The Perfect Path To Insanity-Chapter 43: Dying Like A Fool

’Have I ever seen a ruthless man like him?’

General Bai remained on his knees. Thick fresh blood coated his tongue with each cough.

It dribbled from the corner of his mouth and pooled on the concrete.

’Yes... I have. I have seen many terrors. Both day and night. This... this doesn’t scare me.’

His chest burned with every inhale, ribs pulling tight against inflamed lungs. Sweat beaded along his hairline, trickled down his temples, mixed with the dirt on his neck.

Fei Ming stood directly over him. The faint metallic tang of the cell’s rust mingled with the sharp stink of Bai’s blood and the lingering damp from the earlier rain on Fei Ming’s cloak.

Bai forced his head up. His neck muscles strained, cords standing out. Spit flecked his lips as he spoke,"The bounty... cannot be dropped. Not by me. I only follow Lu Yuan. His order stands."

Fei Ming’s gaze stayed on this general.

"Then the plague keeps spreading. Until all lower ranks collapse first. Until none of you are left. Wouldn’t that be a delightful win for me? Yet, here I am, negotiating with you. The one who has nothing to lose."

Bai tried to push himself upright. His palms slipped in his own blood. Arms trembled, elbows locked for a second before folding.

He dropped forward onto his forearms with a grunt. The impact jarred his teeth together. Pain lanced through his chest again, sharper this time.

"You are no man, Sheng Fei Ming. A worthless being. Worthless enough to have nothing to lose. Not even a shred of pride," he spat.

"I should feel hurt, but I’m not the one near death, am I?" Fateless replied, utterly uninterested with the words coming out of a dead man.

Lifting his left hand, the system screen glitched to life. Its cool blue light spilling across his face, catching the damp strands of hair clinging to his forehead.

FLASH!

[Your Item, ’A pair of gloves’ is being taken out of your inventory.]

When the pair of black gloves materialized in his hands, he put them on.

His gloved finger tapped another icon.

[Your Item, ’S-tier Game Core’ is being taken out of your inventory!]

A soft weight landed on the floor with a muffled pat of paws. Orange fur, white belly patch slightly matted from confinement.

Thud!

Justice hit the ground.

"Mrowwww!" He stretched his spine with a slow arch. Yawning and revealing his dainty canine teeth and a glimpse of his pink tongue.

"Krrrr! How long was I in that clustered place?!" The kitten’s voice pitched high, childish, edged with irritation.

Looking at Justice, Fei Ming noticed that his fur had thickened noticeably, body filled out a fraction more than hours ago. He had rounder flanks, and a fuller tail.

Was he evolving and growing faster than a usual cat? 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Justice craned his neck up at Fei Ming, scrunching his small furry face as his green eyes narrowed.

"Where’s me snack? Treat?" He swiveled his head, whiskers twitching as he scented the cell: rust, blood, old stone, the faint sourness of sickness already clinging to Bai. "We in a cage?! Why u bring me out here?! Take me back. Stinky."

He dropped to a sit and began licking his right front paw. Then his gaze snagged on General Bai heaving heavily.

Justice tilted his head back to his ’servant’. One of his ears flicked sideways. A paw lifted and pointed at the bloody man.

"Who he? Why u in a long chain? Where’s food? After stuffing me in your deranged space hole—no food?!"

’I never knew he would talk and complain this much...’

Fei Ming exhaled through his nose.

He bent down just enough, and lifted Justice by scooping under the belly with both hands.

The cat thrashed around, thumping against Fei Ming’s forearms. "Hey! Still mad! No treats!"

Fei Ming pinned him gently against his chest.

One gloved thumb smoothed down the fur along Justice’s spine in slow strokes. The kitten’s purring started low, involuntary, then cut off as he huffed.

"You can ask your questions later, Justice." Fei Ming flicked a tiny flake of ash from the cat’s ear.

Justice settled in.

"But I won’t be able to buy you snacks if I’m chained to a wall, you see. Destroy it," Fateless said.

Looking up with his tongue darted out, Justice licked his own whiskers. "Enough favours. Four extra treats in exchange."

"Tsk... Fine."

Bai watched from the floor. His fingers curled into loose fists in the cooling blood. Eyes tracked the small orange shape, then flicked to Fei Ming’s unchanging face.

Why does this vile man own a cat? A talking cat?

The whole scene felt wrong.

"Okay!" Justice nodded. He sprang from Fei Ming’s arms.

Small pads of his paw touched the iron cuffs, then the chain links. The whole metal blackened and rusted at the touch.

A low hiss filled the cell, then everything flaked, and the chains dissolved into nothing but fine grey of ash.

Finally, Fei Ming could feel his hands.

"Four extra treats," Justice said, voice flat. He padded out of the cell with his tail straight up. "Come out, the room stinks. See me outside."

After a few seconds, the free man glanced at the low rank General.

Crouching, his knees brushed the ash. Faces level with Bai’s.

"My humble regards to your ’Great Lu Yuan’," Fei Ming said. His voice dreadfully low.

"Do not think about killing yourself, General. That would be a coward’s move, wouldn’t it? In a few hours your skin will turn sore. Red rashes will spread across your arms, your neck, your chest. Just as they will on all your soldiers if you don’t call down the bounty."

He rose. Turned, and walked out. The footsteps sound faded down the prison corridor.

"Haa—" General Bai stayed down. He shoved himself with both hands. Legs dragged uselessly behind him.

"Argh," he groaned, rolling onto his side as his uniform sleeve smeared through his own blood and the ash left behind.

’How shall I deal with this man? If Stolas hears about this, he would laugh at my face. Arrogant man.’

Then now laying onto his stomach. Elbows dug in. He crawled despite the excruciating pain circuiting to his back.

The cell doorframe loomed closer.

Several minutes dragged.

And then, when the lights almost faded from his eyes, footsteps echoed in his ears.

"General!" screamed a man.

The young soldier burst in. He dropped beside Bai, hooked strong arms under shoulders, and hauled him up. "General! What happened?!"

Bai’s head lolled; the soldier’s grip tightened on him.

Using all his strength to speak, the fallen General muttered, "Hunter..." Air rattled in his lungs.

"Let me be. Run. Write a request to Lu Yuan. We need his immediate attention concerning his recent order. Do not make contact with the paper. Refrain from physical contact. Wear a mask. If you fall, do not fear. You’ll... you will live. This is an order."

The soldier’s eyes widened. He swallowed, hesitant about it.

But then nodded sharply. He eased Bai against the wall and sprinted away.

In his weakened state, Low-rank General Bai exhaled a sigh of relief. Even without him, things would work the way they always were. Dying meant nothing. Death wasn’t scary.

What was scary to him was dying without being remembered.

Or dying like an utter fool. Stripped off his pride by the hands of a low rank commoner.

"Are you monologuing or mourning about how pride is special to you again, Anubis? Isn’t that a waste of time?"

Slowly, Bai lifted his head. The faint light caught his eye. ’No one had called me that in a long time.’

And the person standing next to him was no other than...