Volume 12: Invitation to Hell - Chapter 28: The Hell of Unjust Deaths

Everyone returned from visiting their parents in high spirits. What pleased Jiang Yun, Huo Mingkun, and Chen Haixu the most was that Yaoguang had been well-received and approved of by their parents, who all urged them to learn diligently from her. However, everyone envied Yaoguang the most, as her parents were both immortals who had ascended from human life. Seeing the unspoken desires of these youngsters, Yaoguang brought out some spiritual elixirs to gift them, leaving everyone overjoyed and further solidifying her favor.

"Phoenix, the fourteenth invitation has appeared," Song Xuekai hurried over. "The victim is still alive, but on the verge of brain death. Is there any way you can save them? The doctors have arrived, but they are helpless."

"Let's go, quickly." Yaoguang beckoned, and the group followed her out.

The car stopped in front of a club.

Yaoguang rushed inside, where she saw five people lying on a large mat. Their faces were ashen, and they were motionless. Standing nearby were several others; the girls were sobbing uncontrollably, and the men were trembling with fear.

Yaoguang approached and used her spiritual energy to probe them. They were indeed in a near-death state, with their souls on the verge of leaving their bodies, though they had not yet fully departed.

Yaoguang took several red strings from her pocket, wove them quickly, and tied them around the left wrists of the five in a peculiar manner. She then took cinnabar, talismans, and wine to prepare a cinnabar infusion. After dissolving a pale silver pill into the liquid, she had Huo Mingkun and the others pry open the victims' mouths, forcing them to swallow a mouthful each.

Yaoguang then chanted incantations, channeling wave after wave of spiritual energy into their bodies. Their condition was even more critical than Lu Minqian’s had been, and she was uncertain if they could be saved.

As Yaoguang's spiritual energy poured in continuously, she began to feel the strain.

"Cough, cough, cough." One boy suddenly began to cough. Soon after, the remaining four followed suit.

"Axu, Akun, help me! Force out that clot of blood from their hearts, or they won't make it," Yaoguang commanded.

Chen Haixu and Huo Mingkun immediately stepped forward, their spiritual energy surging. To the onlookers, it seemed as if a series of whirlwinds were sweeping across the floor. They watched Yaoguang, Chen Haixu, and Huo Mingkun in utter astonishment.

With a sudden retch, the five victims coughed up blood and began to breathe heavily.

"Send them to the hospital. They should be fine now. Captain Song, get the police to guard them. These people must stay alive, or we will never know why the Hell Messenger is targeting them." Yaoguang withdrew her energy.

The five were taken away by the hospital. Only then did Yaoguang have a moment to investigate.

"Master, the invitation." Jiang Yun handed it over.

Yaoguang opened it. The invitation was simple.

Inviter: Extreme Club
To be born human is a supreme blessing; how tragic that it is so unappreciated.

Signature: Hell Messenger.

Yaoguang closed the invitation and looked around the club, which was essentially a large prefabricated cabin. Shelves were filled with outdoor mountaineering and camping gear, all marked with prices, seemingly for retail. Yet, on the other side, there were strange items: straps, daggers, and various tools that were hard to define.

"Akun, check their business license and see what exactly they are registered for," Yaoguang told Huo Mingkun.

Huo Mingkun nodded and left, returning shortly with a laptop. After searching, he found it was registered for outdoor equipment sales.

"Which one of you will answer my questions?" Yaoguang looked at the group of young people.

They exchanged glances, and one boy stepped forward. "My name is Chu Yu. I'll answer."

"Who discovered them?" Yaoguang asked.

"It was me. When I arrived, the door was open. I pushed it and found them lying on the floor in a heap. I checked their breathing and realized they had stopped. I was terrified, so I called the police," Chu Yu explained.

"What is the purpose of all this clutter?" Yaoguang gestured to the wall of strange tools and racks.

"Our license is for outdoor gear, but in reality, we are an extreme sports club. We challenge many extreme sports. You know parkour, right? That’s the simplest one," Chu Yu said.

"Show me," Yaoguang signaled.

Chu Yu nodded. He performed a backflip, stepped onto the wall, vaulted over a rack, jumped to the highest point, and then leapt down, landing with a clean flip. He walked back to Yaoguang.

"Do you know that you are playing with your lives? With these movements, the slightest mistake and you’ll die a gruesome death. Your technique is skilled, but you are only human, and you have no protection whatsoever while doing these things. Do you think you are gods?" Yaoguang said coldly.

"You speak so lightly of it. If you're so capable, why don't you try?" a girl behind Chu Yu challenged defiantly.

Yaoguang smiled at the girl. "Young and reckless, truly. Very well, it seems I won't get honest answers from you unless I show you a thing or two."

Xuan Chen, seeing Yaoguang's expression, knew she was about to do something that would shatter their worldview. Sure enough, in the next moment, Yaoguang tapped her toes and leaped, landing gracefully on the highest rack. The girl below stared in shock at Yaoguang, who was standing steadily on one foot on the seven-or-eight-meter-high structure. Yaoguang picked up a deck of cards from the floor, fanned them out with her right hand, and aimed at the wall of balloons opposite. With a flick of her wrist, the cards flew out like throwing knives, bursting the balloons with a series of *pop-pop-pop* sounds before embedding themselves firmly into the wall. Yaoguang leaped down and landed before Chu Yu, pointing her chin at the stunned girl. "Little girl, convinced? That is what we call skill."

