunged everyone into silence, each person calculating their own fate. The most anguished was Ming Xiaoyu. He didn't want to kill; he didn't wish to stain his hands with blood. All he wanted was a final glimpse of his sister, a quiet place to calmly await the inevitable end. Yet, man proposes, and fate disposes. The most critical moment had arrived—if he didn't fight back, what would become of Xiao Shu? What about the two guards?

The monitors showed the maximum-security inmates reaching the mess hall first. They seized cleavers, meat forks, sharpening stones—anything that could serve as a weapon—and advanced menacingly toward the control room. Those items, usually so mundane in the hands of ordinary people, became the sharpest instruments in the eyes of a throng of maddened convicts. Forget a fork; even a toothbrush could prove fatal here. This was the law of the underworld.

"I won't wait for you lot!" Seeing the convicts barely ten meters from the control room, Bai Huaqian gripped her sickle, planting herself firmly, and with a malicious smirk directed at Li Taiming, charged forward, intent on slaughtering the approaching mob.

Li Taiming had seen through her scheme long ago. There was no way he would allow a massacre on the yard to happen again. He suddenly lifted Bai Huaqian from behind, panting slightly, "You truly are heavy. It’s about time you started slimming down!"

Seeing herself lifted into his arms, Bai Huaqian felt a mix of shame and indignation, struggling to get down from his embrace, only to find she didn't have the strength to move so much as a finger.

"Stop wasting your energy. Your master is my own nephew. If I can't even handle you, how could I face our ancestors in the Yellow Springs with any honor as an uncle?" Li Taiming chuckled, amused by her ridiculous demeanor.

"Hurry up and lock the doors!" As the two bickered, Xiao Shu jolted awake from some reverie and scrambled to the console, randomly hitting buttons, desperate to secure the last iron door before the inmates reached it.

"It’s here, this button," seeing him mash the panel haphazardly, the guard quickly stepped forward to assist, hitting a green button on the left side of the console without hesitation.

The final iron door barring the control room entrance groaned as it slid shut from both sides towards the center. Everyone, save for Bai Huaqian, let out a breath of relief.

But time seemed to compress. Before that breath was fully expelled, a figure flashed out beside the closing door, gently bracing the almost-shut portal outward with a hand. The lock-down system instantly failed. No matter how many times the guard slammed the buttons, the door remained frozen in a half-open, half-closed state, refusing to seal.

Who was it? Xiao Shu glanced over, and a shadow immediately fell across his eyes. It was none other than his twin brother, Li Xiaohao. Seeing Li Xiaohao appear, the happiest person was undoubtedly Bai Huaqian; her face instantly bloomed into a smile as radiant and ready to burst as an overripe pomegranate. The two prison guards, witnessing this terrifying display of strength, instinctively recoiled, pressing themselves against the interior wall of the control room.

"You... is she alright?" Xiao Shu had intended to demand why he was there, but recalling the pile of corpses from the yard, the question felt hollow. Still, seeing him, the person he couldn't let go of surfaced immediately. Thus, the sharp inquiry softened into, "Is she alright?" Those unaware of the full context thought the twins were exchanging pleasantries; only Xiaoyu grasped the deep-seated sorrow woven into Xiao Shu’s words.