Xia Mo covered my mouth tightly to stop me from screaming. Cold sweat broke out all over my body, and I couldn't control my trembling at all.
My hand was still tightly held by the man, and his fingers were holding my ring finger. Realizing what he wanted to do, I struggled to break free from him and hid behind Xia Mo.
"He's just an ordinary kid," he said. "He hasn't been exposed to the realities of the world yet."
I hid behind Xia Mo: "What on earth do you want to do?! You said you want to eliminate Class L, what does arresting me have to do with this?!"
"Class L's experiment has concluded, and I've achieved the desired results. The third step is about to begin."
"Explain it to him clearly." Xia Mo gently held me in his arms and stroked my hair like comforting a child. "Xue Ming will understand."
He was more interested in figuring out which part of me to throw into the wood chipper first than explaining it to me. But a few seconds later, Brooke noticed the bruises on my neck, and his eyes changed, like he had found a goldfish in a boring pond.
"Who did this to you? Was it you?"
Strong fingers wrapped around my neck and slowly tightened. He pulled me out of Xia Mo's arms and twisted my neck like he was studying a new toy.
This person knew exactly where to press to instantly suffocate someone. Fingers pressed hard against both sides of my neck, and my temples began to throb rapidly, and my ears began to ring.
"It seems we have the same hobby, but I just like doing this to others." The old man's hoarse voice seemed to come from far away, hitting my eardrums like a tide. "I remember the first time I strangled a German Shepherd my father gave me. It was about four months old, and its tongue was half pink and half purple... Ah, your tongue is pink... and the sound it makes is very nice... Xia, I like him a little bit, how about giving him to me? You just want an assistant, Chris will pick a new candidate for you."
I couldn't see Xia Mo's expression. He didn't say anything, just stared at Brook quietly.
To my surprise, the old man showed precious little concession to his expression: "Okay... I know, I know. He's yours."
He let me go.
"When I was born, my family's business was still hovering between gangs and businesses. So I was still exposed to some...primitive methods."
It took my ears a while to adjust to the outside sounds. The tinnitus mixed with his words, sounding vague and ambiguous.
"I like those simple and direct methods. Of course, as the times change, they gradually disappear or fade into obscurity. When I was a child, resolving conflicts on the streets of Detroit with fists was the universally recognized correct answer. Even rich people liking boxing wouldn't be considered unrefined. But look at it now..."
Things related to violence are rapidly becoming marginalized and hidden, which is an inevitable result of the progress of human civilization.
"But what determines the direction of progress? No, I don't think it's progress; it's just a car driving on the road, making a perfectly normal turn. This world is controlled by a minority of humans, one in tens of millions of us, and I'm one of them. Beasts that have lost their animal nature are called domestic animals. Humans should retain their animal instincts and bring life back to this lifeless world," he said. "My father believed the same... I think it's a genetic trait that runs in our family genes. We both believe that violence is a natural quality, inherent in human nature, and shouldn't be deliberately erased. Do you know my father, Li Fen? He had no interest in business and was forgotten as a psychologist because his theories advocating for the preservation of violence were not favored by the mainstream."
So, after inheriting the family and letting it sweep the world like a huge wave, Brook made a decision - he could no longer suppress his nature, and he wanted to build the L-class concept left by his father in the real world.
"Xia Mo is the first step in this experiment. I need to prove through him that everyone has a desire to hunt within them, and that it can be channeled. The reason for choosing him is simple... docile, harmless, completely domesticated by the rules of human society, and pure good. Assuming I can guide such a person from pure goodness to pure evil, then theoretically, everyone can be trained in this way and their hunting abilities restored."
"I don't think he's regained his hunting instincts. I think he's just seeking revenge for his daughter's death." I contradicted him again. "What you did to him is bestial... Ah, that's the expression... A man's expression when he's been slapped in the face is really ugly, Mr. Li."
"—I can also have those things done to you again."
I wanted to hide behind Xia Mo, but failed and was stopped by his bodyguards.
