Hulei felt as though he had fallen into a black hole. The world around him was pitch-black, and his head felt like it was being squeezed by something. Every time he revived, he could hear the grating sound of his own skull, and the complete lack of oxygen made his thoughts feel like they were sinking into a mire.
Only the pain radiating from his body and head told him that he was, at this moment, still alive.
He didn't fear death, nor did he fear being subjected to all kinds of cruel torture. In the past hundred-plus years, he had long grown accustomed to it.
But he did fear the unknown. Just like what Fu Zhu had done to him a moment ago, a thread of terror uncontrollably bloomed in his heart.
As for Fu Zhu, he was tirelessly swinging the Ōdachi in his hands. Finally... with one last swing, the Ōdachi's Glory Value reached exactly 1000 points. Not a point more, not a point less.
"Finally done."
Fu Zhu let out a long sigh of relief. Although Hulei was a durable training dummy, the surrounding environment was truly awful. It was no place for a person to stay.
Then again, it made sense. This was a room designed for Hulei's punishment; it wouldn't be right if it were too comfortable.
Fu Zhu turned and dismantled the bed. He had no intention of respawning in this prison cell if he died later. Even respawning back at Herta Space Station was a better option than this place.
After packing up his things, Fu Zhu turned to look at Hulei, whose head was still embedded in the obsidian, and couldn't help but stroke his chin.
The Shackling Prison was located in a rather remote area, a fair distance from the guesthouse where they were staying. He wondered if he should just die here and respawn at his origin point.
Even respawning at Herta Space Station and then using a Domain Anchor to teleport back would be faster than traveling from the Shackling Prison to the guesthouse directly.
But Fu Zhu only entertained the thought. Hopping between respawn points was a bit too troublesome.
"Well, since I'm already here..."
Fu Zhu sized Hulei up and down. Although the Luofu owed him many favors, he had, in the end, caused the Ten-Lords Commission quite a bit of trouble. Since he was already here, he might as well lend them a small hand.
Fu Zhu took out a wooden boat and placed it on the ground. He then sat in it, adjusted its direction slightly so the stern was aimed at Hulei, and slowly backed up until Hulei was loaded into the boat's back seat. Only then did Fu Zhu hop out of the boat.
Then, Fu Zhu once again took out a lightning rod, a piston, and some redstone, and walked behind Hulei.
"Sigh, the people of the Ten-Lords Commission are too kind and too pedantic. What's the point of just thinking about destroying a person's body? You might as well destroy their mind along with it. Hehehe."
Fu Zhu assembled the Shearing Machine behind Hulei. As the machine activated, Fu Zhu could have sworn he heard Hulei's wails of agony, even with his entire head encased in obsidian. Or perhaps it was just his imagination.
After setting up the Shearing Machine, Fu Zhu took out the jade tablet Hanya had given him earlier and crushed it.
Hanya, who had been waiting for Fu Zhu's signal outside, immediately ordered the military officers to open the gate the moment she received the message that the tablet had been broken.
As the gate opened, Fu Zhu walked out leisurely. The first thing he did upon seeing Hanya was to point a thumb back toward the cell behind him.
"I set up two extra torture devices for Hulei for you guys at the Ten-Lords Commission. You're welcome."
"Ah?... Well, thank you, Mr. Fu Zhu."
Although Hanya didn't quite understand what kind of torture devices Fu Zhu had installed, she still thanked him out of politeness.
"Mr. Fu Zhu, shall I escort you from the Shackling Prison now?"
"Yes, please."
"You're too kind."
Hanya turned and led Fu Zhu out of the lowest level of the Shackling Prison. She had even thoughtfully prepared a starskiff for him at the ferry dock outside the prison, so he could board it and leave as soon as he came out.
"Farewell, Mr. Fu Zhu."
Hanya bowed respectfully, watching as Fu Zhu boarded the starskiff and left the area of the Shackling Prison. Only after the starskiff had completely disappeared from her sight did she turn and head back into the prison, returning to the lowest level where Hulei was kept.
Hanya led a squad of fully armed military officers cautiously into the cell. When they saw Hulei's entire head encased in obsidian, they all let out a collective sigh of relief.
One of the officers next to Hanya saw this and couldn't help but make a small joke.
"Well, at least Mr. Fu Zhu didn't rashly remove Hulei's shackles. He even thoughtfully added a 'muzzle' for us. Usually, Hulei is always cursing and swearing in there. Even with a large gate in between, we can still hear him. Now we can finally have some peace and quiet."
Hanya remained silent. She was a Judge, not a military officer, so she wasn't familiar with the conditions during guard duty. She had entered the cell only to confirm that the facilities for sealing Hulei were intact and that the "torture devices" Mr. Fu Zhu had mentioned wouldn't affect the seal.
