Xue Beng's Decision

"Ah! Xue Xing, you old dog! I want you dead! I want you dead!"

Xue Beng roared madly at Xue Xing's retreating back. How could fourteen-year-old Xue Beng possibly endure this?

"How dare you, Xue Beng, disturb the court with your roaring! Your crime is aggravated!" The Judge slammed the gavel and issued the order.

"Send him to the Eighteen Levels of Hell immediately!"

Xue Beng, who had still been raging helplessly, immediately came to his senses. Though he did not know what the Eighteen Levels of Hell were, they certainly did not sound like anything good.

"No, sir! I've been wronged!"

Unfortunately, no one paid him any attention. Two Ox-Heads seized Xue Beng by the arms. Like a helpless woman, he had no strength to resist as they dragged him to a grim and terrifying entrance.

Once inside, it was as though he had entered an even more dreadful world. Chilling winds howled around him, countless torture instruments such as small blades had been set out everywhere, and figures like him were being tortured all around.

"Th-this is... where?"

Xue Beng's voice trembled.

"Welcome to Ge Yao Hell..."

An Ox-Head spoke in a muffled voice, his tone full of gloating.

He fastened Xue Beng to a chair with chains, forcibly tore open his clothes to expose the soft flesh at his waist, then picked up a blade and a hook from nearby and rubbed them together.

The crisp clash of metal sounded in Xue Beng's ears like vengeful ghosts coming to claim his life.

"Y-you... what are you doing? I'll give you money, I'll give you—"

"Ah!"

The Ox-Head skillfully sliced open the flesh at Xue Beng's waist. With a light push and pull of the hook, he extracted a small kidney. The pain nearly made Xue Beng faint, but some mysterious force kept him from losing consciousness.

Yet the Ox-Head did not stop. He moved to the other side and easily harvested another kidney with the same motions.

Was that the end?

The truth proved that, legitimate or not, Hell was still Hell.

Before Xue Beng could even catch his breath, his flesh healed and his kidneys instantly returned to normal. He was not the slightest bit happy, because the Ox-Head began repeating the same actions again and again.

"Spare me! I was framed! I was framed!" As he cried out his innocence, Xue Beng began to resent for the first time why he had two kidneys.

He did not know how long it had been. Xue Beng had long since lost count. The kidneys beside him had piled into a small mountain, and his throat had gone hoarse from screaming. Yet the pain had not diminished in the slightest; instead, it had become even more sensitive.

Finally, the Ox-Head stopped his torture and unfastened the chains binding Xue Beng.

"Is it over?"

Xue Beng slumped limply in the chair. This place was absolutely his nightmare, a Nightmare he would never be able to erase.

"Over? Heh heh, this is only the first level of Hell. Enjoy what comes next."

The Ox-Head sneered coldly.

"The first level? What does that mean?"

Xue Beng suddenly recalled that the man had said he would be sent to the Eighteen Levels of Hell. Eighteen levels!

Xue Beng's eyes nearly split open as he shouted, "Kill me! Just kill me!"

Unfortunately, the Ox-Head showed no mercy at all.

"The second level of Hell, Ba Niao Hell."

The Ox-Head took out a pair of pliers with his thick, powerful hand, then tore open Xue Beng's pants with a single pull.

"Ahhh!!!"

His screams rang out without end.

The third level, Kao Chang Hell.

The fourth level...

Seeing Xue Beng's face twisted as viciously as an evil ghost's, Shang An smiled in satisfaction.

Though he could not directly alter Xue Beng yet, it was not difficult to use Psychic Power to guide his thoughts. For example, perfectly transferring the hatred from the dream into reality, or perhaps... heh heh.

"Ah!"

A thousand years in the dream amounted to only half an hour in reality. Xue Beng suddenly opened his eyes on the bed, his gaze filled with madness and despair.

The guards around the palace immediately rushed in upon hearing his cry, while Shang An and Ni Huang had already entered the Taiyi Dharma Domain.

"Prince Xue Beng!" "Prince Xue Beng!"

"What happened to His Highness?"

A force of the mind dragged Xue Beng out of his manic state. After coming back to himself, Xue Beng ignored the guards, roughly shoved away the woman beside him whom he had startled awake, kicked off the blanket, and stood up to look down at himself. When he saw that his little bird was still there, Xue Beng felt no joy whatsoever, only terror.

"All of you, get out!"

Xue Beng said to the guards.

The guards looked baffled. What was Prince Xue Beng playing at? Had he called them in just to show them his little bird?

