62: Chapter 62 Soul Solvent

The lights went out again, and darkness filled his vision.

After hearing his wife's footsteps fade away, Chen Mo let out a long breath.

Just now, he had been keeping his neck tilted back, ensuring the sweat from his hair wouldn't drip down.

But now, a large amount of cold sweat oozed from his forehead, dripping down his nose bridge onto the floor.

After regulating his breathing, Chen Mo crawled out of the Basement upside down.

He crept to the door, pressed his ear against it, and confirmed there was no one in the living room.

Only then did Chen Mo push the door open and walk out, then followed the outer wall back to the second floor.

It was 11 PM. The coin could be used once a day and would refresh at midnight.

Chen Mo didn't want to waste this opportunity.

So he decided to go straight to Amy's room and use the item to make her tell the truth.

If it turned out to be a "Truth or Dare" scenario, he would just have to wait until tomorrow to ask.

[The coin can only be used once on the same target within a single dungeon.]

Arriving next door, Chen Mo raised his fist and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Amy's lazy voice came from inside the room.

"I have something I want to ask you."

"Is that you, brother-in-law? Although I'd love to let you in, or even have you stay the night, but... let's skip it for today. I'm busy."

Hearing this, Chen Mo felt a bit strange.

Amy had always been very proactive, but tonight, after they had just spoken privately, she had become intentionally distant.

Could it really be because she was defeated by my logic?

He glanced at the time; half an hour remained.

Amy was a dead end. His wife was right next door; if he tried to force his way in or climb over the balcony, there was a high probability of things going wrong.

"Whew... then I'll just have to use it on my wife."

Chen Mo called his wife out, and the two sat alone on the sofa in the living room.

His wife looked puzzled and asked, "Sam, what do you want to talk to me about?"

She sat with her hands resting on her knees, looking incredibly elegant.

There was even a flush on her cheeks; she looked very shy and expectant.

"Wait, bro, don't kill me yet. How about... we play a game?" Chen Mo said it all in one breath.

"Bro? A game?"

"Sam, I think you really want to divorce me. We can't go on like this. You call me out in the middle of the night..."

Before she could finish, her pupils suddenly dilated.

Her eyes became vacant, and she stood there like a Puppet.

Then, he saw the coin in Chen Mo's sleeve fly out automatically with a "ding."

It spun in the air and landed in Chen Mo's palm.

Chen Mo hadn't intended to clasp his hands, but an invisible force compelled him to do so.

The rules even applied to the owner of the item itself.

Chen Mo had to follow the initiation ritual set by the coin.

He opened his palm; the coin was heads up.

Chen Mo could ask his wife one truth.

At this moment, Chen Mo's brain was free to think.

"What should I ask? Should I ask who that 'he' you mentioned is?"

"No, if I ask that, she'll probably just say a name, and I'll waste the opportunity."

"I need to make her spill all the information at once."

He had 30 seconds to formulate the question, during which Chen Mo could not attack or verbally abuse the target.

The only thing he could do was think of the question.

If it exceeded 30 seconds, the item's effect would fail, wasting the opportunity.

"Got it!"

"Anna Catherine, tell me your story, the part that has been hidden."

As soon as Chen Mo's question was out, Anna Catherine began to tell it automatically.

[The story hidden in Anna Catherine's heart:]

"Many years ago, when I was 18, I fell in love with a man named Sam Ricardo. He was a student of the greatest Magician in the world at that time."

"Once, I went backstage to find him, wanting to confess my feelings. However, because of a strange magic potion, I became unable to touch sunlight."

"After that incident, I almost never went out during the day. I didn't want my classmates to mock me as a freak, so... I had no friends."

"What happened with Sam was an accident. I don't hold a grudge against him, but he suddenly disappeared and went to another city."

"When he left, he abandoned everything related to magic, of course... including that strange parchment."

"To this day, he doesn't know that I was the one who collected the parchment. I knew it wasn't just an ordinary magic secret."

"Later, I married another man who was also a Magician. Perhaps I was born with a liking for such smooth-talking men."

"After marriage, we had two children, Alice and Peter."

"At that time, our family of three was very happy, until... one day, I accidentally pushed open his Secret Room."

"Usually, his Secret Room was strictly off-limits. When he was home, he would lock the door after entering, and when he went out, he would also lock it. Anyway, he was very good to me, and I never paid much attention to it."

"Later... after he went out to perform magic, I discovered that the Secret Room wasn't locked. I was very curious; it was like opening Pandora's Box. I was so fascinated and really wanted to know what was in that room."

"So... I walked in."

"I thought I would see all sorts of incredible props, but... inside, there was only a huge iron cauldron, and something was simmering inside."

"The flames at the bottom of the cauldron were green. Even though they were burning directly on the floor, the room wouldn't catch fire."

"I walked over to the giant cauldron, which was big enough to throw me into and boil."

"I even needed to stand on a chair to see what was inside."

"So, I stood up on it."

"When I saw what was being cooked inside, I almost vomited on the spot."

"Because... I saw that what was being cooked in the cauldron were all semi-transparent humans, just like the human souls depicted in movies."

"Those souls were screaming in agony, clutching their heads, struggling desperately in the pot, and then slowly turning into a solution."

"Subsequently, a hexagram pattern appeared in the cauldron."

"A test tube containing concentrated human souls slowly emerged from the ripples and hovered in mid-air."

"After dinner, I lay on the bed."

"Looking at my sleeping husband beside me, I felt so strange and afraid."

"I knew... the man who lay with me every night was likely not human."

"The recent reports in the news about the missing men and women by the lake..."

"I think I've guessed who the suspect is."

"Ever since my husband discovered I had entered the Basement, he has been using my body to test various potions every day."

"Although it wasn't fatal, I really couldn't bear having to consume those solutions made from snakes and insects."

"He started becoming violent, exposing his true nature, and verbally abusing and beating me every day."

"But after beating me, he would use miraculous potions to restore me to as I was."

"He just kept torturing me over and over again like this!"

"I've had enough! I've really had enough!"

"I got dressed, picked up the parchment I had collected years ago again, and fully prepared the solution inside."

"After drinking it, I discovered..."

"I could see ghosts."

"Moreover, I sold my soul to a ghost holding a scythe."

"I made it kill my husband!"

"Watching my husband's head, full of shock, roll onto the ground, I finally found relief."

"That ghost said to me, 'If you want to forget this memory, go and find the person who truly loves you.'"

"'I will take half of your soul as payment. Likewise, I will help you and him meet again.'"