Blooming Flowers, Silent Sorrow

Chapter 62

"Qi Xiaobin! I curse you! You scum! Scourge! Even as a ghost, I won't let you off! If one day you fall into my hands, I will definitely dismember you!" A shrill scream pierced through the entire dungeon as a greyish-silver cold needle was inserted into Xiao Bao's left shoulder joint, driving a sharp, bone-chilling pain deep into his marrow. The pain caused his whole body to convulse, and coldness spread from the armpit, quickly making him feel as if his entire body was encased in ice. The pain was sharp, like being slowly cut by a blade, as if the coldness was seeping out from between the bones, slicing through the muscles. And this was just the beginning. Just when he felt his limbs nearly freeze stiff, he could distinctly feel the vital energy and blood inside his body forcefully combating this sudden coldness, boiling and burning within. Except for the area around the cold needle in his shoulder joint, which remained piercingly cold, the tips of his fingers and toes began to experience the flow of vital energy and blood. The violent clash between ice and fire only made him suffer more, as if his frozen body was being consumed by flames, the gradually reviving muscles felt as if they were being repeatedly pierced by thousands of needles. Xiao Bao had never experienced such extreme pain before, with the two unbearable streams of energy inside him fighting back and forth, each wave weaker than the last, yet he had no idea when this terrible torture would end.

He didn't even have a moment to catch his breath. A similar agony was inflicted on his right shoulder, and Xiao Bao's screams were stuck in his throat, as his gradually fading consciousness heard the desperate cries of his parents from deep within the dungeon. He could only bite his teeth, daring not to make a sound.

Qi Xiaobin's arrogant laughter seemed sometimes far away and sometimes close at hand. Xiao Bao's vision gradually became blurry, and the pain his body could endure seemed limitless. He didn't understand why he hadn't fainted from the pain yet. Shoulder, elbow, wrist, fingers, hips, thighs, knees, ankles, toes... The pain intensified and spread, waxing and waning, and time seemed unbearably long for him. Every minute, every second required tremendous willpower to endure. Now, even if he wanted to scream, he could no longer make a sound. His throat was dry, and a body drenched in sweat made him look as if he had been pulled out of water, his vision blurred, unable to tell if it was tears or sweat. He had never heard of such a method of torture before; just hearing about it would make one's legs weak, let alone experiencing it firsthand. Truly, it was a pain worse than death. He had no desire to act the hero. If begging for mercy would work, he would kneel and kowtow a hundred times to Qi Xiaobin, but one look into Qi Xiaobin's eyes told him that he wished for nothing but to torture him to death. In fact, he would rather someone just kill him with a single blow; the pain was too much to bear, too much, far too much.

Even the tears rolling down his cheeks were so scorching they made his entire body shiver. How had he fallen into such a terrifying state in just a few days? He felt he was at his limit, having never suffered this much in his life. What had led to this situation? While his parents were certainly a factor, if it weren't for that person... if it weren't for that person... perhaps he wouldn't have to endure such torture, such dual agony of mind and body, every second in this hellish torment. What sins had he committed to deserve such an ordeal?

Who can save me? Dad, Mom, it hurts so much, Xiao Bao is in so much pain. Dad, Mom, Xiao Bao is in so much pain.

Su Yin? Didn't you say you would be back soon? Why haven't you come back? It hurts so much, too much. When will you come back? I can't wait any longer.

Zhao Cai? Jin Bao? Didn't you say you would definitely come to save me? Why haven't you come yet? I'm about to die, the pain is killing me, why haven't you come??

Who can save me? Or, who can end my life with one blow??

Huai En, how could you... do this to me...

Xiao Bao didn't know how he had endured those two excruciating hours. Each time he passed out, greater stimuli forced him awake. Being in hell couldn't be worse than this. He watched as the old man pulled out the needles one by one. He started counting clearly at first: one... two... three... seventeen... forty-two... and that was just up to his knee, and he couldn't count any further. Eventually, his consciousness fell into a fog again, and the severe pain seemed to start diminishing, but he could clearly feel that the cold, toxic energy had remained in his body, enveloping his joints like a blade at his throat, constantly reminding him that he was trapped in a nightmare, never to wake up, never to escape.

When he was dragged back to the cell, he could barely see through his half-open eyes that his father's face was deathly pale, his lips were blue, his eyes were wide open, lying stiff on the ground, struggling to breathe, as if on the verge of death. His mother threw herself onto him, crying bitterly while tremblingly checking his body. He, however, was still enveloped in the icy pain, tears seeping from the corners of his eyes, yet unable to lift a finger. The dense cold poison in his finger and toe joints had made his hands and feet unresponsive, leaving only a numb pain.

Only the sound of that malicious voice echoed in the empty prison cell, "Three days from now, you and the criminals from the Merchants Association will be escorted to the capital city of Lian'an to be personally questioned and executed by the emperor, to serve as a warning to the world. The journey north is not just a thousand miles, in this freezing weather, the pain cuts to the bone, far worse than the pain of today's needle. Jin Xiaobao, enjoy it while you can."