"Get out!"

Seeing Xue Beng grow angry, the guards did not dare say another word and hurriedly left the palace.

Xue Beng then kicked the two young women off the bed.

"You two, get out too!"

The two young women looked at each other. Seeing Xue Beng's somewhat crazed appearance, they could only grab their clothes and run from the palace, cursing inwardly that Xue Beng was useless yet had a terrible temper.

Once everyone had left, Xue Beng stood silently for a while like a statue. But anyone who looked carefully into his eyes could see the madness deep within his soul.

Suddenly, he threw himself onto the bed and began to sob soundlessly. It was not that he did not dare make a sound, but that he was so devastated and despairing that he could not even cry aloud.

With Xue Beng's willpower, after experiencing Shang An's cheap imitation of the Eighteen Levels of Hell, he would likely have completely broken down long ago if Shang An had not used a thread of Psychic Power to keep him hanging on.

After crying for a long while, Xue Beng finally stood again, ignoring the tears that slid down his cheeks.

He looked around and saw that he was the only one left in the hall. The madness in Xue Beng's eyes grew even stronger as he lowered his head to look at the root of calamity below that had made him suffer countless times.

The moment he saw it, memories of those agonizing tortures began battering his mind without end. He felt that he was truly about to go insane. He had to do something.

With no room for hesitation, Xue Beng searched his bedchamber and found a dagger. After cleaning it and making his preparations, he swung it viciously downward without holding back in the slightest.

Blood splattered, and the little bird fell to the floor. The muscles in Xue Beng's face twitched in agony, yet he actually endured it without making a sound. After being tempered so many times, what was this little pain? Compared to that nightmare, it was child's play.

Seeing the eggs and sausage on the floor, Xue Beng stomped down on them without hesitation.

Smack!

The eggs and sausage instantly became a flat pancake, with no possibility of ever recovering.

Yet Xue Beng still found it an eyesore. He picked up the flat pancake, looked around, and finally spotted the brazier in his bedchamber that he used for grilling food. His eyes lit up.

He threw it into the brazier and lit the fire. The blazing flames quickly burned the pancake to ashes, erasing it from the world forever.

Seeing that source of all evil finally disappear, Xue Beng let out a long breath. Even the nightmare in his mind seemed to fade slightly. Compared to that, what did the searing pain between his legs matter?

He found some gauze and gave himself a simple bandage, then forced himself to clean up the bloodstains in the hall, tossing all the bloodied towels and cotton cloth into the brazier.

Only then did he collapse onto the bed, gasping heavily as a figure appeared in his mind.

"Xue Xing, I'll make you wish you were dead!"

His revenge against Xue Xing had become an important driving force for him to keep living. He had once been utterly hopeless, with no desire to live for even a moment. Yet his endless hatred for Xue Xing had opened a crack in his Abyss, bringing in a sliver of light that led who knew where.

And all of this had been faithfully recorded by Shang An using a Recording Stone, including the earlier bird-cutting portion. This footage might prove surprisingly useful someday.

"Let's go."

After calling to Ni Huang, the two quietly left the imperial palace once more. Just as they had come quietly, they left without taking a single cloud, leaving behind only a man with an injured bird.

After returning to where they lived, Shang An picked up Xiao Wu, the grown-up loli who was still asleep. He really was a little unaccustomed to days without a Pope-brand body pillow, so Xiao Wu would have to do for now.

In her groggy state, Xiao Wu felt herself being picked up. But after smelling that comforting scent, she did not avoid him. Instead, she actively wrapped herself around him like an octopus, and the two fell asleep in each other's arms.

"Mom."

At dawn, Xiao Wu hugged Shang An and murmured in her sleep, a smile curling at the corner of her lips.

"Call me Dad."

"Dad?... Mm!"

Xiao Wu suddenly woke with a start. The moment she opened her eyes and saw Shang An's teasing smile, her face instantly turned bright red as she sprang up.

"Bad master."

This master was far too wicked. He had actually tricked her into calling him Dad.

"Since you're awake, hurry up and get up, my good daughter."

"You're still saying it."

After the two tidied their clothes and left the room, Ni Huang had already placed buns and soy milk on the dining table. Sure enough, being virtuous had nothing to do with strength.

After a simple breakfast, Shang An had someone deliver a calling card to Dugu Manor in the name of the young proprietor of Fengming Restaurant. Though calling cards normally had to be sent at least a week in advance, Dugu Bo clearly did not have the standing to make Shang An wait.

Shang An planned to leave for Dugu Manor today.