Chapter 33: Which Side Is the True Hell?

"Oh ho, this is still fresh."

After light reappeared before Ren Yidao's eyes, he found himself in a long line.

Clatter, clatter...

The sound of chains colliding came from all sides, and the cold air sliced across the scars on his face like a blade.

Running a finger along the scabbed wounds, Ren Yidao felt the characters branded onto his cheeks.

"Death row prisoner."

But the scene before him was not something that mortal laborers conscripted for service could see.

To his left was a massive oil cauldron, inside which countless evil ghosts with indistinguishable faces rolled about, howling incessantly.

Their faces were also carved with the same characters—death row prisoner.

Ren Yidao looked to his right, where there was a forest of copper pillars burned to a glowing red; each one had a prisoner tied to it, with little ghosts nearby constantly fanning the flames.

Tongue-Pulling Punishment, Iron Tree Punishment, Scissor Punishment, Mountain of Blades Punishment...

One terrifying punishment after another was continuously performed in this vast, gloomy space, and the wails of the prisoners never ceased.

And Ren Yidao was one of the individuals about to suffer these tortures.

"Ah~ No! So scary—"

After feigning a couple of cries to match the atmosphere, Ren Yidao sighed in low spirits:

"Still, not intense enough."

Ren Yidao walked to the side, raised his hand to fish a prisoner out of the oil cauldron, and dragged them by their hair to press them back in.

He smiled kindly at the stunned little ghost beside him and began to instruct:

"Hold them down, stop for thirty seconds before lifting, but don't do thirty seconds every time; change the duration now and then."

"Only then will they truly despair. Come, you try."

Although these evil ghost punishments looked frightening, one could find the flaws by observing carefully.

They had the form, but lacked the spirit.

"True screams should be more miserable than this; some are so bad they can't even make a sound."

"This is clearly the work of someone who has never truly been beaten by society, only able to construct it through picture books and imagination."

So young.

But to be able to achieve this much while in the Human Realm is actually quite impressive.

Duan Xiaoling is worthy of being the most outstanding disciple of this generation of Lingxu Peak.

If not for Ren Yidao, a monster who cannot be treated with common logic, she would very likely have been the one to carry the banner of the Divine Path Sect's Spirit Dao in the future.

Duan Xiaoling is already very good, but Ren Yidao feels it is not enough; she can do even better.

"Let Senior Uncle help you out!"

"Let me show you what true hell is."

Come, child.

Accept the pain!

Understand the pain!

Feel the pain!

Finally... become the pain!

He raised his hand, pointed to the position where Duan Xiaoling had originally been sitting, and spoke softly:

"Human World."

And just as Ren Yidao was experiencing the illusion, Duan Xiaoling had likewise entered an illusion.

Unlike the terrifying hell she had tried her best to construct, the space before Duan Xiaoling looked completely devoid of danger.

An empty room, with nothing but a square box, a table, and a bed.

"This is... an illusion? But why is there not a hint of danger?"

Duan Xiaoling scanned the area cautiously, yet still discovered no danger whatsoever.

No fierce ghosts, no blades or axes, and she couldn't even hear any wailing or crying.

Except for a pungent smell drifting in the air, everything was clean and peaceful.

"Where is this?"

Did Ren Yidao have some deep meaning in constructing this illusion?

Just as she was searching cautiously, she suddenly heard voices talking outside the door.

It sounded like two men?

Duan Xiaoling walked carefully behind the door and listened with her ear pressed against it.

One of the men's voices was slightly younger, and he said slowly:

"My social security for this year hasn't been paid by the company yet, my wages have been in arrears for over half a year, and my wife just gave birth to a child last month."

The other voice sounded old and hoarse; he coughed forcefully twice before saying with difficulty:

"Born? Congratulations, cough cough..."

The young man sighed deeply and said in a lifeless tone:

"What's there to congratulate? It's two boys, and both have congenital diseases; they're in the intensive care unit right now, and every minute is burning money."

What are they talking about?

Why can't I quite understand?

Some terms Duan Xiaoling could not understand, but she could still grasp the general meaning, so she continued to listen with a frown.

The old man comforted him:

"But there is always hope, cough, cough, as long as the couple is together, you can always pull through."

Hearing this, the young man gained a bit of vitality:

"That's right, my wife is a very strong woman; she has been urging me to look on the bright side..."

Ding, ding, ding.

"Sorry, I need to take a call."

"Hello? What's wrong, wife? I went out to scrape together some money, you... what? Okay, I understand, I'll be there in a moment."

Following this was a long silence; the old man did not urge him, only coughing incessantly, as if he were about to cough his lungs out.

Finally, after Duan Xiaoling grew impatient, the young man spoke slowly:

"My wife, she took all the money in the house and got on this morning's flight with her ex-boyfriend."

The old man sighed:

"... It is a relief for one to be freed."

The young man, however, burst into loud laughter, his voice laced with a sob:

"If only she had actually succeeded in running away! The plane crashed, and they asked me to go identify the body... Hahahaha! Now it's fine, she is truly freed."

He laughed loudly, then began to wail, pounding his knees with force.

Ding, ding, ding.

A third, smaller voice roared:

"Where the hell are you? Did your wife die or did your son die!? Why the hell are you asking for leave again?"

"Your salary for this month is completely docked; go to finance and pay the fine immediately, otherwise it won't go well for you—"

Beep, beep, beep...

After a while, the young man calmed down a bit and asked the old man:

"What about you? Why did you come here?"

Sigh...

The old man was much calmer than the young man and said indifferently:

"I have terminal lung cancer; it cannot be cured."

"To pay for this illness, my daughter sold her house and is on the verge of divorce with her husband."

"I am a useless old thing, cough, cough, cough, who has dragged both families down."

The old man's tone was flat, but there was a despair in his voice that could not be ignored.

"Yesterday, my daughter went out to borrow from loan sharks again, and my son-in-law knelt and begged me to let him and the children have a way to survive."

"He told me to find a place to die myself and stop dragging others down."

"I think he is right."

"I finally came here, thinking I could save some money for them at the end."

Duan Xiaoling could not understand much, but she could feel the despair of these two people, and a fear from the bottom of her heart began to spread within her.

"What do you think they want us for? Organs?"

The young man returned to his initial lifeless state and mocked:

"Not sure, maybe to satisfy some perverted hobbies? I don't care anymore; my life is ruined, as long as my sons can survive, that's enough..."

No, no, no, I cannot keep listening!

Just as Duan Xiaoling prepared to flee, a soft sound came from the sealed square box behind her.

Followed by a faint cry:

"Mom, Mommy, it hurts..."

"It's so dark here, I'm so scared!"

Suddenly, the box began to fade, gradually revealing a pair of pitch-black eyes...

Click.

As if a string in her brain had completely snapped, Duan Xiaoling let out the loudest scream of her life!

"Nooooo!!!"

"Faster! Pull the tongue out directly! Don't drag it out."

"Wrong! You need to be slower with this one, understand? You must let him clearly feel the separation bit by bit; the point is the process, do you understand the process!"

"Improving the copper pillar? You little idiot, pour water on it; high-temperature steam is quite enjoyable!"

Under the banner of "Senluo Hell: Phase One Renovation Plan," Ren Yidao, who was wearing a red hard hat and directing people everywhere, paused his movements.

He seemed to have heard Duan Xiaoling's wail and smiled happily.

"Junior Martial Nephew Duan, do you think..."

He asked:

"Which side is the true hell?"