You're my wife, don't doubt it!

Xiao Yao stopped walking, somewhat irritated, and strolled to the window, looking out over the closed iron fence at the playground.

Some of the "nuns" seemed to be having a physical education class, running laps around the playground. A female PE teacher was blowing a whistle and running backwards alongside them, occasionally shouting something.

Xiao Yao noticed that two of the "nuns" were not wearing shoes.

A girl was running on the playground, wearing black socks. As she ran, her socks rubbed against the ground, gradually wearing down and revealing some white fibers. Over time, the black color of the socks faded, and the soles and heels became slightly white from the constant contact with the ground and movement, but overall they still looked relatively clean without any obvious stains.

The other girl, wearing white socks, looked much worse—over time, her socks were covered in dust and mud, their color gradually fading from snow-white to dull. When the girl collapsed forward from exhaustion, Xiao Yao noticed that the soles of her feet were completely black; the soles and heels of her socks were covered in mud, turning a dark, grimy mess. Even washing wouldn't restore them to their original cleanliness, as the mud had seeped deep into the sock fibers. Although there weren't many stains visible overall, the blackness of her soles was the most prominent color on her socks.

"Why are they running without shoes? Is this some kind of corporal punishment?" Xiao Yao asked the tour guide nun.

“Oh, this,” the tour guide nun peeked out. “According to the rules, running shoes are required for physical education class. These two girls didn’t bring their own shoes and wore shoes that are not suitable for sports. Wearing those kinds of shoes to exercise can hurt your feet, so Dean Song had to let them go barefoot on the playground. This is also to teach them a lesson and to prevent them from damaging the expensive shoes that their parents bought with their hard-earned money.”

"Okay then." Xiao Yao turned his gaze away from the playground: "Does your Dean Song do the same thing in the real world?"

"It stopped after he was transferred to Shanghai, after all..." the tour guide nun said.

The bell had already rung to signal the end of get out of class, and the corridors were starting to fill with students.

Boys walked together, and girls walked together. Everyone was wearing metal chains and kept at least three meters apart, not looking at each other.

Everyone was carrying books, walking briskly, and talking about things related to studying.

Suddenly, a bespectacled "nun" carrying a book hurriedly came from around the corner of the corridor, the metal chains on her feet clanging as she nearly bumped into Shen Jie.

Fortunately, Shen Jie reacted quickly and dodged in time, so the girl bumped into another boy who was passing by.

The "monk" who was hit fell sprawled on the ground, his book spilling everywhere. The "nun" who had hit him also sat on the ground, covering her nose and groaning.

Xiao Yao instinctively reached out to help the boy, but then withdrew his hand, remembering that the boy was not human.

At this moment, the two armored nuns who had been standing still suddenly sprang into action, sprinting from one end of the corridor in just one or two seconds at an astonishing speed—they covered a distance of more than ten meters, and in an instant, one second they were at one end of the corridor, and the next they crashed directly into the "monk," grabbed him, and began to slap him across the face.

One slap, two slaps, three slaps. The sound of slaps echoed in the corridor.

"Why is that?" Xiao Yao asked, unable to contain himself any longer.

"Didn't you all see it?" The faceless guide nun shrugged. "This boy knocked the girl down, clearly trying to take advantage of her, so our law enforcement nuns punished him."

"It was clearly this girl who accidentally bumped into the boy!" Shen Jie said angrily.

The echoes of slaps continued down the corridor. The boy had been slapped countless times, his face swollen like a pig's head, and splattered blood left mottled stains on the walls and floor.

“How could that be?” The faceless nun shook her head. “In this world, girls are all angels, women are always victims, and men are the natural potential perpetrators. Even if a girl makes a mistake, it must be because she was bewitched by a boy. Dean Song’s instructions are never wrong.”

Xiao Yao laughed out loud in anger.

He suddenly felt that he should let Zhao Xiaomei teach feminist Song Haijian a good lesson.

The slapping finally stopped, and the punishment by the two "enforcement nuns" seemed to have come to an end. The boy lay motionless on the ground, and each of them grabbed one of his feet and dragged him away down the corridor, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground.

