The wall at the end of the basement is inlaid with a huge mosaic puzzle, which is exactly the image of Veritas, exactly the same as the portrait in the information.
Walking further inside, Dean suddenly held his breath.
There were several morgues in the room, with mutilated corpses placed on them.
A cat was lying on one of the corpses, licking the blood. In the center of the room, a disemboweled torso was hung in the air, and blood fell drop by drop into the large pool below, making a "tick, tick, tick" sound.
The body of dentist Paul was lying on the morgue nearby. His face was blue and purple, his tongue had been cut off, and his mouth was open wide.
"Holy shit..." Dean felt his stomach churning and almost vomited it out.
"Are you here to have dinner with me?"
A woman's voice came from behind, with a joking smile, as if she was speaking close to her ear.
The two turned around suddenly and saw Ashley standing at the door. He had changed into a classical robe, with cold eyes and a smile on his lips. She waved her hand gently, and a huge force came. Dean and Sam were thrown out, hit hard on the hanging torso, and fell into the blood pool, losing consciousness instantly.
Outside the villa, Bai Haorui has just finished setting up the last formation.
He suddenly frowned and felt the breath in the basement suddenly stagnant.
Got hit.
He subconsciously took two steps forward and then stopped.
Wait a minute, he said to himself.
Wait until Veritas tells the truth, wait until Dean understands it completely.
Otherwise, today's sin will be in vain.
I don't know how long it took, but Dean woke up to the smell of blood.
He looked up and saw the corpse hanging in front of him, and almost vomited. He moved and found that his hands were tied to the pillar behind his back. Sam was next to him, also tied up.
Veritas was standing next to the dentist's corpse. He used tweezers to pick out the corpse's tongue, put it to his mouth and took a bite. He narrowed his eyes with satisfaction, as if he was eating something delicious.
"The tongue is the most delicious part." She said slowly, her voice sticky, "This is where all the lies slip out."
She took another bite and ate it with gusto. "I've seen a lot of scammers, but you two... are definitely the best. You have enough secrets."
Sam quietly opened his eyes, slipped out a folding knife from his sleeve, and hid it in the palm of his hand. He raised his eyes and looked at Dean, winking.
Dean ignored him and stared at Veritas, feeling overwhelmed.
He suddenly remembered Bai Haorui's words - the truth is too sharp. He was a little afraid now, afraid that this woman would say something he couldn't bear.
"Don't be anxious, take your time." Veritas turned around, wiped his mouth, and looked at them with a smile, "You will be next. Let's play a game, truth or dare. Just play truth or dare."
She walked up to Dean and squatted down, her eyes seductive, like a snake. "Dean, what do you think of your brother?"
Dean tightened his mouth and wanted to resist, but his throat opened as if out of control. "Now... it's much better. Just yesterday, I wanted to kill him while he was sleeping. I thought he was a monster."
Sam's hand movements paused.
"But now I feel... he is just like me." Dean's voice was filled with pain, but also with a sense of relief, "In our line of work, your hands are stained with blood, and you have to die in the end. I have been teetering on the edge of life and death for most of my life, just like now. I told myself before that I wanted to quit and have a family."
"But you're lying." Veritas smiled and exposed him.
"No, I didn't lie." Dean shook his head, his eyes dim, "But what I'm best at is cutting throats and killing monsters. I can't be a good father, I was born a killer. I can't change it, and I admit it now."
Veritas patted his shoulder, stood up and walked towards Sam.
"So Sam is back with you, are you actually relieved? Just like Mickey has Minnie?" She squatted in front of Sam, smiling maliciously, "What about you, Sam? How do you feel that your old partner is back?"
Sam raised his eyes and looked at her, his tone calm. "Our work... is very dangerous. But we take care of each other. That's the most important thing. That's all, this is the truth."
Veritas's smile froze instantly.
She frowned and stared at Sam, as if she heard some big joke, "No. You are lying."
"That's what you said. You're cursed and you can't lie." Sam looked innocent.
"Impossible!" Veritas stood up suddenly, took a step back, and the tone of his voice changed, "There is nothing in your heart! There is no emotion, no waves, it is empty! How did you do it?"
