Chapter 893: The Madman

In the pitch-black room, the green-haired man slowly crawled toward Tao Yueyue, suddenly reaching out to grab her foot. She shrieked and darted to another corner of the room.

The green-haired man continued his persuasion, “Don’t be foolish, little girl. You can’t trust someone like him. Sure, I sell ecstasy, but I don’t kill or set fires. I’m a good guy, overall. But Zhou Xiao? He’s a madman! Don’t listen to him. One wrong move and you’ll regret it forever!”

“Wh-what do you need the knife for?” Tao Yueyue trembled, questioning him.

The green-haired man was momentarily speechless. He hadn’t thought about why he needed the knife. In this situation, the knife was like a nuclear bomb—it held immense power. He couldn’t let someone else hold it and threaten him. The knife had to be in his hand.

So he lied, lowering his voice, “I need it to pick the lock.”

“A knife can’t pick a lock,” Tao Yueyue retorted bluntly.

The green-haired man smiled bitterly and continued to crawl toward her, his broken leg causing excruciating pain and cold sweat. He extended his hand, whispering, “Let’s work together. We don’t have to be afraid of that lunatic. Come on, give me the knife.”

Tao Yueyue was nearly backed into a corner. The green-haired man suddenly lunged, grabbing her ankle. Tao Yueyue screamed and leaped over his body, escaping to the opposite side. The green-haired man turned and lunged again with all his strength.

Tao Yueyue fell, hitting her chin painfully. The man grabbed her pants and crawled on top of her, yelling, “You think you can kill me?”

Fear ignited a primal impulse within Tao Yueyue. She wanted to turn and stab him in the neck. A prisoner named “Instinct” shook the cage of her rational mind, grinning savagely, urging her to follow her desires.

Tao Yueyue kicked the man in the chest and scrambled away, creating some distance before turning back, holding the sharp knife between them.

The green-haired man panted, glaring at her, “You little bitch, you want to kill me?”

“Back off! Back off!” Tao Yueyue cried, her voice trembling. She wasn’t afraid of him; she was afraid of herself.

“Ha! You’ve never killed anyone. Come on! Do it!” The green-haired man taunted, his eyes gleaming with malice.

Outside, Zhou Xiao said, “Tao Yueyue, if you don’t act, you might die in there.”

Tao Yueyue’s entire body trembled, tears blurring her vision. At that moment, the green-haired man suddenly leaped and pinned her to the ground, his hands choking her throat. The intense feeling of suffocation left her mind blank, and her body went limp, the knife falling from her grasp.

The door burst open, and Zhou Xiao stormed in, grabbing the man’s hair and throwing him against the wall. He kicked the man’s face repeatedly, the sound of his head hitting the wall echoing through the room.

Each kick made the green-haired man’s body spasm, the movements becoming smaller until he lay motionless.

Zhou Xiao stopped, his foot hovering over the bloodied face of the man, now unrecognizable. He drew a knife from behind and began stabbing the man’s neck and chest, blood splattering across his snarling face. The frenzy in his eyes sent shivers down Tao Yueyue’s spine.

The man was long dead, but Zhou Xiao was relishing the destruction, stabbing over twenty times before stopping, panting heavily, and looking at Tao Yueyue with wolfish eyes.

Zhou Xiao approached her, the bloodied knife steaming. Tao Yueyue, terrified, backed away, her eyes wide with fear. Blood dripped onto her clothes as Zhou Xiao panted like a beast.

“Do you know what it’s like to kill someone? It’s like… like dying during an orgasm, like the entire universe bursting from your soul. It’s a sensation you can’t imagine!”

Zhou Xiao grabbed her hair, pressing the knife to her throat. Tao Yueyue was paralyzed with fear, tears streaming down her face. Through the tears, she saw the madness in Zhou Xiao’s eyes as he struggled against his own addiction to killing.

The terrifying standoff lasted for what felt like an eternity before Zhou Xiao released her, collapsing to the floor and slowly reverting from a beast to a man. “I used to play a game with Ling Shuang. We’d take turns stabbing a bound person, and whoever dealt the killing blow had to dispose of the body. Based on your performance today, your punishment is to dispose of the body.”

Zhou Xiao stood, unsteady, and walked out. Tao Yueyue covered her mouth, sobbing uncontrollably. She couldn’t tell if she had wet herself or if it was the stench of death and blood filling the air. The primal warning scent of blood surrounded her, setting off alarms in her mind.

Her stomach churned violently, and she turned to vomit, collapsing against the wall, utterly exhausted, with the taste of bile burning her mouth.

Zhou Xiao brought a cart to the door and ordered her to help him load the body. They wheeled it to an abandoned bathroom, where Zhou Xiao handed her a bag of tools—knives, gloves, steel wool. “You slept enough during the day. Tonight, you’ll cut the body into small pieces.”

“Why?” Tao Yueyue asked, her voice now calm after the overwhelming stimuli had numbed her.

“It’s a punishment and practice. Dissect the body, and I’ll check your work in the morning.”

Zhou Xiao left, locking the door. Tao Yueyue banged on it, “Please, don’t lock me in!”

Zhou Xiao’s eyes appeared in the small window of the door. “If you don’t kill, I won’t trust you. Practice with the dead tonight.”

Zhou Xiao left, and Tao Yueyue looked at the hundred-pound corpse, feeling a wave of helplessness.

She sat hugging her knees for a long time before a ray of hope pierced her despair. Yes, she could use the body to send a message!