The trembling legs, the rotten-skinned wrists.
Restrained by the handcuffs, all Loma wanted was to steady his legs so he could stand firm, but the pain in his wrists kept stimulating his nerves.
"Squat steadily."
"Try squatting steadily again."
After being handcuffed all night, relying on willpower and his most basic physical fitness in a sealed state.
His muscles, long held in a state of tension, were already precarious; any external force would cause the stability Loma desperately tried to maintain to instantly collapse.
Chen Yu actually admired him; it was a testament to his good physical condition that he hadn't suffered rhabdomyolysis by this point.
"Unable to see the situation clearly, unable to grasp the circumstances, and without presenting any chips for negotiation, your first instinct is to threaten with the power behind you," Chen Yu watched Loma's contorted facial expression and gently shook his head. "This world does not belong to you, nor is it as agreeable to your wishes as you might think."
Loma, his legs trembling uncontrollably, had no capacity to respond to Chen Yu's words.
He felt as if his legs no longer belonged to him; no matter what he did, he couldn't keep them from shaking.
The pain in his wrists intensified.
The entire weight of his body was borne by one arm; Loma felt that if this continued, his arm might be ripped off.
"What exactly do you want!!!"
A desperate, enraged roar echoed through the interrogation room, causing others bound in nearby cells to glance over. Seeing his trembling legs and exposed flesh, they fearfully lowered their heads.
"Just to visit you, what else could I want?"
As he spoke, Chen Yu took out a small stool from his bracelet.
This kind of small stool couldn't accommodate an adult, yet in Loma's eyes, it was like an oasis in the desert.
He gazed longingly at the small stool. If this small stool could be placed near him, he could at least sit down somewhat, alleviating his current discomfort.
"Do you want it?"
Chen Yu smiled and dangled the small stool in his hand.
Loma, his eyes fixed on the stool, actually shed tears. He gritted his teeth tightly, his voice cracking with sobs.
"You... what exactly do you want?"
"Let me go."
"Either kill me outright, don't torture me like this."
Tears streamed down his face, his pathetic appearance would move anyone to pity.
It was too miserable.
A grown man, standing five feet five, had been tortured into crying.
"Don't cry, you've only suffered a little and you're crying. Look, there are so many other instruments in this interrogation room that I haven't used on you. If you cry now, what will I have to work with later?" Chen Yu smiled faintly. "You're crying, but I didn't cry when my granary was burned, even though tens of thousands of tons of grain were lost."
"I'll compensate you!"
Crying, Loma shouted hoarsely.
"Tens of thousands of tons of grain is just tens of thousands of gold coins. I'll give you a hundred thousand, a million. I'll compensate you for all these losses, wouldn't that suffice?"
"Alright, then take it out," Chen Yu said, extending his hand with a smile.
Seeing Chen Yu's gesture, a flame of anger ignited in Loma's heart.
"What am I supposed to take it out with!?"
"My survival wristband, my storage equipment, weren't they all taken by you? Release me now, and I can contact my father. He'll pay the ransom! Besides, I didn't set fire to the granary, Cai Bao did. It has nothing to do with me!"
Immediately, Chen Yu raised his hand, his expression one of uprightness.
"You can't just say things like that. With which eye did you see your wristband and wealth being taken by us? Words require evidence. Lord Klayte said that when they encountered you, you were already in this state, and it had nothing to do with our Fengqi City."
"Fine, nothing. It has nothing to do with you," Loma yelled.
In just a few minutes, Loma's physical exertion far surpassed the exhaustion from being handcuffed all night. The severed arm that Mi Mu had cut off also struggled to free its hand from the handcuffs.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard he struggled, it was all in vain.
The more he struggled, the more his stamina was depleted.
"We can set aside the granary issue for now. I'm just curious why you're here," Chen Yu suddenly smiled again. "I didn't send anyone to chase you after you were kidnapped, which was already giving you face, wasn't it?! You were trading grain with Lord Klayte, and our city bought it at prices far exceeding the market. But why were you on the road back for Lord Klayte? Did you take the money and then want to snatch the grain back?"
"..."
"That's really not honorable."
Chen Yu murmured, then clicked his tongue and shook his head slightly.
"It's too hateful, I need to hit you with another blow."
*Bang!*
This time, Chen Yu didn't just poke with the stick; he smashed the stick directly into Loma's leg. This blow made Loma's eyes widen in disbelief, his neck lolled, and he immediately lost consciousness.
Lauren, standing beside Chen Yu, frowned and stepped forward to examine him.
"He's fainted."
