Chapter 103: Fear of Punishment
Royal Sacred Crown University, King's Campus.
In a small room in the gathering place of the Tonzhi Academy, Nephnis was sitting on a chair with a table in front of her. Sitting across the table from her was a young man.
The man was about ten years old, with short blond hair and glasses. At this moment, he was looking intently at the table in front of him, where there were several large pieces of paper. If you look closely, you can see that they are test papers with a bunch of questions written on them. The answers to each question were already written under them.
The questions on these test papers were all about the novel "The Queen's Procession". The young man read all the questions and answers carefully, nodded, and then looked at Nefernis in front of him.
"Well, Miss Boyle, your answer is perfect. I think you must have carefully studied Mr. Thorn's collection of books." The young man said to Nefernis with a smile, and the other party put her hand on her chest and answered seriously.
"Of course, if you want to understand Mr. Thorn better and get closer to him, you must seek his wisdom from these books and read all of his books. This is the obligation of every member of our academy, Mr. Eli."
Nephnis said as she looked at the young man in front of her. His name was Eli, and he was also a member of the Tonzhi Academy. He was one of the most fanatical followers of Thor. He had regarded Thor as an object of worship since his early years. He was the first member of the academy to finish reading "The Insect Queen's Procession".
At the beginning, Thorn was managing the academy himself, but when he started some work in the inner area, he began to hand over the management of the academy to the most loyal Eli. Eli was responsible for conveying Thorn's orders to the academy, and also assessing the academy members who could enter the inner area. Now he is assessing Nefernis.
After finishing the written test, Eli questioned Nephnis face to face. The content of the question was naturally about the various contents and details in the first four volumes of "The Queen's Parade". Facing Eli's questions, Nephnis, who had already read all four volumes of the novel, naturally answered fluently and handled Eli's questions perfectly.
"Very good, Miss Boyle, you passed the test. It seems that you have grasped the essence of Mr. Thorn's collection of books. You are qualified to get closer to Mr. Thorn..."
Looking at Nefernis in front of him, Eli said with a smile, and Nefernis also answered sincerely.
"It is my honor to be able to get closer to Mr. Thorn."
Looking at Nefernis's attitude, Eli nodded and then spoke to Nefernis.
"Come with me now."
As he spoke, Eli walked out of the room and into the hall of the gathering place. Nephnis followed behind him, and then the two of them came to the end of the hall, in front of a corridor covered with fine spider webs.
This is the Spider Silk Corridor. Entering from here you can enter the so-called inner area of the Eight-pointed Nest.
Eli stopped in front of the spider silk corridor, then took out a small exquisite box from his clothes. Inside was a small bottle. Eli then poured out a small transparent pill from it and handed it to Nefernis.
"Take this, then imagine yourself as the bug in the book, recite their lines silently, and you will pass through here."
Eli said to Nefernis, who took the pill, paused slightly, and then swallowed it.
After seeing Nefernis take the pill, Eli stepped forward first and walked into the depths of the spider silk corridor. Nefernis immediately followed. Following Eli's instructions, she silently recited the lines of the insects in "The Queen's Procession" and imagined herself as one of those insects.
In this way, Eli led Nefernis all the way forward, and finally passed through the Spider Silk Corridor, and then they came to the end of a corridor, where there was a stone statue that had fallen to the ground and broken into several pieces. Next to the stone statue, there was a staircase leading down.
It can be seen that this stone statue was originally used to block the staircase, but it was moved away and smashed to the ground, and now the staircase leading to the underground is newly revealed.
“This is…”
"This is a secret that we discovered when the School of Knowledge was first established. It is an ancient relic hidden under this school. The School of Knowledge was originally established around this secret, but later it was sealed off due to the involvement of the school. Many of us also forgot the existence of this secret until Mr. Thorn came and opened it again."
Eli explained to Nefernis, then he walked down the stairs first. Seeing this, Nefernis immediately followed.
Afterwards, Nephthys followed Eli down the stairs. Under the light of the gas lamp, they walked a long distance without knowing it. Just when Nephthys was feeling nervous about the narrow space around them, a terrifying scream came from the front of their path, which scared Nephthys.
"This...what happened in front?"
"Haha, don't panic, let's keep moving forward, and you'll know in a moment."
Eli chuckled and continued walking forward. After hearing this, Nephnis swallowed and continued to follow him.
As she walked forward, the screams in front of her became more and more obvious, and there were more and more of them, both male and female, each with its own characteristics. These screams originated from the front of her path, and it seemed that more than one person was making them. These sounds echoed in the dark underground, giving Nephnis goose bumps.
Finally, Eli led Nefernis to the end of the passage, and after passing through a stone door, they came to a bright underground space.
This underground space is three or four meters high, more than ten meters long and wide, and is supported by several round stone pillars. The lanterns hanging on the pillars emit bright orange light, illuminating the entire dark space.
There are many broken and unrecognizable stone statues scattered around this underground hall. Under the stone pillars of the underground hall, there are compartments made of wooden boards. In these temporary compartments, there are sadists and prisoners.
These prisoners were both men and women, all wearing bloodstained rags. Most of them were tied to the rack and whipped, with the whips pulling out their skin and flesh until they bled. Some were severely whipped by sadists with sticks, running around with bruises all over their bodies. Some were tied to chairs and stabbed with needles by sadists, or had their entire nails torn off...
Howling, screaming, begging for mercy... all kinds of sounds intertwined and echoed in the underground space, including the sadists' laughter and curses. The floor and walls were splattered with blood everywhere. Nephnis stared at the scene in front of her with wide eyes.
This place was simply an underground torture room. Although Nephnis had never seen the tortured prisoners, many of the torturers were members of the academy who had finished reading the four book collections and were loyal members of the thorns. At this moment, they all had crazy faces and were using the torture instruments in their hands to torture the prisoners in front of them. Their bodies were splattered with blood, and they had completely lost the scholarly aura they had outside.
The cruel scene before her shocked Nephnis's heart. She had never imagined that the inner area was actually a place of execution where people were tortured.
"What is this? Emma, Bernie... they are torturing others. Why do they do this?"
Looking at the scene in front of her, Nephnis asked in a murmur, and Eli beside her answered slowly.
"They are cultivators who work hard to embark on an extraordinary path and become truly extraordinary people. Mr. Thorn said that for those of us who are loyal to the academy, he is willing to guide us on the extraordinary path."
"Why is it necessary to torture others like this to be truly extraordinary?" Nephnis murmured in disbelief after listening to Eli's words, while the other party continued to answer easily.
"Yes, according to Mr. Thorn, if you want to become an extraordinary person, you must accumulate something called spirituality. This kind of 'fear of punishment' can accumulate a kind of spirituality called 'shadow'.
"After you master this method, torture others and make them fear you. According to Mr. Thorn, fear is one of the most important spiritual expressions of Shadow. After you master this method, when you are feared, you can accumulate the spirituality of Shadow in your body. The higher the amount and degree of fear, the more Shadow can grow. After Shadow accumulates to a certain level, you can be promoted to an extraordinary Shadow."
…
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