The centipede crawled down his throat, its countless tiny legs skittering against his windpipe, inflicting a prickly sensation that was both agonizingly painful and maddeningly itchy.
Song Jinzhao walked over to the torture rack and crouched down. Her voice sounded like a ghoul crawling straight out of hell.
"Next, they will feast on your internal organs. Once they have eaten their fill, they will lay eggs and multiply inside your body. Dense swarms of baby centipedes will eventually crawl out from your eyes, mouth, ears, nostrils, and even your nether regions."
"You won't die right away. This process will last for a month or two. Take your time and enjoy it. I have all the patience in the world."
Xiao Hu, who now only had one good ear to hear with, shook his head frantically and struggled. He could clearly feel the centipedes slithering inside him. The mere thought of being a host to tens of thousands of centipedes caused uncontrollable tears to stream down from the corners of his eyes.
Meng Hechuan covered his eyes with his hands, too afraid to look, yet his curiosity compelled him to peek through the gaps between his fingers.
A spectacle like this was a once-in-a-century occurrence. If he missed it now, he might never get another chance to witness it.
Song Jinzhao straightened up and ordered everyone to step outside. The quieter the surroundings, the stronger the sense of isolation and terror the prisoner would feel.
The group sat on a long wooden bench outside the cells to rest. A prison guard hurriedly poured tea for Meng Hechuan and Song Jinzhao.
Meng Hechuan picked up his teacup, just about to take a sip, when he noticed the floating tea leaves looked uncannily like centipedes. Startled, his grip loosened. The tea spilled all over him, soaking his official uniform straight through.
"Please forgive me, Your Excellency!" the guard cried out in alarm and dropped to his knees, assuming the official was dissatisfied with the tea.
Seeing Song Jinzhao acting as if nothing had happened, still perfectly in the mood to sip her tea, Meng Hechuan stifled his exasperation and waved his subordinate away.
"It's a bit hot, and I'm not thirsty. There's no need to pour me another."
The guard kept his head bowed, shuffled back on his knees, then stood up and leaned against a pillar in the corridor.
The tea had been brewed during the morning shift change; it had gone cold a long time ago.
Meng Hechuan swallowed hard and asked her out of sheer curiosity, "Miss Song, wherever did you learn such an interrogation method?"
Song Jinzhao set her teacup down and half-raised her eyelids. Her gaze was as placid as a deep abyss, completely devoid of ripples, yet carrying a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
"There's no need to learn it. In the mountains, the carcasses of dead animals are swarmed by flies and maggots in less than an hour. If you slice open their bellies with a knife, they are entirely filled with insect eggs. That sight is far more thrilling than this."
The image of maggots infesting a brain stem flooded Meng Hechuan's mind. He clutched his chest and gagged audibly.
He managed to hold it down the first time, but as his mouth filled with saliva, the wave of nausea grew increasingly intense.
As his stomach convulsed, sour bile surged up his throat. With a loud retch, Meng Hechuan clamped a hand over his mouth and bolted out of the dungeon.
Song Jinzhao turned her head, watching his wretched, fleeing figure. She blinked, shook her head, then picked up the teapot to pour herself another cup and continued drinking.
If he couldn't even stomach a minor scene like this, he clearly didn't visit the morgue very often. Otherwise, he would have been thoroughly used to it by now.
Just over fifteen minutes later, agonizing pleas for mercy echoed from Xiao Hu's cell.
Meng Hechuan, pale and weak from throwing up, looked up with a pleasant surprise. "Let's interrogate Xiao Hu right now."
Song Jinzhao shook her head, stopping him. "There's no rush. Let's wait another half hour. We'll question him when he's right on the brink of absolute despair."
A chill ran down the guard's spine. He had never seen a young woman employ such ruthless methods, let alone one who was supposed to be a doctor.
If she were to slip a few insect eggs into a patient's medicine, over time, their entire body would be infested with bugs. Experiencing that would be no different from a living death.
She was undoubtedly a dark physician.
Meng Hechuan asked cautiously, "Can those two centipedes actually be taken out?"
Since they had already burrowed deep inside the body, would she have to slice the man's belly open to retrieve them, then stitch him back up?
Song Jinzhao's lips curled into a smirk. She pulled a small medicine vial from her robes and gave it a gentle shake. "Of course. It just needs a little bit of heat, and the centipedes will be lured out by the scent."
Meng Hechuan leaned back slightly. He couldn't shake the feeling that none of the various bottles and jars Song Jinzhao carried contained anything good. Just looking at them sent a shiver down his spine.
Hoarse, agonizing screams for mercy echoed throughout the dungeon. The other inmates huddled in the corners of their cells, completely terrified to even lift their heads.
The screams gradually grew weaker. Seeing that enough time had passed, the group finally made their way back to Xiao Hu's cell.
Xiao Hu was drenched in sweat from head to toe, looking as though he had just been fished out of a river.
The moment he saw Song Jinzhao, his body began to convulse. His vocal cords were so shredded that uttering a single word felt like a knife slicing his throat.
"As long as you take the centipedes out, I'll tell you everything. I won't leave out a single word. You can know whatever you want."
"You should have just spoken up earlier. Then you wouldn't have had to suffer so much."
Song Jinzhao uncorked the porcelain vial, poured the black granules into a bowl, and heated it.
As the black granules dissolved into the water, a stench a thousand times more putrid than before began to waft through the air. Meng Hechuan, who had only just recovered, spun around, braced himself against a wooden post, and began violently retching again.
His stomach was completely empty; all he managed to throw up was the water he had just drunk to rinse his mouth.
With the relentless sounds of gagging echoing behind her, Song Jinzhao brought the bowl to Xiao Hu's lips. "Open your mouth."
Xiao Hu's eyes widened in sheer terror. "I have to drink it?"
Song Jinzhao tipped the bowl forward, glaring fiercely. "Open wide. One more word of nonsense and I'll force it down your throat."
A few moments later, the two centipedes crawled out of Xiao Hu's mouth, one after the other.
Song Jinzhao uncapped a bamboo tube and sealed them inside. She then turned her head to look at Meng Hechuan. "Your Excellency, you may begin the interrogation."
Meng Hechuan's steps were unsteady, looking as though he had just lost half his life.
His stomach was tied in knots, and he felt as if he had practically thrown up his gallbladder.
The air circulation in the dungeon was poor, meaning the foul stench wouldn't dissipate anytime soon. He had no choice but to press a handkerchief over his nose as he proceeded to interrogate Xiao Hu.
