Chương 4: Chapter 4: Hiding the Evil in the Shadows and Darkness
"Father, you are becoming more and more careless. You even let two children escape from you...Won't the people above kick you out?"
The police officer standing side by side with the priest looked at Xi Wang who was struggling in the police car not far away, smiled indifferently, took out a cigarette from his pocket, handed it to the priest beside him politely, and asked him if he needed it.
"That child is already mine."
The priest waved his hand to indicate that he did not smoke. At the same time, he chuckled as he looked at Xi Wang, who was no longer able to resist and was being dragged out of the police car by other police officers holding his wrist.
"Really? Those greedy perverts were willing to leave it to you? That's rare."
The police officer didn't care, just asking out of courtesy. He put the cigarette in his mouth, then took a few cigarettes and handed them to several colleagues following him. He then lit them skillfully and took a puff with an intoxicated look on his face.
"But you are lucky today. We sent our nosy director home to rest today... He has been working overtime every day recently. If he were here, you would be in trouble. He is a stubborn ass."
"I see...it seems God is looking after us, too."
"Not us, just you."
The police officer waved his hand in disdain, seemingly not interested in it.
"hehe..."
"Okay, stop laughing like that, it's disgusting..."
The police officer looked at Xi Wang who was being carried by his colleagues, and watched him struggle, give up, and finally become calm as if in despair. Then he curled his lips and looked at the priest.
"Bring it here, or we won't let you go."
"Of course, thanks to your help this time, I won't treat you unfairly."
The priest seemed to have been prepared. He took the boy, who had kept his head down the whole time and dared not look at Xi Wang, back into the church. When he came out again, he was holding a suitcase in his hand.
"Wuhu~"
Several police officers suddenly blew cheerful whistles.
"It's cash this time, how convenient~"
"If we divide it equally, there should be quite a bit."
"..."
Xi Wang remained silent, but the image of the "policeman who would help him" in his mind was somewhat shattered...
No, they are different... This thought suddenly popped up in Xi Wang's mind, and he glued back the image that was about to be broken.
"That's a lot."
He took the suitcase skillfully, checked the full cash inside, nodded with satisfaction, and then signaled his colleague to release the man.
"Of course, we won't treat you unfairly. After all... we still need your help to provide cover."
The priest took Xiwang with a smile, and especially when he found that Xiwang's wrists were tied with ropes, he smiled with satisfaction.
"I'll be inconvenienced for the next time. If you find any [bad kids] sneaking away, please bring them back so that we can educate them properly."
"whispering sound..."
The police officer curled his lips, did not comment on the priest's words, and just silently asked his colleagues to leave.
Until all the police cars had gone far away, the police officers did not even look at Xi Wang, let alone turn back.
Not one.
"...Okay, now it's our turn, don't you agree, [Hope]?"
The priest lowered his head, smiled, and touched Xiwang's head as gently as usual.
"..."
"What I like most about you is this... You are well-behaved and can recognize your current situation very well. You don't put up some... meaningless and boring resistance. Compared with those kids before, you are much better."
The priest spoke gently as he dragged Xiwang towards the inside of the church.
"That's why it's so interesting, and that's why I saved you from those guys."
He did not go to the resting place, but went to the place further back, called "Warehouse".
Opening the locked door, what appeared before our eyes was a nearly airtight... [warehouse].
It was dark, really dark, even darker than the night outside. The few windows were blocked by thick wooden boards and iron bars, and even moonlight had to squeeze in through the tiny gaps.
"Oh... That's too bad. I forgot that I hadn't cleaned this place for a long time."
The priest seemed troubled, but he didn't care.
He simply brought Xiwang in here and turned on the lights, revealing the slightly empty interior.
There was only a slightly shabby mattress inside, which seemed to have not been used for a long time and was mostly gnawed by rats that came from nowhere.
This doesn't seem to be a warehouse...
It's a place that looks more like a prison than the "bad kid's" room.
"I'm sorry, but from now on, this is your room."
The priest locked the door and pressed Xiwang on the tattered mattress. He slowly and gently untied the ropes that bound Xiwang's hands bit by bit, while speaking.
"I hope you don't resent the police officers who brought you back. After all, our area is not very wealthy, and they also need to make a living."
"...Of course, I don't think you care about that now. You care more about why I seem to be ready, right?"
With a little desire to show off, or perhaps some kind of bad taste, the priest said with a smile.
"..."
"You seem to have guessed it... You're such a smart kid. I like you very much."
Seeing that Xi Wang didn't move, the smile on the priest's face grew even wider.
"Just as you guessed, wright and the others told me."
However, the priest still spoke, as if he wanted to pierce the last layer of fig leaf with evil fun, and spoke in the same gentle tone as usual, as if he was not angry at all.
"You heard it right. It's [them]."
He also emphasized it specifically.
"I knew it the moment you told me this plan and this idea."
In other words, his every move was watched by the priest, and the so-called "companions" only came to help him at the priest's instruction.
That's why Wright volunteered at that time, and that's why the child seemed guilty.
"But you shouldn't resent them. After all, they are also very sad... Many children are afraid of pain, so I promised them that as long as they cooperate with me, catch you and lock you up, I will not touch them for a while. After all... I have a better goal~"
Putting the thin rope that bound Xiwang into his pocket, the priest reached out and pinched his cheek, forcing him to look up at him.
His eyes were still as clear as the calm water of a lake, which was exactly what she liked most - to break this calm, to make ripples on the lake surface, and to paint the colors she wanted on it.
"…So, will you keep your promise?"
But he just asked calmly and without any disturbance, as if he was not disturbed by the priest's previous words.
"..."