"You are a master," the girl nodded in surprise.

"You haven't told me the truth. You don't just do extreme sports; there are many high-risk activities. Tell me," Yaoguang said.

Over the next hour, Yaoguang learned that the club was a hub for extreme, high-risk activities. They practiced without safety gear, which was essentially no different from suicide.

Back at the police station, Yaoguang had Huo Mingkun investigate, finding many videos they had posted online. It was an eye-opener: climbing high-rise towers and construction cranes with bare hands and no safety measures. This wasn't challenging the limits of sports; it was challenging the limits of life.

Yaoguang looked at the invitation. "The fourteenth floor of hell: the Hell of Wrongful Death. You must understand that being born as a human is not easy; it is a chance given by the King of Hell. If you do not cherish it and choose suicide—slitting wrists, poisoning, hanging—you anger the King of Hell and are cast into the prison of wrongful death upon dying. You will never have the chance to be human again."

Yaoguang mused, "Extreme sports are common in modern society. If the killer is punishing them for this, the excuse is too far-fetched. There is something else going on; these children are not telling the whole truth."

"Phoenix, the hospital called. You should go take a look. Those teenagers are acting very strange," Xuan Chen said as he walked in.

"Let’s go." Yaoguang followed him. Upon arriving at the hospital, she saw Lele and Chenchen there. "What's the situation with you two?"

"We’re here for the forensic examination. This was truly an eye-opener," Chenchen said.

Lele led Yaoguang into a ward. The girl was still unconscious. Lele carefully pulled back the blanket. The girl was only wearing undergarments, and her fair skin was covered in numerous scars.

"Sister Phoenix, look specifically at her left hand. There are many knife marks. I’ve checked; they were made by small blades. If someone else had done it, the wounds would be shallow to deep, but these are deep to shallow—typical of self-inflicted wounds. There are also rope marks on her neck from hanging, and steel pins in her legs from a high-altitude fall. The other four are the same. I suspect these kids don't just do extreme sports; this is a suicide club," Lele said.

"I agree. No one kills themselves for fun for no reason. These people aren't challenging the limits of sports; they are challenging the limits of life, experiencing the thrill of the near-death moment," Chenchen added.

"How long until they wake up?" Yaoguang asked.

"It should be a few more days," the doctor following behind replied.

"Xuan Chen, bring the remaining members of the club to me. These brats—too infuriating, killing themselves for fun," Yaoguang said as she walked out.

Back at the station, the other youths were brought in. Yaoguang had them all examined for injuries. Sure enough, every one of them bore scars, which, according to medical records, were all self-inflicted.

"Tell me, what is the purpose of your suicide?" Yaoguang looked at them. "Do you know who the killer targeting your friends is?"

They shook their heads.

"It is the Hell Messenger. The killer in this serial case. If this person has targeted you, it means you have blood on your hands according to their way of thinking. If you don't speak, I will find out, and it won't be pretty. Think carefully," Yaoguang said. "The Hell Messenger didn't kill you outright, which means your actions aren't yet unforgivable. Those who had already taken lives are now dead."

"Is it because of Chu Ning?" Chu Yu looked at the others, then at Yaoguang. "Chu Ning was my younger sister. You are right; we are a suicide club, experiencing the limit of near-death. But we always prepared thoroughly and had full medical checkups before any activity. Chu Ning had a lung disorder, so she couldn't participate in some activities. But she wouldn't listen. Once, we wanted to experience the near-death of drowning. I told her she couldn't participate, but those five didn't listen and dragged her along. I wasn't there that day. Before I left, I warned her repeatedly not to go into the water and told others to watch her. But those five dragged her in. Because of her lungs, she couldn't hold on for long. When she tried to surface, they wouldn't let her. She struggled violently, but they thought she was joking. Only when she stopped moving did they realize they had gone too far. When they pulled her out, she was already gone. By the time we reached the hospital, she was brain-dead." Chu Yu sighed. "After that day, our club stopped extreme sports and suicide experiences. I only came back to pack my things. I can't face the reality of Chu Ning's death."

"So that's how it is. No wonder the Hell Messenger left them a sliver of hope. I don't know how to comment on this, but I must tell you: being human is precious and rare. To waste it like this is truly detestable." Yaoguang had Xuan Chen send them away.

That night, everyone in the club had the same dream—a dream of hell, of the trial and punishment for those who die by suicide. Needless to say, it was Yaoguang's handiwork. She wanted them to know how foolish suicide was; to waste the rare opportunity of human life attained after a thousand years of reincarnation was truly abominable.

Three days later, the five youths woke up and came to the police station to thank Yaoguang, but for some reason, she felt such disgust toward them that she avoided seeing them. She had no interest in people who did not value their own lives.

The Fourteenth Floor of Hell: The Hell of Wrongful Death.