"Don't you really enjoy being treated like this?" He grabbed my neck again, his tone sounding cheerful. "I can see that you like people who retain their animal nature."
"... Mainly... He's younger than you... I'm not interested in old men..."
Xia Mo interrupted me—I guess he was worried my head would be torn off. "The second step of the experiment is the L class—we have established L classes in various regions around the world to observe people's attitudes towards 'using violence to deal with violence.' Now that we have observed enough samples, the second phase of the experiment is over. The L classes will be gradually eliminated, and the third phase is about to begin."
Their conclusion is that no matter how laws or civilized education tame us, human beings have a natural liking for "using violence to counter violence" and using violence to counter violence.
I can't deny that just now, I also imagined the exciting scene of Xu Tuo falling from the sky and throwing this group of people into the wood chipper one by one.
"Will the third phase be to expand this experimental field and allow people in a region—such as a city or a small country—to openly acknowledge the desire to hunt?"
Xia Mo nodded.
Brook's power is enough to control the small countries in Southeast Asia, those small countries that have been torn apart by drugs, smuggling, and rebellion.
As his henchman, Xia Mo needed an assistant. No one could deny that this beautiful person would make an excellent missionary.
I looked at him. "You want to lock me up in that basement and constantly reshape my mind so that I can accept this and voluntarily become your assistant?"
"Yes. If there are no objections, we can go back to the basement."
"—I agree to be your assistant," I said. "I have nothing to do with the lives of others, and I don't care what the world becomes. My only condition is Xu Tuo's survival."
This was an unexpected answer, and both Xia Mo and Brook showed a brief expression of surprise.
"I thought you brought him here because he rejected you." Brook laughed. "He's just an ordinary person who would succumb to fear and threats. Why did you choose him?"
"I wanted someone who was somewhere in the middle of those two worlds. Someone who could attract and understand the people of the black world, but also not be threatening to the people of the white world."
Xia Mo asked the bodyguard to take me downstairs.
"Why?!" I realized something was wrong, "Isn't it better if I just agree to it?!"
"You're making conditions. You still think this is a trade that can be negotiated. If you're given the chance, you'll run away without hesitation." He smiled as he watched me being led away. "—Xueming still has a lot to change. I will teach you well until you fully accept our philosophy and won't make such ridiculous conditions again."
I was taken to the basement and locked up for days. They turned off the single chandelier, leaving me alone in total darkness and silence. My broken finger still hurt, so I had to make a makeshift brace out of cloth and a toothbrush to keep it in place.
It was probably the seventh day... or the ninth day. Although I told myself that my mental state would deteriorate, when the meal was pushed in through that small window, I still rushed over like crazy and lay down in front of the closed window.
Deprived of both time and light, one's concept of reality gradually blurs. The television, playing discs, becomes the only source of light, but the discs containing Xia Mo's photos and videos have been replaced, with new discs containing content that ordinary people would never see in their lifetime.
Execution videos from World War II, Japanese hanging videos, slit-throat beheadings...
The images themselves had no soundtrack; the music was added later, all playing the same simple classical piano melody. The TV had no volume control, and if I left the light on, the melody would begin to linger like a nightmare.
I can only guess how much time has passed here by watching the video. One week, two weeks, three weeks...
I've been locked up here for three weeks.
When the door opened, Xia Mo looked like a savior to me. He brought the light from the chandelier, DVDs of regular Hollywood movies, and fried food. I couldn't even utter a single curse, so I could only pull at his arm and beg him to let me out.
He stayed with me, and like any friend, we ate junk food and watched a movie together. Then, he was ready to leave.
Looking forward to Xia Mo's arrival has become my only hope.
There is no violence, beating, or threats, just silence and darkness to drive people crazy.
A week later, he came again. This time, he was replacing the discs. A brand new one. After handing it to me, Xia Mo left. I grabbed him and begged him not to leave.
"Be good," he stroked my back gently, "I'll be back soon."
However, this time the disc is no longer a death scene without dubbing. This is clearly an execution scene in a modern war zone, with two Middle Eastern-looking men and women tied to a stake and their abdomens cut open alive, their screams recorded throughout.
