Chapter 38: The Holy Infant Orphanage 05

Chapter 38: The Holy Infant Orphanage 05

In the blink of an eye, the entire resting area had undergone a complete transformation.

The walls and ceiling began to crumble, cobwebs swiftly formed in every corner, and an unknown source of sewage trickled across the ground. Cockroaches and rats scurried past their feet.

The once neat and polished corridor had, in the blink of an eye, become even less hospitable than the living quarters for F-rank players.

On either side of the corridor, the once ordinary bedroom doors had all transformed into sturdy iron gates.

The doors were marred with grime, upon which indecipherable graffiti were partially concealed by reddish-brown rust, preventing one from seeing their entirety.

Each door was secured with a large lock, and a tiny window, just high enough for a person to look through, was carved into it, reinforced with vertical bars.

From this vantage point, the rooms hardly resembled bedrooms at all.

They appeared more like cells in a prison.

The players were utterly horrified!

Striving to leave the corridor and head for the lounge, they were suddenly greeted with a barrage of curses the moment they attempted to move.

"Damn it! What the hell is going on here?"

"Who the hell locked me up?"

Without their knowledge, each person now found an iron chain bound to their legs, as thick as two adult fingers, with its ends securely fastened around their ankles, one on each foot.

The chain was no more than thirty centimeters in length, restricting their steps to mere shuffles; it was impossible to walk with a normal stride, let alone spread their legs apart.

Their attire had also transformed, becoming a set of uniform shirts and trousers.

The clothes were gray, loose-fitting, made of rough hemp that abraded their skin with each movement.

The style was exceedingly plain, devoid of any patterns. Wearing them made one feel like a large, timid rodent.

This sudden change stirred an ominous feeling within everyone.

They wished to leave, but they couldn't hasten their pace, nor did they know where to go.

Originally, the dormitory and lounge were connected seamlessly, but now an abrupt lattice gate had been installed, firmly dividing the two spaces.

Similar to the bedrooms along the corridor, this iron door was also securely locked.

On the other side of the door, it was pitch black.

Someone approached to inspect it, then turned back to the others, shaking their head. "Can't open it."

The lock was on the outside, completely inaccessible.

"Come back, come back quickly!"

While he turned his head, someone frantically waved at him.

"Someone's coming!"

Startled, he looked up.

...

Indeed, footsteps echoed in the darkness.

Click, clack.

Stroke by stroke.

The heels struck the ground with a resounding thud, each impact seemingly echoing on the players' hearts.

The jarring scrape of metal against the ground followed, as if someone was dragging a massive weapon towards them with relentless intent.

"Bang!"

With a series of jingling key sounds, the tightly shut iron door was abruptly kicked open.

It slammed against the wall with a resounding thud that made one's teeth ache.

First to appear were several men dressed in grayish-white uniforms.

The style of their uniforms matched those of the servants the players had seen earlier in the restaurant, but they were merely dirtier and more worn-out.

Yet, the expressions of these individuals were vastly different from the others.

Their faces were ashen as they strode in with large steps, kicking the player nearest to the door away with great force.

Their aggressive demeanor no longer resembled that of servants but more like...

Prison guards.

"Ahh!"

The man let out a pained cry, curling up like a shrimp and clutching his stomach in agony as he bent over.

The guards didn't spare him a second glance. They quickly fanned out along the corridor, their muscles tense and all their attention focused on the entrance.

Under the watchful gaze of the uniformed personnel, three nuns dressed in black slowly walked into the hallway.

The lead nun carried a long iron rod. One end was on the ground, while the other was firmly gripped in her hand.

Compared to Qin Fei's portable metal pipe, this iron rod was like its great-grandfather in terms of size.

Qin Fei didn't lift his head but stealthily glanced at the top of the nun's head from under his eyelids.

"Black Nun Della: Affinity???"

Not unapproachable.

Qin Fei heaved a sigh of relief.

The notifications above the other two nuns were simpler, without names, only displaying "Black Nun."

Upon the appearance of the three nuns, the players' already grim expressions darkened even further.

Rule #1 of Visiting the Holy Infant Orphanage:

Nuns are only allowed to wear white clothing.

