The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Zheng Yuan’s body was reconstituted as he appeared in his original spot, just like when he had entered the room.

He looked at his hands and the mirrors around him as he stood there in a daze, mumbling. “This… Could this be a dream?”

As he spoke, Zheng Yuan approached a mirror to look at his reflection. For some reason, he had the nagging feeling that his reflection appeared a little odd. Hence, he thought, “Could there be a ghost in this mirror? Is the one inside not actually me?”

Once he had this thought, he immediately thought of scenes from movies he had watched, where evil ghosts tore out of mirrors, slicing off people’s legs and pressing them to the ground before dismembering them…

Just as he had the thought, he saw the Zheng Yuan in the mirror suddenly produce a nasty smile. The mirror-him took out a huge chopping knife and pounced out to press him on the ground!

“Help! Help! There’s a ghost! Murder!” Zheng Yuan shouted desperately. Unfortunately, the ghost had tremendous strength as it pressed him down, raised the knife and sliced off the tendons of his arms and legs. Then, he lay there like a dead fish, unable to move. All he could do was stare with widened eyes as the person who looked identical to him chopped off a big chunk of flesh from his thigh!

“Ah!” Zheng Yuan’s cries filled the entire mirror world.

He subconsciously looked at the other reflections in the mirrors and thought, “Thankfully these aren’t all evil ghosts. Otherwise, wouldn’t I be diced by thousands of ghosts?”

Yet, the countless reflections in the mirrors suddenly looked up and smiled nastily at him.

“No way?” Zheng Yuan cried out in horror. Unfortunately, all he received in response was the ghosts all drawing their knives.

Instantly, Zheng Yuan was surrounded by countless ghosts, and all that was left were his shrill cries. His voice was loud in the beginning, but it gradually turned hoarse before ultimately becoming a helpless whimper.

“The punishment used by the Hell of Mirrors of Retribution is to have whatever you imagine happen—anything that can go wrong will go wrong. For creatures of this world, who can be truly untainted and pure? Any stain would be infinitely magnified in this hell, causing the person to be met with infinite pain, living a life worse than death! If people knew such a hell truly existed, who would dare do evil? Unfortunately, there’s no hell in this world. What I open is merely a projection of hell.” Fangzheng sighed, shook his head, and stepped aside.

Zheng Yuan was being diced with a huge chopping knife in the beginning, but after one slice, all the ghosts switched to smaller knives. After every strike, they switched to even smaller knives! In the end, the knives used were like toothpicks; yet, these kinds of knives delivered even greater pain.

At that moment, Zheng Yuan understood what it meant to lead a life worse than death!

After an unknown period of time, Zheng Yuan’s body was reconstituted. The mirrors around him were formed once again. Looking at all his reflections, Zheng Yuan felt horror. Was it a dream or what? Are these really ghosts? Thankfully, ghosts don’t eat meat…

The moment he had this thought, Fangzheng couldn’t help but shake his head. He turned his head away, no longer interested.

As expected, countless ghosts stormed forward the next moment. They weren’t using cleavers or knives anymore. This time, they used their teeth, ripping apart Zheng Yuan’s flesh one bite at a time.

After experiencing the ghosts from the two mirrors the previous time, Zheng Yuan was already scared out of his wits. Just the sight of the mirror made him recount the experience he just had, but the moment he had the thought, the ghosts would appear again… This resulted in a vicious cycle.

After this cycle repeated numerous times, the mirror above all the mirrors suddenly changed. This mirror was the least conspicuous, but its only characteristic was that it didn’t produce any reflections! There was only mist in it.

The mist gradually scattered before flashing all the sins which Zheng Yuan had committed since he was young.

Zheng Yuan’s expression turned infinitely ugly when he saw all of this. He yelled, “What… is going on?”

“Sinner Zheng Yuan has committed heinous sins, including the murder of his own parents. Judgment: Tenth level of hell. Punishments: Hell of Scissors, Hell of Trees of Knives, Hell of Steaming, Hell of the Mountain of Ice, Hell of the Mountain of Fire! Sentence shall be served with immediate effect!”

“Who the f**k are you? Fangzheng! Come out! I know you’re there! Let me out!” Zheng Yuan looked at the different hell names as he yelled in horror.

Unfortunately, no one responded. The only response was a bony hand grabbing him and throwing him into a door that appeared in midair.

Following that, he heard the crunching sound of scissors. And after that, the sound of flesh and bones being crushed and the terrific cries of others! By the time he opened his eyes to see the situation, he was completely dumbfounded.

He had been transported to a huge basin! Outside the basin sat a nasty-looking giant. He held a pair of scissors in hand and would grab a person out of the basin before using the scissors to prune the person’s ties like a bonsai master or carving artisan. It wasn’t bothered by the ensuing screams as it clipped the person’s bones bit by bit…

Blood splattered from the sky, drenching Zheng Yuan and the sinners beneath. Everyone covered their face in horror, while many wailed. Some attempted to escape from the basin, while others roared. Some were fighting while others broke down from fear, sitting down and losing control of their bladders.

Although Zheng Yuan was ferocious, he was only ferocious in front of weaklings! It was different now that he was faced with this terrifying scene, especially when he saw people being grabbed by the giant no matter how strong they appeared. It was like they were dragonflies at the giant’s mercy. Then, snip after snip, their bones would be clipped off. That helpless feeling of not being able to resist left his scalp tingling before it was even his turn.

But the true horror wasn’t that, but the wait!

No one knew when the unlucky fool above would stop breathing, much less did they know who would be next to be grabbed randomly by the giant. The possibility of being next was a form of mental torture that made everyone waiting break down.

This was the Hell of Scissors!

Finally, Zheng Yuan was grabbed by the giant. He took in the full process of having his bones snipped off. It was a feeling worse than death, and he was made to experience the despair of not being able to shout despite the pain.

He lost count of the number of times he was cut up. He didn’t turn numb to it or get used to it. His fear only increased! This was because the pain was different every time, with the pain increasing with the frequency. Just the thought of it left all his bones aching.

When Zheng Yuan was sent out of the Hell of Scissors, he cried. He yelled, “It’s finally over! It’s finally over… Sob…”

“Hell of Scissors completed. Send Sinner Zheng Yuan to the Hell of Trees of Knives!”

The voice was extremely cold, as though it sounded deep in one’s heart, but it was so cold that it would leave anyone shuddering. Although Zheng Yuan had no idea what the Hell of Trees of Knives was, just the name alone was enough for him to know that it was definitely a place of extreme horror!