Chapter 546: Chapter 546: Does Zhan Xuerou Deserve Such Hatred?

Zhan Xuerou felt for the first time what it meant to be soul-less, seeing a large platform in front of her. On the platform were various terrifying torture instruments and strange items like corpse worms, snakes, hedgehogs, and even maggots.

She saw an old man, covered in crawling worms on his head. His eyes were blind, his legs and arms had been chopped off, leaving only his head and body placed in a porcelain jar.

The flesh on one side of his face was eaten away by something, his expression numb and terrifying.

Below the stage sat countless people wearing various ghost masks, each clamoring and staring at the person on the stage.

The person in charge spoke, “Ghost Slave from the Heavenly Slaughter Sect, Great Elder for hire! For just three taels of silver, you can choose how to torture him tonight.”

In the Ghost Market, those available for torture were called Ghost Slaves, and the Great Elder had become one of them three years ago.

Bids were constantly raised below, and eventually, three placards were brought up.

The person in charge on the stage calmly stated, “A total of three wooden placards, one for needle punishment, one for worm torture, and one for whipping!”

The Great Elder let out a hoarse cry of pain, powerless to resist. For three years, he endured such torture once every half-month.

Hearing the names of these tortures, Zhan Xuerou felt her whole body tighten.

The three guests who paid enjoyed the right to torture the Ghost Slave. One person gave the Great Elder a thrashing with a whip, and after finishing, walked off the stage briskly.

Facing the whipping, the Great Elder’s face remained expressionless. His body had become numb from the bi-weekly torture, and the flesh on his cheeks could no longer express emotions; some muscles had already died.

If not for his eyeballs still moving, he’d look just like a dead person.

After the whipping, it was the worms’ turn. Someone poured all the worms into the porcelain jar. The worms at the bottom of the jar crawled upwards, trying to gnaw at the Great Elder’s body. Due to the jar being too slippery, they fell back down, repeating this over and over.

The worms on the Great Elder’s hair came from this process.

Although the Great Elder’s expression was numb, his heart was still in pain, and a whimpering sound escaped his throat, akin to cries from hell.

Witnessing the Great Elder being treated this way made Zhan Xuerou’s stomach churn with nausea. Must she also face such inhuman torture?

Then she witnessed what a needle punishment was: someone wearing a ghost mask stabbed silver needles into the Great Elder’s neck, cheeks, and finally inserted a needle into the top of his head bit by bit, eliciting cheers from the audience.

The person administering the needle punishment excitedly left, and soon after, the ones trying to carry the Great Elder offstage suddenly realized his eyeballs were completely still.

One quickly placed his finger in front of the Great Elder’s nose and instantly drew back the hand.

Seeing the Ghost Slave tortured to death by guests wasn’t uncommon. The person in charge nonchalantly said, “The Great Elder of Heavenly Slaughter Sect has committed heinous crimes and is now in the Ghost Prison. He won’t be shown to guests again!”

There was an uproar in the audience. The Great Elder they tortured for three years had died!

Nobody was saddened by the Great Elder’s death. After a bizarre silence, the guests below burst into laughter, rising and falling in waves and lasting a long time.

Seeing such a scene made Zhan Xuerou shudder. How could these people be so cold?

Clearly, the Great Elder was dead, yet no one sympathized, and everyone laughed coldly and heartily.

Zhan Xuerou didn’t know what the Great Elder did in the past, nor did she know he was also sent by Zhan Lan.

Nevertheless, the Great Elder’s death made Zhan Xuerou realize one thing: sooner or later, she too would be tortured to death, and the people below would laugh just as euphorically.

She regretted not dashing her head against the wall in the prison.

Thinking of this, Zhan Xuerou desperately wanted to run. She stumbled a step forward, only to find her body felt bonelessly soft.

Suddenly, she remembered the pill those people made her eat earlier, rendering her incapable of resistance or escape.

All her last bits of hope vanished, and she shouted, “Help me, I am Zhan Xuerou! I am Zhan Xuerou!”

Some people below recognized Zhan Xuerou, as her poem “Mountain and River Ode” had gained her fame in the past.

The person in charge raised Zhan Xuerou’s arm, saying, “This is the new Ghost Slave today, Zhan Xuerou. Everyone has heard of ‘Mountain and River Ode’ she wrote, right? Everyone must be familiar with her deeds, and today she did something big; she actually killed her own mother with her own hands! How about it, folks? Five taels of silver, and you can decide how to deal with her!”

The masked gathered people below were in an uproar. Though strangers to each other’s identities, most were there to vent their own misfortunes or twisted dispositions.

They came here precisely because no one knew who they were, and thus spoke without fear.

“Oh, Zhan Xuerou, the woman who stole the legitimate daughter’s identity from the General Mansion of the Empress!”

“Pah, what a joke, a so-called talented woman. I don’t buy it. That poem of hers was probably plagiarized from the Empress’s work!”

“Don’t say that. It’s no easy feat for a sparrow to become a phoenix.”

Guests sitting in the front row, under the bright candlelight, saw Zhan Xuerou’s arm raised high, revealing a virginity mark on her arm!

“Damn it, how shameless is Zhan Xuerou? I’ve heard she wasn’t picky with any man, even dallying with martial world vagabonds, and yet she still has a virginity mark!”

“Can’t be real. I know someone saw her in a ruined temple cavorting with some beggars. This vile woman was always utterly wanton!”

On the brightly lit stage, Zhan Xuerou, hearing their words, was ashamed to death.

Though inspired by Zhan Lan’s style, “Mountain and River Ode” was indeed her own writing.

And those beggars, who spread those tales? She had clearly been violated, so how did it become consensual?

She realized how terrifying gossip can be, and the world’s indifference.

“Ladies and gentlemen, raise your placards!” The person in charge, seeing the excited guests below, chuckled and urged.

Instantly, placards rose one after another, as if flies smelled feces. More than half of the guests raised their wooden placards.

Zhan Xuerou’s heart thundered, cold sweat trickling down her back. Did these people really despise her so and all want to humiliate her?

The person in charge was also taken aback by such a scene; he’d never witnessed such a “spectacle” since the Ghost Market’s inception!

Was Zhan Xuerou really so hated?

Unbelievable!

If so many came to torture Zhan Xuerou, she might die tonight!

Zhan Xuerou should be tortured slowly, at least not die within these years!

The person in charge calmly stated, “Esteemed guests, no need for haste. Everyone will have a chance to have an exchange with this ‘talented woman’. Today, as always, the same old rule!”

He released Zhan Xuerou, who collapsed like a heap of rotten mud. The person in charge held out three fingers, “Three people!”