The man tried to break Wu You'ai with layered suggestion and real, physical agony, combining mind games with pain to maximize the effect. Yet the girl in front of him did not seem afraid at all. He needed to turn the screw.
"You know Bi Ri's boss, Brother Da Ri, right? The one who led the raid on your community that day. He ended up in the hands of Yang Yang from the Armed Police Unit. After being injected with one jin (500 g) of water, he could not wait to confess everything. He still died under Yang Yang's torture in the end. Do you know how he died?" The man lit the red candle. In the sweltering air, the flame seemed hotter still, throwing light across his fine features and strikingly handsome face.
Wu You'ai's eyes brightened, a sparkle flickering inside.
"Frightened… to death?" Wu You'ai asked.
"Smart. Yang Yang blindfolded him and described each punishment as he performed it. The narration amplified the pain, and fear killed him first. I heard the perceived pain is many times worse than the real thing. Ever heard of an old punishment called 'roasted flesh in oil'?" The man sounded almost nostalgic.
Wu You'ai stared, playing along. "No."
"It goes like this. First you pick a piece of your flesh. Then you slowly roast that piece until it cooks. Relax. The advantage is there is no bleeding. You can even eat your own roasted scab.
Burns carbonize the wound and form a crust so it does not inflame easily, but among all injuries, fire hurts the most. It stings every second. The best record was eight pieces before death from pain. I wonder how many you will reach."
He set the red candle beneath Wu You'ai's thigh. A drilling heat surged up. Sweat beaded and ran down her skin.
"Still not talking? Just tell me what happened that day. How many are in the villa? How did you kill so many people? What is the secret?" He watched the skin redden, then smoke.
"I… can I ask you a question?" Wu You'ai stammered between breaths and sweat.
"If you ask, will you answer mine?" He kept adjusting the candle's angle, as if savoring the process.
"What is your name?"
He looked up with a faint smile. "I am Shangguan Jun. Now you can answer me."
Wu You'ai panted. "Given my mental resilience and physiological tolerance, I estimate I can endure at least more than twenty pieces. If you want me to last longer, you should replenish my water and food intake in time. At the current rate of fluid loss, I can only make it to five pieces.
In medicine, pain is scaled to ten levels. Burns and childbirth are ranked at the top. My mentor says the stronger the mind, the greater the pain one can withstand. Generally speaking, women tolerate pain better than men."
Shangguan Jun's mouth twitched. "What did the villa people feed you, a bowl of loyalty soup? You would rather die than give me anything? No matter. Once they finish failing at the petroleum base, they will bomb the villa next. The whole place will vanish. Everything you are protecting is worthless."
"I am not protecting intelligence about the villa. I am protecting the bottom line of being human," Wu You'ai said, switching to a pattern of three short breaths, two long. "My mentor has been looking for material on level-ten pain. If I survive, this will be excellent data. Proof shows that when pain peaks, breathing techniques and relaxation have minimal effect."
"What else helps then?"
Sweat poured off Wu You'ai in fat drops, but hearts seemed to glint in her eyes. She gritted her teeth. "Distraction can reduce pain by one level. Self-hypnosis can reduce another. For example, right now I am telling myself you are very handsome. Looking at you lowers the pain."
"Is this woman flirting with the man torturing her?" Shangguan Jun frowned, annoyed. "You truly are not afraid of death? You have no wish you want to fulfill? You are willing to die like this?"
The meat was already giving off the scent of cooking. Staring at her own flesh being roasted, the woman still did not flinch.
"Death is an end, and a beginning. Wishes can be completed in the next beginning. When pain reaches the summit, it is a kind of ecstasy. The limit of pain is pleasure. You are almost there."
"Pervert."
"If you can, when you slice off my flesh to feed me later, add more salt. I like strong flavors. Too bland affects my appetite."
Shangguan Jun: "…"
…
In the car, Jing Shu received an urgent message from Wang Dazhao.
"The oil-field attack failed. Zhetian lost dozens. Now a vanguard of more than a hundred is moving toward our community. Their second target is the villa. They plan to drop a few bombs, level it, then occupy the community as their base."
Wang Dazhao had not made it into the upper ranks, so he only learned plans at the moment of execution.
Worse, unlike Bi Ri's last reckless raid, Zhetian had grabbed several people leaving the community before acting. They questioned them about the villa and even found the old household registry left behind.
Among those captured was someone named Wu You'ai. Her ID showed a link to the villa. She was under severe interrogation now.
Wang Dazhao sent their location.
Face like iron, Jing Shu dropped Uncle's family on the roadside and said, after explaining the situation, "Turn back and take the Ai Jia Supermarket route. We will intercept them in advance. If they bomb the villa, the consequences will be unimaginable. We take out this group first, then rescue Wu You'ai. She should be able to hold out for a while. If the villa's existence gets exposed, so be it. Those traps were never going to stay secret."
Jing Shu's true secret was the Cube Space, and the doomsday weapon inside it.
Even with all her precautions, she had not expected those damned people from Zhetian to set their sights on the villa. Then again, maybe it was just on their way. If she had not planted Wang Dazhao as a piece on the board this time, Jing Shu might not have known the villa was bombed until it lay in ruins. That organization really was full of maniacs.
They sped down the road. Jing Shu ran through plans to eliminate the attackers and, in the same breath, called Yang Yang of the Armed Police Unit. There were too many enemies. No one should gamble with their life. She called him in as insurance. She believed Yang Yang would take a keen interest in Zhetian.
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We've made it to Chapter 100!!! (ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ🎉✨
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