Interlude I: I Want to Live

Foreword:

Pain can evoke deep sympathy, and it can also inspire a fear of hurting others and a profound respect for those who can endure suffering.

--Leo Tolstoy

[Part 1: A Poor Bird Caged]

"I've heard about your story; it's a fairytale full of wonder."

The evil spirit of Korkin Romani coalesced from a cloud of dust—

--Just as dust accumulates to form a tower, and evil winds gather into vortexes, slowly piling up a blurry human figure.

The handsome young man in fine clothes appeared out of nowhere, standing by the door of the living room, leaning against the cabinet, his eyes sweeping over every inch of Flavia's skin with a frivolous and rude gaze.

"Is it painful? Maybe we should just give up?"

"Flavia Cici Marcus."

"You are not as decisive and strong-willed as the legends portray you."

The "Legend of the Night Demon" concerning gunsmiths has long been woven into several versions by poets of the underworld, and the black and White Snake have become totems of the new era.

--They are the snake-woman sisters who are the monsters who helped the gunsmith gain divine power and possess extraordinary abilities.

[Timeline] can turn bad luck into good luck. In some remote and backward mountainous areas, the White Snake is still worshipped and placed on altars as a lucky charm.

The [Yin Yang Demon Realm] is a place of instant death. The World Health Organization later issued the two sisters the scepter of the god of commerce, David Victor wrote this fairy-tale-like story for them. Combining the two, Flavia found a new way to survive.

Korkin Romani always felt an extremely perverse sense of euphoria when he was around terrified women.

This pleasure was not caused by lust. Even when he was not an evil spirit and still had a human body, he was a devoted person—he would never abandon his beloved Ingram for the sake of women.

This feeling of euphoria stems from "compassion" --

"--What a fine expression, Miss Flavia!" Korkin could sense the fear in his prey's heart, and that intense shame; pain was written all over her face! Very good!

Once upon a time, Korkin was in the same situation, forced to watch helplessly as his beloved slowly slid into the abyss of curse.

It is said that the brave draw their swords against the strong, while the cowardly draw theirs against the weaker. This is the iron law of the survival of the fittest in Shambhala, a tragedy of the times brought about by [carnivorousness]. This powerful inertia of thinking still dominates Korkin's mind, even though he has become a spirit and a slave to Fret.

His heart was shattered, becoming numb and cold-blooded amidst one lie after another.

All the pain I've endured over the long years must be transformed into the terrifying notes of [Scrub Scrub, swish! swish!], into a sharp steel brush, so that others may also taste this bitterness.

While seeking medical treatment everywhere, he could only watch helplessly as his beloved lay naked on the hospital bed, at the mercy of all sorts of strange and unknown doctors.

He could do nothing; feelings of powerlessness and shame were like fat worms, almost eating away at his willpower.

The moment he made the deal with the great devil Fret, he had to say goodbye to Ingram. His lover finally came to her senses, and he could only hide in the shadows, concealing the ugly magical mark on his face, never daring to see her again until he died.

This steel brush painstakingly, bit by bit, scraped away Korkin's flesh, hollowed out his fascia, and shattered his bones until nothing remained.

From beginning to end, Korkin never considered seeking revenge against Fret, because the contract stated—

--You must not disobey your master's orders; anyone who harms your master will be punished thirteenfold.

The more Flavia suffered, the happier Korkin became.

This is the instinct of evil spirits, the intense obsession of the deceased, just like the half-dead Jack Martin. They always have strange pursuits and strong personalities, as if without this obsession, even the spirit body can hardly maintain itself.

"It's you who's been messing with me all this time?!" Flavia was almost in tears.

Korkin casually replied, "Actually, there are two other friends waiting outside, but Man Yin didn't want to do it himself, so he sent poor me to deal with you."

"Why!" Flavia cried out angrily, "Why?! What did I do wrong? Why are you doing this to me?"

"Little girl." Korkin didn't rush to act; instead, he was quite expectant, hoping to see more grievances, more intense emotions. "There's no reason."

Fret wanted Flavia dead, for no reason, for no excuse.

In the devil's eyes, there is no need for a reason to order his men to kill; it may just be for amusement, or a whim.

"I just want to live!" Flavia cried out in agony, curled up beside the cabinet door, trying to protect her body. She didn't want to be stared at like that anymore. "I just want to live! I want to live!"

"Did I bother anyone? Was it because I didn't do a good enough job?"

"Go to Huacheng Bay to sell candy, oh! Oh! I know!"

"Because some opium addicts came to buy candy, they stopped smoking? So the opium dealers sent you to kill me?"

At this moment, Flavia became even more agitated, and she remembered more things.

The repeated pain of being skinned and having her bones cut out distorted the fabricated story of [Hell Highway], making her personality increasingly fragile.

If your memory is good enough, then go back to the previous chapter, back to the time when Duran and Flavia made sugar.

Empress Cici herself once recounted a story from her time on the airplane.

--If Duran had been observant enough, Flavia would have already remembered the existence of "Black Snake" at this point. It's just that its presence wasn't so obvious, not so noticeable. It seemed like it could be easily mentioned and then glossed over.