She stared at Sam with fear in her eyes, as if she had seen some kind of monster. "Who are you? You are not human at all!"
Dean was shocked, looked up at Sam, and heard a buzz in his head.
Not human...
He had thought about countless possibilities before, including possession by Lucifer, impersonation by Shapeshifter, manipulation by the devil... But what did Veritas mean when he said "not human"?
"Don't you know?" Veritas turned to look at Dean, smiling pitifully and cruelly, "His body is empty! A big chunk of his soul is missing! He is just an empty shell, Dean! How about you dig your heart out for an empty shell?"
At this moment, Sam suddenly broke the rope and threw the knife in his hand to Dean. At the same time, he grabbed the hunting knife soaked in dog blood and rushed towards Veritas.
"Shut up!" Sam's voice was as cold as ice, and his eyes were filled with embarrassment and anger as if a secret had been exposed.
Veritas reacted very quickly. She turned around and punched Sam away. The hunting knife also fell to the ground. She grabbed Sam's neck and pressed him to the ground. Her fingertips became harder and harder. "You dare to attack me if you are an empty shell? I want to see what you are made of!"
Dean also took the opportunity to cut the rope, grabbed the iron hook on the ground, quickly walked around behind Veritas, and stabbed her hard in the back.
"Ah--!" Veritas screamed, turned around suddenly, and the human face faded away, revealing the appearance of a ferocious monster underneath, with chapped skin and golden eyes.
Just when she was distracted, Sam picked up the hunting knife and stabbed it into her heart.
The dog's blood poured in along the blade. Veritas's body froze, her eyes widened, as if she couldn't believe it. She made a whooshing sound in her throat, and with a final "thud", she fell into the pool of blood and stopped moving.
The smell of blood permeated the entire basement, too strong to be resolved.
Sam stood up with his hands on the ground, and just as he was about to speak, he saw Dean raising the hunting knife in his hand, with the tip pointed straight at him.
Dean walked over step by step, with cold eyes and chest heaving violently, like an enraged beast.
"Dean, it's me." Sam subconsciously stepped back and raised his hands, "Listen to my explanation--"
"Explain what?" Dean's voice was hoarse, filled with anger and disbelief, and the blade came closer. "Explain that you are not a human at all? Or explain that you were not frightened at all that day as a vampire?"
Sam looked at him and was silent for a few seconds.
He knew that he couldn't hide it anymore.
"Yes, I wasn't scared out of my mind." Sam's voice was very calm, terrifyingly calm, "I deliberately let you get bitten by the vampire last time. Because I know there is an antidote, and we must destroy the nest. I calculated that you can handle it."
Dean's brain went "boom".
"Carry it?" His voice was trembling, "I almost died! I almost killed Ben! I almost turned into the monster I hate most!"
"I know. I definitely wouldn't have done this before." Sam looked at him, but there was no guilt in his eyes, only an empty confusion, "But I... I can't feel it. Dean, I can't feel anything. I don't know what's wrong with me, I think... I need help."
He looked at Dean with a pleading look in his eyes, as if he was really asking for help.
But the look in his eyes was so calm, like he had memorized his lines.
Dean stared at him for a long, long time.
Anger, disappointment, heartbreak, and what Bai Haorui said before, all came flooding back.
It turns out it's all true.
What Bai Haorui said is true, what Bobby said is true, even what this monster said is true.
Only he, like a fool, has deceived himself and others for so long.
"Fuck..." Dean growled, suddenly raised his fist and hit Sam hard on the face.
With a "bang", Sam was hit to the side of his head and fell to the ground. Dean rushed forward and punched him in the face one after another, using all his strength, as if to smash out all the anger, all the grievances, and all the collapse of faith.
"Is this what the f*ck you did to me?!" Dean yelled as he beat him, his voice breaking, "I risked my life to save you! I danced for you Hell! Are you just teasing me like this? Are you using my life as a bargaining chip?!"
Sam did not resist, and soon lost consciousness, with blood all over his face.
