161 The Butcher and the Youth

The engineer who designed the gate would have never expected that there would be a psycho who would tear the gate apart just because he could not open it.

Stepping on the gate with gravel lying on the ground, Ye Qingxuan walked inside, but he did not see Lorenzo. As expected, the guy had escaped quickly. This was a good quality to have in downtown, otherwise he would not have survived up to this point.

"Let’s go." Ye Qingxuan looked back at the Butcher. "Since we’re here, let’s see what the Arkham Asylum really looks like."

Through the long path and up the stairs, it seemed like they were entering a complex building. The air was still filled with pungent fumes of disinfectants. The smell was so strong it seemed to not only kill bacteria, but also people. The only sound in the silent hall were of echoing footsteps.

The lights from the ceiling were white and dazzling, illuminating the iron bars on both sides, as well as the exhausted shadows behind them.

The people seemed to have come from all over the place, and were different in age and appearance, but all of them had some abnormalities on their bodies. Some had bones outside the skin; some people’s limbs were so slender and thin that they could only curl up in the cage; some had thorns growing from their joints, making them extremely ferocious; some were covered in muscles and the bars were like noodles to them, but they did not want to escape. Then there were some who had fish gills behind their ears. They were similar to the marks on the late Hariti…it was the Siren transformation.

They were modified in different ways. Even if it was the same type of modification, it was done in a different direction. The only similarity they shared was their expressionless faces. Neither the distant thunder nor the strangers walking by the fences could attract their attention. No one even tried to ask for food or beg to be let out. As if indulging in their own small world, they curled up in the cages, rubbing something on the ground carefully, mumbling to themselves, spitting bubbles, giggling...

"This must be the patient’s ward," Ye Qingxuan murmured, looking at them from top to bottom. They were all dressed in the same clothes as the skeleton in the sewer. The clothing was similar to prisoner's’ garb - a white shift designed for convenience at the surgery table.

Ten years ago, there must have been a riot that allowed some people, like Hariti, to escape. Others did not escape. Like the withered skeleton in the sewer, they could only stare at the direction of the sky as death came. Since then, they must have tightened security, just like...like this.

The butcher looked at the modified patients coldly. He held the bone saw with his guard up, but beside him, Ye Qingxuan looked calm.

"Don't be nervous. They won't react." He casually pulled a man out of a cage. The man did not struggle and allowed Ye Qingxuan to move him around. Ye Qingxuan gripped his chin and looked at his head and ears. After seeing the abnormality in the eye, he realized something.

"I was right. Their frontal lobes have been surgically removed." Ye Qingxuan mimed stabbing his eyes with his fingers for the Butcher. "Stab an ice pick through the bottom of the eyes to the skull, then stir the frontal lobe into a mess by feeling… After this process, no matter how vicious a person was, he would become a good boy and be manipulated easily.

"Once you’ve mastered this surgery, it only takes a few minutes. It’s safe and harmless. What’s more, it won’t have any effect on the later modifications. It’s really safe and convenient. "

The youth sniffed the intensifying smell of disinfectants in the wind. Illusions flashed past his eyes. The buried memory appeared again. Those broken memories had actually become unclear through the years. He was unwilling to recall what had happened to him. But for some reason, anger burned hotter and hotter in his heart. That wrath was like lava under the earth’s crust, crossing in the darkness quietly, burning people without any fire. He didn’t even know who he was supposed to be angry at.

"Hey, big guy, let’s split up here," he suddenly said softly. "The Shaman actually gave you another task, right?"

The Butcher did not reply.

"He knew since the beginning that the Parliament controls the asylum, right? He let me explore this place to find out what’s really happening. And he asked you to come here with me, not to protect me, but to kill his enemies. Other than the Professor, there are also people from the parliament." The young man looked at him silently. "Am I right?"

Under the youth’s gaze, the Butcher was silent and still did not answer.Ye Qingxuan could not help but purse his lips. "Mr. Seton, you can’t just keep pretending, you know?"

The Butcher froze. His eyes finally changed, from ferocious to gloomy, and then to menacing. But the youth just looked at him, until an impatient sigh finally came from behind the mask. "How did you know?"

"You can't expect me to cooperate with someone who had been hunting me, can you?" Ye Qingxuan shrugged. "I had to investigate."

"In one day?"