"He's actually quite resilient. I thought he would have fainted when I poked him in that weakened state," Chen Yu put the stick back into his bracelet and glanced at the hanging ring on the wall. "Hang him from that ring, then wake him up with water."
A few minutes later, basins of ice water infused with ice crystal ore were splashed onto Loma.
The biting cold woke him from his unconscious state.
When he regained consciousness, he realized he was no longer in his previous position. He was suspended in mid-air, the wrist that had been scraped raw still cuffed. The difference from before was that his entire body was now upright, his tiptoes just barely touching the ground.
"Awake?"
Chen Yu's whisper sounded like a demon to Loma's ears.
He slowly raised his head, seeing Chen Yu sitting comfortably in a rattan chair. However, what he held in his hand was no longer the stick.
It was a throwing knife!
The torches burning on the wall reflected off the blade, flickering and dazzling.
"You've walked through the gates of hell, how does it feel?" Chen Yu shrugged slightly. "Even now, do you still have nothing you want to say to me?"
"You... haven't asked me anything at all."
"Is that so?"
Chen Yu couldn't be bothered to say more. He flipped his hand, took out an apple, and threw it at Loma's head. Then, with a swish, he threw the throwing knife.
The apple wasn't pierced, but a few strands of hair near his ear fell off.
"What's going on? My aim is off too," Chen Yu tilted his head and frowned, then grinned and said to Loma, "Don't worry, I'll definitely hit it accurately this time!"
Seeing Chen Yu start aiming again, Loma simply closed his eyes.
*Swish!*
With the flash of silver, a shrill scream came from the interrogation room. Chen Yu's throwing knife still missed the apple, embedding itself in Loma's shoulder instead.
"You want to die? Do you think I'll let you die?"
Chen Yu stood up from the rattan chair, pulled out the throwing knife, and blood immediately gushed from the wound. Then, Chen Yu expressionlessly plunged the knife back into the same wound.
Loma screamed even more miserably. Chen Yu found another spot and casually stabbed the knife down.
Whether it was the dampness of the dungeon or Loma's own body, beads of water trickled down his face, yet he stubbornly gritted his teeth and didn't utter another word.
He knew very well that he couldn't withstand many more blows.
A few more hits, and he would be completely liberated.
When his father learned of his death, he would definitely seek revenge for him.
It was only when Chen Yu took out healing ointment from his bracelet that this thought was shattered.
"I won't let you die," Chen Yu said, personally applying the ointment to Loma with his hands and smiling. "I can use external medication to heal your wounds, and I can use various medicinal herbs to keep you alive. I'll keep you in a state of near-death. If I'm in a good mood, I'll give you a couple of blows; if I'm not, I'll make you squat in the corner. Believe me, I can even make you live longer than your father."
Loma, his lips trembling, looked into Chen Yu's eyes. At this moment, his emotions completely collapsed.
"I'll talk, I'll talk!!!"
Loma's tears flowed uncontrollably like a breached dam.
"I'll tell you everything I know."
Only then did Chen Yu lower the throwing knife, looking into Loma's eyes.
"You know what I want to know, right?"
"I know," Loma swallowed. "I'll tell you everyone involved in this plan, and who your many informants are in the city, the strength of my father's city and the forces of other cities, and those who are loyal to them. I'll tell you everything, without reservation."
"If you had done this earlier, why would you have to suffer so much?"
Chen Yu grinned, gave Lauren a look, and said in a low voice.
"Loosen him up later, keep an eye on him so he doesn't try to kill himself. Let him tell us everything he knows, in detail."
Lauren nodded solemnly, and Chen Yu looked at the emotionally broken Loma.
"Don't even think about lying. I already know all about your intelligence. Now, I'm giving you another chance to redeem yourself. If you pass this test, I'll assign you future tasks. If you tell even one lie, this interrogation room will still be yours."
Tears, snot, and sweat mingled together.
Loma stared blankly ahead, his eyes vacant. At this point, he had no resistance left within him; his will had been completely worn down by Chen Yu.
Wiggling his wrist, Chen Yu picked up the stick again and walked around the room.
He poked each of the others in the leg.
Everyone in the interrogation room shivered uncontrollably as if afflicted with malaria, their cries of agony and pleas for mercy echoing endlessly.
"You too, think about it and call out, or don't, hahaha..."
Chen Yu didn't linger in the interrogation room for long. Emerging from the dungeon, Chen Yu went directly back to the City Lord's mansion. Upon entering his own backyard, he tilted his head back and greedily inhaled the air, finally letting out a slow breath.
Glancing at his right hand, which was stained with blood, Chen Yu approached a basin of water and washed the blood off his hands.
He also looked at his reflection in the water.
Familiar, yet strange.