Summer is a season of heavy rains, and the deluge has cast a gloomy pall over the sky. In Bianjing, the number of beggars and displaced people grows daily; the scene outside the city gates is beyond description. Grain wagons groan as they crush the bluestone pavement, and with people ready to snatch at any moment, everyone remains on edge.
Though the heavy rain obscures the figures of the refugees, the many porridge stalls set up in the alleys of Bianjing are not enough to address the urgent crisis. Even the Dark Penal Bureau has been filled with scouts and troublemakers.
In the midst of this, Chen Bin is subjected to relentless interrogation within the Dark Penal Bureau. The straw in his cell is soaked through by water seeping from the walls, and he is drenched, his hands and feet submerged in filthy, muddy water.
Chapter 191