CHAPTER 382: CHAPTER 382: SUICIDE OUT OF GUILT

Rumble~

Mysterious clouds covered the sky, amidst the flashes of lightning and thunder, the [Demon Suppression Prison] situated dozens of miles outside the Imperial City, hidden within towering mountains, appeared and vanished like a ghostly realm.

From afar, overlooking the deathly stillness of the [Demon Suppression Prison], Gui Hua vaguely sensed a chilling aura permeating the air, as if something indescribable had descended into this world.

"Duke Yu... what is he doing?"

Gui Hua originally thought that the [Demon Suppression Prison] was just a place to detain Jianghu experts, but now it seems she had underestimated its complexity.

Standing half a step behind her, also gazing into the distance, Yan Yunsheng paused slightly, his expression complex as he pressed his lips tight.

"Whatever the lord is doing, there must be a reason. I dare not speculate rashly."

Gui Hua, keenly aware of the unsaid implications in Yan Yunsheng’s words, was still unclear about the situation but had a vague understanding rising in her heart.

For some reason, Gui Hua felt a chill rise from her tailbone, causing her to shiver involuntarily.

The more she interacted, the more she found Duke Yu unfathomable and full of sinister aura.

He wasn’t like a seventeen-year-old naive youth at all; rather, he seemed like some sort of God Demon reincarnate, naturally endowed with strange and formidable knowledge and power!

And now, he was gradually shedding his disguise, revealing his menacing and terrifying true form.

Gazing at the [Demon Suppression Prison] from afar, even from a distance, Gui Hua could sense the eerie ripples of energy that chilled her to the bone.

Mysteriously, it was as if a majestic, cold, distorted dark sun was blooming silently, radiating a divine light that mortals could not perceive.

After an unknown period, the clouds shrouding over the [Demon Suppression Prison] slowly dissipated, and a tall, elegant young man dressed in black walked out slowly, his impossibly handsome face holding a smile tinged with lingering significance.

As their eyes met, Gui Hua saw the flickering Purple Gold ghostly gleam deep in the youth’s pupils, causing her whole body to shiver, making her instinctively lower her head, not daring to meet his gaze.

Yan Yunsheng, beside her, was oblivious to this subtle anomaly and was the first to speak out in greeting.

"My lord!"

"Same as usual, you know the drill."

"Ah? Still the sudden illness? That might not be very appropriate?"

Upon hearing Yan Yunsheng’s question, Zhu Haomiao immediately caught on.

An Upper Three Grades expert has a life force as tenacious as a cockroach; even ripping their heart and lungs out wouldn’t kill them immediately. Claiming sudden illness seems a bit insulting to human intelligence.

"Hmm..."

Rubbing his chin, Zhu Haomiao hesitated for a moment before saying with thought.

"Forget it, just say they committed suicide out of guilt..."

Saying this, Zhu Haomiao smirked peculiarly, speaking nonsense as if self-hypnotizing.

"They really committed suicide... I did nothing..."

"I’m indeed a good person..."

"They just rushed and killed themselves..."

"I too am very desperate..."

My lord, there’s no outsider here, you might as well be frank!

Listening to the young man in black mumbling to himself, Yan Yunsheng opened his mouth to speak, but seeing the bewildered Gui Hua, he swallowed his words.

Not until Zhu Haomiao drifted away did Gui Hua, coming back to her senses, look at Yan Yunsheng in confusion.

"What exactly was Duke Yu saying just now?"

"..."

After hesitating for a moment, Yan Yunsheng cautiously shook his head.

"I don’t know either."

Noticing his insincerity, Gui Hua snorted coldly and turned to leave.

"Hmph! I want to see what kind of riddle you all are playing!"

Watching Gui Hua walk straight towards the [Demon Suppression Prison], Yan Yunsheng hurriedly followed her.

Yet as they went deeper, Yan Yunsheng suddenly noticed that Gui Hua’s pace, initially light, became progressively heavy and slow as if she were bearing some invisible pressure.

"My lord, are you alright?"

"Can’t you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"The residue in this air..."

Looking around, Gui Hua’s face was calm as water, her gaze heavy and tense.

Without minding the bewildered Yan Yunsheng, Gui Hua stepped forward again, striding into the [Demon Suppression Prison] like a meteor.

However, along the way, all the cells were empty until she entered the deepest underground space where all the disappeared prisoners reappeared before her.

Yet the bizarre sight before her left the experienced Gui Hua frozen, goosebumps rising all over her skin.

In the vast underground space, nearly a thousand Upper Three Grades experts knelt silently on the ground, all facing the same direction, forming layer upon layer of concentric circles, as if worshipping something.

Like the most devout and fanatical believers, these people were prostrated on the ground, yet raised their hands high, holding...

Their own heads!

Indeed!

These people had actually pulled off their own heads, holding them high like sacrifices, as if presenting them to some unseen God!

Why Gui Hua knew they had pulled their own heads off was because some even pulled out their pale spines as well!

Looking in the direction of their worship, Gui Hua saw a small empty spot at the center of the concentric circles, and in an instant, a sinister ghostly black figure seemed to appear there.

A cold surge rushed from her tailbone to the top of her skull, causing Gui Hua’s goosebumps to scatter everywhere as Yan Yunsheng caught up behind her, his footsteps stopping abruptly.

"Hiss~"

Hearing the sound of inhalation behind her, Gui Hua stiffly turned: "Is this situation... normal?"

"..."

After a deathly silence, Yan Yunsheng spoke bitterly.

"I don’t know either."

"You don’t know?"

"Hmm, it wasn’t this sinister before."

Gazing at the incomprehensible scary scene, Yan Yunsheng’s eyes showed memories.

"Something similar happened before, but the prisoners just died kneeling, not to the extent of pulling off their own heads alive!"

With just one look, Yan Yunsheng could confirm that these people’s heads were pulled off by themselves while alive.

Because the muscles, fascia, and trachea on their necks were all torn apart with brute force, showing obvious tearing and deformation, definitely not beheaded by a sharp weapon.

Yan Yunsheng couldn’t comprehend what kind of force could compel a group of Upper Three Grades experts to kill themselves in such a cruel and painful manner!

Just like how humans can’t hold their breath to suffocate themselves, a biological instinct prevents pulling one’s own head off!

This was beyond bizarre!!

However, not only Yan Yunsheng, but even Gui Hua could not comprehend.

She had seen countless cruel methods of killing, far bloodier and violent ones were abundant!

Yet never had she witnessed a method that was so eerily terrifying, instilling a chill into her very soul.

This didn’t seem like a [Human] method at all, more like a sacrificial ritual to the God Demon!

The two hesitated at the entrance, and after a long while, Gui Hua finally mustered the courage to enter the scene.

Yet, walking among the heaps of corpses, she discovered even more chilling details.