At this moment, Flavia recalled the old stories of Clearwater Bay.

That's a story about the brutal selection process for drug gangs, where they compete in drug-making skills.

It is the shameful past when Lawrence Madison found the two sisters, selected those with exceptional talent in chemistry, and made Flavia and Duran undergo a naked body search and interrogation.

She seemed to have returned to the den of demons, back to the indifferent gaze of God, back to the familiar workbench of synthetic products. She was not allowed to take any chemical reagents out of the workshop, could not wear any clothes, and had to use her own blood to fight against the toxic byproducts of the laboratory environment, without even the most basic gas mask.

I want to live.

At this moment, Flavia seemed to have no strength left to fight back.

Korkin Romani scoffed, "Then let me see your tears, little girl!"

"If you're willing to shed tears, then cry!"

"Cry your eyes out, cry like a baby!"

"Perhaps I'll consider sparing your life."

"Life, the fate of all mortals, will one day come to an end!"

But you're different! You're so beautiful!

In the courtyard of the Church of Dionysus, another demon Gloria Sebastian, was wandering around the lush garden, holding a portrait.

"You seem to care a lot about this little girl," Axue said, sitting quietly in the pavilion, watching Master Feather go crazy.

The portrait in Gloria's arms depicts Flavia, a piece of her collection that she covets. Like the General of Tears, Flavia is determined to have it in her treasury.

"That bitch has a ruthless, defiant streak!"

Gloria both loved and hated her, praised and scolded her at the same time.

"They're all blood-sucking freaks. Duran will even betray his country and show fear in the face of battle, thinking about how to please me when faced with a life-or-death situation!"

"Flavia, that naive and innocent fool, has only appetite and lust in her head, along with a fear of death."

"She's like a radiant flower! She has a fatal attraction for me!"

"Deal the cards, roll the dice, let's play another round!"

[Part ②: Emerging from the Cocoon]

"I'm sorry, I can't comply!"

At that moment, Flavia completely let go of her shame.

She stopped hiding anything, stopped being secretive, and instead braced herself to face the enemy with the air of someone who had written a detailed statement that would definitely not pass censorship.

Tears were already welling up in my eyes, but there was no room for negotiation, no more thoughts of weakness or begging for mercy.

Korkin Romani was momentarily dazed when facing this "little girl"—

For some reason, his evil heart began to tremble.

"I will not cry," Flavia said. "General of Tears said, 'Don't believe the enemy's lies.'"

Following the survival rules of the nameless, she must continue to execute this survival process.

"No matter what nonsense the enemy talks to me, what conditions they offer, or what they want me to cut my flesh, bleed, or beg for mercy on my knees."

I won't believe a single word of those sweet words.

Only courage can defeat evil!

"Your spiritual pressure is bitter and astringent, and the pain it brings when it entangles with my physical body is still affecting my mental state."

"Son of a bitch"

"What kind of torment have you endured to experience this bitter Inspiration Pressure?"

Flavia slowly straightened up, walked straight to the bedside, and pulled a blanket over herself.

Let me savor it a little longer.

At that moment, Korkin stood frozen in place, his face filled with disbelief.

Blood, blood everywhere.

Ever since that silly girl put on the blanket, her skin has been nibbled and bitten by the scrubs, turning the white silk into blood red!

Flavia was in so much pain she could hardly breathe.

--Her self-harm reawakened her spirit, a power exclusive to Blood-giving Monster, a means used to balance the holy blood before the outbreak of the beast disease.

Once the cravings in his stomach weaken along with his physical body, the raging Feathered Serpent Holy Blood will calm down, allowing him to buy more time for battle.

Pain can reawaken her adrenaline, revitalize her, and enable her to summon spirits to fight.

"The steel brush has pierced my flesh."

Flavia's face turned pale, and she reached out her hand, but the silk did not fall naturally.

It adheres tightly to the skin, and as long as you don't touch or tear it, there will be no new damage.

"It seems that its activation conditions are quite demanding."

"It's like an ice cube; if you hold it for a few seconds, you'll get frostbite, but if you keep holding it, the ice will melt."

"What's the name?"

Flavia asked in a low voice.

"What's your name, you bastard?"

Korkin crossed his arms and gradually returned to a defensive stance.

"--It's a pleasure to meet you. I am an Evil Spirit Body under the command of the great demon Fret, my real name is Korkin Romani."

"You don't quite understand the power of a blood-bearer." Flavia clenched her fists, striking a pose. "You think you can cause trouble for a monster like me with your helpless spirit body?"

The black monster in the mirror seemed to have disappeared--

For Flavia, these pains gradually helped her rediscover herself and accept the Black Serpent's way of life.

A person's life has many stages, and many people may tell the story of how a child's future can be seen from the age of three.

But who can truly say for sure what their mental state was like when they were three years old?

Korkin still offered polite words. "When Mr. Fret spoke of you, he described you as a helpless little girl."

Before she could finish speaking, Flavia used her brute strength to tear off a corner of the bed, picked up the sharp wooden corner, and threw it!