But this time, it was the priest who remained silent. He did not see any resentment or complaints in Xiwang's eyes, just... calm, as if he had already accepted the current situation.
"I really hope you can be as calm as this in the future... But I think you will be, right?"
But soon, the priest laughed again, still with that gentle smile, but the movements of his hands were not gentle - he pinched Xi Wang's cheek hard, turned it to the side, and then slapped him hard in the face from the opposite direction with his backhand, leaving a bright red mark.
"After all, you are already mine."
It seems that the priest is not as never angry as he appears to be.
"We still have a long, long time to spend together in the future."
The priest stood up and walked towards the door without placing any restrictions on Xiwang. He didn't seem to be worried that he would run away, or maybe... he had other ideas?
"Oh, right."
When he reached the door, the priest seemed to have thought of something. He turned around and looked at Xi Wang, who was still standing there without any movement. A hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes, but he soon smiled, a smile that was apparently very gentle, but in Xi Wang's eyes it looked particularly bad.
"Abide by the agreement or something, that's impossible. [Breaking the agreement] is what adults like us do most often... Besides, you are not qualified to negotiate with me, right, [bad boy Xiwang who tried to escape and slandered the benefactor who provided you with food and shelter?"
He smiled, then slammed the door, locked it, and turned off the power. Hearing the muffled thud from the other side of the door, he left with satisfaction.
"Ah... then, which [bad boy] should we punish today? Well... let's go with Light. After all... [betraying a friend] is not something a good boy would do~"
The priest chuckled and deliberately whispered something to himself in a voice that could be heard from inside the door, and then walked towards the house of the "bad boy".
You know, it's still dark at this time.
————————
[Because of your friend's betrayal, you were caught and locked up by the priest in a warehouse that was more like a prison]
[Although you guessed all this, you don't resent your friend because you know that for children, pain is often unacceptable. If they can push the pain to others instead of having to bear it themselves, they will definitely do it. After all... it hurts.]
[You understand and vaguely guess that the priest's behavior will follow a certain principle he has set in his heart, so when he leaves, you stay where you are and don't give him an excuse to commit violence.]
[It's just that he doesn't intend to keep the agreement. It's better to say that the so-called agreement never existed.]
[As long as he wants, he can always find a reason]
[Those who don't eat well are bad kids—even if he locked you in the warehouse for three whole days; those who don't greet well are bad kids—even if you are already starving to the point of fainting]
[Those who are greedy are bad kids—but they are really hungry at that time, and they don't know if they will have food tomorrow; those who don't sleep well are bad kids—but it is very hot when the candle drips on their body, and it hurts when the knife cuts their skin]
[When fire touches your body, it is very hot; when hot iron is pressed on your body, it is also very hot]
[It hurts when a needle pricks your body, and it also hurts when a fork pierces your skin]
[You can see the increasingly undisguised greed in the priest's eyes, the filthy and disgusting desire, but the priest still hasn't done "that kind of thing", as if he is waiting, waiting for you to voluntarily submit to him]
["I wanted to run away, but I couldn't. I didn't have the strength. I was out of breath just by running into the yard. It took a lot of effort to climb over the wall. And every time I was about to run to the gate, I would be caught back."]
[He is playing, you know, like a cat and mouse, playing with his prey until the other party is exhausted until the other party loses the will to fight and stops resisting]
["You can't give up. You absolutely can't," you tell yourself this.]
[But...]
[The sounds of children playing outside are very appealing, but the curses from friends outside the door are even more heartbreaking]
[They don't understand why you don't obey the priest so that they can suffer less so that they don't have to feel so much pain]
[You are silent, not knowing how to respond. But even if you want to say something to them, your weak body cannot support you to do so.]
[Seeing that you didn't respond, the children began to vent their hatred in their hearts, whether it was towards you, the priest, or this church.]
[You can only listen quietly and accept their complaints]
[In the evening, the light of dusk squeezed in from the tiny cracks, gently licking your wounded face, waking you up from your drowsiness. You moved your arms, subconsciously trying to touch the paper-like gold on the ground, but soon, bursts of children's laughter came from outside the house, and the gold on the ground slowly shrank back little by little, and finally disappeared.]
[You know, it was those playful children who were playing, using mud to seal the only gap in the window. You could feel their gazes from the other gap, those pure, harmless gazes.]
[They just treat this as a joke]
[Finally, you gave up and stopped chasing the faint light. You just rested as much as possible so that you could survive the torture of the night.]
[Tonight, as always, it hurts]
[As always, the priest took out the medicine at the end to treat himself, whispering in your ear with his usual gentle voice, like the whisper of a devil]
[At this moment, only the priest is kind to you - even though you know it's just your illusion]
[The lingering pain in your body, the lingering smell of blood in your nose, you have become accustomed to these]
[You have become... accustomed to the children's laughter, complaints, and whispers from the priest.]
["I want to agree"]
["I want to give in"]
["It hurts so much, I don't want to feel any more pain"]
["I'm so hungry. I haven't eaten for a long time."]
["It doesn't matter, right? After all, the priest gave us food and shelter, so it shouldn't be a problem if we give a little bit, right?" ]
["Besides, there are so many people, it won't be your turn every day, right? It's just every once in a while, just bear with it, it's no big deal"]
["I'm so hungry and sleepy, but I can't sleep, or I'll be woken up by the pain"]
["I want to agree..."]
["But, I cannot agree..."]
["This is wrong, so don't give in... Wait, keep waiting, and you will be saved."]
[You believe that one day there will be light shining on this place]
["Hold on, wait with hope, just like your name" you don't know how many times you have said this to yourself]
[In the silent night, the young body curled up in the corner, crying quietly in the darkness]
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực