Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 556: Trapped 2

After about an hour, the door opened again.Heavy footsteps entered first.

Not ordinary soldiers.

Lucas recognized it immediately from the way they carried themselves.

Interrogators.

Behind them walked a broad man dressed differently from the others, his armor darker, lighter around the joints for movement rather than battlefield combat, with several cruel-looking instruments hanging from his waist beside a short blade. His face carried no rage or excitement.

Only routine.

The kind of man who treated suffering as work.

He stopped a few feet from Lucas and studied him silently for a moment.

"So," the man said calmly, "this is the famous intruder."

Lucas said nothing.

The interrogator crouched slightly, observing the suppressing ring around Lucas’s neck before nodding with faint approval.

"You caused quite a mess," he continued. "Castle breach. Prison escape. Compound riot. Dead soldiers everywhere."

Still nothing.

The man smiled faintly. "That stubbornness won’t last long."

He stood back up slowly and motioned toward the soldiers behind him.

"Lift him."

The soldiers moved immediately.

Lucas resisted instinctively at first, but his weakened body and suppressed cultivation left him with little strength to fight back as they dragged him toward the center of the room where chains hung from reinforced hooks above.

His wrists were bound tightly together.

Then the chain was pulled upward.

Lucas’s body lifted painfully until his feet barely touched the ground, most of his weight hanging from his shoulders and arms as strain shot violently through muscles already damaged from battle.

The interrogator walked slowly around him.

"Where is the emperor."

Lucas remained silent.

The man nodded slightly, unsurprised.

Then he gestured once.

One of the soldiers stepped forward holding a whip.

The first strike cracked through the room violently.

Pain exploded across Lucas’s back instantly as the reinforced lash tore through already damaged flesh, reopening wounds and drawing fresh blood immediately.

Lucas’s body jerked from the impact.

But he did not scream.

Only a low grunt escaped him.

The interrogator watched closely.

"Again."

The second strike landed harder.

Then the third.

Then the fourth.

Each one tore deeper than the last, the sound of the whip echoing sharply off the stone walls while blood slowly stained down Lucas’s back and onto the floor beneath him.

Still he refused to speak.

The interrogator stepped closer. "Where did they take the emperor."

Lucas breathed heavily through the pain, his head lowered slightly as blood dripped from multiple wounds now covering his body.

No answer.

The man’s expression lost what little patience it had.

"Continue."

The whipping resumed mercilessly.

The soldiers did not hold back.

They struck with practiced precision, targeting areas that inflicted maximum pain without immediately killing him, and after enough lashes the pain became difficult even to process properly, his nerves overwhelmed as blood and torn flesh covered his back and shoulders completely.

But through all of it, Lucas refused to give them what they wanted.

He grunted.

Sometimes harder than before.

Sometimes his body trembled violently from the impact.

But he never screamed.

That silence began frustrating them more than defiance itself.

One soldier struck particularly hard across his side, enough to split skin deeply.

Lucas clenched his jaw tightly, a sharp grunt escaping him as his body strained against the chains overhead.

The interrogator stepped closer again, staring directly at him now.

"You’re young," he said coldly. "There is no reason to endure this for people already beyond your reach."

Lucas slowly raised his head slightly despite the blood running down his body.

Then he laughed weakly.

Not loudly.

But enough.

The interrogator’s face darkened immediately.

Another strike came across Lucas’s chest this time.

Then another.

And another.

The soldiers whipped him relentlessly while the interrogator continued questioning him between blows, demanding locations, names, routes, numbers, anything connected to the emperor’s escape or the intruders that helped him.

Lucas answered none of it.

The only sounds he gave them were strained breaths and occasional grunts forced from him by unbearable pain.

Nothing more.

Eventually even some of the soldiers began looking unsettled.

Not because of pity.

But because most men broke long before this point.

Lucas remained hanging from the chains, bloodied and exhausted beneath the cold stone lights of the cell, his body trembling from pain and fatigue while the restraining ring around his neck continued pulsing steadily.

And still, despite everything they did to him, he refused to bend.

The interrogator stood silently for a moment after the latest round of whipping, studying Lucas carefully as blood continued dripping steadily from his torn body onto the stone floor beneath him.

His breathing rough and uneven while the suppressing ring around his neck pulsed steadily with dull light. His body trembled occasionally from pain and exhaustion, but his eyes still carried the same stubborn resistance that had been there from the beginning.

That irritated the interrogator more than any insult could have.

Most prisoners eventually broke.

Not always through screaming or begging, but through the loss of will.

Lucas had not.

The man stepped forward slowly until he stood directly in front of him.

"You still believe this silence means strength," he said coldly.

Lucas lifted his head slightly, blood running from the corner of his mouth, but he gave no response.

The interrogator stared at him for another second.

Then suddenly drove a brutal strike directly into Lucas’s chest.

The blow landed with terrifying precision and force.

Lucas’s eyes widened instantly as the impact crushed into him, all the air violently blasted from his lungs at once while agony exploded through his ribcage and internal organs. The chains above rattled violently from the force as his entire body jerked hard against them.

A deep, broken gasp escaped him immediately.

But no air followed.

For one horrifying moment, Lucas could not breathe at all.

His body convulsed instinctively, struggling for air that would not come while pain spread viciously through his chest, sharp enough to make his vision blur completely. Blood spilled from his mouth as he hung there helplessly, every instinct in his body screaming for breath.

The interrogator grabbed his jaw roughly and forced his head upward while Lucas still struggled to inhale properly.

"Do you understand now," the man said quietly, almost calmly. "I can keep you alive while making you pray for death."

Lucas’s body trembled violently as his lungs finally dragged in a ragged breath, the sudden air burning painfully through his chest.

Then another breath.

Shallow.

Uneven.

Painful.

The interrogator released him roughly, letting his body hang again while he watched for signs of collapse.

Lucas coughed hard, blood splattering onto the floor beneath him as he tried to steady his breathing again, every inhale now sending sharp pain tearing through his chest.

One of the soldiers nearby muttered quietly, "That should’ve cracked his sternum."

The interrogator did not answer.

His eyes remained fixed on Lucas.

Waiting.

Watching for the first real sign of surrender.

Lucas slowly lifted his head again through the pain, breathing raggedly while blood and sweat covered nearly every inch of him now.

Then, despite everything, he gave a faint smile.

It was small.

Weak.

But unmistakable.

The interrogator’s expression darkened instantly.

Lucas forced out a rough breath and spoke for the first time since the torture began.

"That... all you’ve got?"

The room went silent for a second.

Even the soldiers stared at him in disbelief.

The interrogator’s calm demeanor cracked slightly for the first time, irritation flashing openly across his face as he stepped back slowly.

"Very well," he said coldly. "We’ll see how long that spirit survives."

He gestured sharply toward the soldiers.

"Continue."