If you encounter a nun dressed in any other color, do not engage in conversation with her and leave her line of sight as soon as possible.

In this current situation, who could possibly escape the black-clad nun's gaze?

Everywhere was secured, and they themselves stumbled while walking, their left and right feet in constant conflict.

Sister Della's gaze roamed among the players, her eyes filled with unmasked madness and longing.

Like a gray wolf that had stealthily entered a flock of sheep, she was keenly selecting her prey for the night.

Upon the nun's gaze landing on them, the players averted their faces one after another.

This clearly displeased Sister Della.

She raised her hand, and the iron rod's end smashed heavily onto the ground, sending sparks flying and accompanied by a crackling sound of electricity.

Damn it.

All the players inwardly cursed in unison.

So damn it, this was actually an electric rod.

Was there no mercy left in this world? ??

"Form a line!" Sister Della raised her stun baton, aiming it at the players' faces. "You all..."

Mid-sentence, her pupils suddenly constricted.

Following her gaze, a person was silently huddled in a corner.

It was Player 2.

Something was gravely amiss with him.

Despite wearing the same style of clothes as the other players, for some reason, the blood on him from before had also made its way over.

His dark gray shirt was stained with blotches of black. Player 2's eyes were glassy, muttering indistinctly to himself. With his back to everyone, he curled up without turning his head.

The chaos of the moment had prevented anyone else from noticing him.

Upon seeing the bloodstains on Player 2, the nun's expression changed drastically.

"Merciful Lord, please forgive his disrespect!" She clasped her hands together in front of her chest, closing her eyes and praying devoutly.

Having finished her prayer, she waved her hand grandly. "Take him to the punishment chamber!"

Two burly guards immediately rushed forward, one on each side, to restrain Player 2.

Wooden shackles bound his wrists, and strong hands as firm as steel pressed down on his shoulders. Only then did Player 2 turn his head, startled as if in a dream. "Who are you people!"

He began to struggle with all his might.

Ever since blood had stained his body, Player 2 had been somewhat out of control. Now, under this stimulus, he shouted even louder. "Why are you arresting me? On what grounds are you arresting me? Let me go!"

As he spoke, he even opened his mouth wide, attempting to bite the guard who was constraining him.

"Silence!"

Sister Della, who had been standing quietly by the side, suddenly raised her hand and struck him fiercely with a stun gun, causing the ends of his hair to curl from the electric shock.

"Let... let go of... me..."

Number Two seemed to be in a trance, convulsing and frothing at the mouth, as if utterly ignorant of the concept of "knowing when to yield."

He even began to babble, "Eat... I want... to eat..."

Hanging from his chest was the pendant of the Madonna and Child.

In the transparent compartment at the center of the pendant, dark red liquid was almost filled to the brim, held aloft in the Madonna's hands like a fiery, pulsating heart.

Player 2 had lost all composure as he shouted, thrashing about with limbs flailing and spittle flying.

Qin Fei stood behind him, witnessing the droplets of saliva flying towards him. Unperturbed, he took a subtle half-step back, seeking shelter behind Xiao Xiao.

Xiao Xiao stood there foolishly, seemingly clueless about the situation. Even when Player 2's saliva splattered across his face, he showed no reaction.

Oddly, several players and guards were moving around in the corridor, yet the nun didn't spare them a second glance throughout.

Yet, it was Qin Fei's tiny step that caught her attention.

Without disturbing Player 2 or Xiao Xiao, Sister Della's gaze, sharp as an eagle's, locked onto Qin Fei's face in an instant.

A sinking feeling washed over Qin Fei, sensing trouble ahead.

Sure enough, the nun's brows knitted together in a frown.

She glanced at Xiao Xiao and then at Qin Fei behind him, her gaze flickering between the two.

Her expression shifted through doubt, anger, disgust... before settling into a deep-seated hatred.

As if she had laid eyes on her father's murderer, Sister Della gritted her teeth and forced out a command through clenched jaws:

"Go! cuff him too and bring him to the punishment room with the other one!"

The taser, crackling with electricity, was pointed directly at Qin Fei's face.

Qin Fei: ?

Wait, what??

Number Two was taken away because he had blood on him, violating the instance dungeon rules.

