Warning: There are depictions of graphic violence taking place in this chapter that are not recommended for younger audiences.

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In the outskirts of the city.

Nothing could be heard except for the soothing chirps of crickets and the rustling of grass when the cold air blew by. The pale moon was ominously covered by thick and rippling clouds, shrouding the entire ground in utter darkness.

Tucked deep within the forest was the Underworld base, ruled by the Yangs for generations to come. Some floors were buzzing with conversation, others were quiet. Various people walked in and out of the Underworld base, each person being heavily monitored to ensure their identity was true.

CRUNCH!

Guo Sheng walked down the staircase munching on a bag of honey-butter chips, the bright yellow bag matched his overworn hoodie with a baby chick patched onto the chest pocket. To make the sweater even cuter, there was an orange beak and eyes sewn on the hoodie. This was his favorite hoodie, Miss Ruqin had given it to him a couple of months ago for his birthday and ever since then, he could not part with it.

He really liked Miss Ruqin. Even after discovering his horrendous past and what he could do, she remained kind to him and patient with him. She was one of the few people who taught him life and moral lessons.

In his eyes, she could do no wrong. Everything about her was perfect, from the way she calmly smiled when he said something bizarre to the way she chided him when he had negative thoughts. He could not understand what went wrong and why people wanted to hurt her.

Guo Sheng made his way down the winding hallway that lead to the black room. It was an eerie place where the smell of iron constantly lingered in the air accompanied by drips of blood splattering onto the floor each time the tiny window on the door was opened.

He liked this place. It reminded him of his past where he would help the doctors change bad people into good weapons. He skipped his way down the hallway, his light pink sneakers making tiny thudding noises down the quiet hallway. His shoes were originally white and sparkly clean, but after so many days spent in the room, it became pastel with dingey browns and pinks.

"Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of posies." He happily sang, "Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!" He giggled to himself when he reached the door.

A chill crawled up the doctor’s spine. His entire body went cold from the bizarre and creepy song of the young man who was way too old to be singing nursery rhymes in the first place.

He would usually be upstairs tending to the injured members of the Triad, but there were rare moments like this when he was summoned downstairs to patch up the tortured victims whose bodies were so mutilated and beaten that they could not wake up — regardless of the painful methods used upon them.

The doctor had just finished placing his final touches on the man when Guo Sheng physically hopped his way into the room, landing in a puddle of blood, splashing the sanguine liquid as he went.

A few droplets landed on the doctor’s white coat. He let out a tired sigh and in a weary voice, he spoke up, "Guo Sheng, you should not jump in puddles of blood." He calmly said.

If it was anyone else, Guo Sheng would’ve stabbed the man’s eyes out for reprimanding him. But seeing as this was one of Big Boss’s valued people, he kept his hands to himself.

"Now, young man, I spent a lot of time healing this one. Do not force him to wake up. His body needs to recuperate so that you can continue getting the information out of him." The doctor picked up his medical bags and gave Guo Sheng a pat on the shoulders.

"But Mister, I’m not the one you should be telling this to." Guo Sheng innocently replied, tilting his head.

If the man did not know of Guo Sheng’s inhumane past he would’ve thought the tiny gesture was cute. "And why’s that?"

"Because Longlong was the one who did the most damage." Guo Sheng revealed a wicked grin which startled the doctor. "Well, he can’t get all the credit though!"

Guo Sheng began to go up and down as he swayed on the balls and heels of his feet, eager to brag about what he did. "Big Boss said I shouldn’t hurt this man too much."

The doctor warily looked at the brutalized man on the floor whose face was so ruined that it was unrecognizable with the fractured bones under the mangled flesh. This was his "shouldn’t hurt too much?"

"So I only slipped razor blades under his nails, pushing them deeper the more he sang. Oh, and you’re gonna love this!... I was the one in charge of drilling into his nails! Haha, get it?!" Guo Sheng clapped his hands as he giggled, the bag of chips falling on the floor with the gesture. The chips began soaking up the blood, resembling the spilled guts of Mu Ting.

The doctor awkwardly laughed, "Yes, child, I get it." He made his way to leave the room, but Guo Sheng wanted to brag more so he stepped into his path to block his way out.

"But that’s not enough for me. Do you know what I mean? So, my next step was peeling the skin from his foot alllllll the way to his knees! Then I forced him to kneel on the searing hot stones and—"

"Doctor, is he fixed?" Yang Yulong curtly asked, stepping into the room, his eyes landing upon Mu Ting.

"Not quite, he would need at least 24-hours to heal and after that—"

"Is it possible for him to regain consciousness?" Yang Yulong strolled to the table of weapons, his fingers lightly skimming over all of them until it stopped on his favorite tool.

"Yes, but like I said, he needs at least 24-hours."

"He can make do without it." Yang Yulong chuckled. He picked up the hose and tossed it to the ground. He stalked his way to Mu Ting’s unconscious body that was lying on the floor like the human trash he was.

"Sir, what are you doing?!"

Yang Yulong turned on the hose and instantly, boiling hot water was pumped out. Mu Ting woke up with an ear-piercing scream so loud, it could have popped eardrums. He tried to sit up, but that motion only caused excruciating pain that overwhelmed his senses.

"W-w-w-why d-did you d-do that?!" Mu Ting pathetically wailed, his entire body trembling upon seeing Yang Yulong.

"The f*ck are you looking at?" Yang Yulong snarled as he sent a sweeping kick right against Mu Ting’s chest, sending the man flying backward. Even then, Mu Ting attempted to crawl onto his knees to beg for mercy — something Yang Yulong was not familiar with.

Yang Yulong took his sweet time walking to the man with a bone crusher in his hands. "I-I’m s-so sorry—AHH!" Mu Ting screeched like a squabbling bird when Yang Yulong slammed the weapon right into Mu Ting’s face.

Guo Sheng pouted, "Longlong, I wanna join too! Don’t hog all the fun!" He huffed, stomping his way to the weapon table. He peered at the weapons as if he was choosing a toy.

"Doctor, doctor, quick, help me pick something!"

The man let out a tired sigh. ’God damn it, now I have to spend another few hours in this room again!’ He hated coming down here. "I don’t know, just pick the scalpel or something."

Guo Sheng gleefully listened. "Ohhh, you’re right! I can use this to flay off the rest of his skin. Thanks, doctor, you’re the best!"

He merrily hopped over to Yang Yulong, who had thrown aside the old weapon, and wore brass knuckles to personally beat the man into a pulp.

The doctor could not bear to watch any longer. He had to leave before he puked all over the floor. "I-if that is all, I will be excusing myself." He turned around to hurriedly leave these two crazy men until he suddenly remembered something his boss said.

"And, Sir, as requested by Boss, please remember to obtain information out of the man instead of simply torturing him."

Yang Yulong momentarily paused in his beating and glanced up. "Oh, right." He muttered under his breath before standing up to grab something more practical when it came to drilling the information out of Mu Ting’s mouth.