novelTele Chapter 103 Debt Collection
Chapter 103 Debt Collection
When real death is altered into a rehearsed farce, when broken bones and torn dignity are restored in an instant, the fear suppressed in everyone's heart ferments into pure, violent rage.
The clown doll, which had been so arrogant just moments before, slumped to the ground, staring at the group of "dead people" who were gathering around it, its plastic eyes gleaming with fear.
"etc!"
It waved its short arms, trying to muster its strength: "I am the chef, I am the master! You lowly ingredients—"
"Snapped!"
The response it received was a chair that flew in.
It was Chen Zhongyi who made the move, his face contorted in a ferocious grimace: "Ingredients? I'm your father!"
Chen Zhongyi had no fighting skills; all he had was a heart full of twisted and distorted phantom pain.
Even though his body had recovered, the pain from his spine being forcibly folded in half and his heels touching the back of his head still lingered in his nerves, burning his reason like lava.
He straddled the clown, his knees pressed firmly against the doll's chest, his hands gripping its head.
"You like folding things, right? Oh? You like organizing, right?"
"Come on, let me tighten it for you too!"
"Snap!"
Chen Zhongyi grabbed the clown's left leg and twisted it backwards onto its neck.
"what!"
The clown doll screamed.
"What are you yelling for? This is only the first act."
Chen Zhongyi, his eyes red, said, "Weren't you so arrogant just now? Keep going!"
"Click!"
Her legs were forcibly tied into a bow.
"Not enough, not enough."
Da Lu pushed Chen Zhongyi aside, and the mountain of flesh now enveloped the clown.
His face lacked its usual honesty; he recalled the despair he had felt when he and Ye Jianguo had become one—the feeling of suffocation where bones were dislocated, flesh and blood were mixed, and even the heartbeats were indistinguishable.
"You like kneading dough, right?"
Big Lu stretched out his massive hand and grabbed the clown's deformed torso. "Then I'll crush you!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
He grabbed the Joker's legs like he was kneading dough and slammed them against the ground again and again. With each impact, parts of the Joker's body would fly off.
"This time, it's your turn to make a fool of us."
"This time, it's your return for trampling on life."
"This time, it's because you're too ugly."
Immediately afterwards, Da Lu, panting heavily, threw the clown, who had already turned into a limp lump of mud, onto the table.
Chen Hua stood there the whole time, holding the vengeful spirit stick in his hand.
She wasn't as hysterical as the two men, but the coldness in her eyes was the most intense. She stepped forward and used the tip of her stick to pry open the clown's broken, resentful chin.
Is manipulating people's minds fun?
"You want us to kill each other? You want to watch us betray our teammates to save our own lives? Is this what you call a feast?"
"No, I just..." The clown doll had completely lost its arrogance.
It trembled, black liquid streaming from its eyes. "I was wrong... I really know I was wrong, please stop hitting me, it hurts!"
"pain?"
Chen Hua sneered and raised the Soul-Binding Staff high in his hand.
"When you smashed my skull just now, did you ask me if it hurt?"
"Buzz!"
The staff, imbued with a black, menacing aura, fell ruthlessly.
"Bang!"
That blow shattered his shoulder.
"Bang!"
The second blow shattered his kneecap.
"Bang!"
The third blow broke the spine.
Lu Dan leaned back in his chair, watching this scene unfold.
He didn't take action because it was too taxing and also because it wasn't necessary.
"That's about it."
Ye Jianguo, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.
He pulled Chen Hua aside and walked step by step to the table: "What exactly happened after I fainted?"
Everyone started explaining to him, offering their own explanations.
After listening, he reached out and picked up the clown doll, which was no longer recognizable as human.
"...Please let me go, I beg you."
The clown looked at Ye Jianguo as if grasping at a last straw, forcing a fawning smile onto his blood-stained face:
"You're a good person...you're an official, right? You have principles!"
"I know I was wrong, I really will change, and I will never do it again!"
Ye Jianguo looked at it and listened to its pleas for mercy.
for a long time.
He then spoke coldly: "In my life, I have saved many people, and I have also buried many people."
"I've heard countless comrades' last words before, but I never expected to hear even more after coming to the film set."
"Some of them are only eighteen years old and have just been admitted to police academy; some even have newborn children at home."
"Do you know what? Before they died, they grabbed my hand, crying and saying they wanted to go home, wanted to see their families, wanted to live..."
Ye Jianguo seemed to see those faces, those eyes extinguished in despair, and those names that he had compiled into files and turned into black and white photos.
"But have you given them a chance?"
"no."
"You treat torture and killing as a game, trample human dignity into the mud, and even take pleasure in it."
"You are all arrogant and condescending, mocking our struggles and treating our pain as dessert."
Ye Jianguo's fingers tightened slightly:
"Now, as you lie on the ground trembling, where has your divine aura gone?"
You're asking me if I can forgive you?
He seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world; a sorrowful smile appeared on his lips, his eyes slightly red but dry and tearless.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm just an old soldier seeking justice for the dead."
"I am not qualified to forgive you on behalf of those comrades who died in agony."
"My kindness is reserved for humans, not for man-eating monsters."
The clown shook his head frantically, his tears mixed with black blood splattering onto Ye Jianguo's hand.
"Stop crying, these tears are too cheap."
Ye Jianguo's gaze hardened like steel. "Look at yourself now. Trembling, terrified, and pathetic, but where is there even a trace of remorse?"
