Chapter 372
Chapter 372
If the first two days of captivity had been mental torture, what followed was mental and physical torment combined. It made me wish I were dead.
The knife wound in my thigh received neither antibiotics nor painkillers. The agony had already left my mind hazy.
Several times, I wanted to beg for mercy and ask them to finish me, but my last sliver of reason told me it would be useless.
They had attached a nutritional IV precisely because they did not want me to die.
Since they would not let me die, begging would only give them something to laugh at.
All I could do was endure it and moan continuously on the wooden table.
They had bound all four of my limbs. I could not even move.
Eventually, I no longer had the strength to moan.
The next day, the supplies Qingyuan had mentioned arrived.
Two men carried them into the room where I was held. Only then did I realize there was another room inside this one.
They opened its door and carried the supplies inside.
There were three large crates in total. It seemed they intended to remain here for a long time and keep torturing me.
“What the hell is in this crate? Why is it so heavy?”
“Open it and see.”
As they spoke, a third man ran in holding up a phone. “Third Brother, the man in charge is calling. He wants you on the phone.”
The man they called Third Brother seemed to be the leader here.
The man in charge was probably Qingyuan.
Qingyuan had called to ask about my condition and remind them not to let me die.
“Of course. Don’t worry. We won’t let him die. I’ll give him some water in a moment.”
After hanging up, Third Brother had someone bring in a bottle of mineral water and a steaming bowl of preserved egg and pork congee.
It was my first sip of water in three days. Never before had water tasted so good.
But they did not let me drink much.
Shamefully, I begged, “Brother, two more sips…”
He laughed at my pathetic state, but generously gave me two more.
Then he held the bowl of congee before my eyes and moved it from side to side. “Why put yourself through this? We aren’t going to kill you. Just give in, and we’ll treat you to good food and drink. Why suffer like this?”
I stared at the congee. Its aroma alone was enough to make me want to submit.
To stop myself from yielding, I had to do something.
“I… I…”
“Hm? Changed your mind?”
“No. I fuck every last one of your mothers…”
His expression instantly darkened. He slapped me viciously. “You miserable bastard! I’d rather feed this to a dog than give it to you!”
He walked away with the bowl, and the room sank into darkness again.
After an unknown amount of time, I drifted into sleep. Sleep was the only thing that dulled my pain, if only slightly.
But the agony prevented me from sleeping deeply. In my daze, I seemed to see my Ancestral Master.
I had dreamed of him once after returning from Lincheng, but never again after that.
Seeing him now was like seeing my savior.
I was his disciple, after all, and one he had personally performed Register Conferral for. Now that I was in danger, he could not possibly stand by and let me die.
“Ancestral Master, save me!”
He looked deeply troubled, as though worried for me as well.
“Chen Mo, your present circumstances are extremely dangerous. You must carefully remember what I am about to tell you.”
“Please speak, Ancestral Master!”
My heart surged with excitement. At last, I saw a glimmer of hope.
If the Ancestral Master helped me, perhaps I still had hope of escaping this place.
The Ancestral Master said, “When you face danger and desperation, remember this: you must stay strong!”
I said nothing.
The Ancestral Master asked, “Chen Mo, do you believe in miracles?”
I remained silent.
I understood now. This was a fake Ancestral Master, a hallucination caused by the pain.
“Thank you in advance, Ancestral Master. Once I die and reach your side, you can tease me all you want.”
He remained solemn. “If you are not strong enough, how can you survive until the final moment and find a chance to escape the enemy’s clutches? What I am about to say next is the important part. You must memorize every word of this formula.”
My heart surged with excitement again.
A formula? Was it a formula that would let me unleash some devastating technique?
But in my current state, how could I possibly unleash anything?
Still, I could not go wrong trusting the Ancestral Master!
“Please speak, Ancestral Master!”
He then taught me several lines of a formula, and I memorized them all.
When I had finished, I could not resist asking, “Ancestral Master, what does this formula do? Can it get me out alive?”
The Ancestral Master shook his head. “No. It reduces your physical pain. If no one comes to save you, it may make your death a little more comfortable.”
I was speechless.
I woke up, literally infuriated awake by the Ancestral Master.
As soon as I regained consciousness, an excruciating pain tore through my thigh again.
I truly could not endure it any longer. I hurriedly recalled the lines of the formula and repeated them silently several times.
Miraculously, the pain in my leg really did lessen!
The Ancestral Master might have been unreliable, but he had not lied. The formula truly reduced pain.
I sighed and abandoned all hope of escaping.
If Seventh Master and Song Xiaotian could really find me, they should have done so by now. A long time had passed since my capture.
I had no sense of time, but I must have been held for at least three or four days.
Looking back on my life, dying here might actually be a release.
Death itself did not frighten me. What frightened me was that my captors would not let me die and intended to keep torturing me.
I longed for release, yet I still had people I could not let go of.
Anning, Seventh Master, Song Xiaotian, Meng Yifan. I still could not bear to leave them.
I hoped that after my death, someone would dispose of my body and keep Seventh Master and the others from seeing it. If they saw what torture had done to me, they would surely be heartbroken.
For the first time since my capture, thoughts of the people I cared about made me cry.
I remained imprisoned for another two days. During that time, someone occasionally came in to attach a nutritional IV and give me water. Otherwise, they ignored me.
My body grew weaker and weaker. Sometimes I could not even open my eyes.
One day, the door opened again, and someone came in to retrieve supplies.
I turned my head and watched him take out a key and unlock the door to the inner room.
When the door opened, a woman stood inside.
She held a broadsword. Without hesitation, she swung it at the man’s neck, dropping him to the floor before he could even scream.
I thought I was hallucinating. I forced my eyes open wider and stared.
The scene before me remained unchanged, yet I still could not believe it.
I had to be hallucinating.
That woman… was Anning!
After striking the man down, Anning herself began to sway. Weakly, she braced herself against the doorway and took a long time to recover.