Chapter 90: How to Kill a Duke Who Tortures?
Watching your own body slowly decay is a devastating experience.
Flesh and skin dissolve, exposing the white bones bit by bit…
The process is like stretching death into slow motion, every second, every detail is clearly recorded and magnified into torment and suffering.
But Qiu was fine.
He was far from breaking down; he simply felt regretful.
Perhaps it was because the whole process felt so surreal, making it seem unreal.
Or perhaps it was because he was truly too overconfident.
He remained seated in that same old spot amidst the ruins from beginning to end, his coat set aside, the white silk shirt stained with large patches of blood.
He curled one leg as he examined the bones of his hand, waiting patiently.
Only when the blood on his body had seeped out to its limit did he unwrap the gauze that 922 had shoved into his hand.
He had no interest in admiring torn skin and rotting flesh, so he didn’t bother removing his shirt, instead wrapping the gauze directly over the fabric.
When 021 entered the monitoring room, this was exactly the scene she saw.
She frowned and asked, “Why wrap it like that? Don’t tell me Invigilator 001 doesn’t know how to treat a wound at all—is this a joke?”
922 replied, “Of course he knows how.”
“Then what’s he doing?”
“Block the blood.”
021 was stunned: “Huh?”
“Blocking the blood, not stopping it,” 154 said.
As expected, on the surveillance screen, Qin Jiu had wrapped another layer of gauze over his shirt, and his fingers… no, his hand bones were also wrapped.
The blood stained the new layer of gauze again, but it had already lost much of its penetrating force, or in other words, the blood was no longer so lively.
He rested his elbows for a while, his gaze fixed in the distance, lost in thought.
He waited for the bloodstains to dry completely before putting on his suit jacket again, then took gloves from his pocket and slipped them on.
As the time for the lockdown drew near, he stood up, his suit long and neat. Apart from a slight stiffness in his initial movements, there was hardly any sign of trouble. It was as if his injury remained only on his palm.
Only someone with extreme willpower could have managed to this extent…
But what’s the point?
Was it really just stubbornness, not wanting to show any sign of weakness?
021 stared at the screen, muttering to herself.
On the screen, Qin Jiu held his gloves and pressed them in, then lifted his head to glance around once more.
He seemed to be looking for something.
Soon, his gaze stopped, and incredibly, he made eye contact with 021 through the screen.
“…He wasn’t looking at us, was he? Just a coincidence?” 021 pointed at the screen and asked.
154 hummed in acknowledgment, “That should be it.”
“For real? He can even sense where the surveillance cameras are?” 021 said. “How is that possible?”
922 nodded, “It’s true. Back when he was with the Invigilation Department, he always managed to pinpoint where the system was focusing…”
154 pondered for a moment and said, “He has a strong, intense dislike for being restrained—far more than the average person. That’s probably why he’s always been particularly sharp in this regard…”
As they were speaking, Qin Jiu actually gestured toward the screen, signaling the invigilators to come over. Then, pressing a finger to his lips, he made a soft “shh” sound.
021：“…”
She thought about it, then quietly went to the confinement room.
You Huo was still asleep. Remembering Qin Jiu’s gesture, she kept quiet, walked past him to the confinement room, and opened the door.
Qin Jiu stood by the door and lowered his voice to say, “I came in a few minutes earlier than the others. In the interest of fairness, shouldn’t I be allowed to leave first?”
021 furrowed her brow. “You—”
Qin Jiu pressed his lips together once more.
021 glanced at You Huo, who wasn’t far away, and whispered, “What are you doing?”
Qin Jiu raised an eyebrow, saying nothing, and only asked, “Do you agree or not?”
021 stared at him, stunned for a moment, before suddenly realizing what he meant.
He wanted to go ahead, to go back early and do something, perhaps a bit crazy or risky, so he wanted to avoid the others…
No, the average person simply couldn’t keep up with his pace or accompany him anyway.
The one he wanted to avoid was just a single person.
021 looked at Qin Jiu.
Despite his sickly appearance and pallid complexion, he still radiated a powerful and vigorous spirit.
She suddenly felt a bit bewildered.
Due to past events and rumors, she had genuinely disliked this chief examiner, the one ranked first. But after these two encounters, Qin Jiu had repeatedly surprised her…
She suddenly began to doubt whether her perception had been wrong all along.
Two minutes later, Examiner 021, for the first time in her life, complied with Qin Jiu’s wishes, releasing him from the invigilation room at the earliest possible moment.
* * *
Inside the ancient castle, the air was thick with the scent of blood.
It came from the deceased examinees, from the Duke himself, and from the shadowy figures on the walls.
After several times, Zhao Jiatong finally realized that those dark shadows did not appear randomly. They only bared their fangs and brandished their claws when the Duke was at his weakest.
She killed the duke five times, and those viscous, dark shadows appeared five times as well, like restless spirits that could never find peace.
It wasn’t until the first batch of returning examinees brought back the news of “You Huo and Qin Jiu being cursed” that Zhao Jiatong finally regained her senses.
Restrained by the others in a corner, panting heavily with reddened eyes, she watched helplessly as the duke revived once more, dragging his long cape as he descended the stairs.