But why was that so?

Was it because Number Two was too close to him, and some of the blood had splattered onto him?

Qin Fei looked down at himself.

No, he was spotless.

His pristine white linen shirt contrasted starkly with the filthy surroundings, free from any blemishes.

The two guards, under the nun's command, stepped forward and grabbed Qin Fei's arms, one on each side.

Qin Fei couldn't fathom why he was being targeted.

Anyway, there was no chance of escape, so Qin Fei simply gave up struggling and resigned himself to his fate.

He allowed the guards to handle him, meekly allowing them to shackle him.

Upon seeing Qin Fei being restrained, Xiao Xiao, who had stood like an idiot all along, finally reacted, his face filled with shock. "What are you doing?! Why are you taking him away?"

The nun seemed disdainful of engaging in further conversation with Xiao Xiao.

She glanced at him with a contemptuous look, akin to how one might eye a pile of trash on the side of the road, without offering any explanation. She then turned to the guards and said, "Let's go."

Behind her, Xiao Xiao continued to struggle desperately.

"Hey, hey? Don't go! Number 12 hasn't done anything!"

His incessant noise finally irritated the nun.

"Shut up! You foolish, brainless donkey!"

With that, Sister Della turned around and, without hesitation, struck Xiao Xiao with an electric prod.

"Agh!"

A powerful jolt of electricity coursed through his shoulder blades and into every limb, causing Xiao Xiao to collapse limply to the ground, his eyes beginning to roll back.

Hiss!

Qin Fei's brow twitched, wanting to turn back and check on Xiao Xiao, but a brutal knee from the guard behind him struck his lower back, forcing him forward in a half-dragged, half-carried motion.

The sound of locks clicking shut left all familiar players behind, and it wasn't until Qin Fei was escorted away from the corridor that he realized this darkened church's interior structure was vastly different from the one they had previously been in.

If the complexity of the previous church was rated at 1, then this one would be 10086.

Sister Della led the way, followed by the guards, as Qin Fei was roughly dragged around countless corners, eventually arriving at a tightly closed iron door.

"Go in!"

A rough shove came from behind.

With a click, the room's lights flickered on, revealing two iron single beds side by side.

"Give them a sedative first," the nun's cold voice echoed from ahead.

Qin Fei startled, but before he could react, a freezing needle tip pierced the skin of his neck.

A wave of dizziness and darkness engulfed like an incoming tide.

...

It felt like an eternity before Qin Fei's fingertips trembled slightly.

His limbs were as if filled with heavy concrete, and his body and soul seemed to have been torn apart. The scene before his eyes was fragmented and disjointed.

This state persisted for a few more minutes before Qin Fei finally shook off the remnants of the drug.

The last image in his memory was the nun's stern face.

She had mentioned attending to some matter then; apparently, she had yet to return.

Qin Fei raised his gaze to survey his surroundings.

He was now in the room he had been brought into before losing consciousness.

Chains bound his wrists, ankles, waist, chest, abdomen, and head to the bed frame, making him one with the bed, utterly immobile.

Qin Fei shifted his gaze, catching a peripheral glimpse of Bed 2's occupant beside him.

The man was still breathing, with all limbs intact and no visible injuries.

However, his eyes were closed, suggesting he was still unconscious.

This was the Punishment Chamber.

Judging by its name, it likely served as... an interrogation room?

An overpowering stench of blood assaulted Qin Fei's nostrils, leaving him with no choice but to stare blankly at the ceiling.

The ceiling was marred by clusters of stains.

Large splatters of dark red coated the area above Qin Fei's head, resembling dried blood that had been there for a while.

If it truly was blood, Qin Fei, with his expertise in forensic examination, deduced that someone had been in his exact position, in the same posture, and had their carotid artery slit by a blade.

Qin Fei took a deep breath.

Even now, he still had no idea which of the nun's red lines he had crossed. He summoned the chat interface, and a few scattered comments drifted across the air in front of him.

"Wake up."

"The streamer is awake! Come back, come back quickly."

Apparently, he had been unconscious for quite some time, long enough for his viewers to switch to other perspectives in his live stream.

