Chapter 39: Torturing Hachishaku-sama
Half an hour later, inside the bedroom.
"So that's what happened."
After listening to Miko's explanation, Yui Yuigahama nodded slightly, looking like she somewhat understood.
"So, you and Yoru-kun usually talk about these kinds of things. I thought... hehe."
Seeing that even at a time like this, Yui still looked so innocent and dense, Miko couldn't help but roll her eyes and say grumpily.
"Aren't you scared at all?"
"I am scared. But being scared doesn't help, does it?"
Miko's eyes showed a hint of surprise. Yui is unexpectedly tough. If it were a normal girl encountering this kind of situation, she'd probably be wailing by now.
Of course, it could also be because Yui was just incredibly dense.
"Anyway, the good news is that your mom wasn't brought in here. Hachishaku is in this Otherworld with us, so you don't need to worry about your mom's safety."
Just as Miko finished speaking, they suddenly heard a woman sobbing from the living room outside the door.
Immediately following that was Yoru's voice, sneering with a distinct villainous tone.
"Crying? Crying counts towards the time too!"
The two girls and the dog fell silent.
After a long while, Yui finally came back to her senses and asked cautiously.
"Um... is it really okay to leave that Hachishaku alone with Yoru-kun?"
Miko shook her head and said expressionlessly.
"You don't need to worry about Yoru. Judging by Hachishaku's attitude when she first saw him, she should be very afraid of him."
"Is-Is that so... that's good then."
Yui laughed awkwardly. I wasn't worried about Yoru.
Looking at the situation, the one we should be worried about is Hachishaku, right?
The sobbing from the living room continued, accompanied by the woman's trembling words.
....
Nearly an hour later.
"You guys can come out now."
Hearing Yoru's words, Yui and Miko, who had been curious about the situation in the living room for a long time, hurriedly opened the bedroom door and walked out.
Once in the living room, the two girls were dumbfounded by the scene before them.
They saw Yoru sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, looking satisfied.
And Hachishaku, who was originally tall... no, she now looked slightly shrunken. Her height had gone from nearly 2.5 meters to just over 2 meters. Her figure had become somewhat blurry, her clothes were disheveled, and she was curled up in the corner, looking meek and submissive.
The two girls exchanged glances and saw the same confusion in each other's eyes.
Who is the evil spirit here, and who is the human?
We know Yoru was interrogating the evil spirit Hachishaku.
But if we didn't know, this scene looks like Gao Yanei and Lin Chong's wife from 'Water Margin', giving off an inexplicable vibe of successful NTR.
"Hey."
Miko leaned close to Yoru, tugged at his sleeve, and lowered her voice.
"What exactly did you do?"
Yoru replied righteously.
"Torture/Interrogation."
"What kind of torture leads to this?"
"Oh, very simple."
Yoru's voice carried a smile as he slowly uttered words that chilled Miko to the bone.
"I told her that every time I ask a question, if I don't get an answer, I'll devour a part of her."
"Of course, I have good control. Each time, I ensure she feels pain but doesn't dissipate completely."
"This Otherworld is really different from our usual world. Evil spirits recover much faster here, which made my job easier."
"See? It only took a little over an hour and about less than two hundred bites for her to confess honestly."
Miko was horrified and sucked in a breath of cold air.
This method of torture...
Isn't that just Lingchi (Death by a Thousand Cuts)?
No wonder.
No wonder the previously ferocious Hachishaku had turned into this state.
Who could withstand that?
Just listening to Yoru's description made Miko shudder. She even started to suspect if this guy was a bit of a psychopath.
"Ouch, I can't hold on."
Suddenly, Yoru clutched his forehead, looking exhausted. He collapsed onto the sofa with a weary expression.
Seeing this, Yui ran over hurriedly, asking anxiously in unison with Miko.
"What's wrong?"
"I can't, I can't hold on."
Yoru waved his hand, pain evident on his brow.
"Summoning the ghost hand twice and maintaining it for so long... I can barely suppress the side effects of the evil spirit power. I have no combat capability left."
"No, no, I'm going to lose control."
Yoru gritted his teeth, looking like he was enduring intense pain. Seeing this, Miko felt as if her heart was being squeezed.
"Red is destruction, Blue is indifference, Green is disguise, White is nothingness, Yellow..."
"Yellow, what was Yellow again?"
Yoru muttered to himself, and the pain on his face vanished instantly.
"Oh right, Yellow is 'send it to me'."
"Hah?"
Miko and Yui were confused.
Aren't you losing control?
Aren't you out of combat capability?
Recovered so quickly?
What is going on?
Yoru looked at Hachishaku curled up in the corner, who showed no signs of movement and remained submissive. He nodded with satisfaction.
"Mmhmm. Seeing me in such a weak and painful state just now, she didn't take the opportunity to attack. Seems she's truly subdued. Then, the intelligence she just provided can be tentatively considered true."
Miko froze for a moment, then realized what happened.
So Yoru's painful state just now was fake?
The purpose was to put on a show for Hachishaku.
If Hachishaku had taken the opportunity to attack, it would prove that the intelligence she provided under torture was likely false.
Even plotting against evil spirits.
As expected, Yoru is a mature exorcist.
She thought so.
But Miko still felt an inexplicable anger rising in her heart. She couldn't help but clench her right hand into a fist and swing it forcefully, but it landed gently on Yoru's shoulder.
"Can't you give us a heads-up? You made me worry for nothing."
"Look at what you're saying."
Yoru maintained his lazy demeanor and said nonchalantly.
"Actually, summoning the ghost hand twice and maintaining it for that long really did consume a lot of my energy."
Hearing this, Miko remembered a question she wanted to ask.
"By the way, how many times can you summon that pale ghost hand?"
"Hmm... I haven't really tested it, but if I were to estimate, probably about twenty times."
"Twenty times!?"
Miko was shocked.
"So the 'large consumption' you mentioned is basically one-tenth?"
"Of course."
Yoru nodded with a serious face.
"Haven't you heard the saying?"
"What saying?"
"For a mature RPG player: 99% HP is critically low health, and anything below 95% HP is basically dead."