The stench of blood, sweat, and burnt flesh filled the room. The woman, once serene with soft, smooth skin, now sat in the chair, her body contorted and suffering in ways I did not have the vocabulary to express. There were deep, jagged cuts over her once immaculate thighs, some still dripping from the edges and others charred from Lin Feng adhering a hot iron to her skin. The pliers had worked as intended: there were half a dozen nails on the floor, ripped from delicate fingers that now lay twitching with diminished strength.
Her arms, once smooth and slender, were swollen and misshapen, the result of a precise yet merciless application of a hammer. One kneecap had been shattered, making her earlier struggles almost pitiful to watch. Lin Feng had saved the face for the finale; there was a certain poetry in the light fading out of those wide, tear-filled eyes before the mind finally went dark.
"Ahhhhhhh... ahhhh... ahhh..." The woman's breaths were short, jagged, sobs, her voice little more than a whisper now. Words had left her a long time ago, replaced by primitive sounds of agony that were based on instinct. She no longer looked at Lin Feng, no longer flinched when the knife pressed into her skin. There was nothing left inside. Her mind had cracked, fragmented beyond repair.
In a low voice, Lin Feng chuckled as he lightly tapped the handle of a plier against her remaining fingernails. "You know what they say," he began, "a nice manicure can always boost your confidence. I'd love your manicure, but..." He leaned into the job, snapping off another nail with a sickening crunch, grin ear-to-ear as her account gasped, and her whole body spasmed. "I'm just a little rough with my hands."
Boss Zhou leaned back into his chair, thick fingers on the arm rests as he took a ragged breath. His body shuddered in a fragmented manner, sort of beast-like, on the precipice of a wild sort of ecstasy. His eyes, sharp and calculating, looked cloudy with unrestrained pleasure.
"Good boy… excellent… excellent work." His voice was hoarse, filled with admiration.
Luo Ye, on the other hand, had barely held himself together. The moment Lin Feng drove a thin needle under one of the woman's nails and twisted it ever so slightly, Luo had stumbled back, bile rising in his throat. Now that he witnessed the conclusion—the twisted, convulsing wreckage it used to be a human—Luo could no longer hold it in. He turned to the corner, throwing up and shaking all over.
"This… this demon..." Luo was almost inaudible as he wiped his mouth, unable to even meet Lin Feng's gaze. "How could anyone do this to a soft - weak woman…?
But Lin Feng...? Lin Feng smiled. A broad and steady grin seeped across his bloodied visage, reflecting the expression of Boss Zhou. His hands were coated in red and trembling, not from fear, but excitement. His chest inflated and deflated, his heart hammering, not from exhaustion, but excitement and overwhelming joy.
"Weak?" Lin Feng finally said, laughing quietly. "Don't say that about her. She fought long enough, didn't she?"
He squatted in front of the woman with his head tilted, watching the blank stare look back at him. She was gone; just a breathing corpse. He reached out, gave her cheek a gentle tap, and there was no response. No flinch. No sound.
Perfect.
He let out a dramatic sigh. "Damn, and here I thought we'd have more fun. Guess she wasn't as lively as she looked." He turned to Luo, eyes gleaming. "Hey, think I should try stand-up comedy next? My jokes are killer."
Luo stumbled back again, his face pale, his legs trembling. This wasn't just violence. This wasn't just cruelty.
This was something far worse.
This was a monster who found joy in suffering.
He was presence of two demons who take pleasure in the suffering of others.
The woman's voice had long since become a rasp, but Lin Feng wasn't finished.
He pressed the blade against her throat, not deep enough to kill, just enough to feel her shudder. The little gasps she managed were barely sounds anymore—just broken, pitiful wheezes as her throat convulsed.
"Come on, don't give up on me just yet." Lin Feng smiled, twisting the knife just a little. "After all, you're the main character."
Boss Zhou chuckled from his seat. Luo Ye had backed himself into a corner at that point, not really able to continue living with everything going on.