Number Two beside him remained unconscious, their wheezing breaths echoing throughout the room.

Qin Fei began to move his limbs gently, attempting to discern the pattern of the traps and chains binding him through touch alone, without being able to see them.

However, before he could figure out any escape plan, footsteps could be heard coming from behind the door.

The heavy clacking of heels against the floorboards signaled that it was Della, the nun, before the door even creaked open.

"Screech—"

The creaking of the old door hinge echoed harshly.

"Hum-hum—" Della hummed an off-key tune as she approached Qin Fei's bedside.

Qin Fei kept his eyes closed. Through the thin lids, he sensed a shadow drawing nearer to him.

The nun's gaze was filled with scrutiny, her bare stare cutting into Qin Fei's face like a razor-sharp blade.

The young man's skin was fair, with a well-defined straight nose and a perfectly curved tip. His lips were neither too thick nor too thin, and when he pursed them lightly, one could see the plumpness of his lips, resembling the delicate pink of spring cherry blossoms.

Perhaps due to the disarray of the room, the dirty metal objects added a touch of distress to Qin Fei, yet they also accentuated his alienation from the surroundings. He was like a dusty pearl that still shimmered despite being immersed in mud and filth, evoking even more sympathy.

Realizing this, the nun's good mood had clearly waned significantly.

"Hmph." She let out an indignant snort through her nose.

Qin Fei hadn't opened his eyes since the nun entered. His curled eyelashes lay obediently against his cheeks.

"Oh! Merciful Lord, please protect this tainted soul!"

He heard Sister Della murmur in a low voice, "How wicked your handsome facade appears!"

Qin Fei calmly lifted an eyelid, only to see the nun's gaze filled with loathing as she looked at him.

He quickly closed his eyes again.

Sister Della was oblivious to Qin Fei's subtle movement.

She lifted Qin Fei's chin with her cold fingers, her face contorted with disgust as she spoke, "You abhorrent homosexuals, you were born guilty. The merciful Lord spares you, but I shall carry out His judgment in His place!"

Qin Fei: ?

Do you even know what you're saying?

Qin Fei's breath hitched, finally realizing that perhaps this was the reason he had been captured by the nun.

...

Just.

It was perplexing in every sense of the word?

Qin Fei had imagined countless scenarios where he might have unknowingly violated the rules, but he honestly never expected that his good looks could provoke a nun's displeasure.

So, what made her so certain that he was gay?

It couldn't be due to the hidden identity he portrayed in the instances.

He already knew who he was—Satan.

Then... was it simply based on his appearance?

Qin Fei was genuinely tempted to swear.

Wasn't it too hasty to determine someone's sexuality solely by their looks?

Did he have "I'm gay" tattooed on his face??

Seeing as there was no point in pretending to be unconscious anymore, Qin Fei decided to open his eyes right in front of Sister Della.

The nun was taken aback, seemingly not expecting him to wake up so soon.

But immediately, a peculiar expression appeared on her face.

"You're awake," she whispered, reaching under the bed and retrieving an object.

She held it up for Qin Fei to see.

It was a metallic item with a smooth, bronzed surface, shaped like a gourd, thick at one end and thin at the other. The thicker end was composed of four petal-like thin iron plates, while the thinner end had a trigger mechanism pointing forward.

In that instant, Qin Fei's pupils constricted sharply.

Though his heartbeat remained steady physiologically, Qin Fei couldn't deny that he was genuinely tense at that moment.

He recognized this object.

It was one of the notorious torture devices from the Middle Ages, known as the "Peach of Suffering," also referred to as the "Oral Peach" or "Muzzle Peach." It was primarily used to punish liars and blasphemers.

During its use, the executioner would insert the thick end of the Peach of Suffering into the victim's mouth, then turn the knob at the back to expand the petals into four.

But judging from the size of the instrument, it was clearly not intended for stuffing into one's mouth.

Qin Fei's mind raced at an accelerated pace.

He vaguely recalled that the "Painful Pear" could be inserted into other areas besides the mouth...

Damn!

Qin Fei's body tensed up, his scalp tingling as his mind was overwhelmed with a single thought.

Damn, damn, damn! Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!

