In Sparrow Tower's prison, First Elder and Wei Ci waited in their cell. Mei Hengkong's cell was empty until the guards dragged him back down.
He looked worse than when they had taken him away. Blood covered his skin, and the wounds on his back had begun to rot. Worms moved in the broken flesh. He barely looked alive.
The guards brought him past the occupied cell and left him in his own. There was no strength in the old man's posture to suggest he could resist them, yet the cuffs and chains remained. The men carrying out the order had the keys and their freedom; Hengkong could do little more than endure being put back where they wanted him.
First Elder and Wei Ci could see that the other prisoner had returned. Before they had much time to consider his condition, the head jailer turned his attention to their cell.
The head jailer signaled for their cell to be opened.
