160: Chapter 160 "Come ask me again when you figure out what you have left."

The first second Chiba Sakura woke up, she attempted to dislocate her joints to slip the restraints.

Click.

The alloy restraints tightened.

An electric current shot through her body.

Chiba Sakura arched her back violently, screaming out loud for the first time.

Liu Qing's voice cut into the main channel.

"Master, she has dislocated her right joint."

"Vital signs are chaotic."

"She is still attempting to use ninjutsu to break free."

On the surveillance screen, half of Chiba Sakura's face was wrapped in bandages, yet her eyes were still like blades.

Lin Yuan stood up.

Su Muxue followed behind him, instructing Xia Qingqiu to bring the medical tablet and meet at B3.

Qin Yumo carried her twin blades.

Lin Motong walked slowly at the very back.

Wang Ya had gone to teach Jiang Xiaowan some pregnancy knowledge, so no one was watching her.

She looked at Chiba Sakura on the screen.

As if she were looking at an unclassified bug.

The titanium alloy door slammed shut, and the cold air inside the B3 containment unit, mixed with the smell of blood, rushed toward them.

Chiba Sakura's eyes were bloodshot, and the bandages on half her face were soaked through with cold sweat from her struggle.

She stared fixedly at Lin Yuan.

"Baka!"

"You killed my subordinates."

"Insulted my sister."

"Destroyed my guild stronghold."

"Goddess Amaterasu will not let you go."

"You people of Dragon Country deserve only to be sacrifices!"

[Target Chiba Sakura (Beauty 89), current favorability: -88%.]

Facing this hateful glare, which was enough to poke holes in an ordinary person, Lin Yuan couldn't even be bothered to lift his eyelids.

He simply turned to the side and made a gesture to Grandmaster Ling Suzhen, whom he had just had Su Xiaonuan notify: "Please."

Chiba Sakura looked up.

"Old woman, we meet again!"

Grandmaster Ling Suzhen's fingertips paused.

She smiled.

"There is no need to be humane with people like this."

Grandmaster Ling Suzhen's slender fingers brushed through her sleeve, and three two-inch-long silver needles were already clamped between them.

Qin Yumo frowned and stepped in front of Lin Yuan.

"What are you going to do?"

"Acupoint striking."

Grandmaster Ling Suzhen's fingers descended.

The first needle pierced below the collarbone.

Chiba Sakura's muscles instantly tightened violently.

Grandmaster Ling Suzhen spoke: "You were quite imposing when you were torturing our Dragon Country sisters in prison."

The second needle landed on her ribcage.

"Now it is your turn to taste the needles of Dragon Country."

The third needle sealed her vital energy points.

A line of blood seeped from an old wound under Grandmaster Ling Suzhen's sleeve.

Yet she did not stop; instead, she smiled even more coldly.

Sweat immediately beaded on Chiba Sakura's forehead.

She remembered that night in the prison, when this woman had three broken ribs yet still used a hairpin to pierce a Chunin's throat.

On the electric restraint rack, the alloy buckles vibrated.

She gritted her teeth, wanting to use the root of her tongue to push against the poison sac.

Only to discover that her molars had long since been removed by Lin Yuan.

Intermittent sounds came from Chiba Sakura's throat.

The pain was amplified.

Even suicide was impossible.

[Ding! Target Chiba Sakura, favorability -3%, current favorability: -91%.]

"Arghhh—!!"

"Goddess Amaterasu... will take revenge..."

Grandmaster Ling Suzhen leaned down.

"If that goddess of yours really dares to come."

"I would also like to see if it can withstand a single needle."

Lin Yuan watched the favorability that had stopped dropping.

"It has almost bottomed out."

"If it reaches -100%, will there be any critical threshold rewards?"

Lin Yuan spoke: "Lu Yan, have you brought the items?"

Lu Yan's low voice came through the communicator.

"Boss, it's outside the door."

Two seconds later, a sealed box emitting the stench of formalin and rotting earth was slammed onto the ground.

The latch popped open.

Inside, there were no complete remains, only a few strands of dark red clothing, a broken finger bone, and a short blade pendant stained with dried blood and engraved with the Chiba family's cherry blossom pattern.

Clink.

Qin Yumo used her blade tip to flick the pendant, tossing it coldly right under Chiba Sakura's nose.

