Li Shang's Death

"You're always making demands. I dare you to say another word today—I'll take the loss if you do!"

Xiao Ran sneered inwardly, then took out his needle and thread and began stitching.

The moment the needle and thread touched his hands, Xiao Ran sensed something different. It felt as if they were part of his body, a feeling he couldn't quite put into words.

Then all sorts of strange stitching techniques appeared in his mind out of nowhere.

"This..."

As he took in the wonder of these techniques, Xiao Ran was amazed. He could recognize some of them. They weren't quite the same as what his grandfather had taught him, but he could immediately tell how vast the difference was.

And as for the rest, he hadn't merely never seen them before—he'd never even heard of them.

"This is Master-level Suturing Technique!"

Xiao Ran thought of the Master-level Suturing Technique contained in the cursed pattern. At first, he hadn't taken it seriously. He had been learning to stitch since childhood, and in their line of work, his skill ranked in the top five, if not the top three. He had been quite confident in himself.

But once he truly felt the power of Master-level Suturing Technique, he was shaken by the gap between them. Soon, though, his shame was swept away by the wonder of these techniques.

Whatever his skill had been before, with Master-level Suturing Technique now backing him, all these ingenious methods were his.

"Leave No Trace!"

Among the many techniques, Xiao Ran spotted one called Leave No Trace, named for the fact that it left no trace after stitching. More importantly, it was simple and quick, perfect for the situation at hand.

He picked up the Silver Needle, his fingers moving like lightning. He was already skilled, and with Master-level Suturing Technique backing him, he was faster than ever.

Li Shang seemed to realize something was happening. But the candle in his mouth was getting stickier the more he chewed; he couldn't swallow it or spit it out. He had barely eaten half when Xiao Ran brought another candle to his mouth.

Li Shang tried to keep his mouth shut and struggle, but Xiao Ran simply dislocated his jaw and shoved it in without a second thought.

"Mmmph, mmmph..."

White wax dripped from the corners of his lips. Li Shang's eyes widened, filled with despair and grievance.

As the needle and thread swiftly passed along the cut, the progress bar before him gradually filled.

Xiao Ran only had to give the thread in his hand a gentle tug. The flesh tightened, and the cut neatly closed.

At the same time, Li Shang's eyes suddenly widened, and his body began to convulse violently. Xiao Ran had no idea what was happening and wanted to get away, but there was barely any room in the coffin. All he could do was lean back and raise a dagger in front of his chest.

Before long, a bulge swelled high on Li Shang's chest, then slowly crawled upward. A mouth opened, and with a whoosh!, a copper coin shot out like a Flying Dagger, grazing Xiao Ran's ear before smashing into the coffin lid.

"Pfft~~"

Then Li Shang's body shuddered, and he let out a fart. The stench was so foul that even Xiao Ran nearly vomited.

"Oh my god!!"

Xiao Ran immediately covered his nose and mouth with his clothes. But inwardly, he suddenly understood. No wonder he had to stitch up a corpse.

As the saying went, the living fought to keep their breath, while the dead had to let theirs out.

This man had been beheaded, but someone had sealed that breath inside his body. Now that his head and feet were joined, the breath could no longer be held in.

Li Shang stared fixedly at Xiao Ran, but his body was rapidly rotting away. By the time his entire face had shriveled, he lay completely still.

At that moment, a prompt appeared beside Xiao Ran's ear.

[Side Quest: Soul Snatching] completed. Rewards will be calculated after this instance of the Lost City ends.

[You have met the conditions to activate a special ability. Activate the special ability Spirit Seizing?]

Hearing the prompt, Xiao Ran chose Spirit Seizing without hesitation.

The moment he spoke, black smoke rose from the iron token once more, and a chill spread rapidly from the Calamity Suppressing Token through his entire body.

Then he felt an invisible force surge out of him and rush straight toward Li Shang's corpse.

In an instant, the scene before Xiao Ran blurred, and Li Shang's memories began to appear before him.

"Bitch, you dare run? I'll beat you to death!"

As Li Shang shouted, a girl in a blue school uniform was roughly shoved to the ground. Xiao Ran had never seen Yang Xuan before, but he recognized the clothes. She was the owner of the diary, Yang Xuan.

But what happened next in the memory made Xiao Ran frown. Li Shang began raining punches and kicks on her.

His blows were heavy. After only a few, Yang Xuan was in so much pain that she passed out.

Just then, someone rushed over and stopped Li Shang. It was none other than Brother Tao.

"Big brother, stop beating her. If you kill her or cripple her, she won't be worth anything."

Brother Tao clung to Li Shang's arm as he spoke.

But Li Shang turned and slapped Brother Tao across the face, making him stumble and nearly fall.

"Get the hell out of here! Who do you think you are to lecture me?"

Li Shang's face darkened. He spat out a mouthful of phlegm and pointed at Yang Xuan on the ground. "Does this bitch think she's special because she went to school for a few days? She's in the hands of our Kidnapper Gang now. She doesn't get to act high and mighty. Go lock her up in the cellar in the back courtyard."

