Warning: Most of the chapter is gonna be dark so be prepared.
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In an ethereal, frozen wasteland that only ice and snow was all one could see. It was all white and terribly, deathly quiet — the kind of silence that made the soul ache.
The wind howled faintly in the distance, like whispers from the abyss. Crystalline frost clung to jagged shards of ice jutting out of the frozen ground, and above, there was no sky — only an endless, suffocating expanse of pale nothingness.
"Huuuuu...." Huo Yuhao let out a deep breath, he sat on a wooden log, his handsome face revealed as his mask laid beside him.
He had a blank look on his face, his Sharingan gleaming dark crimson glow with trails of blood dripping down his cheeks. The golden pupils had turned completely dark, reflecting his deep inner emotions to the point that it pushed away the mutation caused by merging with Skydream.
The soul power aura surrounding his body turned bright purple, showing his nature as not just an Uchiha but the incarnation of Indra Ōtsutsuki.
"Aaahhh! P-Please..! Staaaph!!"
He stared, unblinking and unflinching at the brutality before him.
Zhu Yanjing's body; hair, skin, blood, muscles and bones repeatedly torn apart by the constant rabid Snow Bunnies.
Blood dyed the snow and formed a blood pool from where Zhu Yanjing
Huo Yuhao continued staring and leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees.
"Aaaah! Aah! Noo!"
He raised his right hand, and snapped his fingers.
*Snapped!*
Instantly, the snowy wasteland disappeared.
Now they were in a completely white space.
"Aaaaah!! Noo! No! It hurts! It hurts!!" Zhu Yanjing cried out, not noticing the sudden change of the world nor the disappearance of the Snow Bunnies.
Although she's at her peak state, the phantom pain of being constantly devoured by the Snow Bunnies lingered.
Minutes passed and Zhu Yanjing gradually regained her bearings. She looked around her in confusion and her eyes stopped at Huo Yuhao, her eyes widened in fear and horror.
"You! No! Please! I-I'll give you anything you want! Money, national secrets, soul bones, anything! Just let me go!" she screamed, crawling backward on trembling limbs, her dignity and noble confidence long since shattered.
Although her body was in healthy shape, her mind was on the brink of collapse. The sensation of constantly being devoured by bunnies, it wasn't even fast either.
Huo Yuhao made it so that the bunnies devoured her little by little and made sure they didn't target vital spots immediately — making sure she felt every single part of her body being eaten.
Huo Yuhao stared at her, his eerie crimson eyes gleamed with its pupils revolving menacingly.
He smiled and coldly said, "It is now hour 24 of the 74 hours of torture."
"Huh?" Zhu Yanjing froze, tears trickling down from her eyes.
His smile widened.
"The second phase of your torture...begins now."
"N-Nonono! Wait!" Zhu Yanjing desperately raised her arm toward him, fingers outstretched as if she could physically grasp his mercy — but none came.
Huo Yuhao raised his hand, snapping his fingers.
*Snapped!*
The white space distorted once more, rippling like disturbed water.
"H-Huh?" Zhu Yanjing blinked.
She was back in her study room, the sun's rays piercing through from the large window behind her.
"W-What was I...?" Zhu Yanjing covered her face with one hand.
'I feel like something terrible has happened, but I can't remember what it is,' She frowned, tapping her armchair irritably.
She pursed her lips and contemplated further, but to no avail as she shook her head.
'No. It's no use. I can't remember what happened.'
Suddenly someone knocked on the door.
Zhu Yanjing's eyes snapped open as she looked up at the door, her heart beating rapidly but she didn't understand why.
"W-Who is it?" She coarsely replied.
"Mistress? It's me," Entering the room was old Bai Ya. She frowned upon seeing Zhu Yanjing's pale expression.
"Is something the matter? You look pale. Did you come upon a fever? Should I call upon a doctor to check on you?"
Zhu Yanjing let out a huge sigh of relief and shook her head. She replied, "N-No need. I just had a... nightmare, is all."
"A nightmare? Oh," Bai Ya's face softened as she took a seat before her.
"I understand what you feel, mistress. I had watched over the young master Huabin growing up ever since he was a baby. In a way, I feel like he was my own unruly grandson. He shouldn't have died like that."
Throughout the entire household, besides family members, Bai Ya was among the rare few who could be so casual with the Dai family. Moreso with the infamous Duchess.
"Haubin? Y-Yes, you're right. Ever since he died, I couldn't..." Upon hearing what Bai Ya said, Zhu Yanjing's eyes showed deep sadness and closed her eyes.
She remembers now.
Her son, Dai Huabin, died from the manipulation of some fiend and tried to bomb himself before his family.
They couldn't even hold a proper funeral, all that was left of him was ashes mixed with debris from the explosion.
'This must be that uneasy feeling. Haa. My little boy, gone forever. And always, that stupid husband of mine prioritizes his duties instead of his family. Not even a day after the funeral we held for our son, he went back to his military base.
Even the emperor would let him grieve for weeks, but no. His responsibility and honor is more important than mourning his own flesh and blood,' Zhu Yanjing thought bitterly, her fingers tightening around the armrest.
Bai Ya watched her silently, the lines on her aged face softening with sympathy. She quietly took out a wine bottle and two glass cups on the table. "It's alright to grieve, mistress. You don't need to carry the burden alone."
