The Exorcist

Book 8: Chapter 38: Torture

In the forest clearing, a female ghost gracefully floated in mid-air. Although she was already a spirit, she still paid great attention to her appearance. She probably transformed into her most beautiful form, so she was not terrifying but rather a vivid and enchanting ghost, even more alluring than the most seductive woman in the mortal world.

“How did you figure it out?” Hong Hao Hao asked.

“I deduced it.” Xiao Xia replied, “You were taken out of here by Si Ma Nan, and you ran away in Hongqing Town. But without a man to rely on, where else can you go? Besides, who else knows about Ah Zhan’s existence? None of the spirits who fought against him survived, except for you, the fish that slipped the net.”

Actually, it was Hong Hao Hao’s pair of black eyes that triggered Xiao Xia’s deep-seated memories. Only Hong Hao Hao had such lively and malicious eyes that found joy in the suffering of others. However, Xiao Xia didn’t say this.

“So what if you figured it out? I won’t let you slip through my net!” Hong Hao Hao laughed wildly, “I’ve been messing with you for so long, and finally confirmed that no one is following you. Since I suffered so much before, I would be really stupid if I still didn’t guard against it. Let’s see how you can escape today!” She waved her hand at Xiao Xia as she spoke. A gust of black smoke wrapped around Xiao Xia.

“Wooden azure dragon, conjure countless swords, slash!” Almost at the same time as Hong Hao Hao’s attack, the Wood Spell of the Five Elements Forbidden Art was cast. Because Xiao Xia purposefully leaned against a big tree, borrowing its natural power doubled the spell’s power, and it actually managed to repel Hong Hao Hao’s black energy.

“Not bad. A mere mortal with such a light fate can actually reach this level.” Hong Hao Hao frivolously praised, but there was no sense of praise in her tone.

“You’re not bad either, you’ve actually turned into a spider fiend.” Xiao Xia knew that it wasn’t smart to anger the other party, but she couldn’t stand Hong Hao Hao’s attitude. At the same time, she pretended to stumble and fall, setting up a little trick.

She had to find a way to hold out until dawn. It was already Spring so the days were longer. Dawn arrived early in the mountains too, but it was still completely dark. Even though Hong Hao Hao had messed around for a while, it was probably only just past midnight. It seemed that Hong Hao Hao had been cultivating the spells Si Ma Nan previously taught her. She felt much more powerful and Xiao Xia wasn’t able to face her head on. Therefore, she had to figure out a way to make Hong Hao Hao prolong her death. Otherwise, she wouldn’t survive the night.

“Curse all you want, it will only make your death incredibly painful, and then I will devour your soul, condemning you to eternal damnation!” Hong Hao Hao approached step by step.

“Bring it!” Xiao Xia was scared to death, but she deliberately put on a confident appearance, occasionally sneaking a glance into the distance as if someone would come to her aid. “Think I’m afraid of you?”

Wan Li had said that Hong Hao Hao was actually an extremely insecure woman. She needed to rely on her looks and the acknowledgment of men to validate her existence. Such types were extremely sensitive and suspicious. Besides, she had escaped with her life from Ruan Zhan and Wan Li before, and there was definitely some lingering trauma. She probed Xiao Xia for so long in order to confirm neither of them were with her.

But was she really certain? This forest hid too many things. To Xiao Xia, it was filled with scary unknowns, and it was the same for Hong Hao Hao.

As expected, despite her expression remaining fierce. Hong Hao Hao’s eyes flickered with hesitation. “Stop mouthing off. No one’s coming to save you!”

“Then why don’t you come over? Come and try to kill me!”

Hong Hao Hao stopped in her tracks. The more Xiao Xia spoke, the more doubts she had. That’s right, she wanted to kill this woman. From the first time she saw her, she wanted to kill her because, despite her ordinary status and appearance, she won the hearts of two outstanding men, making them willing to live and die for her! But what about her? She tried her best, but couldn’t even keep a single man. What irked her most was that heartless man actually was the most passionate, but his feelings were all for Ah Bai.

She hated Yue Xiao Xia’s luck, and because Yue Xiao Xia was Ah Bai’s only friend, she transferred her hatred of Ah Bai onto her. Also, because of Yue Xiao Xia, the only person she could rely on in the world was gone. It was all Yue Xiao Xia’s fault!

