After Rosalie left them, he took out a pair of gloves. Lu An then picked the man’s hand and pulled the finger closer. He started with the thumb, putting the knife below the nail then he inserted the knife. Blood streamed down from the knife as the man grunted in pain. The man did not scream as Lu An pulled up the knife. The nail dangled off as some part was still connected to the flesh. He reached for the nail and forcefully pulled the nail off the thumb.

The man’s body shook a little, grunting in pain, holding his scream. After that, the man grinned at Lu An, showing that it was nothing for him.

“Relax, this is just the start. Let’s see if you still can smile after. You make me excited because I can apply everything I have learned,” Lu An pulled up the man’s index finger, doing the same.𝒩𝑶𝑽𝓛xt.𝗇𝓔t

By the time Lu An finished taking off all the nails on the man’s right hand, the man could no longer smile. Sweat covered his forehead, but the man endured everything well. He did not scream.

“So, do you want to speak or do you want to continue?” Lu An cleaned his small knife from the blood, “We can stop here if you cooperate.”

“Dream on! I will never tell you a damn single thing!”

“Good. That’s what I want,” Lu An pulled the man’s left hand and repeated the same action, pulling off all the nails. Blood dripped off from the finger, the man held out. However, the man’s face told Lu An and Tang Shaoyang how painful it was.

Lu An continued with the man’s toenails. The same process and the man endured everything, not screaming in the process. Lu An asked if the man wanted to cooperate, and the response was the man spat at Lu An, but it did not reach Lu An as the shadow caught the spit.

However, that just made Lu An even more excited. He was not done yet with the finger, pulling the finger closer, he inserted the knife into the middle finger. The knife did not cut the flesh but stayed inside the middle finger’s flesh. For the first time, the man screamed.

“AAAAARGGGGHHHHH!”

The man’s hand did not shake with how tight the shadow held the hand. Lu An did not pull out the knife too, letting the knife stay inside the middle finger. The knife’s blade fully entered the man’s finger, leaving the handle outside. As if the handle was replacing the nail.

Lu An took out another knife, shorter but the same size. He inserted the second knife into the ring finger, and another scream echoed. He took out more knives, inserting them all into the five fingers without cutting off the flesh from the finger. Just like that, five small knives were inside the man’s fingers. The man’s right hand was covered in blood, his face paled as tears came out naturally from his eyes, enduring the pain.

Lu An held five more knives, reaching the man’s chin, “So, are you ready to answer my questions yet? We can still continue the game.”

The man’s right hand with the knives trembled fiercely, yet the man did not reply to Lu An. He kept his mouth shut despite the throbbing pain in his fingers.

Lu An continued, putting more knives into the man’s fingers, hands, and toes. All the nails were replaced by the small knives while the man’s body shook.

“Won’t he die?” Tang Shaoyang could not help but ask. The ground below the man was fully covered with thick blood, almost forming a small pool of blood. If this continued, the man would die from blood loss.

“He is Ancient Rank. He will not die from blood loss, brother. If he is dying, I can just chug him a healing potion,” Lu An waved his hand, assuring Tang Shaoyang the prisoner would not die, “As I expected, he is quite tough. He is the only one holding up to this point. I am not done yet though. The first phase is not even over yet.”

Lu An then took out a long thin black needle. The needle was about the same size as a single piece of hair, around 30 cm long. He then took another knife, reaching the man’s head, and shaving the hair. It could be seen from the man’s face that he was frightened, afraid of what Lu An wanted to do with his head. The fear in his eyes was obvious, but Lu An pretended not to notice.

The young assassin scanned the man’s scalp, looking for the spot. It did not take long for him to find the spot, placing the needle on that spot, “Are you ready for the thrill?” He did not wait for the man to answer him as he inserted the needle in that specific spot.

Lu An did not fully insert the needle, only half of it. The man’s eyes widened for a moment. The man blanked for a moment before his scream came out to the point his voice was breaking.

The scream made Tang Shaoyang’s body shudder, shocked by how the man screamed. He did not know what the man experienced, and he certainly did not want to experience it either. The scream did not stop, maintaining the same pitch. After thirty seconds, Lu An pulled the needle slightly, and the man abruptly stopped screaming. Tears and snot fell off of his face, his body soaked with sweat, breathing heavily. It was as if the pain in his fingers was nothing compared to the needle in his head.

Lu An squatted in front of the man, still having his bright smile, “How is it? Do you want to answer me right now?”

“KILL ME! JUST KILL ME, YOU COWARD! KILL ME IF YOU DARE!” The man remained tough, yelling at Lu An.

Lu An grinned ear to ear hearing the man’s reply, “You are indeed tough. Should I congratulate you for being the first person to reach the second phase?” He then took out the same needles, six of them out of his inventory.

The man’s eyes shook at the sight of the needle. The one in his head was still there, and yet the young man had six more of the same needles in his hand, “Please stop….” The exhausted voice came out of his lips, “I will tell you anything you want to know. Just please stop.”

Lu An turned around, looking at Tang Shaoyang with a proud smile.