Brother Tao got to his feet, holding his face. At Li Shang's words, he paused, seeming to understand what Li Shang had in mind. "Big brother, what about the Old Woman..."

Li Shang shot Brother Tao a sidelong glance. Brother Tao instinctively took a step back.

"Hey, what are you afraid of? I'll talk to my mother. Besides, our Kidnapper Gang has been stuck in this village for ages. It's about time we settled down here. Go tell the brothers—we're all drinking together tonight."

With that, Li Shang grabbed the girl by the hair. "You think you're so high and mighty? Tonight, all my brothers are going to take turns with you. Let's see if you still act so proud!"

The girl trembled at his words.

Soon, a group of people dragged her out of the house. Watching Li Shang's memories, Xiao Ran couldn't help shuddering.

That night, eight tables were filled with people outside. They drank until their faces were flushed. Every now and then, a few men came out of the back courtyard together, pulling up their pants, while a few more grinned, set down their cups, draped their arms over one another's shoulders, and headed into the courtyard.

The memories flashed by like scenes in a lantern show. Xiao Ran made the disturbing images pass quickly, until at last he reached that night, when the air was unusually close and heavy.

Li Shang sat on a stool, fanning himself over and over. His clothes were already soaked with sweat. He cursed, "What kind of lousy weather is this? This place is about to suffocate me."

Brother Tao and the others sat nearby, smiling ingratiatingly. They could all see that Li Shang was in a bad mood, and none dared speak for fear of provoking his rage.

When they all stayed quiet, Li Shang picked up the teapot, only to find it empty. He turned and shouted toward the kitchen, "Are you dead, you bitch? How long does it take to bring some water?"

A while later, Yang Xuan came out of the kitchen. She wore only a plain robe, its collar half open, her hair hanging loose. She looked completely different from before.

As Yang Xuan approached, Li Shang deliberately slapped her hard on the backside. Yang Xuan seemed numb to it. She took the teapot and headed back toward the kitchen.

"Hahahaha!"

Everyone burst out laughing at the sight.

They seemed to be mocking the once-proud student, who had now obediently become a tool for them to vent their desires.

"Big brother really knows how to handle her. Got the bitch obeying like a dog." The man who spoke had shifty eyes and was obviously no good.

His words drew a burst of laughter from the others. Li Shang only snorted. "Hmph, idiot. If everyone were like you, cutting women's tongues out and breaking their legs, you'd still have to serve them yourself."

The man's expression shifted at Li Shang's rebuke. He could only lower his head and say nothing.

By then, Yang Xuan had set the teapot on the table and stood silently to one side, watching.

"Get lost. What are you standing there for? Go chop up the pigweed."

Yang Xuan lowered her head and walked quietly to one side. She picked up the guillotine chopper and began cutting the pigweed.

Li Shang and the others kept drinking water and cracking melon seeds. About the time it took to drink a cup of tea later, the men's expressions suddenly changed.

"Big brother... I..."

Brother Tao and the others clutched their stomachs, their chests tight as they gasped for breath. Li Shang looked just as bad. Waves of excruciating pain tore through his belly, and his body went limp, leaving him unable to speak.

Then everything went dark, and Yang Xuan appeared before him. No one knew when she had come over.

She crouched in front of Li Shang and watched him in silence.

Li Shang's eyes widened, and dread welled up inside him. He couldn't understand where she had gotten poison. More than that, he was stunned that this woman had dared do it.

In all the years the Kidnapper Gang had abducted women, the most they had ever done was try to run away. None had ever dared poison them!

Yang Xuan seemed to understand his confusion. She looked up at the oleander in the corner of the courtyard and said, "The book said this stuff is poisonous. It's simple—all you have to do is squeeze out a little juice."

"I'll kill you!"

Li Shang reached for Yang Xuan. His fingers curved like hooks, long and powerful—clearly not an ordinary grab, but some kind of martial art.

But the moment he moved, waves of pain tore through his belly, leaving him without the strength to lift a finger.

Then Li Shang's face suddenly changed. Yang Xuan was slowly bringing over the guillotine chopper she had used to cut the pigweed.

"What... what are you going to do?!"

Yang Xuan didn't answer. She simply raised the chopper in her hands.

Her gaze was so cold it sent a shiver through him. It was as if all emotion had drained from her. Li Shang tried to struggle, only to find he couldn't even manage the most basic resistance.

Fear swept over him like a tide. He finally realized that the woman he had abused at will was going to kill him.

"You can't kill me. You know what my mother's capable of. If you kill me, she'll make you wish you were dead!"

But Li Shang's words had no effect on Yang Xuan. She reached down and grabbed Li Shang, who could no longer fight back, placed his head beneath the chopper, then pressed down with both hands...

"Squelch!!!"

The world began to spin before his eyes. Then the thick smell of blood and earth filled his nostrils. In a daze, he saw his mother running toward him from outside the door, her mouth open as if she were trying to say something. But at that moment, his consciousness began to blur...