I've already said this isn't a life simulator!

He leisurely packed up all his tools, politely said goodbye to Xi Wang, and kicked him as a farewell gift. When he mentioned Xi Wang's name, he deliberately laughed twice in a sarcastic tone before closing the door and leaving. He locked the door from the outside and turned off the power.

"........."

Darkness descended once more, and within sight, only a faint, almost nonexistent moonlight peeked in through the cracks in the windows, which were mostly sealed off by wooden planks and mud, silently comforting the young and pitiful child.

However, Xi Wang didn't care. She just slowly adjusted her breathing and gradually recovered her strength.

It's okay... it's okay, it's just a recurrence of the past.

Although her memory was somewhat hazy, Xiwang was still able to recognize this.

Someone will come; she's a lovely girl, dressed in pink, very cute.

When she comes, everything will change. She will tell me about the beauty of the outside world, give herself sweet candies, and hope will come to me with the tiny white stars.

She would see pink flowers similar to hers, and in the slightly chilly spring, see pink petals fluttering in the air.

And that damned priest will die a miserable death.

Although he didn't know how she did it, he remembered that these things had happened.

So...it's okay.

As Xi Wang thought this, she fainted in a daze.

In the room, which was almost filled with darkness and silence, only the dark patterns on Xi Wang's body, which resembled both chains and flowing water, quietly flowed. The whole room slowly became damp, and then became cold and damp in the low temperature of the night.

Such a terrible environment was almost devastating for a weak child. Weakness, hunger, and the damp, dark environment took turns robbing him of his vitality, making his already weak flame of life even weaker.

Even so, he still lived on, tenaciously and resolutely, his flame small but never extinguished.

Sunrise and sunset, night falls again, and the dim lights come on in the room once more. Xi Wang knows that the damned guy has arrived.

He was gentle today, feeding me some soup and forcing me to eat something. Of course, he fed me, since I could barely lift my hand right now.

After doing all this, he left himself a small bucket of drinking water and then left.

The room was getting increasingly damp and cold, making it unbearable.

Another day passed, and Xi Wang was able to move around a little. When the priest came in the evening, Xi Wang attacked him without hesitation, and unsurprisingly failed.

"really interesting."

He looked at Xi Wang, who had been beaten to his knees, and said with great interest.

"You're actually quite willing to rebel against me today... As expected, you're still a bad child. I've given you too much food and water."

He slowly bound Xi Wang, then hung her up, examining her body as if admiring an object. He then cut the bandages, looked at the healed and scabbed wounds, and said with admiration.

"As expected, you are the perfect person to me... I really hope that one day I can truly have you."

"I think that day isn't far off, is it?"

He gently stroked Xi Wang's face and spoke softly.

"……Pooh."

His response was nothing more than Xi Wang's disdainful spittle.

“…Very good, I like you very much this way.”

The priest wasn't annoyed. He simply wiped his saliva clean, then took an iron rod from his toolbox and threw it into a basin, while simultaneously adding charcoal pieces one by one.

"After all, we have plenty of time, and I believe that one day we will reach a consensus."

He slowly lit the fire, and once one end of the iron rod was red-hot, he held the other end and brought the scorching iron rod close to Xi Wang's face, letting him feel the heat.

"Let's take it slow."

Instead of pressing it directly onto Xi Wang's face, it was applied little by little, allowing him to fully experience the heat before being placed on his skin to feel the unique burning pain.

Perhaps because Xi Wang's resistance today amused him, the torment lasted exceptionally long, until late at night, before he packed his things and left. Before leaving, he left the still-burning brazier in the room, explaining that the room felt too damp and cold, and he wanted to leave it for Xi Wang to warm him up.

In return, Xi Wang was not put down and remained suspended in the air for an entire day.

The days that followed need not be described in detail, and there's no need to dwell too much on the torture-like torment.

And Xi Wang endured one bloody day after another under this tedious and tasteless torture. Although the pain did not lessen, he gradually got used to it.

Xi Wang is still alive, living quietly day after day, without crying or complaining, and without any extra actions except for occasional resistance.

Xi Wang looked out the window at another sunny day, quietly closed his eyes, and ignored the laughter of children and the complaints of those "bad kids" coming from outside.

She, that girl as graceful as a falling flower, will arrive one day.

She would bring a real priest to her side and lead her away from this dark room.

Wait, and hold onto hope.

…………

But... she didn't come.

And it seems like a long time has passed...

"Not today..."

Xi Wang looked at the tiny sliver of sunlight that squeezed through the cracks on the ground, golden in color, remaining on the blood-stained and dust-covered ground.

It's another sunny day, which is really annoying.