The woman tried to speak, but no words came. Only a wet, crackling rasp, her voice had finally given out. Those screams, once shrill and loud, stopped completely.
Lin Feng tilted his head in disbelief and pleasure. "Ah, silence at last. I thought you'd outlast my patience." He leaned closer and whispered near her ear, "But you did well. Really."
He stood upright, wiping the blood from his fingers into her hair. She hardly acknowledge him. Her body twitched slightly and her breathing was strained. Her mind had shattered long ago.
Suddenly, Boss Zhou stood and walked over to Lin Feng, his face filled with a near-fatherly pride, and without warning he pulled Lin Feng in for a forceful hug wrapped tightly with his thick arms.
"Hahaha! Lin Feng, you were born for this!" Boss Zhou's voice was thick with excitement. "From now on, you're one of mine. Call me Big Brother Zhou—I'll make sure you never have to waste your talents on anything lesser." He grinned, eyes gleaming. "I can't wait to see just how far you'll go."
Lin Feng smirked but said nothing.
Boss Zhou pulled back, gripping Lin Feng's shoulders. "From now on, whenever I call for you, you'll come to me. Mutual entertainment, you understand?" His grin widened. "Men like us… we need moments like this, don't we?"
Lin Feng merely nodded.
Boss Zhou turned his gaze toward the barely-breathing woman. "Now, kill her cleanly. Her purpose is finished."
Lin Feng was down on his knees before her, his bloodied fingers clutching her chin, bringing her to look into his eyes one last time. She looked at him with dull, lifeless eyeballs, failing to acknowledge his face.
Inside her broken mind, scattered pieces of thought simply drifted.
What have I done wrong?
She wasn't the strongest, but she had been beautiful, she had been nice to everyone. She had loved and been loved and admired, she had danced underneath the neon lights, she had breathed sweet nothings to men who were smitten with her. And yet...
Why was I hurt so badly? Why was I tortured?
She had never committed murder. Never committed theft. She had done what everyone else did—lived her life, indulged in momentary enjoyments.
Why did it have to be me?
She didn't know why. She never would know.
Lin Feng's blade went across her throat with quickness and accuracy. Blood spilled forth in a fat thick and bubbling torrent as her body twitched for the last time.
And then—
[Ding! System Activated.]
A mechanical voice resounded in Lin Feng's mind. His body stiffened and he momentarily stopped breathing.
His vision went blurry and information under immense pressure surged into his brain.
A moment later, he became paralyzed. But as quickly he exhaled, he smirked.
"Well, that's interesting."
Lin Feng cleaned his blade on the woman's shredded dress and stared as the last vestiges of life faded from the woman's clouded, empty gaze. Her corpse tipped toward him, blood soaking the ground beneath the chair.
He let out a low laugh and shook his head. "The weak are here to be taken advantage of by the strong. It's just the way of the world."
With a lazy wave of his hand, golden-red flames erupted from his palm, casting flickering shadows against the bloodstained walls. "We don't leave behind loose ends." The fire swirled hungrily as he launched it onto the corpse.
The woman's body ignited instantly. The heat surged, the scent of burning flesh filling the room as her remains curled and blackened. Within moments, there was nothing left but ashes.
Luo Ye turned away, his face pale. Boss Zhou, on the other hand, only laughed.
"Ahh, refreshing! Well then, Lin Feng, for your excellent performance tonight…" He reached into his coat, pulling out a thick leather bag. The weight of it alone spoke volumes. With a grin, he tossed it toward Lin Feng.
Lin Feng caught it effortlessly and opened it slightly. His fingers brushed against crisp, neatly stacked bills. The sheer amount inside made his eyebrow twitch.
I worked my ass off for days, saving little by little… barely scraping together a few thousand.
He looked at the bag, then back at the pile of ashes on the floor.
And yet, just for tormenting a woman for a while, I get this?
He let out a slow, amused breath. His grip tightened around the money.
"No matter the world, some things never change—like the darkness buried in the human heart."