Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 658 - 22: Treatment Process_1

Chapter 658: Chapter 22: Treatment Process_1

Lina continued to speak below, while above, a heavy silence, imbued with intense pressure, fell. Despite the short distance, no one spoke. Everyone sat or stood, lost in their own thoughts, exchanging not a single word. Throughout the entire basement, only Chester, his two legs broken, moaned weakly in one corner.

"I still don’t understand." After a long silence, Catherine seemed unwilling to continue enduring the awkwardness of the pressure and initiated the conversation. "Even if there was coercion and reason, how can someone willingly hurt a woman they deeply love and who loves them deeply too? Judging from Lina’s display earlier, the harm wasn’t mild. How could he go to such lengths?"

"Wealth and status beyond one’s wildest dreams, haha." Pannis muttered with a sneer. "Isn’t that enough? Money, status, life, the three things that drive people mad the most have all appeared. Especially money - over history, how many people have killed each other over such trivial sums? Compared to them, his actions don’t seem so unreasonable."

"Money is indeed a good thing." Catherine gritted her teeth before speaking. "But there’s money you should take, and money you shouldn’t. He..."

"Everyone knows what money to take and what not to, but if everyone acted according to their values, probably half the world’s crimes would disappear." Pannis scoffed, nodding towards the suffering Chester. "There will always be people like him, first losing their rational mind in the maze of their greed, then step by step seduced by the followers of the evil deities until they fall into madness, bereft of humanity. Consequently, it’s said, oh golden coins, so many have fallen for your shine, but beneath your brilliance, what flickers is the dark red glow of blood."

In response to Pannis’s monologue, Catherine sighed, changing the topic. "Pannis, you just mentioned the Living Pillar Ritual. If we rescue the sacrifice like this, can we consider their ritual to be successfully thwarted?"

"It depends on how far along they are with the ritual. If Betty hasn’t completely collapsed, it means the ritual hasn’t been completed and therefore, we can consider it successfully thwarted." Pannis explained. "If Betty has already collapsed, it would mean that the ritual is completed and any disruption thereafter would be futile. However, since this bastard just said they still needed a few days, those people probably didn’t lie to him about it. Therefore, the ritual likely hasn’t fully started yet, and we have indeed successfully disrupted it. Wait, actually, the ritual must certainly not have started because this animal here is still perfectly fine."

"Oh?" Catherine raised her brows as her gaze restlessly roamed Chester. She asked teasingly, "Are you saying if the ritual ended, this beast wouldn’t fare well either?"

"That would depend on how much power the living pillar needed to possess." Pannis lightly kicked Chester’s leg, sneering. "If they wished to maximize the power of the living pillar, he’d be essential. But most followers of the evil deities won’t do so unless necessary since that would discourage others. However, given the circumstances this time, since that group places a lot of importance on this ritual and prepared thoroughly, they likely won’t miss the chance to enhance the power of the living pillar. Hey, beast, did they mention how long they’ve been preparing? Half a year? Three months? Or a year?"

"I don’t know, I don’t know." Chester howled, clutching his head. "They never mentioned, I really don’t know."

"It’s okay, no need to be scared. I was just asking, didn’t really expect you to know." Pannis continued, "If we calculate, the first time we bumped into a deity’s sacrifice was a little over a year ago in the City of Knowledge. Afterwards, we also encountered it many times in the City of Innocence, but all attempts failed. If they switched to the Living Pillar Ritual because the sacrifices weren’t working, then they’ve probably been preparing for over half a year. Half a year’s preparation, covering the entire scope of Yarra - they probably wouldn’t pass him up. A crazed, greedy soul plus a despairing, suffering soul make for a perfect living pillar. Thinking about it, we’re rather lucky to have accidentally disrupted the Divine Servants’ rituals. If those deities knew, haha, they’d probably go mad."

"What a pity." Freya pulled over a chair and sat in front of Chester, shaking her head. "We should have disrupted their ritual after they dealt with him too. That way, he could also get a taste of this feeling. Isn’t that right, Mr. Chester?"

"Freya." Even though Catherine was angry, she still found Freya’s idea hard to accept. She frowned, saying, "Then we’d be no different from this man."

"Alright, alright, big sis, I know." Freya said, "I was merely joking, no need to be so serious. Speaking of, why hasn’t Lina come up yet? This is taking a long time. It seems Betty’s situation is rather complicated."

