The damp prison cell, even the straw on the ground was sodden. Rats and cockroaches hid in the cracks of the walls. Even the dried food scraps that fell to the ground, long since withered, held no appeal.
In the corner of the cell, a human figure was curled up. Dried blood clung to the edges of gaping wounds. A cold wind whistled through the bars, invading the cell. Straw stuck to the figure, its edges scraping against the wounds, sending waves of pain through them.
Footsteps echoed from the dark corridor. With a creak, the cell door was pushed open from the outside. The person lying on the straw struggled to turn their head. In the dim candlelight, a pair of white silk shoes stepped onto the dirty ground. The person slowly raised their head, catching sight of a figure as clear and refreshing as a spring breeze.
Nan Shiying looked at the miserable state of the person before her, her eyes devoid of sympathy. She merely thought that Feng Quan hadn't been ruthless enough, that they still had the strength to move.
She raised her hand, her slender fingers curving slightly. "Bring the things in!"
Heavy footsteps, accompanied by the clatter of torture instruments, reverberated through the silent dungeon. The jailers, carrying the instruments, approached from the end of the dark corridor, panting heavily.
With a thud, four jailers placed a table laden with torture instruments on the ground.
"I heard you're involved in the human trafficking business. I'm curious about this trade, and I hope you'll answer truthfully." Against the light, her face wore a faint smile. To the person lying on the ground, however, the flickering candlelight cast an eerie glow. He swallowed, his gaze drifting from her face to the torture instruments behind her.
"I've told you everything I know," he said with difficulty, his dry lips trembling slightly. As he spoke, blood seeped from the cracks again. "What else do you want me to say?"
"For example, who is the master behind you?"
The man's pupils contracted sharply, but he said, "I've already said, it's..."
"I'm asking about the master behind the Zhu Yu Gang."
This human trafficking organization, traced through Wang Er, was affiliated with the Zhu Yu Gang. The Zhu Yu Gang was a gang entrenched in the underground black market and the underbelly of the capital, specializing in unsavory dealings. They trafficked humans and exploited merchants and citizens in the black market. The street adjacent to the black market was known as Shabby Street—dirty and dilapidated. Walking through the street, the walls of the houses on either side were broken, and the roofs were in disrepair, the tiles offering no shelter from the wind. The people who ended up here were all desperate souls, but to the members of the Zhu Yu Gang, they were merely their 'goods.'
Bodies, organs, even skin.
The leader of the organization before them was the second-in-command of the Zhu Yu Gang, and the others were also its core members. As for the entire Zhu Yu Gang and its leader, they remained hidden within the black market. Even the Ministry of Justice was powerless to enter the black market and apprehend them.
The mastermind he revealed was merely a leader of the Zhu Yu Gang.
Currently, the entire Zhu Yu Gang was on the wanted list of the Jingzhao Prefecture.
"Bah, our Zhu Yu Gang always follows the leader's command. We have no such damn master!" The man spat fiercely, but he lacked the strength, and his phlegm fell before it could even travel half an inch, smearing across his cheek and onto the dry straw.
Nan Shiying sighed faintly and took out a silver needle from her怀.
A cold glint flashed across the needle's tip. The man stiffened his neck, his eyes wide open, appearing defiant and unyielding.
Nan Shiying swiftly inserted the needle into the man's acupoint. There was no pain as expected. The man even felt a surge of warmth within him after the needle pierced the acupoint. The warmth circulated through his dantian, repeatedly providing strength to his weak and broken body.
He opened his mouth in surprise. Nan Shiying casually tossed a pill into his mouth.
The pill melted upon contact, and the man's complexion turned visibly rosy. He even had the strength to prop himself up and sit.
"You..."
The man moved his lips, wanting to ask something, but eventually swallowed his words back timidly.
Seeing the man's hesitation, Nan Shiying seemed to understand and couldn't help but burst into laughter. "You don't think I have a spy planted in the Ministry of Justice by your master, do you? I'm treating you because you're ready to die and loyal, refusing to betray your master? Hahahaha, how laughable, truly laughable!"
Having laughed enough, Nan Shiying grabbed the man's hair and yanked him up from the ground. Her voice, though laced with laughter, was cold and cruel. "I'm treating you because I don't want you to die!"
As she spoke, she kicked out and shattered the man's knee. A miserable scream immediately soared into the heavens, echoing against the surrounding walls and reaching everyone's ears.
Zou Chengyi stood in another cell. In the flickering candlelight, he watched Feng Luan, who casually kicked out someone's bone while smiling and talking, and couldn't help but shiver. The figure of Prince Regent Ji Jinmo suddenly flashed in his mind.
At a certain moment, their figures overlapped.
These two were so similarly cruel, it was no wonder Feng Luan was a honored guest of Prince Regent Ji Jinmo. They were truly birds of a feather, flocking together!
The screams were endless, piercing and tragic, like the cries of a cuckoo bleeding, utterly dreadful!
The man's mouth was exceptionally stubborn. Despite various tortures, he still refused to yield. He lay on the ground, his breath as thin as a thread, his body beyond repair. His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling shrouded in darkness. Blood flowed from his clothes onto the ground.
Zou Chengyi walked to Nan Shiying's side. Looking at the man whose breaths were fewer than his inhalations, he asked Nan Shiying, "Is there really no one behind him?"
Few people would refuse to confess after such torment.
Nan Shiying sighed and took out her silver needles again. "There's one last method!"
She twirled the silver needle, opened the lid of a small red porcelain bottle, dipped the needle in poison, and then forcefully stabbed it into the man's celestial gate.
"Ah~~~"
The man's screams became almost distorted, his tearing voice carrying a pain far too immense to bear. Zou Chengyi's heart lurched, feeling as though his scalp was being torn by hand under the rendering of the tragic cries. It felt as though a hammer was repeatedly pounding the skull at the torn scalp, and the moment the skull shattered, a wooden stick was inserted into the broken bone, wildly stirring the brain.
It was an indescribable pain and terror.
Soon, the man's screams were no longer sharp. His voice was hoarse, his agonizing moans rolling in his throat, drilling into Zou Chengyi's ears. He even felt a surge of pity for these scumbags.
Just as the man was on the verge of death, Nan Shiying withdrew the silver needle. Bending slightly, she brought her lips close to the man's ear. In a daze, the man seemed to hear a devil's whisper: "Don't worry, I won't let you die."
Beneath death lay an eternal torment, never to be reborn!