If one were to rank the levels of pain the human body can produce, the highest would undoubtedly be childbirth.
The suffering Su Bai was enduring right now—this pain generated by the twisting of magic—was far more intense than childbirth.
This pain was not the localized kind caused by external attacks such as needle pricks or burns.
It was pain throughout the entire body, as if every pain-related nerve “switch” in her body had been flipped on at once.
It drilled into the heart and pierced the bones. She could not even move a single inch.
Every muscle in her body seemed to have lost control. She could not even make a sound.
Yet her consciousness remained abnormally clear. There was no way to disperse the pain by losing consciousness or diverting her attention.
Untouchable, yet exceptionally distinct.
This was also the effect of that magical power—more like pure torment.
Three minutes was the blink of an eye for most people.
For Su Bai, however, it was probably the longest and most agonizing three minutes she had ever experienced.
After three minutes.
“Huff, huff, huff… It’s finally over.”
Su Bai slowly stretched out her curled, stiff body.
Her phone vibrated once.
Green Vine: 『Did it hurt a lot? Let this teach you a lesson. Don’t think that just because I’m not watching you, you can do whatever you want. Next time it won’t be such a short duration.』
This message arrived right on the three-minute mark.
Su Bai’s entire body was covered in cold sweat. The pain had caused no actual damage to her body—it was pure pain alone.
“This is definitely not the Association’s method.” She had not lost her reason because of the pain, nor did she complain to the heavens.
Instead she began analyzing seriously.
First, tormenting her brought the Association no practical benefit whatsoever. Doing so even carried drawbacks and would needlessly increase the risk of exposure.
Second, the method itself was not particularly sophisticated and did not match the Association’s style.
That left only one possibility. This should be a magic array that Green Vine had installed on her own.
After all, at that time she had been the last person to come into contact with the bracelet before Su Bai received it.
This bracelet was her private punishment.
Su Bai continued gasping for breath on the bed. Her whole body was soaked in cold sweat, yet her thoughts never stopped.
Green Vine is the meticulous type. She probably didn’t set this up purely to torment me.
Unless she is wary of me, or wary of certain secrets on my body?
Just as Su Bai was following this line of thought, a voice came from outside the door.
“Xiao Bai, I brought food. You must be starving, right?”
The person arrived before she was seen. Outside the ward Jiang Yuelan was about to push the door open and call Su Bai to eat.
*She’s back so early. I can’t let her discover me like this. It would expose everything.*
Su Bai immediately sat up, hastily wiped the cold sweat from her face, and pretended to be casually playing with her phone.
It was as if nothing at all had just happened.
“Xiao Bai, were you thinking about me while you were alone in the ward? This is the plain porridge I ordered for you.”
“Thanks, Sister Lan. Come eat with me.”
Su Bai offered Jiang Yuelan a faint smile, yet she could not completely conceal the residual pain that had not yet faded. Her entire body was still trembling slightly.
Jiang Yuelan smiled back as well, seeming not to have noticed anything. She turned her head and began opening the plastic bag.
But the moment she turned away—
The smile on Jiang Yuelan’s face vanished completely, replaced by an icy darkness that reached the extreme.
Jiang Yuelan was a witch. She was most sensitive to human emotions.
From the moment she entered she had already sensed the residual negative emotions on Su Bai’s body caused by intense pain.
Every cell was wailing. The self-abandonment and grievance appeared to Jiang Yuelan like a massive fireball that could not be hidden no matter how hard one tried.
Who the hell did this?!
Jiang Yuelan’s expression turned somewhat ferocious. Rage had already reached its peak in her heart, and countless thoughts churned within.
In the few minutes I was gone, they turned Su Bai into this state!!
This was pure provocation against her.
“Sister Lan, can’t you open the bag? Want me to help?”
Su Bai saw Jiang Yuelan staring blankly at the plastic bag for a moment and asked in confusion.
“Cough… No, I’ve already opened it. This is the porridge I ordered for you. Be careful, it’s hot.”
When Jiang Yuelan faced Su Bai again, the smile returned to her face and her tone recovered its usual gentleness.
Su Bai reached out one hand to take it. Her entire arm extended fully, completely exposing itself before Jiang Yuelan.
Hmph. Just as I thought…
Jiang Yuelan’s eyes narrowed slightly as she immediately locked onto Su Bai’s wrist.
*I’ve seen through it.* She directly sensed the residual aura of a miniature magic array that had just been activated on her wrist.
If one concentrated and observed carefully, one could even see the Transformation Device on Su Bai’s wrist.
Jiang Yuelan’s gaze shifted slightly, a trace of mockery and disdain rising within.
How clever you think you are!
She had no idea which idiot had inscribed those few magic arrays on it.
Originally the design of this Transformation Device was extremely ingenious, achieving an invisibility effect through cognitive modification. Ordinary magical probing required focused attention.
So even if one knew of its existence, one might not necessarily be able to see through it.
But now, with such obvious traces of activation still remaining, and an additional layer of concealing magic clumsily added on top to cover it up—
It felt exactly like abruptly trying to camouflage something with corn stalks in the middle of the African savanna.
Anyone with even a little vigilance would notice something was wrong. This method had indirectly broken the bracelet’s cognitive modification.
Utterly ridiculous!
Therefore, if nothing unexpected had occurred—
This Transformation Device should be the “insurance” mentioned in the intelligence reports all along.
And the person who had just activated the magic array on it was very likely closely connected to Su Bai’s current predicament.
Having analyzed this far, Jiang Yuelan’s expression grew even darker. Someone dared to pull these little tricks right under her nose.
To use an inappropriate analogy, it felt like a man coming home from work to discover his girlfriend was being beaten by someone.
Anger, volcanic in its intensity, surged through Jiang Yuelan’s chest.
If she were not unable to directly expose her magic in front of Su Bai, she would have already followed the magical connection and torn that bastard apart with her bare hands.
…No… not yet.
Huff~. She let out a long breath in her heart and forced her emotions to calm down.
She reminded herself to endure it. She had to endure it… For the sake of the bigger picture, now was not the time.
One day, when that person finally slipped up—
She would definitely catch her and thoroughly investigate the causes and consequences of everything.
Then she would torment her without mercy.
Jiang Yuelan turned her head and looked at Su Bai, who was focused on drinking the porridge. Her hands unconsciously tightened, as if she had made some kind of decision.
“Su Bai, oh Su Bai, why do you make people worry so much?” Jiang Yuelan complained inwardly with a mix of helplessness and resignation.
Right now she probably could no longer even tell whether everything she was doing for Su Bai was “official business” or “personal matters.”