"She says it’ll continue until tomorrow morning at least." Ava crawled out from the secret passage of the basement, relaying Lina’s message. "Since it’s such a long time, the mayor and Dak can go rest for a bit. Staying here is not only inconvenient but also bothersome. However, I think she really meant that you’re all old and might not be able to last, so staying here doesn’t make any sense. You should rather come back tomorrow morning."

"How is everything going down there?" Catherine asked, "Is there anything we need to help with?"

"Down there are many Array all over, but I’ve already destroyed them." Ava said, "As for needing help, I don’t think there are any. After all, I was sent up here to help. By the way, she said that Chester must be kept here first, she hopes to leave him over to Betty’s disposal, as a method to relieve some of Betty’s mental pressure."

"Hmm, we will keep a close eye on him, we won’t let him get away." Catherine glanced at Chester, then at the expectant Old Dak, and nodded, "Betty’s condition is fine, right? With regards to her safety."

"There’s no danger to her life, but her injuries are serious." Ava’s small eyebrows furrowed, a rare rigidness appearing on her delicate face: "However, after observing the situation in there, I am more confused. Human nature really is a strange thing, while some humans can be very kind, others can commit such bizarre acts."

"That’s why you can’t use your previous logical thinking to comprehend human nature, you can only truly understand human nature once you’ve acquired it yourself." Catherine got up and proceeded to the secret tunnel, "I’ll go have a look myself. I’ve never seen her perform such a long treatment process before, what on earth is happening?"

Catherine climbed down the ladder into the secret room, she saw all sorts of Array destroyed on the walls, and also saw Lina, back turned to her, bending over working hard in front of the altar. Lina was hovering over Betty and could tell who was behind her from the familiar footsteps alone: "Sis, you’ve finally come down, remember to keep Chester alive when you go back up."

"Why is it that you suddenly speak like this, oh my god." Catherine moves a few steps to the side and upon catching sight of Betty’s tragic state, she covers her mouth hardly able to suppress her exclamation, "This... this... was this all Chester’s doing?"

"That’s precisely why I made those remarks." Lina’s hands were covered in blood as her fingers moved deftly over Betty’s shattered arm, slowly piecing the broken bones back together: "Don’t worry, she won’t die, just that the workload is slightly heavier."

In front of Catherine, Lina’s Array Book was floating above Betty’s body, moving back and forth slowly. A faintly yellow beam was continually shot onto Betty’s body from the Book. Betty’s limbs were once again held under iron spikes piercing through the altar, even the iron hoop on her head and the metal ring in her mouth were put back again. Betty was struggling fiercely under the light on the altar, but her completely bound body remained motionless. Her bloody muscles were only twitching continuously, like a lump of wriggling flesh."

"Why are you doing this?" Catherine asked, "Why do you still bind her up like this? Can’t she be released first?"

"The Light of Denia facilitates the quick growth of her muscles and skin. Sis, you still remember how it feels when wounds are healing, right?" Lina explained, "You see her now, she would rather bear the pain than the intense urge to scratch. If she isn’t bound, she will scratch herself mad because of the intense itch, and she might even scratch her organs out. So, it’s better to not set her free for now."

Catherine sighed, and after observing for a while, she felt that she could no longer bear the highly stimulating scene. She turned around and said, "You have worked hard, Lina. I will go up first. This shock is indeed a bit too much. Don’t worry, I promise to leave Chester alive for you, he truly... cannot be considered a person anymore."

"No, he’s not being kept for me, but for her." Lina patted Betty’s jittery head, and spoke in a low voice, "Otherwise, the treatment process would be too painful. If she lost this motivation, I am afraid she might not be able to hold on mentally till the end of the treatment. Listen, Betty, your hatred, needs you to settle it yourself, we will not help you resolve it. Therefore, you better hang in there, Betty. If you can’t hold on midway, Chester will be let go."

Upon hearing Lina’s words, Betty’s body suddenly stiffened. Catherine saw that her body’s struggling amplitude and frequency had visibly decreased. In spite of the agony, she wished for the treatment to be over faster. In some situations, negative emotions such as rage and hatred can indeed stimulate a person’s will to survive to a certain extent. Catherine shook her head, sighed, and could no longer bear to see Betty in that state. She silently left the secret room.(To be continued. If you like this story, please cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes at qidian.com. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)