Whoosh … A gust of nethergale swept towards the source of the sound. Two minutes … three minutes … four minutes later, he was finally standing in front of a room that was approximately forty square meters in size.
There was light in the room.
There was no door, so he could see a despairing Li Jiankang clinging to the wall with a look of despair on his face.
The room was dark.
Not because of the light. Rather, it was because of the color of the room.
There were countless traces of blood on the walls and floor. Layers upon layers of purplish black stains. This wasn't the blood of one or two people. This was the blood of at least ten or twenty people!
White bones were scattered everywhere, some of which were even stained with unfinished meat.
The jagged white bones piled up into a small hill, while countless fish carcasses littered the ground.
The flickering lights made the entire room look like a cave of ghosts.
But these weren't the most eye-catching of all. What stood out the most were the two pitch-black coffins beside him.
There were offerings placed right in front of him. One of the coffins had a black and white photograph of a middle-aged woman placed on top of it, along with two candles. As for the other coffin … its lid appeared to have just been closed. In fact, there was even a corner of the coffin that had been left open.
It was almost as though … the person inside had just escaped.
There were also two candles, a plate of fresh fruits, and … a black and white photograph of a young man placed right in front of the second coffin.
The young man was smiling in the photograph.
"What an exquisite arrangement."
Qin Ye dragged the demonhead saber along the ground as he walked straight towards the coffin. Li Jiankang suddenly rushed over like a madman and stood in front of the coffin, "W-what are you trying to do?!"
Qin Ye kicked Li Jiankang away before he could even finish speaking. With a muffled grunt, Li Jiankang flew straight into the wall like a cannonball and slid down the wall.
"Do you still think you can get out of here alive?"
Qin Ye ran his finger across the demonhead saber, "You'll be sentenced to life imprisonment at most. But I … shall sentence you to death."
Li Jiankang's hat, sunglasses, and mask all fell to the ground, revealing a bony face. It would not be an exaggeration to call him a bag of bones.
His skin was pale, and his lips were pale. He looked no different from a zombie that had just crawled out of the grave.
Qin Ye gently touched the coffin. Li Jiankang collapsed to the ground, clutching his head with both hands and sobbing softly, "Don't open it … please …"
Qin Ye ignored him. The man's sobbing was like a mosquito in the dark night. He gently picked up the photo album on the ground, dusted it off and placed it on top of the coffin. Then, he kicked the coffin shut.
Clack … As soon as the four corners of the coffin were aligned, the sound of several locking mechanisms could be heard.
Qin Ye patted the coffin in surprise. Then, he walked over to Li Jiankang and squatted down in front of him with a faint smile on his face, "Custom made?
Isn't it expensive? "
Li Jiankang raised his bloodless face. There was a complicated look in his eyes. There was despair, relief, and hope. His pale lips trembled as he said in a trembling voice, "What … are you …"
Before he finished speaking, he punched the man in the face, knocking him to the ground. The string of terror in his heart finally snapped, and he hugged his face and cried bitterly.
"Wu wu … Ah ah ah ah …"
Qin Ye patted his Hell's Emissary uniform and stood up with a sigh of relief, "Do you know something?"
"Other than Wang Chenghao, you're the second human to see me get angry."
"Had you surrendered without a fight, my evaluation of you might have been slightly higher. But you didn't … You actually made one mistake after another, and even released that thing."
Qin Ye walked over slowly, "I've never thought about what your problem was until I came across the Soaring Dragon Developers … Li Cheng … is long dead, right?"
"After Li Cheng murdered his mother, you killed him in a moment of impulse, didn't you?"
Li Jiankang shut his eyes in agony as he lay on the ground. He could feel the strength in his entire body leaving him. His lips trembled slightly, and he remained completely silent.
Qin Ye stood beside him and asked in a deep voice, "Did you kill him?
Unintentionally?
In a fit of anger?
Or … intentionally? "
He turned around and looked at the incense and the photograph on the coffin, "It's probably unintentional …"
Arthis muttered softly, "Humans are complex creatures. They're difficult to understand."
"I loved him."
Just then, Li Jiankang suddenly choked up and spoke with a hoarse voice, "I just … I just wanted him to be well … I just wanted him to understand …"
"After all … there's only the two of us left in this house …"
"I was just too agitated … I grabbed him by the neck and asked him why he did it … Didn't it occur to him that this was his mother?
By the time I realized that he wasn't breathing … it was already … too late … "
Qin Ye sneered, "I'd sympathize with you if nothing else happened. But … can you tell me what you did after that?"
Li Jiankang choked back his sobs. There was a tinge of sorrow in his voice, yet he couldn't say a single word.
"You don't want to talk about it?
Or are you too ashamed to talk about it?
Or perhaps you've finally discovered the concept of conscience? "Qin Ye continued mockingly," You … are scarier than a ghost. "
Thud!! Just then, the two coffins trembled violently.
And then … they began to pound on the coffins with all their might!
Thud thud thud … thud thud thud!!
There was even a hair-raising howl, and an incomplete, hoarse voice cried out, "Blood … flesh …"
"Dad … I'm hungry again …"
Rustle … The violent pounding sounded like a cat scratching at glass. It was the sound of nails scratching against the coffin.