“Can’t kill it, can’t burn it, even tearing it apart only lets it rejoin…” Zhao Jiatong said. “How on earth do we destroy him?”
Most importantly, kill him without triggering a curse.
As for what You Huo and Qin Jiu have become by now, she doesn’t dare to imagine—the mere thought makes her heart ache unbearably. She doesn’t want to see those two vibrant people turn into light-fearing ghosts, forever trapped in the dark, damp, old church.
“Even if we figure out a way, we can’t risk trying it now,” someone pointed out sharply.
“Exactly, it’s impossible to test. If we try, those two will suffer even faster.”
“Not only that. Logically speaking, we all drank and ate, meaning we offered our bodies to the curse. It will likely spread gradually.”
“Yeah!” someone asked in confusion, “We all ate too, so why are we fine?”
“How much did you eat compared to them? I think it might be because the duke was revived too many times overnight, so the curse transferred too quickly and targeted two people first. First, they ate the most; second, they were the strongest; third, they were the first to kill the duke.”
“Speaking of which… I noticed they didn’t deliberately eat less at dinner. Could it be that they were deliberately drawing the curse’s attention?”
Everyone’s faces were grim, their hearts a mess of conflicting emotions.
“I’m not sure if I remember correctly, how long is this exam period? Did the question mention it? I have no memory of it at all,” someone suddenly asked.
Zhao Jiatong whispered, “No, the question didn’t give an exact time—I’m sure of that.”
The crowd fell into a long silence before someone finally asked, “Doesn’t that mean we can’t even wait it out? How do we get out?”
“Since…” someone finally spoke up in the silence, “since we can’t kill the Duke, then we’ll just have to kill the patients instead.”
There are two ways to find release—
Kill the Duke, and all the witchcraft reverts back to the beginning.
Kill all the patients, and they die a swift death.
They had always been trying to avoid the second method, but now it seemed they could no longer steer clear of it.
Several examinees gritted their teeth, determined to head straight for the town then and there.
Just a few steps into running, Zhao Jiatong’s voice rang out, “All patients… does that include those who were just cursed?”
Those examinees instantly came to a halt.
“……How did examinees from before manage to pass?”
“Maybe some were ruthless enough to kill, maybe no one passed for several consecutive sessions. Who knows if those NPCs are still the original ones, whether what they say are just lines or real feelings……”
“Anyway, I can’t do it.”
At least not yet.
Everyone was completely trapped by this issue, struggling and torn, unable to find a perfect solution for a long time.
And after each murder, the duke would always take a break, never again returning upstairs.
After an unknown length of time had passed, the ancient castle’s grand door was pushed open, and Qin Jiu had returned.
Zhao Jiatong almost immediately rushed downstairs, only to find that Yang Shu had run even faster than her by the time she reached the first floor.
Despite her sharp tongue, this young lady had a rather soft heart. After hearing about the curse, she had kept the medicine packet tightly in hand. As soon as she saw Qin Jiu, she immediately pulled out the syringe.
Unexpectedly, Mr. 001 dodged the needle tip and chuckled, saying, “Save it, I don’t need it.”
Yang Shu’s eyes widened sharply. “Bullshit. Are you the doctor or am I? If I say you need it, then you need it. Saving is unnecessary—I have more here. When the other one comes back, he’ll get a dose too.”
Miss Yang is always quite assertive, and she probably has a lot to talk about with 021.
Qin Jiu estimated that if he didn’t let her get what she wanted, he might not be able to leave. Reluctantly, he agreed.
Yang Shu said, “Roll up your sleeve!”
But Qin Jiu didn’t follow her instructions: “Forget the arm—I’m afraid I’d snap your needle. If you really must give me a shot, just do it here. At least I still have some decent skin left on this spot.”
As he spoke, he pulled his collar down just a tiny bit, like a miserly old miser.
Yang Shu held the syringe in a daze for a moment before suddenly understanding what he meant.
It was quite rare to see a girl with such a stubborn temper, her eyes actually turning slightly red.
She blinked, suddenly withdrew the syringe, pushed Zhao Jiatong forward, and turned to walk away hurriedly: “I’d better go check on Zhou Qi, just in case he wakes up.”
Zhao Jiatong wasn’t faring much better than her.
She never expected that she would one day worry over 001, and suddenly realized that this number-one-ranked chief invigilator was truly formidable—so formidable that she almost couldn’t bear to watch.
“You…”
“Alright, still within the range of tolerance.” Qin Jiu interrupted, “But perhaps we should rest for a while first. Let’s discuss everything else when everyone returns.”
Zhao Jiatong had originally wanted to say a few more things, but upon hearing him mention the need to rest, she immediately said, “Then hurry up and get some sleep. I won’t keep you any longer. Let’s wait until everyone is here to talk.”
Qin Jiu gave a wave and hurried upstairs.
After a few steps, he turned back to tell her, “I don’t like people knocking on my door when I sleep, so…”
“Once Gao Qi gets back, I’ll have him stay in our room first,” Zhao Jiatong said.
“Thanks.”
