Chapter 191 Chapter 186: Torment
Ji Ma grabbed Fang Shiyun’s hair and dragged her out of the room, closing the door behind them as she pulled her toward the elevator.
Fang Shiyun was seriously injured; one of her arms hung limply by her side, blood continuously oozing from her head and dripping onto the floor, leaving a trail of crimson. Her body had multiple fractures, and any movement caused excruciating pain.
Fear and agony clouded her buzzing mind.
She completely forgot the composure she had in the civilized world.
She had never been worried about Wan Ziqi because he could not find her; even if he did, she would not be afraid upon meeting him.
What could Wan Ziqi do to her? Her methods were all legal. Even if she received a few scoldings, what of it? At most, Wan Ziqi would strike her, and she would actually find that preferable, for when the police came to mediate, she would have more leverage.
But unexpectedly, Wan Ziqi shattered this civilized society in one blow, turning it into a jungle society.
She was in disarray, screaming and crying as the faint power of her pain flowed into Ji Ma’s body.
Although it was very weak, Ji Ma felt the soul wound in her chest beginning to scab over, reducing the suffering.
She dragged Fang Shiyun into the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor.
Fang Shiyun curled her body up; she had lost all strength, crying softly as she sat there with her hair disheveled, bloodied face, bruised and battered, looking quite awful.
Ji Ma gazed at her, feeling the beautiful image of Fang Shiyun in her memory crumbling. Something that weighed down on her heart cracked and shattered.
All along, after her rebirth, the pent-up energy in her chest had begun to dissipate.
Ji Ma felt a sense of clarity and couldn’t help but kick Fang Shiyun again. She covered her stomach and curled up in a corner, saliva pooling at the corners of her mouth.
“Ding-dong.”
As the elevator doors opened, a few people in black suits walked in.
Fang Shiyun instinctively crawled toward them, shouting, “Help! Help!”
But those business elites continued their conversation, smiling, not even glancing her way.
Ji Ma yanked her hair, saying, “Shout, shout as much as you want.”
“Ahhh!!!”
She rolled on the ground like a madwoman, slapping the floor and trying to grab onto the elevator doors.
“Really noisy.”
Ji Ma, holding a stick in both hands, struck Fang Shiyun’s hand. There was a cracking sound as her last hand went limp. Ji Ma forcefully tugged at her hair, dragging her out of the elevator past the few business elites.
Fang Shiyun kicked her legs, screaming at the top of her lungs, but the people around her showed no reaction, allowing Ji Ma to drag her out of the hotel as if it were an unoccupied space.
Only then did Fang Shiyun, with her buzzing head, realize one thing. For some reason, no matter how loudly she shouted, nobody would pay her any attention, meaning that Wan Ziqi could beat her to death in the street, and no one would intervene.
Fear drowned her like icy seawater.
She cried softly, muttering illogical words:
“…I’ve held your hand…”
“I’ll pay you back the money…”
“I won’t call the police, I hurt so much, please take me to the hospital… I’m going to die.”
Ji Ma responded:
“You’re still a ways from death, but not far off. Based on my estimate, you’ll be lying on the ground, unable to stand, clawing for a day or two before finally kicking the bucket… Where do you think I should dump you next to a trash can?”
Fang Shiyun couldn’t clearly hear Ji Ma’s words; the beating had damaged her hearing. She couldn’t understand, only recognizing the word “die.”
“…I… I’ll give you the money, all of it… woo woo woo.”
“No need, I can take all your money whether you live or die.”
Ji Ma planned to call 120 for “Wan Ziqi’s” corpse, though 110 would be more appropriate; she needed to fake a scene of “herself” jumping off a building. It was also a way to test whether ordinary police could see through the crimes of extraordinary beings.
Moreover, it was time for Wan Ziqi to enter the morgue; living under a new identity posed no pressure for her. She’d “died” three hundred years ago, and the blood and storms of those years had long stripped her of any nostalgia for the past.
Because there was nothing worthwhile to reminisce about.
Ji Ma summoned a taxi, opened the door, and said, “Driver, to the nearest river.”
“River?”
“The Jiang in Jianghe.”
“Huangpu River, is it?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Alright, get in.”
Ji Ma dragged Fang Shiyun into the taxi. Fang Shiyun wanted to escape, but Ji Ma was too strong; she couldn’t muster any strength to resist.
Fang Shiyun cried out:
“…Mom, mom… mom…”
Ji Ma couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity. She thought it might be better to let her die quickly. With that thought, Ji Ma closed the car door.
“Bang!”
The door slammed shut.
Ji Ma kicked Fang Shiyun into the corner.
The driver’s voice came from the front, saying, “Your friend is drunk; try not to let her vomit in the car.”
“If she does, I’ll give you five hundred for cleaning.”
“Okay.”
The taxi drove on. Fang Shiyun stopped causing a scene or crying; she leaned against the car door, quietly sobbing for a while, breathing heavily as if she might stop at any moment, like a fish washed ashore.
Ji Ma felt a rare surge of compassion in her heart, but she understood it was certainly a result of her soul wound.
She had killed many people and had been nearly killed by many, having witnessed numerous faces on the brink of death, and had long ceased to feel soft-hearted or sad over the passage of life.
Fang Shiyun lifted her face and asked, “Ziqi… who are you?”
“Wan Ziqi texted you before; if you didn’t block him, you should be able to see it,” Ji Ma planned to play house, now acting as an otherworldly demon, “But unfortunately, I just got tired beating you; when I’m tired, I don’t want to talk much.”