The moment she saw the pendant clearly, all of Chiba Sakura's screaming and cursing came to an abrupt halt.

Her whole body was like a skin bag drained of air, staring fixedly at the memento on the ground, her eye sockets splitting open into bloody cracks:

"Rin... Rin? No... This is impossible! You're lying to me!!"

She struggled violently like a madwoman, the alloy buckles digging deep, bloody welts into her skin, yet she felt nothing, only staring fixedly at the memento on the ground, emitting inhuman wails.

[Ding! Target Chiba Sakura, emotional fluctuations reached the extreme, favorability critical hit -6%, current favorability: -97%.]

Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes.

Still not quite there?

Lin Motong suddenly spoke.

"Uncle Lin."

"I can let her see her sister one more time."

Lin Yuan looked at Lin Motong.

"Can you control it?"

Lin Motong hugged the violent bear tightly.

"Her mental state is almost collapsed."

"It's easy to enter."

Lin Yuan nodded.

"Go ahead."

Lin Motong walked to the center of the containment unit.

A red light lit up in her eyes.

The lights in B3 dimmed.

The titanium alloy walls disappeared.

A layer of pale white petals emerged on the ground.

A cherry blossom tree appeared before Chiba Sakura.

Under the tree, Chiba Rin was standing there.

Her clothes were clean.

Chiba Sakura's breathing stopped.

"Rin..."

Chiba Rin in the illusion looked up.

"Sister."

"Why did you come to Jiang City?"

Chiba Sakura froze.

"I came to find you."

Chiba Rin looked at her.

"Then why capture women?"

"Why perform sacrifices?"

"Why treat innocent people as breeding tools for ninja slaves?"

Chiba Sakura's expression fractured.

"That was the guild's order."

"Japan is finished."

"I just wanted you to survive."

Chiba Rin shook her head.

"I died a long time ago."

A single sentence.

Chiba Sakura was like a shell drained of everything.

She opened her mouth but couldn't make a sound.

Chiba Rin continued: "Sister, you didn't do this for me."

"You are just afraid to admit that you were wrong."

Chiba Sakura's tears flowed down.

"No."

"No..."

"Sister, you once said that when the cherry blossoms fall, you don't have to kill anyone..."

The cherry blossom tree dissipated.

B3 returned to its cold light.

Chiba Sakura slumped on the restraint rack, her eyes hollow.

[Ding! Target Chiba Sakura, favorability +3%, current favorability: -94%.]

Lin Yuan rubbed the space between his eyebrows.

The mental stimulation was too much...

"An unexpected increase."

In the corridor.

The medical tablet in Xia Qingqiu's hand suddenly emitted a harsh, low-frequency alarm.

"Boss! Dr. Su's... surface body temperature... has dropped below 28 degrees!"

"The key is, she herself doesn't feel any discomfort..."

Lin Yuan turned his head to look at Su Muxue beside him.

This usually cold and aloof eldest daughter of the Su Family had faint, tiny ice crystals condensing on her fingertips, the color drained from her face, yet she kept her lips pressed tight without saying a word.

"Experiment paused."

Lin Yuan grabbed Su Muxue's wrist, which was as cold as iron, and said unequivocally, "Tonight, you will sleep in the master bedroom."

Su Muxue's body stiffened slightly; her tsundere instinct made her want to shake his hand off, but the touch of scorching body heat unique to Lin Yuan coming from his palm was like a lifeline, causing her to inexplicably give up the struggle.

"...Scoundrel."

She turned her head away and spat out in a low voice.

Lin Yuan turned around.

"Maintain basic life support."

"Monitor 24/7."

Liu Qing's voice came through.

"Yes."

Chiba Sakura suddenly looked up, her voice like sandpaper.

"Lin Yuan..."

Chiba Sakura stared at him.

"What is it that you actually want?"

Lin Yuan did not turn back.

"Wait until you figure out what you have left."

"Then come and ask me."

Chiba Sakura suddenly struggled for a moment.

This time it was not to escape.

She looked at Lin Motong behind Lin Yuan.

"Can I... see her one more time?"

Lin Motong imitated Lin Yuan's tone: "Depends on your value."

The titanium alloy door closed.

B3 plunged into darkness.

Only the sound of Chiba Sakura's breathing remained.