Xi Wang tried to move his arm, but because his tendons had been severed, he couldn't. He could only slowly crawl on the ground.

However, through his efforts, he managed to move himself into that faint light, where the tiny golden rays shone on his face, bringing a touch of warmth.

"Probably tomorrow, or maybe the day after..."

Xi Wang squinted, murmured unconsciously, and then fell into a deep sleep.

…………

How much time has passed... I don't know anymore.

Anyway, every day I watch the sunrise and sunset, then endure the pain at night, and then see the bright sunshine in the haze.

The house fluctuated between damp and dry... Come to think of it, an overly damp environment would be too much of a threat to me. Although that "priest" always liked to torment me, he also knew how to heal me. He liked to torment me to death as long as I wasn't dead.

After all, he considered her his "property," so it wouldn't be good for him to die.

Speaking of which, a while ago that guy learned a new "game" from somewhere. He locked himself in a coffin, then dumped himself in a pit in the cemetery and left him there, only giving himself a IV drip to keep him from dying.

A few days later, he got himself out again and shoved himself back into the room. I wonder what he was thinking...

"…………ha."

Slowly, Xi Wang moved to the corner of the room and sniffed the slightly cleaner air. With the help of the faint sunlight, she could notice that the marks on the ground seemed to have become very faint. Xi Wang suddenly chuckled.

Someone's here... Someone's been here... Someone he'd been afraid of has come, so he had to hide himself and cover up all traces. Only after that person left did he dare bring him back. He should have realized this earlier, but he hadn't because he was still a bit dazed.

Haha, so even a disgusting guy like him has people he's afraid of...

Perhaps because she was happy about this, Xi Wang kept smiling throughout the night, and her gaze towards the [priest] carried a strange mockery.

However, the priest was not annoyed. He simply weakened him as much as possible, throwing hot coals at him so that his weak breaths were scorched, but quickly turned cold due to his weakened body.

Then, as the night was about to end and dawn was about to break, the priest came again.

He unusually took Xi Wang out of the room, dragged him to the cemetery, and then, holding his head, forcibly pried open his eyes, making him look at the corpse in the pit.

What Xi Wang remembers is the appearance of that priest, the real priest who always wanted to help her.

He was dead, his appearance gruesome, his chest ripped open, his internal organs turned inside out, blood pooling at the bottom of the pit, soaking the surrounding soil and the priest's clothes.

He was supposed to be the one to save me, but he has already passed away in such a tragic way.

Then, the priest manipulated Xi Wang's hands, picked up a shovel, and controlled him like a puppeteer, shoveling up the soil little by little to slowly bury the priest's body. Finally, he patted the soil with the shovel to make sure it was compacted.

There was no tombstone, nor was there a mound of earth piled up where the body was; it was simply buried.

Xi Wang couldn't remember what happened after that day; she was in a daze, as if her consciousness had become scattered.

Xi Wang realized that she wouldn't come, because she had already come.

After that, no one will pay attention to me anymore, and I won't be able to get out.

Since then, Xi Wang's response to pain has become weaker and weaker, while the priest's behavior has become increasingly erratic. He has stopped treating his wounds and bringing him food.

The priest was pushing him toward the brink of death, but Xiwang remained unresponsive.

tick-

It was the sound of blood dripping, a sound so familiar it couldn't be more so.

tick-

The priest sat leisurely to one side, admiring his "masterpiece" and looking with satisfaction at the increasingly weak Xiwang.

tick-

There were many wounds on his body, new ones, old ones, and unhealed ones intertwined, cuts, burns, and punctures mixed together, with bright red blood flowing out and gradually gathering in the basin below.

Now, Xi Wang has grown up and no longer needs a broken stool for support. He is tall enough to touch the ground on his toes in this situation. The priest, however, does not look old. Apart from his hair becoming more gray and the wrinkles on his face becoming more numerous, he has hardly changed.

At this point, torturing Xi Wang had become almost a daily routine for the "Priest," like a habit. Now, even if Xi Wang begged him, surrendered to him, or threw himself into his arms, he would refuse—he had had enough.

Now, all he wants is to kill Xi Wang.

So he stood up and moved closer to Xiwang.

tick-

It's the sound of liquid dripping.

"Oh——"

Xi Wang raised his head slightly, struggling to lift his eyelids, and the priest, noticing his movement, immediately stopped what he was doing, waiting for his next reaction.

"Ha ha……"

Because his mouth had been cut and the wound hadn't fully healed, Xi Wang could only make some indistinct sounds, but the priest still caught the mockery in his words.

"You, not him."

Despite the pain, Xi Wang spoke slowly and indistinctly.

tick-

The blood was still flowing.