She then poured wine on the glass cups, placing one for herself and the other for Zhu Yanjing. "Especially not in front of me."
Zhu Yanjing nodded faintly, her composure crumbling just slightly as she took the wine cup.
As she took a sip, her voice trembled. "....I raised him to be strong, unlike what he had become prior to...his death. But all men of the Dai family become haughty, confident and arrogant when they're at that age so I didn't do anything about it."
She sighed and drank the wine in her cup in one go. "....I always thought I would die before him. He was supposed to live a full life, inheriting the noble title from his father and Xiao Lu(Zhu Lu) would inherit mine."
"...Should I change his urn? The least I could do for my son is to pamper as much as I could. Even if there's nothing left but ashes and shame," Zhu Yanjing muttered, her voice growing quieter.
Bai Ya frowned, sipping her wine cup.
"Uh, mistress. I came here today to notify you about something."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Young master Huabin's casket has arrived. His body has been outfitted with—"
The sound of glass breaking could be heard as Zhu Yanjing hurriedly stood up, her eyes wide in disbelief.
"What?!"
Outside the mansion, Zhu Yanjing blankly stared down at the wooden casket being carried with utmost care by several servants dressed in mourning robes. Each step they took was solemn, as if they feared disturbing the silence of death itself.
It was opened, revealing Dai Huabin's body inside dressed in an immaculate white suit with silver-gold embroidery running along the edges — formal wear fit for a noble. His long luscious golden hair had been carefully combed, and his once arrogant expression had vanished, replaced with a serene, almost childlike calm.
He looked asleep, as if he'd wake up at any moment.
Zhu Yanjing staggered forward, her breath shallow. "This...this is impossible," she whispered. "There was nothing left of him. Not even bones...!"
Bai Ya caught up beside her, her wrinkled hand resting gently on the duchess's shoulder. "Mistress, please...stay calm."
"What's going on?!" Zhu Yanjing asked numbly, reaching into the casket and touching her son's cold hand. "This body—it's normal. No wounds, no burns. It's as if..."
Suddenly, Dai Huabin's slowly eyes opened.
"M-Mom...?"
"H-Huabin?!"
Zhu Yanjing hurriedly grabbed onto her son's hand, feeling it warm and alive. Tears trickled down from her eyes as she sniffed.
"My son... you're alive! You're alive! Y-You're alive..! Aughhh!"
She sobbed heavily, pressing her son's warm hand against her face.
She felt as though her ancestor had blessed her greatly.
'T-This must be a second chance given to by a powerful being! I don't care who they are or what they want...thank you...' As she cried, she was completely ruthless and cunning duchess that mamy fear.
Right now, she was a mother that was relieved to find her thought to be dead son was actually alive.
Not.
"Mom...why did you let me die?"
Zhu Yanjing froze.
"H-Huabin...?" She slowly looked up at her son's face, and she went deathly pale.
Staring at her was the slowly degrading face of Dai Huabin. His once-perfect features began to melt away like wax under fire.
Pale, living flesh sloughed off to reveal blistered, charred muscle. His right eye dangled loosely from its socket, and half his skull was exposed — scorched and blackened like he'd never truly escaped the explosion.
Zhu Yanjing's breath hitched, her grip on his hand loosening as the miracle shattered before her.
"Why did you let me die, Mother?" his voice grew distorted, echoing unnaturally, as if layered over with countless whispers — some angry, some pleading, and some weeping.
"I—I didn't...!" she stammered, tears of horror replacing those of relief.
"You taught me to be ruthless. You taught me that mercy was weakness! That family was second to power. And yet... when I was lost... you didn't even try to save me!"
Dai Huabin's undead body was engulfed in a fiery inferno.
"You let me BURN!!"
"STOP!!" Zhu Yanjing screamed, stumbling backward.
The world around her shattered again — the courtyard, the servants, even the casket — all crumbling like glass.
Then she was back in her study room.
"W-What...." Zhu Yanjing tearfully mumbled.
But this time, she remembered about the gruesome resurrection of her son.
This cycle repeated hundreds of times.
"Second phase, Lost Hope."
"Retribution of what it means to lose someone you love dearly but is desperate to bring them back, only for there to be... terrible consequences."
Huo Yuhao's voice echoed.
Hours passed, but it felt like centuries for Zhu Yanjing.
"Ah....ah....ah...."
She knelt on the white void, her face expressionless and her eyes empty.
She was all just an empty husk now, the mental torture of seeing her dead relatives being like this and haunting her had broke her.
Huo Yuhao stood before her once more, still cold and indifferent.
There was still the third phase, but it seems like it's unneeded.
"...Goodbye, Duchess. If there is a hell in this world, then I will accompany you in the future."
Reality began to unravel back to its origin.
Zhu Yanjing sat on her chair, dead.
When the elder finds her in a couple of days, the entire nation would be in complete uproar and the White Tiger Duke would personally lead the investigation about this incident.
But that was a story for another time.
On the outskirts of the mansion.
A simple and humble mound of dirt, with a wooden board for a tombstone, with childish words that said:
"Huo Yun'er — The greatest mother in the world!"
Huo Yuhao stood before the grave of his mother and knelt down, his forehead met the ground.
His voice was slow and slightly trembling, as if he was holding back tears.
"Mother, this unworthy son has finally returned...."
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AN: 😢