THE DEMON EMPEROR REBORN AS A SERVANT

Chapter 11: Torture from Hell and a Demon's Name

A shrill, hoarse scream tore through the silence of the cold canyon. The sound was so horrifying, it sounded like human vocal cords being forcibly stretched to their breaking point. Behind a dark crevice in the cliff, Lin Xuanyin sat hugging her knees, her hands pressed tightly over Lin Tian's ears, while she herself squeezed her eyes shut, trembling violently.

In the middle of a pool of blood and the corpses of the tracking squad, Xiao Chen knelt beside Gou Yan, whose legs had been crushed by a rock.

The servant-clothed young man wasn't cutting off fingers or skinning the executioner like some low-level torturer. Instead, the two blood-covered fingers of Xiao Chen's left hand were pressing precisely on three acupuncture points centered on Gou Yan's neck and spine.

It was the Hell's Reversal Nerve Lock, a basic torture technique from the Holy Realm that relied purely on mortal anatomical precision. By pressing certain nerve clusters, Xiao Chen blocked the pain-relieving hormones in the enemy's brain, while simultaneously multiplying the sensitivity of pain throughout the entire body by ten times.

For Gou Yan, even the night wind touching his skin now felt like being doused with acid. Let alone the wound on his crushed legs.

"K-kill... just kill me... AAARGHH!!" Gou Yan thrashed wildly, vomiting blood. His eyeballs rolled upwards. His sanity was beginning to erode.

Xiao Chen looked at him with an expression as flat as the surface of an icy lake. He used the tip of his sword to lightly tap Gou Yan's collarbone, a gentle touch that made the executioner scream until his throat tore.

"Death is a gift for those who obey," Xiao Chen whispered, his voice flowing calmly like a god delivering a sermon. "I can keep you alive in this state for three days and three nights. Your brain will beg for death, but I will not allow your heart to stop. Now, answer my question. Where is Advisor Zhao?"

"T-The Northern Border Outpost...!" Gou Yan screamed without a moment's hesitation, his 2nd-Class mental defenses completely shattered in the face of this dimensional torture technique. "He's... waiting at the Northern Border Outpost! Meeting the messenger... from the rival noble who funded this coup... They're bringing gold... to hire more troops... Please... kill me!"

Xiao Chen stopped the pressure of his fingers. He processed the information quickly. The Northern Border Outpost was about a half-day's journey from this canyon through the dense forest. If Advisor Zhao succeeded in hiring additional troops, the Lin Family, with only three crippled members left, would be truly finished. This first boss had to be eliminated tonight.

"You're very cooperative, Gou Yan!" Xiao Chen said. "As I promised."

SLASH!

A single, emotionless flash of the blade separated Gou Yan's head from his neck. The screaming stopped instantly.

Xiao Chen stood up, letting the headless body collapse onto the sandy ground. He tore a clean piece of cloth from an assassin's uniform, then tied it around his left shoulder and right thigh, which were deeply gashed from the fight. He pressed several blood points near his wounds with his fingers to stop the mortal bleeding. A stinging pain flared through his muscles, but his Emperor's mentality made him ignore the pain as if it belonged to someone else.

He turned, limping slightly as he walked towards the hiding place of Lei Tie and Lady Lin.

Lei Tie stood frozen by the side of the cliff. His right hand rested on his sword to support his body. The veteran general, who had seen thousands of deaths on the battlefield, now looked at Xiao Chen with the hair on his neck standing on end. He had seen torturers from the imperial palace's dungeons, but the cruelty he had just witnessed was completely different. It was a pure, painful, and efficient cruelty. The cruelty of an entity that no longer viewed humans as living beings, but merely as chunks of meat.

When Xiao Chen stood before them, his rough robe metamorphosed into a dark, bloody red, Lei Tie could no longer hold back.

"You..." Lei Tie's voice was hoarse, his sword trembling slightly. "You are not A'Chen. It's impossible for a lowly, orphaned slave to know such demonic interrogation techniques and killing arts of this level. Who are you, really?!"

Hearing the question, Xuanyin, still hugging her brother, looked up. Her eyes gazed at the young man before her with a mixture of fear and desperate curiosity.

Xiao Chen looked back at them. On that night of the massacre, A'Chen the servant had no family name. He was just an orphan bought for a few copper coins. A despicable, empty vessel.

Xiao Chen lifted his face, letting the moonlight illuminate half of his blood-streaked face. His tyrannical arrogance permeated the night.

"The cowardly servant named A'Chen died, pierced by a sword at the Lin family residence that night, General," Xiao Chen said in a cold and absolute baritone, his voice echoing off the canyon walls. "He died crying over his own weakness. From tonight, and forevermore, my name is Xiao Chen."