After the unexpected displeasure his good looks had caused the NPC, the second unforeseen situation arrived quickly!

Qin Fei never in his wildest dreams imagined that the nun's "carrying out punishment in God's stead" would actually mean this kind of execution!

You might as well just admit outright that you're a 24-carat pure pervert!!

With his limbs bound by chains and tightly restrained, Qin Fei couldn't even struggle. He resembled a pitiful lamb tied to a board, awaiting the inevitable descent of the butcher's blade.

Sister Della's fingertips gently brushed Qin Fei's cheek, her icy cold fingers tracing his skin.

A bizarre expression of disgust and fascination intertwined on her face: "Look, how beautiful a face God has given you...

"But you use it to seduce men! What a shameful waste!"

At this moment, the chat comments aligned eerily with Qin Fei's inner thoughts.

"F*ck! F*ck! F*cking f*ck!"

"How thrilling! Why hasn't Della ever used this before??"

"Help, help, I'm guilty. I've been following the streamer since the last instance, and when the nun pulled that out just now, I sincerely hoped the streamer wouldn't make a comeback this time..."

"Quick, look over there, someone's taking bets on whether the streamer will end up 'blossoming'!"

...

On the execution bed, every living neuron in Qin Fei's brain was racing at full speed.

Explanations would be futile; Sister Della wouldn't listen. She appeared to be the type of authoritarian ruler who would never grant a plea from a helpless victim.

In the face of an immense and unprecedented crisis, Qin Fei's blood boiled, yet his fingertips were chillingly cold.

"This is the latest instrument of torture, and you will be its first user." The nun pushed the device toward Qin Fei's face, and a faint metallic scent drifted into his nostrils.

Think, think quickly… It's too late!

In the blink of an eye, an idea suddenly sparked in Qin Fei's mind.

On the execution bed, the dazed prisoner abruptly shut his eyes.

His body was completely immobilized, but his mouth was left unsealed.

Confronted with the nun's venomous gaze, he flared his nostrils and produced a resonant, stirring sound from his throat: "Come on, don't think I'll be afraid!"

"You can defile my body, but you'll never extinguish my soul!"

The young man lay supine, his neck arched back, his face radiating the fearless tenacity of a hero.

"To treat a holy apostle with such brutality and disrespect, the Lord shall mete out punishment upon you!"

"Amen!"

He recited this as if it were a hymn, his words resounding powerfully.

A prayer shouted with earth-shaking intensity, enough to move heaven and stir ghosts.

After that, he fell silent.

Three, two, one.

Qin Fei counted silently in his mind.

Following this countdown came a nun's roar like a lion's bellow.

Qin Fei's words had undoubtedly enraged the nun. Sister Della's face contorted visibly before his eyes.

She threw the Bitter Pear of Suffering aside and, with trembling fingers, pointed directly at Qin Fei's nose.

"You filthy mongrels, lowly beasts, faithless savages! What right do you have to seek the Lord's protection?!"

The nun was visibly enraged. "The moment you betrayed your gender, the Lord abandoned you! From now on, I forbid you from invoking the Lord's name – it is an act of disrespect and blasphemy towards the divine!"

"Huff... huff..."

The nun stood by the execution bed, panting heavily.

This was precisely what Qin Fei had hoped for.

To make someone fall, one must first drive them to madness.

Utmost anger not only enhances a person's combat power but also diminishes their intelligence.

It makes them more susceptible to persuasion.

And easier to deceive.

During the few seconds when the nun was on the verge of exhaustion from her fury, Qin Fei seized the opportunity with deft precision.

"What are you talking about?"

Confusion etched across the youth's face, his beautiful eyes reflecting utter perplexity, as if a veil of mist had settled over his amber gem-like orbs.

Everything clearly pointed to one truth:

He had absolutely no comprehension of the meaning behind Della's words.

Gradually, he finally came to his senses.

"You... You!"

A faint trace of anger appeared on that delicate pale face, his eyebrows knitted together, and the tips of his ears turned slightly red. His lips trembled slightly.

As if he had been deeply offended, the young man's eyelashes quivered, his eyes flickering with emotion. He stammered in denial,

"Don't talk nonsense! How could I possibly be that kind of person?!"