The infinite heavens begin with American horror.

Chapter 221 Confinement

In the pitch-black solitary confinement cell, Andy huddled alone in a cold corner.

But Andy's appearance was also terrible at this time. His lower lip was swollen like a sausage, the wound at the corner of his mouth had scabbed over, and there was a series of scratches on the left side of his cheek.

He was clearly badly beaten by the "three sisters".

Locked in the corner, Andy felt resentful. It was clearly the "three sisters" who bullied him, but when the guards arrived, they only locked Andy in the solitary confinement room.

......

In that closed and dark confinement cell, not a single ray of sunlight could penetrate, and the entire space was utterly silent. In such an extremely oppressive environment, anyone imprisoned there would feel indescribable anguish and repression; no one would find it comfortable or at ease.

No wonder solitary confinement has become a form of punishment in prisons, striking fear into the hearts of countless inmates. This kind of mental punishment is even more unbearable than physical punishment.

Andy closed his eyes tightly, trying to forget his pain by falling asleep. After all, he had been punished by being locked up in this solitary confinement cell for a whole day, and only sleep could slightly alleviate his inner torment.

However, at that moment, the small window in the center of the cold, hard iron door of the solitary confinement cell was suddenly opened.

In an instant, a dazzling beam of light shone straight in, stinging Andy's eyes. He instinctively raised his hands to shield himself from the uncomfortable glare.

"Andy Dufresne, here's your food for today. Come and get it. I hope you can seriously reflect on your mistakes while you're in this solitary confinement cell."

The guard standing outside the detention room spoke curtly, then placed a dry piece of bread on the window and turned to leave without looking back.

Andy slowly stood up from the ground, went to the door, took the bread from the window, and took a difficult bite.

"Pah, what nonsense about self-reflection! What did I do wrong? I was just protecting myself!"

Holding the bread, Andy retreated back to the corner. The confined environment made Andy lose track of time; time in the solitary confinement cell seemed to stretch on endlessly. How much longer until he could get out?

As Andy took the bread, the small window on the iron door was closed again, plunging the solitary confinement cell back into endless darkness.

After finishing the dry, hard bread, Andy closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep.

......

In a daze, Andy seemed to hear the sound of the door being gently pushed open.

The sound was so faint that he almost thought he was hallucinating. However, when a bright light suddenly filled the entire solitary confinement cell, Andy had to squint to adjust to the unexpected brightness.

He shielded his eyes with his hand and looked towards the door, a flicker of anticipation rising within him. He muttered to himself, "Has his confinement ended?"

Just then, a deep and familiar voice reached his ears.

"Of course not, Andy."

Andy's heart raced instantly; he immediately recognized the owner of the voice.

"Mr. Li Qing!"

“Come out, Andy, you don’t need to be in solitary confinement anymore. I’ve had a friendly talk with Captain Mad, the head of the guards, and he said that putting you in solitary confinement was a misunderstanding.”

Upon hearing this, Andy couldn't help but swallow hard; those two words were quite unfamiliar to him.

Friendly and cordial? Or a misunderstanding?

Andy clearly remembered the ugly face Mad had when he locked him in; it was anything but "friendly."

The so-called "misunderstanding" was utter nonsense. At the time, Mad had asserted with certainty that Andy had made a mistake and must be punished.

Andy thought to himself: It seems that during the time I was in solitary confinement, Mr. Li Qing must have had something happen with the guard captain, Mad. Otherwise, why would Mad have been willing to let him out early?

As he pondered this, he slowly walked out of the confinement cell.

Andy stopped in front of Li Qing, looked at him gratefully, and said, "Thank you so much, Mr. Li Qing."

"It's nothing. Didn't I tell you before? You can ask me for help if you're in trouble. Why didn't you tell me if someone in prison was causing you trouble?"

"Sigh, I thought I would be fine if I avoided them, but who knew they would actually attack me directly..." Andy lowered his head in shame as he said this.

"No matter what, you must tell me if something like this happens again." Li Qing patted Andy on the shoulder.

"Thank you, Mr. Li Qing. I will."

"Yes, feel free to ask me anytime if you need any help," Li Qing said with a smile.

Andy nodded, then turned and left.

Li Qing watched Andy's departing figure, lost in thought.

......

The sunlight outside was a bit too bright for Andy, who had just come out of solitary confinement. Andy squinted for a while to adjust before looking around.

When Red and the others on the sports field saw Andy, they all showed a hint of surprise on their faces.

Andy could sense that there seemed to be some curiosity and doubt in Red's eyes.

He took a deep breath, deciding to ignore the strange looks, and walked straight towards Reed. All the way, the words he'd just uttered kept echoing in his mind: "Friendly...misunderstanding..."

The more he thought about it, the more he felt it wasn't that simple.

......

Andy approached Red and the others and greeted them softly.

Red and the others were very surprised to see Andy. He had been in Shawshank Prison for ten years and had never seen a prisoner who had been put into solitary confinement come out early.

"Andy, why are you out so soon? Your detention period isn't over yet," Red asked.

“Well, Mr. Li Qing spoke with Captain Mad of the guard team and said that putting me in solitary confinement was a complete misunderstanding, so he released me early,” Andy said with a smile.

"Misunderstand?"

Why would the captain of the guard say that someone could be locked up in solitary confinement and cause a misunderstanding?

If someone is imprisoned by mistake, then they are imprisoned by mistake. It's still up to the guards to decide who gets imprisoned. The prisoners can only suppress their resentment.

“It was definitely a misunderstanding. The guards should have locked up the three sisters. Andy, you're the victim,” Herwood jumped out and said with a grin.

Andy glanced at Herwood, then said to Red, "Red, I've heard things about you from the other prisoners, and I know you can get your hands on anything, so I'd like to ask you to get something for me in here..."

"......"

“Let’s talk over there.” With that, Reed put his hands in his pockets and walked toward a less crowded area.

Seeing this, Andy quickly followed.

He was left standing there, shaking his head helplessly.

......

“Tell me, Andy, what do you need?” Reed said calmly.

"I would like to trouble you to get me a stone hammer."

"A stone hammer? What kind of hammer is that? What do you need such a hammer for?"

The hammer is both a tool and a weapon. Reed's expression changed when he thought of the conflict between Andy and the "three sisters".

He looked at Andy with a serious expression, thinking to himself: Is Andy planning to kill the "three sisters" with a hammer?