The little "nun" who bumped into someone had already stood up again, picked up the books scattered on the ground, and, like all the other passersby who had ignored her, hurriedly left with the books in her arms.

The little girl's black leather shoes even touched some bloodstains on the ground, leaving faint footprints in another direction of the corridor.

“This is all part of the academic order, and I’m not surprised that you young people don’t understand it,” Sister Nobody the Faceless Guide emphasized. “But this priest, who is also a guardian of order like us, will certainly understand and agree with Dean Song’s philosophy.”

Xiao Yao glanced at Father Yu, the guardian of order, whose face clearly said, "I have nothing to do with you."

"Alright, enough said." The guide sister gestured for you to enter: "If you have any doubts about our institution's philosophy and disciplinary measures, then come with me and see for yourselves—and then I'll take you to see Dean Song."

"Should we believe her?" Xiao Yao asked Yu Bo quietly.

"Could you have handled those nuns who enforced the law just now?"

"Emmmmmmm..." Xiao Yao didn't dare to be careless and fell into deep thought. After all, this wasn't an online game; he couldn't see levels or health values, but judging from their charging speed just now...

"Then let's go with her for now. She hasn't shown any hostility." Yu Bo understood.

But Xiao Yao also read in his eyes: if you're going to take action, you have to choose a place with an advantage.

Chapter 144 The Heated Graduation Season

2023-03-28

The group continued walking, following the nun who was their guide.

Actually, even without her guidance, we wouldn't get lost.

Because all they need to do is follow the bloodstains left on the ground when the nun dragged the person away.

Soon, the bloodstains passed through a metal door, after which the corridor became narrow and oppressive. The light source was replaced by torches hanging on the wall. The brainwashing chants of "Ranking, ranking, ranking" and "Strive, strive, strive" that had been lingering in the ears disappeared at some point, replaced by sobbing and unsettling metallic clanging.

“This is the ‘Discipline Room’.” The guide nun stopped in front of a metal gate, where the trail of blood disappeared.

As if to illustrate the meaning of the "punishment room" she mentioned, a sharp crack of a whip suddenly came from inside the door, followed by a scream.

This punishment room has a U-shaped structure. The outer "opening" leads to the torture chamber outside the iron bars, and you can continue to go down the stairs on each floor. The inner "opening" leads to a bottomless courtyard, making it impossible to imagine what is at the bottom.

Xiao Yao walked silently behind the guide nun. Behind him were Shen Jie, who was looking around and occasionally exclaiming in surprise; Yu Luying, who was staring at her toes and silently reciting scriptures; and Yu Bo, whose brows were furrowed.

On either side of them, besides the nuns guarding the iron bars at intervals, were the depictions of hell outside the bars.

The prisoners being "punished" on the first floor were simply stripped of their shirts, hung up by their arms, and whipped. Judging from the bloodstains, the boys who had just been dragged in also joined them.

Then came the torture of having hot irons burned into the skin, limbs pulled by mechanical winches, head bound with iron hoops and constantly tightened, bamboo skewers driven into fingernails, and the infamous tiger bench. Just when Xiao Yao thought this torture was confined to ancient times, the dazzling appearance of electric shocks and acupuncture made his scalp tingle again.

The guide nun walked ahead, recounting incessantly the origins and effects of these punishments, introducing the crimes and repentance of these prisoners, and the generosity and leniency of Dean Song.

All the prisoners were male, but they were all wearing black pointed hats that only revealed their eyes, obscuring their faces. This made every prisoner Xiao Yao saw resemble himself.

"Grades, grades, grades! No one is allowed to be late! Grades, grades, grades! Don't let me find out about your early romance! Grades, grades, grades..."

Xiao Yao heard that awful singing voice again, but it was completely off-key and seemed to be coming from right next to him.

He turned to look at Shen Jie, stretched out his right hand, and drew a question mark in the air.

Shen Jie playfully stuck out her tongue and covered her mouth: "I've been brainwashed by this song."

"It seems your Dean Song is a staunch feminist; severe punishments are reserved for men," Xiao Yao said, looking at the tour guide nun.

Without even turning her head, the guide nun replied, "In this world, girls are all angels, women are always victims, and men are the natural potential perpetrators. Even if a girl makes a mistake, it must be because she was bewitched by a boy. Dean Song's instructions are never wrong."