Five minutes later, a soft rustle came from the grass at the foot of the castle.
Qin Jiu stood up, glanced back at the starry dotted balconies behind him, and walked toward a certain direction.
There was a carriage road there, and by following it around the foot of Carlton Hill, you could see the town nestled in the night.
* * *
When You Huo was woken up by 021, the second batch of examinees in confinement had already vanished.
He looked at the narrow open door of the confinement room and asked 021, “Did you give me another dose?”
021 pointed at 922 and said, “Ask him. I don’t handle these things.”
With that, she left. Her expression was calm, but it very much resembled a hasty retreat. As soon as she went upstairs, she ducked into the monitoring room.
922 patted his own shoulder and said, “Your side is badly damaged too. Blood was dripping all over the floor just now, so… we gave you a painkiller shot.”
After stammering through his explanation, he thought You Huo was going to take issue with him.
Unexpectedly, You Huo just spaced out for a while before asking, “How long have they been gone?”
“About twenty minutes.”
You Huo nodded, got up, and walked into the confinement room.
922 muttered “what the hell” under his breath and slipped upstairs as well.
If this had been any other day, You Huo would definitely have done something to spite the system for maliciously separating them like this.
But today was an exception—
He wanted to do something alone.
There’s no telling whether the outcome will be good or bad, so this time, he didn’t want to involve Qin Jiu.
The three hours in the darkness felt exceptionally long, but they eventually passed.
021 escorted You Huo to the foot of the mountain. With a face rigid from routine, she pointed at the iron fence and said, “Go through that, and you’ll see the castle.”
But to her surprise, You Huo asked, “Which way leads to the town?”
021: “Huh? This way.”
She pointed to a patch of wasteland in the opposite direction, only realizing her mistake after speaking up: “What are you going to do in the town right now?”
“Interrogation.”
You Huo dropped this line, turned around, and vanished into the night.
He walked through the mist hovering over the grassland, and the town was indeed right before his eyes.
In the center of the pond, the small church stood gloomily, with the light from the wall lamps seeping through the stained-glass windows, like floating ghost fires.
Ignoring the discomfort all around, You Huo forced his way into the backyard from the side of the church, and then straight into the dungeon.
The witch doctor was gagged and bound tightly, curled up in the corner of the dungeon.
His two hands had already been replaced with pig’s trotters, so he understood that You Huo and Qin Jiu really were capable of anything, not just trying to scare him.
You Huo grabbed him by the collar and punched him awake, demanding, “How exactly do we kill the duke?”
The witch doctor instinctively wanted to rub the spot he’d been hit, but all he could move was his ugly, grotesque hooves. His expression darkened for a moment before he suddenly broke into a smile. “Oh? Figured it out?”
“How do we kill the duke?” You Huo asked coldly.
The witch doctor rolled his eyes, clearly thinking of something—maybe stalling or trying to negotiate terms.
You Huo released his hand as if tossing out trash, then turned and dragged a goat over, lifting the knife with an expressionless face.
Both he and Qin Jiu had witnessed just how terrifying they could be—enough to leave the witch doctor with lasting psychological trauma.
The moment he saw You Huo about to chop off a goat leg, the witch doctor immediately curled up his own leg and shouted, “He must die willingly!”
You Huo paused, the blade hovering just inches from the goat’s leg.
The witch doctor heaved a long sigh.
“Be specific.” You Huo stared at him.
To avoid making the same mistake as before, he had to press the witch doctor to finish his words.
“At the moment of death, he must be willingly compliant.”
“How is that possible?” You Huo frowned.
The witch doctor stared at the tip of his knife, watching as he lowered it another inch, and hurriedly said, “It’s not completely impossible!”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ve forgotten, he’s using someone else’s body,” the witch doctor whispered. “The heart beating in his chest belongs to another. It’s not impossible to make him willingly compliant—just find a way to awaken the lingering trace of conscience?”
“Let me tell you a secret,” the shaman said to him. “Some bodies possess astonishing willpower. When the duke is on the verge of death, those lingering things inside him might be forced out. That might just be of some help. After you kill the duke, remember to go as far away as possible. Don’t let him come into contact with the breath of the living.”
You Huo was half-convinced. “If the duke dies, what will happen to you?”
The shaman sighed and said, “It’ll be a bit troublesome, but it’s not the end of the world.”
Since there was nothing new to extract from him, You Huo tossed him back inside.
turned and left.
When I returned to the small room, I suddenly heard a faint rustling sound.
Someone let out a sorrowful moan and called his name.
You Huo followed the sound and found the bloodied priest under the bed. The man gripped his boot, his voice hoarse as he whispered, “Didn’t you just leave? Why are you back?”
Clearly, the poor man had huddled here for so long that he could no longer distinguish today from tomorrow, muddling the events of the afternoon with the middle of the night.
The priest murmured softly, “Burn the castle… remember, you must burn the castle after killing the duke. Don’t listen to the witch doctor… you must burn it. Fire can redeem the souls of the dead.”
Yet beneath them, in the depths they could not see, the witch doctor chuckled quietly again: “Once a body has been dead for over three days, not even a god can wake it.”