Chapter 57: A Test Concerning Life and Death
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
Although this was a test, for Zhang Tie, it was not an impossible task. On the way back to the hotel, Zhang Tie realized that it was possible to lock onto the marvelous arched door between his eyebrows. That meant that once he was given a couple of seconds, he could disappear from their clutches and seek refuge in the Castle of Black Iron. However, once he did this, although he would be able to rid himself of the immediate danger, he could potentially bring a greater and more dangerous dilemma to his family. The secret of the Castle of Black Iron was something so great that once it was exposed, nobody related to him would be able to survive, be it his family, the members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood, and perhaps even Donder. In the eyes of those great figures, the lives of dozens meant nothing when compared to the secret of the Castle of Black Iron.
Returning to their room, they closed the door and Huck and Snade immediately showed their ruthlessness.
“Bang!” Zhang Tie was almost thrown onto the ground while his neck was still gripped by Huck. As a result, the bones all over his body almost broke, and as he couldn’t stand the pain, he cried out miserably.
“Quiet! That might be heard by others!” Snade told Huck. Hearing his words, Huck reluctantly pulled back his foot, which he had wanted to use to kick Zhang Tie. Squatting in front of Zhang Tie, Snade patted Zhang Tie’s face. “What’s your name?”
“My name is Du Shaofeng…”
“What’s your elder brother’s name?”
“Du Shaowu!”
“What’s his position in the City Guard Army of Blackhot City?”
“Major commander of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Regiment of the City Guard Army of Blackhot City…” Zhang Tie responded miserably, “That piece of wood was truly thrown to my nephew as a building block, I swear! Once you let me go back, I will bring it back to you. Why don’t you trust me? I have suggested for you to enter with me, yet you refused! What do you want?”
“Where is your home?” Snade ignored what Zhang Tie had said and continued.
“B301 in that community…”
After asking the question, Snade fetched some dirty rags and a rope before he forcefully opened Zhang Tie’s mouth and stuffed some rags into it, causing Zhang Tie to be unable to utter a single word. He then bound Zhang Tie’s hands with the rope. Afterwards, Snade patted his palms and stood up. He said something to Huck before leaving, resulting in only Zhang Tie and Huck being left in the room. Zhang Tie struggled on the ground for a while. He knew where Snade was heading for; however, he wasn’t afraid. Du Shaowu was his elder brother’s superior. He had heard information about the Du Family when he chatted with his elder brother. Unless Snade has a picture of Du Shaofeng, he would never be able to discover that Zhang Tie was telling a lie.
Half an hour later, Snade returned again.
“How about it?” Huck hurriedly asked as Snade closed the door from the inside.
Snade looked really gloomy. “It took me 1 gold coin to verify that all the kid’s words were true. There really is a major battalion commander by the name of Du Shaowu in the 3rd Battalion, 4th Regiment in the City Guard Army of Blackhot City. Du Shaowu has a younger brother called Du Shaofeng, who’s as old as this kid. They live in B301 in that community. In addition, Du Shaowu has a 2-year son…”
Hearing Snade’s words, Zhang Tie started to twist on the ground again.
“That’s impossible! I feel there is something wrong with what he has said…” Huck said furiously, “I should have kicked him to death!”
“I have also felt that there was something off about him, but I couldn’t figure it out. We have no other ways now. If the kid is still telling a lie, we have to kill him!” saying this, Snade moved in front of Zhang Tie. Squatting down, he patted Zhang Tie’s face with his hand before saying, “I have known since the beginning that you might be cheating us. I simply wanted to see what tricks you would play. Do you know your mistake? When a man tells a lie, his heartbeat would speed up, causing the veins all over his body to pulse even more strongly, and their body temperature would also slightly increase. Earlier when I had wrapped my hand around your neck, I could figure out when you were telling a lie through your pulse and your body temperature. I could feel that you became most nervous when we were walking towards those soldiers. If you were telling the truth, then your heart then shouldn’t have beat so quickly. You are smarter than most of the other kids at your age I have seen. Pitifully, you have met me!”
As he said this, Snade pulled Zhang Tie’s hair, ignoring how much he was struggling on the ground, and brought him into the washroom in the room while Huck followed behind.
Entering the washroom, Snade’s dagger suddenly appeared in his hand once again. With a chilly aura, Snade cut the rope on Zhang Tie’s hands. He then stepped on Zhang Tie’s left hand while he turned around Zhang Tie’s right hand and placed it onto the toilet bowl. Afterwards, he placed his dagger onto the artery of Zhang Tie’s right hand.