It became my new sole source of light.
I lost track of time again.
I don't know how long it took, but the hallucinations returned as promised. I ran the faucet, using the sound of running water to maintain my sanity. But I still began to talk to myself in the empty darkness. I tried to numb the madness with sex, but the simple pleasures of humanity, like grains of sand in the ocean, were quickly drowned by boundless despair.
I turned the TV back on, and the contents of the disc became my final entertainment. This hour-long execution video was played many times, and one time, seeing the reflection on the screen, I suddenly realized that I was beginning to cry and laugh unconsciously, just like Xia Mo at that time.
Perhaps it had been played too many times, and one day the disc finally stopped playing. I knelt in front of the player, repeating the action of inserting and removing the disc over and over again.
Xia Mo came again and brought a new CD.
…
How long have I been here?
I saw almost every cruelty that man could inflict on man, and it began to dominate my emotions.
I want to try them.
One day, Xia Mo didn't bring any new CDs. He turned on the lights with the remote control, helped me, haggard, to the bathroom, and cleaned me up carefully, just like a mother bathing a baby.
My language function is deteriorating, and I can't even form complete sentences. He gently kissed my forehead: "It's okay... Don't be afraid... Xueming is doing well..."
As long as he doesn't leave me, I'll do anything.
I fell into his arms, hugging him tightly. The icy water reached my mouth and nose, drowning the me of the past—yes, how did I ever feel happy or sad in the past? I couldn't remember. All my emotions were restructured, operating according to a simple principle, like a dog salivating at the sound of a feeding bell.
"People have a threshold for excitement. Among the thresholds for excitement, the most popular is the threshold for pleasure, such as video games, horror movies, roller coasters, and drugs... If the pleasure of video games is 10, sex is 50, and drugs can bring 200, once you adapt to the high threshold of 200, you will be insensitive to the low threshold of 10." He hugged me and whispered, "The same is true for other thresholds for excitement. After reading novels with exciting themes, you will be insensitive to novels with ordinary themes. If you are used to eating heavy-tasting food, you will not be interested in light ingredients. Xueming, death is the highest of these thresholds. The feeling of dying can be indifferent. Depending on your mood, it raises your arousal threshold to 500...higher than drugs. So you'll have a good tolerance, and that's what I value about you... Think about it, after meeting Xu Tuo, have you lost interest in boring, ordinary people? You can't fall in love with that soft-spoken girl next door anymore. Whether Xu Tuo brings you fear or pleasure, you'll be addicted to him... addicted to death... just like I can't leave Li anymore, he's completely destroyed my old self... I know how to make you forget Xu Tuo. Do you know how high the threshold is when you manipulate death?..."
He would also tell me some stories from the past.
After giving birth to Xueya, he took the opportunity to escape from Brook and met two homeless children during the escape.
Xia Mo adopted them. Xu Tuo and Jackman had no household registration information, and they were just called Xiao Yan and Xiao Jie.
"Before they met me, they were all adopted by a family... in a very remote small city, a rural area, where a couple adopted many children... but it wasn't a paradise for children," he said. "Xu Tuo and Xiao Jie stayed there for a few years. Xu Tuo was naturally taller than the other children, so he didn't look as cute, so he escaped. But Xiao Jie was different... Do you know why he doesn't let people use lighters in his presence? He said that every time the guests introduced by his 'adoptive father' bullied him, they would use a lighter to light a cigarette. He didn't want to hear the lighter clicking... Xueming, what are you writing on my back?"
What do I write on his back?
I was stunned and realized that my fingers were moving unconsciously, writing a person's name on Xia Mo's back.
——Xu Tuo.
"Will Xu Tuo come?" I asked.
"Xu Tuo may no longer be here."
"…He's gone…"
"Well, the people in Class L are being cleared out one after another. For those who can't be cleared out, I will hand over their evidence to the police." Xia Mo said with a smile, "I'll bring you the news when I have time. Both him and Xiaojie are wanted now."