The sudden projectile struck Korkin, causing his head to tilt to the side. His evil spirit body, constructed of sand and stones, was like a bristling hedgehog, suddenly shattering into pieces and unable to maintain its spiritual form!

The Blood-giving Monster exert at least twice the effort of ordinary Homo sapiens, and their finger strength can reach up to six times that of ordinary humans.

This unique circulatory system, unlike that of carbon-based life forms, provides the Blood-giving Monster with formidable physical strength.

According to the basic exorcism methods taught in the introduction to psychic powers course, this powerful force alone, plus a little bit of enchantment, can shatter weak and helpless spirits. Demons with superhuman strength are not something that wandering ghosts can easily harm.

Having not used her muscles in combat for a very long time, Flavia threw the wooden spear with all her might, breaking her right arm in the process!

She was still observing Korkin's spiritual movements.

" --Korkin, you can only enchant one item with Soul Might at a time."

"They deliberately showed themselves to me to confirm my exact location, intending to continue using these traps to bleed me dry and weaken me further."

"It's clinging to my body now, and the wound keeps getting bigger."

"I'm bleeding, and it's hurting more and more."

"There's a platinum coin in the alchemy chest; it was a gift from Lady Goelia."

"I can't touch it, but this kind of ritual object is the natural enemy of evil spirits. Next time I throw it into your head, will it kill you instantly?"

The wooden stick from the corner of the bed smashed through Korkin's head. When he regained his senses and materialized into human form, he had almost completely lost his will to fight. He couldn't believe that this was the same timid and humble Flavia from before.

"How much free time do I have left?" Flavia slowly reached towards her luggage, her eyes fixed on Korkin's location. "A minute? Or a few seconds?"

"Mr. Victor likes to use this method to start a jousting tournament, where we have to face extraordinary psychological pressure until the blood runs dry."

"It made me clear-headed and made my blood boil."

"Now it's your turn to choose. Abandon this mattress I'm wearing, abandon this piece of silk. Use your soul power to seek a way out and make other plans, escape to your companions?"

"Or even faster than me! With your elusive and unpredictable evil spirit form, find the platinum coins in the suitcase before I do!"

"Let's make a bet, Korkin!"

A strong, eerie wind was blowing inside the house.

--Mr. Korkin Romani looked toward the gate, seemingly hesitant.

He had been on the run his whole life, no longer fighting against evil, but instead becoming one with it, having long since resigned himself to his fate.

Don't underestimate me!

Ordinary physical attacks wouldn't do him much damage; the wooden spear that just flew at him only scratched the surface. If he continued to bleed Flavia, that little bitch definitely wouldn't last long.

Are we just going to run away like this? Run outside?

No! That's not right!

This woman is definitely bluffing.

She even glanced out the window again, hoping to escape to the terrace and greenhouse, find another way to survive, and ask the General of Tears for help?! Is that even possible?!

Just as Korkin hesitated...

Flavia had already reached for the suitcase and unfastened the clasp of the alchemical briefcase!

In the blink of an eye, Korkin, no longer intimidated, transformed into a gust of evil wind and attacked Flavia's arm!

As long as he gets the platinum coin first, even if he has to knock the little box away, he wins!

At that moment, the young man believed he had victory firmly in his grasp.

He transformed into human form once more, vying with Flavia for this crucial item.

But

"No?! There isn't any?" Korkin exclaimed inwardly.

Amidst the scattered candy wrappers, the platinum coin was nowhere to be found.

Flavia is lying! She's just trying to lure Korkin close enough to get this evil spirit to help open the alchemy chest!

Alchemical base materials were scattered all over the floor. Flavia grabbed the handle of the suitcase, which had been torn in two, and shoved a gummy candy into her mouth, followed by an astonishing surge of psionic energy—

--She felt her body regain strength, and the condiments and dessert in the small bottle transformed into a continuous stream of love and courage, allowing her to pinpoint Korkin Romani's exact location at such close range!

"[Fairy Tale Fairy Tale Kingdom]! Smash it!"

The amiable feathered serpent god stood tall and threw a powerful punch!

The dazzling flurry of fists resembled a spectacular meteor shower!

It shattered Korkin's bones and tore his flesh apart. Almost instantly, more than a dozen circular dents appeared in the dark mud and sand!

Flavia's eyes turned bloodshot again!

"Not enough! [Twilight Zone - Yin Yang Demon Realm]!"

From the back of the serpent-headed, human-bodied incarnation, a pair of jet-black wings suddenly swelled out, and the dirty ball of fur wrapped around Lady Feathered Serpent's arm, turning her fist, which was originally the size of a soup bowl, into a casserole dish!

Korkin's body trembled, trying to transform into sand and escape, but he was tightly entangled by the dark, dirty yarn!

A full fifty-five punches! The intense and uplifting drumbeats finally ceased!

The black smoke and dust in the air gradually dissipated.

Flavia finally dared to breathe loudly.

"Ha! Knight's combat technique!"

The familiar, sinister grin vanished in a flash, replaced by two sweet, honey-like little tiger teeth.

"It feels like I'm floating on air!"