“You have one last chance. Tell us where you hid the token!” When Snade asked, he pulled out the rags from Zhang Tie’s mouth.
“It’s in my elder brother’s house. I really mean what I have told you! The reason I became nervous was because I was worried that you would kill me once you got that thing. I could feel that you two were having malicious thoughts and were trying to cheat me by exchanging for that thing with gold coins. Once you promise not to harm me, I will definitely bring that motherf*cking wooden plate back to you…” Zhang Tie seized the opportunity to explain. Hearing Zhang Tie’s words, Snade frowned and foisted the rags back into his mouth. Afterwards, Zhang Tie’s right wrist felt cold. Following an excruciating pain, fresh red blood trickled down into the toilet bowl. The instant Zhang Tie wanted to struggle, his body had already been held by Huck, causing him to be unable to move in the least.
The scene suddenly reminded Zhang Tie of how a butcher killed a pig. They bound the pig and poked it. He had found it funny when he saw people slaughter pigs; however, when he was the one slaughtered like a pig, Zhang Tie didn’t find it funny at all. He now started to understand how the pigs thought when they were being slaughtered…
First he felt pain, then it was followed by weakness, and finally, he felt cold. As more and more blood had flowed out, he gradually became more afraid…
“We have already lost patience! We will give you several minutes to tell us the truth. Once you do that, we’ll stop the bleeding and let you live…” Hearing the alluring words of Snade, Zhang Tie suddenly realized that how happy he was when he wasn't bleeding.
Blood continued to trickle down into the toilet bowl from Zhang Tie’s hand, turning the originally white toilet bowl into a pool of blood. Looking at the bloody toilet bowl, Zhang Tie suddenly remembered the topic that he and Donder were talking about, “Blood Sense”. He was truly amazed at how women didn’t feel pain when they bled every month… At that moment, Zhang Tie started to admire women… Gradually, he felt cold and weak. He forced a smile and muttered inside, “What mother*cking blood sense!? I really don’t understand it at all, but I am curious…”
Time slowly passed by as more and more blood trickled down from his right wrist.
He then felt dazed and could hardly lock onto that arched door in his mind. “Should I enter the Castle of Black Iron?” Zhang Tie asked himself. He wished to survive a bit longer; however, he didn’t want to bring a greater and more dangerous crisis to his family members and the members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood.
During that period, the rags inside Zhang Tie’s mouth were pulled out one more time. Afterwards, Snade asked the same question, yet he received the same answer. Thus, the rags were stuffed back into Zhang Tie’s mouth…
Zhang Tie started to think of his mom’s plump shadow… the increasing white hair on his dad’s head… the pair of leather shoes and the underwear gifted by his elder brother… and Fatty Barley’s suggestion of getting circumcised…
“F*ck! I haven’t even been circumcised yet and am going to die a virgin. It truly is shameful to die as a virgin…” Zhang Tie felt that he was gradually losing his consciousness…
Looking at the young man’s pale face and his miserable white lips, Snade started to have doubts. He had estimated that the body had already lost over 1800 ml of blood. “If we don’t stop the bleeding, he will die soon. But, he still hasn’t said anything. Were we wrong? Could it be that what he has told us was true? Was the boy actually nervous because he realized we were having malicious thoughts?”
At this moment, Huck also stared at Snade. Since the two of them had worked together for many years now, Huck knew that the method Snade used had made many tough guys succumb to him. Very few people would simply wait for their death since it was much more miserable than just being immediately killed. Could this boy be tougher than those guys? Impossible! Otherwise… were the boy’s words true?
At that moment, Zhang Tie’s body had completely turned limp by itself. He was no longer able to move. If Zhang Tie simply died in this way, then the two would have to escape tonight from being endlessly hunted down by their organization.
Seeing the look in Huck’s eyes, Snade also became frustrated. He cursed as he placed two fingers onto Zhang Tie’s cut artery, “F*ck! Just stop the bleeding first. Maybe… he was telling the truth…”
With the artery on his right wrist being pressed down, the blood stopped flowing out. At the same time, Zhang Tie saw a bright light before his eyes among the endless darkness. A line of words appeared in his mind:
——The Manjusaka Karma Fruit Tree has detected that the body energy, Qi, and blood of the lord is approaching a dangerous, minimum level. Do you want to begin recovery and invert the flow of blood and Qi through the Leakless Fruit ？
——Yes…No
Zhang Tie spent his last effort to click “Yes” in his mind…
……