“Don’t try to trick me.” Hong Hao Hao’s thoughts were dark and complex, but she wasn’t a fool. She had initially been frightened by Xiao Xia, but was now coming to her senses. “They aren’t here at all. Those two treat you like their most precious. Would they tolerate me scaring you? Haha, stop playing tricks, I won’t fall for it. Prepare to die!”

“It’s true that they haven’t arrived yet, but that’s just for now.” Xiao Xia felt a chill in her heart, but she still argued. “I’m not afraid of you killing me, because they will avenge me. Guess how Ruan Zhan would react if he happened to see you kill me? Even Si Ma Nan fell at his hands, let alone someone insignificant like yourself. Since we’ve fought for so long, take a guess whether he will be able to sense your presence? He’s so smart. If even I could figure out it was you, wouldn’t he? Do you know how much he loves me? I can guarantee that if I die, he would destroy all the spirits here to be buried with me. If he ends up rampaging, don’t you think something peeping in the shadows here will rat you out to protect itself? It doesn’t matter whether or not he’s here right this instant. The problem is that paper can’t keep fire under wraps. Unless you want to die along with me, you won’t be able to get away!”

“Ha, if I destroyed out and fled, would he search the world for me? I’d be a needle in the haystack. How would he find me?”Hong Hao Hao sneered.

She was both angry and scared in her heart. She carefully sensed her surroundings with her spirit sense and confirmed that there was indeed no human presence. She knew that her strength was far inferior to Ruan Zhan’s, but it wasn’t so weak that she couldn’t sense such a powerful expert nearby. Now that she had mounted the tiger, it was hard to get off again. She had to act decisively.

Xiao Xia noticed her gaze turn fierce and regretted pushing her too far, making her feel there was no room to retreat. She hurriedly blathered on. “I don’t understand, we have no enmity, why do you insist on making things difficult for me? Since you’ve already escaped, why not just run farther away?”

“You don’t have to understand, you just need to know that you are going to die!”

“Then aren’t you curious why I’m running up the mountain in the middle of the night?” On the brink of death, Xiao Xia could only try to arouse her curiosity while trying to not act like a victim. Only then would there be a path to survival.

Sure enough, Hong Hao Hao paused for a moment, and Xiao Xia secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She knew Hong Hao Hao had been interested in this matter. She had just forgotten to ask out of anger. Now that she was reminded, although she didn’t know how she was going to extract that information from her, she had at least avoided the danger for now.

“What are you here for?” Hong Hao Hao asked sternly.

“What are you hanging around for?” Xiao Xia asked in return. Then, she took a guess before Hong Hao Hao got angry. “You’re aimless without Si Ma Nan. Your original home was next to this large mountain, so you came to check up on Ah Bai. You want to know how she’s doing, and whether Si Ma Nan’s broken soul has a chance of recovering. You’re very curious how Ah Bai was able to endure so many years of living in the dried well. But you can’t get into that well because the restriction set by Si Ma Nan back then is still active. Although it imprisons Ah Bai, it also protects her.”

“What of it?”

“My luck is rather bad. While you were wandering around, indulging in life on the mortal coil, you happened to see me arrive. Therefore, you used the Najin Villagers who died a few days ago to scare me, and then brought over the innkeeper family from halfway up the mountain to put on this puppet show.”

“What of it?” Hong Hao Hao asked again, “I’m curious why you came here, and you seem to be in a hurry. Ruan Zhan must have abandoned you, and you’re here to complain to your ghost friend Ah Bai, right?”

Her conjecture was filled with Schadenfreude, making Xiao Xia recall Ruan Zhan’s situation. She went with it and burst into tears, “He’s going to leave me!” She choked up.

She didn’t lie. If Ruan Zhan couldn’t survive, wasn’t that leaving her? Hong Hao Hao’s words had struck her sore spot and she couldn’t help but feel a wave of sadness. Hong Hao Hao hadn’t believed Ruan Zhan would abandon Xiao Xia, because she had witnessed the sincerity of his feelings for her. She was just maliciously speculating, not expecting Xiao Xia to start crying so grievously, without any hint of pretense. This made her start wondering if Ruan Zhan really didn’t want Yue Xiao Xia anymore. She felt incredible great, and couldn’t help but start laughing.

Weren’t all men like that? No matter how deep the love, it can change in the blink of an eye!

“Who are you putting on this show for? Men don’t feel any regret. Haven’t you heard the saying that a man’s heart is like iron? And I’m certainly not going to feel sympathy for you. I just get pleasure at seeing it happen to you too.” Hong Hao Hao laughed. “Just now you were bragging about how much Ruan Zhan loves you and how he would avenge you. Now your true colors are showing, aren’t they?”