Dean stopped, panting heavily, and sat aside, looking at his unconscious brother, his eyes full of pain and confusion.
"Have you finished venting?"
A calm voice came from the door. Bai Haorui stood at the entrance of the basement, his expression unclear in the backlight. He had come in a long time ago and stood in the shadows for a long time without stopping.
"He deserves it." Dean's voice was hoarse and he turned away, "You have known it for a long time. You have told me a long time ago. You have told me a long time ago. It's just that I don't believe it."
"Yes." Bai Haorui walked in and stood beside him, "There is a missing piece of his soul. It's not that he has become bad, but the part that feels emotions and understands guilt is left in Hell's Cage. The cold and calculating person now is also Sam. He is incomplete."
Dean turned his head, with bloodshot eyes. "Can I get it back?"
He asked very softly, with a little cautious expectation, like a child who is afraid of being disappointed.
Bai Haorui looked at him and spoke every word with determination, as if he was swearing. "Yes. Whether it's playing Hell or breaking into Heaven, I will accompany you to find it."
Dean looked at the unconscious Sam, his chest heaved violently, and tears finally fell.
The truth is like a red-hot knife, piercing through all the lies and suspicions, and also piercing the next path.
He must retrieve his brother's soul.
No matter what the cost.
Impala was driving on the road in the early morning, the headlights split the darkness and extended along the road.
Sam was lying in the back seat, not yet awake. The wounds on his face had been simply treated and wrapped with gauze.
Dean drove the car, staring at the road ahead. The confusion in his eyes was gone, only heavy determination remained.
Bai Haorui was sitting in the passenger seat, closing his eyes to relax, and gently rubbing a Five Emperor Coins with his fingertips.
"What should we do next?" Dean spoke first, his voice still a little hoarse, "Just break into Hell? Or should we find Campbell Family first?"
"Look for Campbell first." Bai Haorui opened his eyes with clear eyes, "Sam was fished out by Samuel. Why is a piece of the soul missing? He must know something."
Dean held the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white. "Samuel... Why did he do that?"
"Why else?" Bai Haorui smiled faintly, "I want to make an obedient weapon. A soulless hunter who only talks about pros and cons and not emotions is best suited to be a swordsman."
Dean felt a chill in his heart.
He remembered the way Samuel looked when they first met. He looked like a kind elder and said they were a family. It turned out that it was all a lie and it was a conspiracy from the beginning.
"There's one more thing." Bai Haorui paused, "Heaven Over in the civil war, Raphael suffered a loss and will definitely take revenge. I burned his container last time and he held a grudge. We have all been careful lately."
"Yeah." Dean nodded, "Also Alpha Vampire, we have to keep an eye on the matter of forming an army."
The car was speeding through the night, and the wind came in through the cracks in the car window, bringing with it the coolness of the early morning.
Dean looked at Sam in the rearview mirror, sleeping soundly like a child.
In the past, he always felt that Sam was his younger brother and he should protect him. Later, Sam danced to Hell, and he felt that the sky was falling.
When the car drove to Bobby's house, it was just dawn.
Bobby had been waiting at the door for a long time. When he saw them getting off the car, he hurriedly greeted them, "How is it? The case is closed? Sam What happened?"
"I took a beating." Dean twitched the corner of his mouth and smiled a little bitterly, "It's okay, just a skin injury."
The three of them carried Sam to the bed in the guest room. Bobby brought the medical kit over. While treating Sam's wounds, he sighed, "You are too harsh."
"He deserves it." Dean said harshly, but he still subconsciously relaxed his movements.
Bai Haorui and Bobby walked to the kitchen and made two cups of coffee.
"Is everything clear?" Bobby asked, "Has he admitted the matter of soul loss?"
"Yeah." Bai Haorui nodded, "Next, check Campbell Family. Samuel has the aura of Hell's contract."
Bobby frowned and punched the table. "These sons of bitches!"
"Don't worry." Bai Haorui took a sip of coffee and his eyes darkened, "We have no evidence now. Let's investigate secretly first, don't alert others. Once we find the evidence, we can settle the accounts with them."