Chapter 62: Flesh and Blood Torn Asunder

Zhu Shaoqi's vision had already begun to blur, but a smile crept onto her face. Though she hadn’t managed to die with that beast, she was satisfied to have shown him her strength. Then, through the haze, she saw the beast rush at her again, his hand raised as if to slap her twice. The pain had left her face; she only felt her head sway violently from side to side, a sign that he was using all his strength. He pointed at her, as if saying something, but suddenly stopped moving.

Just before she lost consciousness completely, she wondered if she was hallucinating—for she saw Mr. Chen, Chen Yuyi! And then, she fainted.

Chen Yuyi looked coldly at Bao Hongxuan.

Zhang Tianyou hurried forward to lift the unconscious Zhu Shaoqi, untying her ropes. Seeing her covered in blood, tears streamed silently down his cheeks.

At this moment, Bao Hongxuan was enveloped in Chen Yuyi’s energy; his entire body was immobilized, unable even to speak. He stared at Chen Yuyi with wide, terrified eyes.

The light in Chen Yuyi’s eyes was colder than ever. He glanced at Zhu Shaoqi just once, and that single look ignited his fury. No one had ever truly angered him before, but this insignificant ant before him had managed to do so.

“Death is not your best ending, not now,” Chen Yuyi said, raising a finger.

A sharp hiss—Bao Hongxuan’s ear vanished.

“I will show you what it means to wish for death,” Chen Yuyi continued.

Another hiss. The other ear disappeared.

Then, with a succession of faint slicing sounds, Chen Yuyi’s finger moved again and again. The flesh on Bao Hongxuan’s raised arm was severed inch by inch from the bone, as if a boning knife had carved it away, leaving behind a blood-soaked skeletal limb.

The other arm soon met the same fate.

Bao Hongxuan’s gaze grew vacant, his courage and spirit shattered. He felt trapped in endless torment, unable even to scream. He wondered why the agony did not render him unconscious; he longed to faint, or to close his eyes forever, but remained painfully awake.

He heard no sound from the world around him, but he could hear the horrid noise of his flesh tearing from bone—so piercing, so unbearable. No, he had no ears now—so how could he still hear?

Zhang Tianyou, supporting Zhu Shaoqi nearby, was not frightened by the bloody spectacle; instead, his eyes shone with satisfaction. It seemed that with every piece of flesh torn from Bao Hongxuan, Zhang Tianyou felt his own heart ease. He was not a cruel man, but at this moment he welcomed such cruelty.

“I will let you taste what true separation of flesh and bone is,” Chen Yuyi said, raising both hands.

Bao Hongxuan’s body floated up, as if he were a patient lying before a surgeon. Chen Yuyi’s finger was the scalpel.

After a series of slicing sounds, Bao Hongxuan’s four limbs were stripped to bloody white bones. Yet his eyes remained open; he could no longer tell whether the fluid streaming from them was blood or tears. He wanted nothing more than to die, yet death eluded him. Hadn’t others said that blood loss would kill a man? He felt his blood draining away, but death would not come.

How terrifying was this man? Bao Hongxuan could no longer fathom it. He regretted ever crossing paths with him. This was not a messenger from hell, but someone who brought hell itself!

Chen Yuyi stopped his finger’s work, the cold light in his eyes fading somewhat, and walked over to Zhang Tianyou.

“Take care of her. I’ll be back soon.”

Zhang Tianyou nodded; he knew where Chen Yuyi was going, and that he could offer no help. Zhu Shaoqi was still unconscious and needed attention.

Chen Yuyi flipped his palm, producing a pill. Though such pills were useless to him, they were as precious as elixirs to ordinary people. This was a healing herb pill, miraculous for both internal and external injuries.

“Give her this pill,” Chen Yuyi said, tossing it to Zhang Tianyou, then lifted the half-dead Bao Hongxuan and carried him away.

Zhang Tianyou, without hesitation, fed the pill to Zhu Shaoqi.

The pill dissolved immediately in her mouth, and Zhu Shaoqi slowly opened her eyes.

“Tianyou, it’s you!” The wound on her head was healing at a visible speed.

Zhang Tianyou was stunned; the medicine was incredible. Just what kind of man was Yuyi now?

“Shaoqi, you’re awake. It’s all right now. Don’t be afraid,” Zhang Tianyou comforted gently.

Zhu Shaoqi felt no more pain in her head; touching it, she found only dried blood, with the wound itself gone.

“Tianyou, what happened? Wasn’t I bleeding just now?” she asked in surprise.

“Yuyi gave you a pill.”

“Mr. Chen really came? And he gave me such a miraculous medicine? What about Bao Hongxuan?”

Hearing that Chen Yuyi had truly come, Zhu Shaoqi’s spirits soared. She felt more energetic than ever, unaware that most of it was due to the herb pill.

“I don’t know what kind of pill it was, but it must be rare!” Zhang Tianyou thought to himself, amazed by such efficacy.

“Shaoqi, don’t worry. That brat Bao Hongxuan will never trouble you again.”

“Did Mr. Chen kill him? That’s too easy a punishment.” In the past, Zhu Shaoqi would never have dared imagine such a thing, but after witnessing Chen Yuyi’s methods, she took it calmly.

“Yuyi hasn’t killed him yet, but he’s suffering worse than death,” Zhang Tianyou replied. He too seemed changed by Chen Yuyi, no longer troubled by thoughts of killing.

“So where did Mr. Chen go?” Zhu Shaoqi asked.

“To collect his debt.”

…

Meanwhile, Bao Yingtong had gathered several beautiful women and prepared a table of food and wine, entertaining two masters and Yan Hongyi.

Bu Jingshan and Yi Buxing pretended to disdain the company of pretty women, but once they were attended by them, their faces lit up and their hands wandered freely.

Yan Hongyi was equally pleased, raising his glass to toast the two masters with beauties on either side.

Laughter and merriment filled the hall; Yan Hongyi seemed to have forgotten the young man who dared demand a billion from him.

“How lively you all are!”

Suddenly, a calm voice echoed in everyone’s ears.

All laughter ceased instantly.

Bu Jingshan and Yi Buxing grew alert, pushing the women aside and looking toward the door.

Yan Hongyi’s heart skipped a beat. Despite having two masters backing him, anxiety gnawed at him.

“Master Yan, have you prepared the billion yet?”

Only Chen Yuyi’s voice sounded; no one had appeared.

Yan Hongyi glanced at the two masters, uncertain if he should respond.

The women sensed the shift in atmosphere and retreated in fear, Bao Yingtong joining them, pale with fright.

“Whoever you are, show yourself! Are you so eager to die?” Bu Jingshan barked, his voice thundering.

The distant women covered their ears in pain.

Yan Hongyi barely managed to withstand the sound, his ears ringing afterwards.

Yi Buxing merely smiled quietly, sipping his wine with an air of indifference.

“Master Yan, it seems you don’t intend to pay. Very well, let me offer you an appetizer!”

As Chen Yuyi finished speaking, a body crashed onto the table.

Bao Hongxuan’s corpse, limbs reduced to bloody bones, lay before them.

The women screamed in terror and scattered.

Bao Yingtong, shocked, recognized her brother and cried out, “Hongxuan!”

She tried to rush forward but faltered, collapsing against the wall, her face ashen.

Yan Hongyi had already fled the table, his legs unable to support his weight. He sat heavily on the ground, unable to believe this was the same lively Bao Hongxuan from moments before.

Bu Jingshan and Yi Buxing’s expressions changed.

“You wretch, so cruel! Come forward and face your death!”