Rather than living like this, it really would be better to die quickly and be done with it. After enduring countless days of torment, Chen Youzai finally saw the truth clearly. He would have no hope of finding the silver coin. If this dragged on, the result would only be a lifetime of suffering before dying with regret.
End it! Chen Youzai said to himself. He slowly closed his eyes, placed his tongue between his upper and lower teeth, and made a motion as if to bite down hard.
Unfortunately, Chen Youzai shrank back after applying only the slightest bit of force. The desire to live made his teeth tremble. He still did not have enough drive to end his own life directly. An innate instinctive fear of death made him retreat once again.
A few more days passed, and the weather seemed to grow hotter and drier. Chen Youzai felt that his face was also becoming more and more wrinkled. Once, while everyone was sleeping, he touched his own face and felt that it was shriveled, uneven, and bumpy.
Was it because he had been exposed to the scorching sun recently? Or had the owner of this face originally relied on such a face to earn the title of “the most handsome person”?
Chen Youzai’s only wish now was to see this face of his. Since he understood that he did not have much time left, at the very least, he had to know whether this trip had been worth it. Forget mirrors—there was not even water here. Usually, they could only chew on rotten grass roots thrown over to absorb some moisture. And there were very few times when he urinated. Sometimes, even if he managed to pass that pitiful little bit, it would dry up in less than a second.
In one day, Chen Youzai fainted three times from lack of strength, and every time, he was beaten awake. This place was like the Flaming Mountain. He probably could not even fulfill this final wish. Thinking this, Chen Youzai’s hand trembled as he picked up a stone not far from himself and smashed it toward his own head.
In the end, he did not have enough strength, and that stone was more like it had been deliberately placed against his forehead. Before long, it rolled down. Chen Youzai no longer even had the strength to bite his tongue and kill himself. He closed his eyes in despair, feeling waves of intense pain come from his body, yet he could not open his heavy eyelids.
Beat me, then. This time, beat me as much as you want. Don’t save me again. I don’t want to live anymore.
In the end, Heaven did not grant his wish. Chen Youzai still woke up amid his own prayers, and his strength had increased greatly. He jumped up and discovered that his whole body was filled with energy. He touched his body again. Eh? It did not hurt anymore. Nowhere hurt anymore. Chen Youzai had not realized in the slightest that seven days had already passed. He was only astonished by his own change.
What made him even stranger was that although he was still in this place, all the other people had disappeared. After thinking for a long time, Chen Youzai finally came to a conclusion. This was probably terminal lucidity.
He had heard Mother Chen say before that people would experience terminal lucidity on the day before they died. The illnesses in their bodies would naturally disappear at that time, and they would not feel much pain. Chen Youzai’s maternal grandfather had once been like that. He had clearly already been paralyzed, yet during terminal lucidity, he had even stood up and taken two steps.
Realizing this, the corners of Chen Youzai’s mouth rose into a bitter smile. Forget it. This could also be considered a very good result. Hadn’t he wanted to kill himself earlier anyway? Now that the King of Hell had come to summon him, he was spared the trouble.
Futile Devices Scans 
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