"Since you know who I am, you should know to stay away from me. Don't provoke me," Ye Qing said coolly.
"You evil ghost! You're the evil ghost! I know you! A sinner for a hundred lifetimes! A sinner for a hundred lifetimes! Xuanqing should have killed you the moment he found you! You—" The old voice let out a shrill cry.
Ye Qing bent down and reached out.
The scolding turned into a groan.
I felt someone grip my throat and lift me off the ground.
A hand plunged into my chest. My flesh, bones, and everything in between were crushed, and my heart was seized.
Something was draining away from my heart.
It felt as though my soul were about to be dragged out of my body along with it.
"You're right. Xuanqing should have killed me right then. His talk of doing good came too late for me. It doesn't intend to judge me, and it doesn't intend to execute me. This torment will go on forever. It's a vicious cycle... I've already been caught in it, and you're all going to..." Ye Qing murmured as he pulled my heart out.
I felt excruciating pain. It was the pain of the soul, nothing like physical pain, where you could hold the aching spot, apply heat or cold, and ease the hurt. You could even distract yourself and feel a little better.
What left me even more at a loss were Ye Qing's words.
Ye Qing... How could he say something like that?
He wouldn't give up! He shouldn't give up!
He was supposed to break out of this dead end!
I still remembered what he'd said...
"...A public trial... public punishment..."
I seemed to hear myself say those words.
For an instant, I seemed to see a