A moment of silence. Lei Tie swallowed. In his eyes, this young man had just discarded his slave identity and claimed a new name after escaping the gates of death. A cruel enlightenment sometimes experienced by martial artists on the edge of despair.

But for Xuanyin, the declaration held a different meaning. The girl looked at "Xiao Chen." This young man had traded his innocent soul to become a cold-blooded demon solely to protect her and her brother. A sense of guilt and absolute dependence immediately gripped the Young Lady's heart. If the gods had turned their backs on the Lin Family, then she would hang her fate on this demon named Xiao Chen.

"Xiao Chen..." Xuanyin murmured softly, savoring the name.

Xiao Chen snorted faintly, then pointed north with the tip of his sword.

"We don't have much time. Advisor Zhao is at the Northern Border Outpost to collect his payment in gold. If the sun rises and he returns with new troops, the two of you and this boy will be a spectacle on the gallows," Xiao Chen commanded, taking absolute authority without regard for hierarchy. "We move now."

"B-but you're badly injured!" Xuanyin pointed at Xiao Chen's bandaged shoulder and thigh. "And Uncle Lei hasn't recovered from the poison. If we walk for half a day non-stop through the forest at night..."

"Then we will bleed along the way," Xiao Chen cut her off coldly, starting to walk with a limp but with full force. "It's better to lose blood from walking than to lose our heads from standing still. Move out!"

Half a day later. Nearing dawn.

The journey through the Forest of Death at night was a grueling test of physical endurance. Thorny branches tore at what was left of their clothes. Occasionally, the howls of low-level Spirit Beasts could be heard in the distance, forcing the small group to hold their breath and detour.

Xiao Chen led the way. His face was as pale as a living corpse. His 1st-Class Dantian was completely dry without a trace of Qi, and the wound on his right thigh had opened again, leaving a trail of blood drops every few steps. However, his posture never bent in the slightest. His mental fortitude made Lei Tie, who was also forcing himself to walk with one arm, feel ashamed of his own complaints.

As the sky on the eastern horizon began to show a thin gray line, Xiao Chen stopped. He raised his hand.

They had arrived at a rocky hill covered in tall grass. From the top of the hill, they could look down into a small valley where the Northern Border Outpost was located.

The outpost was surrounded by a four-meter-high wooden palisade fence. Dozens of torches burned brightly, illuminating about twenty heavily armed mercenary guards patrolling a tight perimeter outside. In the center of the outpost was a large main command tent. From the outside, the silhouettes of two people could be seen sitting and drinking wine inside. The fluctuations of 3rd-Class Qi radiated strongly from the tent, oppressing the air around it.

"Advisor Zhao," Lei Tie hissed, his eyes burning with hatred at the silhouette of the traitor who had destroyed his family. "He's in there with twenty guards. And... that aura... Zhao has reached the 3rd-Class and is about to break through to the Titled Warrior realm!"

"Forgive this old general for being useless in this situation, Xiao Chen!" Lei Tie whispered softly, looking at Xiao Chen, who responded with a small snort.

Lei Tie looked at the blood-covered young man beside him. "We can't storm that place. It's suicide! We need to think of a plan..."

"I already have a plan," Xiao Chen cut him off flatly.

He rolled his neck, then stuck his looted sword into the ground. Xiao Chen turned to look at Lady Lin and Lei Tie.

"The three of you, hide in this tall grass. Don't make the slightest sound, even if you see me being beheaded down there."

"Y-you're going alone?!" Xuanyin gasped, grabbing Xiao Chen's sleeve. The girl's hand was as cold as ice. "Twenty men and a 3rd-Class... You'll die, Xiao Chen!"

Xiao Chen gently but firmly brushed Xuanyin's hand away. In his heart, the Heart Demon stirred faintly because he intended to leave Lady Lin here. But because the radius was still close and his goal was to kill the main threat, the curse didn't crush his heart, only giving him a tightness in his chest.

"You damned curse! Work with me this time, or I and the trash family you want to protect will be buried together today." Xiao Chen barked in his heart.

Xiao Chen looked into Xuanyin's eyes, then shifted his gaze to the brightly lit main tent below. His eyes glowed with an absolute darkness.

"A traitor can sleep soundly tonight because he thinks he has killed his master," Xiao Chen whispered, shedding his torn servant's robe, revealing his thin, scar-covered body. He took a handful of wet mud from the ground and began to smear it on his face, chest, and arms to hide his body heat and skin color in the darkness.

Xiao Chen drew his sword, gripping it tightly. He looked back one last time, gazing at the remnants of the Lin family with a smile more deadly than the venom of the most poisonous snake in the mortal world.

"Stay here, My Lady. I will bring back his head, or I won't be back at all."