"You don't know you were wrong; you just finally understand what it means to be terrified when the scythe of death is at your throat."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Jianguo placed his hands across the clown doll's neck, preventing it from saying another word.
He simply watched quietly as the clown doll struggled and convulsed in his hands, watching its malevolent eyes gradually fade until they vanished into nothingness.
Chen Hua, Da Lu, Chen Zhongyi, Lin Xiaoxiao, and Lu Dan, who was sitting in a chair, all watched this scene silently.
This is a belated memorial.
"Click."
A cracking sound rang out, and Ye Jianguo had completely broken its neck.
As the clown doll died, the banquet hall began to shake, revealing the lavishly decorated walls of the real world.
"The script is finished."
Ye Jianguo released his grip, letting the clown doll slide to the ground.
Once the tension in your nerves is released, fatigue washes over you like a tidal wave.
But it's not over yet.
Almost simultaneously, everyone's eyes were fixed on a person in the corner—Bao Ping.
Clutching a small wrench, the honest man who had just been indignant and waving his arms, ready to join the brawl, now felt a chill run down his spine from being stared at.
"Gulp."
Bao Ping swallowed hard, instinctively hiding the wrench behind his back, sensing something was amiss.
"Hey... um... I'm so glad everyone's alright..."
He chuckled dryly, his face crinkling with wrinkles, trying to bluff his way out with his habitual ingratiation, his feet unconsciously shifting backward as if trying to create distance.
"No...don't look at me like that, it's creepy."
No one spoke; they just stared intently at him, closing in step by step, the encirclement growing smaller and smaller.
Bao Ping took a few steps back, and his back suddenly bumped into a soft body.
He turned around, and there was Lin Xiaoxiao.
The female screenwriter, who had maintained a calm and intellectual demeanor throughout the script, now had slightly red eyes and looked somewhat disheveled.
She looked up at Bao Ping, making him feel uneasy.
"Hey, Xiaoxiao...hehe..." Bao Ping shrank his neck, his voice a little weak.
"I really know I was wrong. What I did just now was wrong. I shouldn't have taken your food. I won't do it again... I really won't."
"Snapped!"
A crisp slap rang out.
Lin Xiaoxiao slapped Bao Ping hard across the face, the blow was extremely forceful and she didn't hold back.
Bao Ping's head lolled to the side after being hit, and he was completely dazed.
He covered his burning cheek, staring at Lin Xiaoxiao in disbelief: "Xiaoxiao, you?"
"Go to hell!"
Before he could react, a figure rushed over from the side.
Lu Dan sprang up from his chair and launched a flying kick straight at Bao Ping's buttocks.
"Bang!"
However, due to the immense energy expenditure, Lu Dan's kick not only failed to move the thick-skinned Bao Ping, but the reaction force caused him to stagger and nearly fall flat on his face.
"Ouch!"
Lu Dan staggered a couple of steps, but Ye Jianguo quickly grabbed him and helped him regain his balance. Once he was steady, Lu Dan was no longer the enigmatic and shrewd man he usually was.
He pointed at Bao Ping's nose, furious and cursing, "Bao Ping, is your brain filled with mush? Did you damage your brain while repairing cars?"
"Who told you to show off? Huh?"
"Who told you to eat two dishes by yourself? Tell me!"
"Who do you think you are? A savior? Or do you think we're all useless and need an old codger like you to save us?"
"If you want to die, go find somewhere secluded to die! What's the point of leaving us here?"
"Are you expecting us to live with your life on our backs? Are you expecting us to remember your rotten face every time we eat from now on?"
Lu Dan coughed violently, his pale face flushed red from the emotional outburst, and his saliva sprayed all over Bao Ping's face.
"Ask everyone, ask them! Who would want to trade their life for yours?"
Bao Ping covered his reddened face, then looked at Lu Dan, who was almost falling over and still cursing. All the words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat.
He saw Da Lu with red eyes, sniffling beside him, like a 200-pound child who had been wronged.
I saw Chen Hua turn his head away to secretly wipe away his tears, his shoulders trembling slightly.
I saw Chen Zhongyi crying in despair.
"I..." Bao Ping opened his mouth, his voice choked with emotion. His heart, which had been numb from years of humbly struggling to survive, was now burning with pain.
Lin Xiaoxiao stood in front of him, her hand that had hit Bao Ping still trembling slightly, and tears fell again.
"Don't do it again next time..."
Lin Xiaoxiao's voice was choked with emotion as she reached out and tugged at Bao Ping's sleeve: "Master Bao... please don't do it again next time."
"We are teammates, we are people who are meant to survive together, believe in us."
"We believe in you too. Let's all walk to the finish line together and smash the wreckage together."
Bao Ping was stunned. He looked at this group of people—friends who were angry and weeping for him, a useless middle-aged man, in this cannibalistic world.
He immediately understood that his life wasn't something to be wasted; someone cared about it.
"Okay, okay."
Bao Ping wiped his face haphazardly with his sleeve, gripping the small wrench tightly in his hand, revealing a smile that looked more like a grimace.
The surrounding scenery gradually collapsed.
[The first phase of the script "A Feast for the Senses" has ended]
[Pass Rating: A+ (Revised Version)]
Congratulations on a successful performance!
Welcome to participate in the second phase next time.
The on-set announcement sounded.
But at this moment, nobody cared about the damn points and rewards.
They stood together, basking in the sunlight of survival after the disaster.
It's nice to be alive.
It's so good that everyone is here.