Chapter 38: He Was under My Sheets

　　Within a dark and damp chamber, Qi Ying was bound to a wooden cross. His entire body was riddled with wounds, and the thorn whip had been placed in a bucket, within which the water had turned red from his blood. Qi Ying’s chest rose and fell as he panted heavily, but his eyes still shone with a resolute light.

　　A jailor picked up the thorn whip and lashed out, adding another ghastly gash to Qi Ying’s body.

　　“Gasp…”

　　Even though he was a little numb already, he still couldn’t help but wince as the pepper water the whip had been sitting in seeped into the wound.

　　The official sat behind the desk in front of him. “Do you confess or not?”

　　Qi Ying bit down on his lower lip and didn’t say anything.

　　“Keeping going!”

　　The official commanded in a cold voice.

　　The two jailors each held a thorn whip dipped in pepper water, and they struck Qi Ying over and over again.

　　“Keep going until he confesses!”

　　The official’s lips twitched.

　　He had been working in that role for twenty years and interrogated countless criminals. There was no lack of tough nuts to crack among them, but only a handful of people had managed to last an entire night without confessing. Furthermore, the suspect being interrogated was a fifteen-year-old boy. Most boys at his age would be crying for their parents as soon as they caught sight of the thorn whips, so he had thought that Qi Ying would have confessed long ago.

　　However, he was extremely stubborn and refused to confess no matter how many times he was struck!

　　An entire night had already passed, and he had been struck countless times. Two whips had even been broken and replaced, but they still didn’t even manage to get a single word out of him.

　　“Stop there.”

　　The official issued another command to the two jailors.

　　It appeared that the combination of whip in pepper water was ineffective, and it would be futile to continue.

　　“Phew…”

　　Qi Ying finally had a chance to catch his breath and at the same time, he activated his Purple Energy Cultivation Method, guiding his True Energy to flow through his wounds. Through doing so, he could nurture the gashes on his body and soothe the burning pain.

　　The official stood up and made his way over to Qi Ying before staring into his eyes. “Stop being stubborn, Qi Ying. Just confess. You’re going to die anyway, so why don’t you point out the true culprit? You’ll be taking them down with you, and you won’t have to suffer any longer.”

　　“I already told you that I don’t know anything.”

　　Qi Ying replied in a cold voice.

　　“Hmph.” The official’s expression instantly darkened, “Do you really think I can’t do anything to you? Regardless of whether you confess or not, your death is sealed! You might as well confess now to save yourself the suffering! It looks like you haven’t had enough; bring on the hand-crusher!”

　　The hand-crusher was an extremely cruel torture device consisting of two metal panels, between which the victim’s hand was crushed. Gears could be turned to minimize the space between the panels, thereby exerting more crushing force and inflicting excruciating pain.

　　Clang!

　　A jailor quickly brought out a pair of hand-crushers.

　　“Untie his hands… Actually, untie only his left hand!”

　　The official glared at Qi Ying as he commanded in a vicious voice. Keeping in mind that Qi Ying was a powerful warrior, he was afraid that untying both of his hands would allow him to retaliate and turn on his tormentors. There were cases of similar events that had happened in other jails.

　　Untying one hand could still facilitate the torture method, but also ensure his personal safety. It was the best course of action.

　　Qi Ying’s left hand was soon untied, and his five fingers were clamped between the metal panels.

　　The official gave him one last chance. “Qi Ying, you can still confess now and I’ll spare you this torture. Your left hand is already mutated to such an extent; the bones inside must be very brittle. If we clamp down with the hand-crushers, that hand will probably shatter like glass… Tsk tsk…”

　　“Hehe.”

　　Qi Ying couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

　　The official flared up with rage upon seeing this. “You find this funny, do you? I’m going to clamp you to death, you little b*stard! Crush his hands until all of his fingers are broken!”

　　“Yes!”

　　Two jailors began to turn the gears on their respective sides in unison, and the space between the metal panels quickly shrank.

　　Crack crack crack!

　　The sound of something being compressed erupted from between the panels.

　　The official turned his attention to Qi Ying, waiting for him to finally break and howl with agony. However, to his surprise, Qi Ying’s expression remained completely unchanged even while his hand was being crushed.

　　“You’re still putting on a hard facade? Press harder! Snap all of his fingers!” The official’s voice was getting a little hoarse from yelling.

　　The two jailors began to put in more elbow grease.

　　Qi Ying looked on expressionlessly as the veins bulged on their foreheads from exertion, and he was struck by the urge to laugh.

　　‘These f*cking idiots… Even the most powerful weapons can’t even inflict so much as a scratch on my left hand. It can feel neither pain nor temperature; it’s basically a weapon that is literally an extension of my own body… How is this pathetic little toy going to do anything?’

　　The official was astonished. How much willpower did it take for him to withstand the pain of having his hand crushed? Furthermore, he didn’t even look like he was suffering in any way. In fact, he seemed to be… smiling!

　　‘He’s insane!’

　　The official couldn’t think of anyone that could smile through such torture, aside from a deranged man.

　　A crisp crack sounded as the gears were broken. The two jailors overbalanced and both of them fell to the ground.

　　The official was completely stunned by the sight of the hand-crushers. Not only were the gears broken, even the metal panels had been bent out of shape… What the hell was going on?

　　“Hehe.”

　　Qi Ying chuckled again and to the official, that was like the equivalent of ten thousand insults.

　　“Bring on the tiger stool!”

　　He was going to try out all of the torture devices on Qi Ying. He was intent on wiping that smirk off his face!

　　The sound of footsteps suddenly resonated from outside, and the official roared with rage. “Bring the tiger stool here!”

　　Qi Ying was driving him mad with fury, so he could only vent his frustrations on his subordinates.

　　However, a woman’s voice replied, as opposed to the timid voice of a jailor.

　　“Get Qi Ying down from there.”

　　“Who is it?”

　　The official turned with a surprised expression and the sight that greeted him took his breath away. Hair like flowing waves, a tall and pronounced nose, seductive eyes, and an explosive figure that couldn’t even be fully obscured by a cloak. She was one of the most renowned beauties of the city, Madam Lu!

　　Everyone was stunned by the sight of her, and they didn’t even have the presence of mind to check if any guards had accompanied her in.

　　It was Madam Lu! To people like them, it would be vastly fortunate if they could catch a glimpse of her from afar… But she had appeared in their jail cell? She was talking to them?

　　Was this a dream?!

　　“This… Madam Lu, you…”

　　The official was stunned to the point of stuttering.

　　“Shut your mouth if you can’t speak properly! I’m here to take Qi Ying away!” Madam Lu glanced at Qi Ying and said, “I’m his witness. I can provide testimony that Qi Ying wasn’t at the scene when the crime took place.”

　　“Then where was he? And what was he doing?”

　　The official asked instinctively.

　　“Where was he? Of course, he was at my mansion under my sheets!”