"Stop repeating things you don't even believe yourself." It was Yu Bo who spoke: "You weren't sent by Song Haijian to greet us, were you? Stop pretending. Who are you? What is your purpose?"

Upon hearing this, the three teenagers looked at Yu Bo with confusion.

The guide nun stopped and turned around, and a smile seemed to reappear on her faceless face. However, it was no longer the professional smile she had given earlier, but a chilling, sinister laugh.

Then, the non-existent smile vanished, and the guide nun gave her answer, word by word: "Yes, I lied."

"However, the last activity on this tour is not to be missed."

After saying that, she grabbed the railing on one side of the corridor courtyard with one hand, lifted her leg and jumped, landing in the courtyard.

Everyone rushed to the railing to look, and it turned out that as they went down the "U"-shaped corridor, their position had dropped to a height where they could see the bottom of the atrium.

In the once pitch-black courtyard, you can now see a burning brazier in each of the four corners. In the center of the courtyard, you can vaguely see a tall iron pillar, as thick as a person's embrace, standing upright. The lower half of the iron pillar is buried in a pile of firewood, and on top of the firewood pile, there seems to be a figure tied to the iron pillar. Above the courtyard, a black moon is particularly conspicuous.

"This is... a stake?" Yu Bo's voice was a little hoarse.

"What?"

“During witch trials, they would burn the witches in public using this method.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Jie stuck out her tongue again.

“Most of the time, the divine order is more lenient towards women, allowing them to repent of their sins.” The guide nun’s voice echoed in the corridors and courtyards, but no one could see where she was currently residing.

"However, there will always be some women who are seduced by evil or who choose to degenerate and refuse to repent. We must prevent these impure thoughts from desecrating other pure souls."

A torch was lit beside a brazier, revealing the guiding nun hidden in the courtyard. She continued to sing: "Punishment is meaningless against such wickedness; only the fire of order can bring it to justice! The fire of order will illuminate, burn, and purify all!"

First they let it slide, then suddenly skipped all procedures and went straight to execution? I thought Song Haijian was a chivalrous knight-errant, but it turns out he's a ruthless death knight! Xiao Yao cursed inwardly.

At some point, the corridors surrounding the courtyard were shrouded in shadow.

In that shadow, it seemed as if countless voices were shouting:

"To illuminate, to burn, to purify all."

In that shadow, it seemed as if countless voices were cheering:

"To illuminate, to burn, to purify all."

They seemed completely unconcerned about who was tied to the stake, and didn't care at all that after the burning flames illuminated everything, what was purified was precisely these shadows themselves.

"According to the rules, you will be given one last chance!" The nun's loud voice calmed the surrounding noise.

“Even if you have foolishly offended the order of light and holiness, as long as you sincerely repent, cleanse your soul, redeem yourself through austere asceticism, and do not repeat the same mistakes, we can mercifully commute your sentence to life imprisonment, where you will eat bread of repentance and drink water of bitterness until the end of your life.”

"Light your fire, executioner!" The person bound to the fire finally answered, a hoarse but impassioned female voice: "Do you think I'm so afraid of death that I'd rather hide in a rat hole? I've done nothing wrong! I'm ready to die!"

"Witness the grace and mercy of the fire of order."

The guide nun threw the torch into the pile of firewood at the foot of the stake, just as the questioning earlier was a routine procedure with a known outcome. As a result, the pile of firewood, as if it had been doused with oil beforehand, burst into flames as usual.

"This is a specially made pyre for you, so you can slowly savor the taste of turning to ashes. Sooner or later, you will beg me for mercy in all sorts of voices, just like your kind."

The entire courtyard suddenly brightened, dispelling the shadow in the center. The guide nun who had called out looked up, as if looking at the condemned man, or perhaps at Xiao Yao who was also on this side.

Xiao Yao's attention, however, was drawn to the tortured man on the bonfire.

In the firelight, he could see that it was a young girl, of medium height, wearing a short, form-fitting skirt and flesh-colored pantyhose, with open-toed high-heeled sandals on her feet.

At this moment, she stubbornly raised her head, and her eyes met Xiao Yao's.