Just as Hanya shifted her gaze from the obsidian on Hulei's head, she immediately spotted the machine operating at high speed behind him with a clattering sound. Curious, she stepped to the side and craned her neck for a look.
With just one glance, a blush couldn't help but creep onto Hanya's pretty face. She subconsciously wanted to look away, but she forced back her embarrassment and observed it carefully.
Ensuring Hulei's seal was intact was her duty as a Judge.
After observing for a while, Hanya finally breathed a sigh of relief. She confirmed that the rather... improper machine Fu Zhu had built would not compromise the seal, and only then did she quickly avert her gaze.
The military officers who had followed her in also saw the improper machine and, one by one, turned their heads to spit on the ground.
"Mr. Fu Zhu is more improper than we imagined... Isn't that machine... that kind of thing they sell in adult shops? Can that even be considered a torture device?"
"...It's hard to say. Hulei is a male, after all. For him, this machine really could be considered a torture device. The psychological damage is probably far more intense than any physical harm..."
Hanya, hearing the conversation between the officers grow increasingly absurd, quickly cut them off.
"Alright, that's enough idle talk. Mr. Fu Zhu must have had his reasons for doing this. We shouldn't make wild guesses."
Seeing Hanya speak, the officers all fell silent. But before they left, they couldn't resist casting a few more glances at the Shearing Machine behind Hulei.
Fu Zhu landed the starskiff in Changle Heaven and returned to his room in the guesthouse. He lay down on the bed again to set his respawn point there.
After setting the respawn point, Fu Zhu reflexively dismantled the bed. As it turned into a dropped item and was sucked into his inventory, Fu Zhu finally reacted, slapping himself on the forehead in frustration.
"Damn it, why do I still have this habit of dismantling beds?"
Fu Zhu sighed helplessly, took the bed out of his inventory again, placed it back in its original position, and set his respawn point one more time.
This time, he resisted the urge to dismantle the bed and instead turned around to place his crafting table and furnace.
Now that the upgrade conditions for the Ōdachi had been met, the next step was to upgrade it into the Demon Blade "Hiruko"!
The crafting recipe for the Demon Blade "Hiruko" was very simple, and its damage was also very high, making it one of the most practical cursed blades in the SlashBlade mod. It only required four Proud Soul Jewels, four Proud Soul Ingots, and an Ōdachi with one thousand Glory Value.
Fu Zhu placed all the materials into the crafting table one by one and successfully obtained the first cursed blade of his life!
[Achievement Unlocked: Demon Blade "Hiruko"]
[Achievement Points Gained: 5]
The Demon Blade "Hiruko" came with Durability III, Smite, Fire Aspect, and Sharpness V enchantments, which was excellent. Although its skill was Phantom Blade, which wasn't Fu Zhu's favorite Dimensional Slash, that wasn't an issue.
Active skills could be unlocked through player-applied enchantments. Since Fu Zhu had a high-level Enchanting Table mod, which was incredibly convenient, obtaining enchantments couldn't be simpler.
When he got tired of Phantom Blade, he could just replace it with Dimensional Slash.
Besides, Phantom Blade was also very cool, and it could even compensate for Fu Zhu's current lack of ranged attacks.
And most importantly!
The blade-drawing light effect was really cool!
Fu Zhu switched to the Demon Blade "Hiruko" in his hand. With a casual wave, a bright blue, crescent-shaped blade of energy shot out directly in front of him. It was so fast that in the blink of an eye, the blade energy had already flown through the wall and outside.
"So cool!"
No matter how many times he saw it, Fu Zhu couldn't help but marvel. The stats of the SlashBlade mod weren't the highest, but it was definitely the coolest weapon mod out there!
After marveling for a moment, Fu Zhu packed up and prepared to go out. Although he had asked Dan Heng to tell March 7th and the others that he was safe last night, knowing Welt and March 7th's personalities, they would surely be worried if they didn't see him in person. He needed to show his face to put them at ease.
With the Demon Blade "Hiruko" slung over his back, Fu Zhu had just stepped out the door when he happened to run into March 7th, who had just finished washing up and was getting ready for the day.
"Hm? Fu Zhu, you're back!"
Seeing Fu Zhu had returned, March 7th walked over joyfully.
Fu Zhu almost immediately took out his Demon Blade "Hiruko".
"How did you know I could shoot sword beams now?"
The smile on March 7th's face instantly froze. She crossed her arms with a pout and grumbled, "You're just like Xing! The last time she got the character she wanted in a gacha game on a single pull, the first thing she said to me was in that exact same format!"
Fu Zhu chuckled, then looked around and asked, "Where are Xing and the others? Still not awake?"
March 7th shook her head. "Xing is probably still sleeping in. Uncle Yang and Dan Heng should already be in the dining hall having breakfast. Come on, let's go too."
"Alright. I was busy all morning and haven't had a chance to eat yet."