Sha Qing

Chapter 95: White Tower's Welcome Party (2)

"Undress, strip naked."

The Hispanic man simply stripped his whole body, then turned his head to look at the Asian young man who was also taking off clothes to show off his strong chest and arm muscles which were sculpted like that of a bodybuilder's, contempt obvious in his eyes.

The other party just ignored him, silently changed into the underwear and coffee-colored jumpsuit prepared by the detention center, and fastened the buttons in the middle one by one.

The buff man interpreted his silence and evasiveness as fear and felt more proud.

One of the officers loaded their changed clothes and belongings into a cardboard box right in front of them when the young Asian man suddenly spoke up, "Excuse me, sir, can I take that amulet with me?"

"What?"

He pointed to the short silver-gray chain with a metal plaque dangling in the box, "That one, is a very important amulet which was personally blessed by a master of the religion I believe in."

The gray-haired prison officer picked up the metal chain and examined it for a moment, but was unable to see any clues from the bizarre patterns and designs, and wondered, "I've seen crosses, pentagrams, and small Buddha statues being worn, but nothing like this. What religion is this?"

The Asian young man smiled slightly and said in Chinese, "Mìzōng Gájǔpài."

He repeated it again in English, but the syllables still sounded like an alien language, and the prison guard could only roll his eyes. He then summarized it in a succinct manner, "Some branch of Buddhism," with a clear expression.

According to the regulations, inmates, including the ones who were still on pending trial, were allowed to wear religious accessories. One time, a bad-tempered warden trampled on a prisoner's religious ornament. As a result, that inmate's lawyers caught hold of him and took him to court with the help of a religious organization, accusing him of 'obstructing freedom of belief', which put the prison in a difficult position and passive side. Since then, they had been more careful in handling things related to a person's faith- even prayer rugs were provided to those who needed it.

The old prison guard did not find the short-chain with the small sign to be a dangerous hazard, so he handed it back to him and said, rather humanely, "Buddha bless you."

The cardboard box was taped shut and pasted with a paper, ready to be sent to the prisoners' home. The buff guy wrote an address, but the Asian man shook his head.

"Home address?" the old correctional officer asked.

"None."

"Then fill it in with either a relative or a friend's address." The young man thought for a minute and finally wrote an address: Apartment 103 East 86th Street, Manhattan, New York. Recipient: Leo Lawrence.

As he imagined the look on that dark-haired agent's face upon receiving a package from prison with his clothes and personal items, Sha Qing couldn't help but let out a mischievous smile.

The other guy saw his smile and with an indecent gaze mixed with gloating, he muttered in Spanish "Your ass is going to get fucked up, pretty boy."

"Shut up and just follow us." The correctional officer waiting nearby said as he re-cuffed them.

The lights on the seventh floor of the White Tower suddenly went on, and several officers escorted the two new arrivals into the cell block and entered into a large room labeled 7R. This was a large cell with an area of about 500 square meters, and inside of it were 30 iron-framed bed bunks arranged in three rows, toilets, bathrooms, dining tables, food distribution rooms and a tin cabinet for miscellaneous items.