"More than that, actually," Ye Qingxuan said. "In fact, I started suspecting that you were being lenient after I realized that I was actually able to escape from the infallible butcher. Later, every time I thought about it, I would think it was suspicious. I don’t think I’m strong enough to escape from the butcher. So there was only one possibility: the butcher deliberately let me go."

"The butcher," or Seton, was speechless and did not reply.

"...As long as you connect the dots, it makes sense. After all, I don’t have that many friends and there aren’t many people with your body. I’m still grateful that you let me go. I really thought I was going to die." Ye Qingxuan cocked his head. "But does the boss know that you’re making extra money on the side?"

"…" In the silence, Seton’s face must have been very angry under the horse mask.

"D*mmit, go away!" He smashed the bone saw onto the ground, cracking it. He threw Ye Qingxuan one last glance before turning away. But behind him, the youth stared at him and suddenly shouted, "Seton!"

"Yes?" Seton looked back.

"Be careful!" the youth bid farewell quietly.

The Butcher scoffed. "You’re the one who needs to be careful." He waved without even looking back. "Don’t worry. I’ll take revenge for you if you die, for Old Phil’s sake."

"Oh, that’s great." The voice of the youth came from the distance. As he walked away, Seton could not hear it anymore.

-

The Butcher walked slowly through the darkness, following the scent of blood in the wind. According to the map that his employer had given him, he needed to walk through the corridor, go up the ladder, cross the third operating room, turn to the right, breach the sixth hall, go down the elevator, and land in the central security room.

All the places in the path needed to be destroyed, all the information about the blood sacrifice needed to be burned, and all the living things needed to be killed, including the thugs from the mafia, the original caretakers of the hospital, the minions of Parliament, and the hired…dark musicians.

The Butcher suddenly halted his soundless march. The white light above his head flashed, and a baby’s cry came from behind a closed door. The plaque engraved with "Third Operating Room" on the steel door was rusted.

A surgery was being performed. Blood seeped out from the crack under the door. There was an eerie yet gentle singing that could be heard over the baby’s crying, as if a dead woman was screaming and wailing while gazing at the world. The Butcher opened the steel door silently and saw blood everywhere.

Under the pale, hot light, a figure in a white gown had his back to the Butcher. He carefully soaked a string of entrails in an antiseptic solution, meticulously cleaned every ending, and finally threw the emptied baby into the trash. When he turned, the eyes behind the mask saw the newcomer and froze. "Butcher?"

His hoarse voice seemed to come from dozens of mouths. The voices overlapped and became a shrill noise. The Butcher stared at him, eyes landing on his body. Through the clothes, he could see dozens of open mouths on the body. It dawned on him. "Yellow Foot, the dark musician?"

Yellow Foot, brother of the dead Blue Teeth, lowered his head slightly. "A few minutes ago, Alberto’s men told me that someone had come in. Where is your companion? Where did he go? To tell you the truth, I'd rather see Sherlock Holmes than you. We’re both dark musicians, so there must be a lot of topics we can discuss together."

A scoff came from the mask.

Yellow Foot seemed to understand something and his eyes grew pitiful. "Forget it, it’s ok if it’s you. It’s rare to find such good material for experiments…"

The butcher silently clenched the bone saw. The joints in his body popped and cracked. His body expanded, expanded, and expanded even more! Finally, he transformed into the ferocious giant again.

"God, please give me mercy. I kneel in the river of souls, attempting to wash away the dirtiness! God, please give me salvation. I am waist-deep in curses. Can you hear my pleas? God, please give me your blessing. I am neck-deep in blood. I beg for relief…"

The music score engraved on his body was awakened, transforming the flow of blood into a tidal wave. His heart beat like a drum, causing the aether to vibrate. Blood flowed from his pores, transforming in the air into faces of the dead. The faces laughed and echoed, "Lala, lala, lala~"

The light was snuffed without a sound. In the darkness, the singing of the dead overlapped with the dark musician’s chanting. The din and the quakes spread, raising a shapeless cloud of dust. The heat of the blood and the tangible evilness spilled in all directions. The darkness swallowed all.

-

In the quiet corridor, the youth watched as the Butcher faded into the distance. He looked around at the blank faces and sneered. "Well then, let's wreak some havoc, shall we?"

He knocked his cane on the ground violently, emitting a metallic clang. "Whether it’s the Professor or the parliament, let’s get everything straightened. Since I am called Vengeful Spirit, I’ll have to make them pay for what they’ve done!"