The candlelight flickered, and Qin Ye responded placidly, "You don't dare to talk about it, do you?
Sure, let me help you recall. "
"Raising corpses."
He stared at the coffins with disgust, "I don't know where you got your hands on this method of raising corpses, but you've been raising your wife … your son … all of them."
"The first time I saw you, I couldn't help but wonder why your skin was so pale?
Severe blood loss?
It's only now that I understand … that you've … been raising corpses with your own blood. "
He grabbed Li Jiankang's clothes, and Li Jiankang struggled symbolically for a moment, before giving up completely.
His wrist was densely covered with knife wounds of varying depths.
Qin Ye shook his head, "No … not yet. In the beginning, this should have been your largest storeroom. Did you start off by feeding them with fish?
Right?
You can tell by looking at the ground full of fish … but then you discovered that they didn't eat at all, and were only interested in human flesh and blood. "
"Gradually, you couldn't hold on any longer. You needed more flesh and blood. But how?
You've come up with a great idea. "
Qin Ye looked straight into Li Jiankang's eyes. Li Jiankang, a man in his forties, desperately avoided Qin Ye's gaze, almost as though Qin Ye's eyes could see the darkest depths of his heart.
Yet, Qin Ye simply grabbed his chin and forced him to look him in the eye.
Li Jiankang shuddered and shut his eyes.
He didn't dare. He didn't want to. He didn't want to.
The sins he had committed were too deep. His hands were stained with blood, and yet he couldn't stop.
"You told your own story … and began to lure people in to purge demons and devils. Perhaps you didn't know that zombies don't feed on human flesh and blood. But … you must have watched as the first person was torn to shreds by your wife and son!
It happened right here! "
"This isn't a storeroom. This is your slaughterhouse.
You're a living person, and yet you're committing such atrocities. "
Li Jiankang's eyelids trembled violently, and he remained completely silent.
Qin Ye tossed Li Jiankang aside like a rag and barked coldly, "Do you know how I guessed?"
"Ever since I left this place, I've been trying to figure out why you're doing this."
"That is, until I encountered the Soaring Dragon Developers, when I discovered that you were intentionally luring people into this hunting zone.
And everyone ended up disappearing without a trace.
Let me ask you this - do you want humans, or do you want … flesh and blood? "
A calm voice responded from Qin Ye's shoulder, "You've got a venomous tongue."
"You've cut open his heart. Even if you don't kill him, the only option he has left is suicide."
Arthis explained placidly, "He loves his family. From the moment he went out to work for the sake of his son and his wife, and returned home to manage the fish market for the sake of his son, I can tell that their son is their sky.
It's too tiring to live. "
Qin Ye snorted, "So, as soon as he discovered that his blood supply was running low, he began to lure others into this hunting zone. Men, women, old and young … That's more than thirty lives we're talking about … How long have we been feeding his family of three?
Hmm?
Half a year?
Eight months? "
"What I've guessed is that he turned down the Special Investigations Department. After all, the Special Investigations Department is the best place to uncover the truth. Yet, he turned them down. Why?"
"Because he was afraid. He knew his wife and son too well. Even though they've been transformed into zombies, I'm guessing that when the Special Investigations Department arrived, the mother and son pair didn't even dare to breathe loudly. Or perhaps there were some other anomalies that gave him the impression that they were up to no good?
Was that why he turned them down? "
Dead silence.
Qin Ye didn't say another word. Meanwhile, Li Jiankang slumped to the ground and buried his head in his hands. Dozens of seconds later, he suddenly heard a soft sobbing sound in the darkness.
Then, the sobbing turned into sobs, and then into bawling. Tears and snot flowed out of his eyes.
"Ahhhhhh …" Li Jiankang's sobs were almost sorrowful. He clutched his pale head with both hands and wailed like a madman, "Wuuuuu …"
After crying for three full minutes, he suddenly kowtowed to the mountain of bones, "I'm … I'm sorry … I'm sorry!!!"
"I'm sorry … I'm sorry, I'm sorry!
I'm so sorry … wuuuuuu! "
It was heart-wrenching.
Hadn't the past year been a torment for him as well?
The torment of reason, the torment of madness, and the torment of reason. In that moment, he actually felt a sense of release.
"Who gave you permission to be free?"
Qin Ye stared coldly at Li Jiankang, who was still kowtowing to the mountain of bones, and gnashed his teeth, "I've said it before - whatever the mortal realm can't judge, I'll do!"
"That's over thirty lives we're talking about … You lured them all the way into the house, and then released the two monsters from the coffins. These thirty-odd vengeful spirits have been keeping a close eye on you ever since. Good and evil go hand in hand. Ask your heart - what right do you have to be free?"
Qin Ye could see it.
And he could see it very clearly.
There were over thirty illusory figures standing right above the mountain of bones. There were monks, daoists, shamans, and even four Operative-class cultivators from the Special Investigations Department. All of them stared coldly at Li Jiankang, who was still kowtowing to them.
There wasn't a single trace of pity in their eyes.
As soon as they noticed Qin Ye looking at them, they immediately turned around and bowed ninety degrees to him.
… …
This was the fourth chapter of the book that ran from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
I hope everyone will subscribe to it and like it. Don't take the fruits of other people's labor for granted. Thank you!