“He’s a loyal and righteous person. Even if we’re no longer in a relationship, don’t you think he’ll still avenge me? Besides, I…” Xiao Xia quickly stopped talking.

“Besides what? You came here to find Ah Bai for other purposes too, right?” Hong Hao Hao noticed that Xiao Xia shifting her gaze and pressed her. “If you tell me now, it’ll spare you some pain!”

Xiao Xia didn’t speak. It would just be some physical pain. She had always been afraid of pain, needing several days to muster up the courage to even get a vaccine. But as long as Hong Hao Hao was torturing her, she had a chance to last until dawn. Only if she was alive could she save Ruan Zhan.

“You won’t talk, huh? Fine. Then have a taste of this!” Hong Hao Hao pushed with both hands.

Xiao Xia didn’t resist this time, as if she was overly heartbroken. When Hong Hao Hao waved her hands, although she clearly saw nothing, she felt as if countless cold hands were pushing her, causing her to crash into the big tree behind her. The impact was so strong that it felt like her organs had shifted. Before she could even struggle, she felt a cold rope binding her tightly.

“You’ve blocked my dark energy with the wood aura earlier, but that’s just a petty trick.” Hong Hao Hao sneered, “Let me show you the true power of nature. Although you’re experienced enough to know the insects here are fierce, and put on bug spray before climbing the mountain, I know full well the effect will wear off. What do you think will happen then? Mountain mosquitoes, leeches, and various unidentified small insects will come to suck your blood. It is said that in the past, some sinners were tortured to death in this way. I am afraid of Ruan Zhan’s revenge, so I dare not kill you. But I can tie you up here for a few days and create a barrier so that others can’t see you. Once batch of mosquitoes is done with your blood, I’ll kindly shoo them off and let a knew batch take their place. Even if you don’t die from their poison, your blood will be sucked dry. What if a couple of snakes show up as well? Haha, with your fair and tender skin, your blood must be sweet. Don’t you like doing good deeds? Then feed some mosquitoes!”

“Use a different method!” Xiao Xia was more frightened by Hong Hao Hao’s words than by seeing ghosts. She couldn’t help but blurt out.

While it didn’t sound too horrifying, it was the hardest for Xiao Xia to endure. She had grown up in a major city and was terrified of insects. Also, due to her constitution, mosquito bites always took forever to stop swelling. Therefore, she was terrified of mosquitoes, and they were basically her nemesis. For the sake of lasting until dawn, she wanted to use Hong Hao Hao’s curiosity and endure some torture. She expected being beaten or threatened, and even prepared for some torture. However, she never expected Hong Hao Hao to come up with such a plan, and almost passed out from fear.

Hong Hao Hao laughed heartily, very proud of coming up with such a method, “I know you’re stalling for time, trying to wait until dawn, but I’ve trapped you here, so why should I be afraid of you stalling? Let’s see which of us can last longer!” She started forming hand seals with both hands and pointed at Xiao Xia.

Xiao Xia only felt a chill on her body as her long clothes and trousers were torn open by an invisible hand, revealing her fair skin. At the same time, she noticed that the faint grassy fragrance on her body had disappeared, replaced by the smell of blood. She desperately tried to break free from the invisible restraints, but it was useless. She could only watch helplessly as terrifyingly large mosquitoes and frightening insects landed on her body.

It felt like tiny needles were pricking her skin, and Xiao Xia screamed. She was not the kind of woman who screamed at the slightest provocation, but this time she completely lost control. The terror and disgust made her feel worse than death. She never knew she could scream like that, cry like that, but when her body was covered in mosquito bites, she realized that this was what she looked like when she went crazy. To her, this was the most terrifying torture in the world!

Hong Hao Hao was extremely happy, almost intoxicated as she enjoyed Xiao Xia’s suffering, “Tell me why you came, and I’ll spare you!”

Xiao Xia couldn’t bear it and continued to cry, but she gritted her teeth and didn’t say a word. Hong Hao Hao would know if she lied, and she would increase the punishment. Telling the truth would hurt Ruan Zhan. She would rather die!

It was only a few hours until dawn, but the torture felt like it lasted for centuries. Xiao Xia couldn’t even cry out anymore. There wasn’t a single patch of skin on her body that was intact, and the toxins released by the mosquitoes were starting to cloud her consciousness.

…….