“…I’m going to die…” she choked, “…tell me…”
“Then hurry up and die,” Ji Ma said, “I still have to throw you into the river later; it’s such a hassle.”
Fang Shiyun, in desperation, half-closed her eyes, continually sobbing as she begged Ji Ma to spare her life.
“…I’m young… I’m still young, I don’t want to die… woo woo”
Intermixed with her pitiful sobs.
“My mom will die crying when she finds out…”
“…Help, help… someone come save me…”
Ji Ma, meanwhile, leaned back comfortably in her seat.
The faint power of pain continually flowed from Fang Shiyun into her chest, healing years-old wounds that were gradually mending.
At the same time, it proved that she could draw sustenance and restore her powers from the pain of mortals.
From this, she inferred that she could also gain power through lustful desires from mortals. However, Ji Ma had no desire to do so; she preferred to let others suffer than to let them find joy; she didn’t want to be a female bodhisattva.
After struggling through life and death in another world, returning just to sell herself? How could that be?
But there was good news and bad news.
The healing process was very slow, so slow that when the taxi reached the riverside and she prepared to throw the half-dead Fang Shiyun into the water.
Let alone fully healing; it would be decent if she could heal a quarter.
It was estimated that the remaining magical power was dangerously low, down to around 12%.
Fang Shiyun, with her hair in disarray, leaned on the railing, her legs trying desperately to kick away; if Ji Ma hadn’t been holding her down, she would have escaped long ago.
She was nearly dead; Ji Ma’s beating had almost finished her off.
At this point, was the pain extracted still not enough?
Or was simply killing her not enough to resolve Ji Ma’s inner demons?
Ji Ma smiled widely. Killing Fang Shiyun alone didn’t fully satisfy her either.
So why was she going to throw her into the river?
Ha, it must be the influence of “Wan Ziqi” on her.
“Do you want to live?” Ji Ma grabbed Fang Shiyun’s hair, pulling her head up to face her swollen face and asked, “I can give you a way to live.”
Fang Shiyun nodded.
“Only, you will live in great pain.”
Below them flowed the river, reflecting the lights.
Driven by the will to survive, Fang Shiyun continued to nod.
“Hmph.”
Ji Ma laughed, pulling hard and throwing her onto the ground. She used her “Simulation” ability to mimic some of Jenna’s low-level skills, using “Heal Wounds”; a white light emanated from her palm as she pressed it against Fang Shiyun….
…
…
Lin Feng finished his shower, drying his hair as he called out: “Shiyun?”
The room was empty, no one replied.
“Where is everyone?”
After changing his clothes, Lin Feng looked around but did not find Fang Shiyun. He picked up his phone and saw an unread message from her (with the date noted beside her contact name). He opened it to read:
“Lin Feng, your d*** is too small, it’s uncomfortable. I left with my ex-boyfriend Wan Ziqi. Goodbye, impotent man.”
Lin Feng angrily stormed out, stepping on the bloodline left by Fang Shiyun as he walked briskly.
He first headed to the café, where he found the driver who hadn’t picked up his phone asleep. Lin Feng shouted a few times before the driver groggily awakened.
Fuming, Lin Feng grabbed the nearby ashtray and smashed it hard over the driver’s body, then walked toward the parking lot while dialing a phone number: “Fire my driver.”
He got into the car and drove away.
There would be someone from HR to handle everything: compensation, resignation, and finding a more “qualified” driver.
…
…
Fang Shiyun was unaware that her text message, sent under the devil’s influence, had cost the driver his job.
She woke up groggily from a commodity room in the Devil City, awakening in her own bed.
Her head felt dizzy, heavy, and painful.
She remembered having a nightmare yesterday, where Wan Ziqi died, a horrific death, his pale face pressed against hers, cursing her to play baseball. Then her head turned into a baseball and got hit by a group of people with baseball bats.
Her back was drenched in cold sweat.
After catching her breath for a moment, she managed to sit up in bed and checked the time: it was 8:49 AM.
Strangely, why was there an unread message from Wan Ziqi?
Hadn’t she blocked him?
Fang Shiyun opened the message:
“Baby, run! I sacrificed myself, bringing forth a devil; it’s now controlling my body to pursue you!”
“Crazy?”
Fang Shiyun was curious if Wan Ziqi, with his wooden brain battered by exams, was capable of making such a joke?
Was he trying to scare her?
But there was no way to explain why he had gone mad.
Fang Shiyun stood up, her body slightly in pain, especially in her arms.
The tiny bedroom, just under fifteen square meters, reminded her that something was not right.
Last night, wasn’t she with Lin Feng?
Did he carry her back after she got drunk? How did he know about her place in Shanghai? Did he ask her?
Fang Shiyun patted her head and quickly called Lin Feng, but after several attempts, it went unanswered; she had been blocked.
What had she done last night?
Fang Shiyun tried hard to remember but couldn’t recall anything.
She walked toward the bathroom and noticed the floor was wet, splashed with water. How strange; she liked to keep things tidy and usually wouldn’t let water spill on the bathroom floor.
The bathroom door was closed, and Fang Shiyun felt someone was inside; she vaguely heard the sound of water.
“Who?”
Fang Shiyun opened the bathroom door; it was empty inside, but she felt someone was there, making her uneasy.
Ignoring those feelings, she began to wash her face, only to find that something was amiss; her face wash and other products were all in disarray, as if someone had moved them.
While bowing her head and washing her face, her peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of someone standing behind her in the mirror.
“Who?”
She looked up, but the figure vanished.
