Trial Completed

"Crack!!"

A full swing empowered by over ten points of Strength. Everyone only saw an afterimage, followed by an explosive sound.

All gazes instantly focused on the crushed toad. Beneath the confusion in everyone's eyes, there was more hope.

In stark contrast stood the Old Woman beside Xiao Ran. A cold, dim flame flickered in her hollow eye sockets. She stared directly at Xiao Ran, as if trying to pierce his body and see his soul. Her face was filled with disbelief.

"Ding..."

The sound of rolling copper coins echoed through the silent crowd.

Immediately after...

"Ding-a-ling... Ding-a-ling..."

More and more sounds of copper coins rang out, an endless stream rolling from their broken bodies onto the ground.

As more and more copper coins scattered on the ground, the oppressive weight that had been pressing down on everyone began to lighten.

"Ah!!!"

It wasn't until the Old Woman let out a scream that the crowd snapped out of this dreamlike scene.

Looking again, they saw black smoke and dust pouring from the Old Woman's body. Her flesh began to peel away. She writhed in intense pain, as if being torn apart from the inside by some unspeakable force.

Her face contorted, her eyes filled with hatred and curses, as if enduring endless torment.

The surrounding air became pungent, carrying the scent of sulfur and decay, making one want to vomit.

In a moment, her body became like Brother Tao's and the others, neither human nor ghost.

What was different was that her body continued to disintegrate. Amidst the bloody mess, black bones were gradually exposed.

Suddenly, the Old Woman opened her mouth and let out a piercing shriek. The sound no longer belonged to a human; it was more like countless copper coins grinding in her mouth.

Xiao Ran, standing nearby, noticed that the black bones were covered in twisted patterns.

"It's a Curse Mark!"

These patterns looked familiar, somewhat similar to the black Curse Mark within his own body.

"Ah!"

Unfortunately, before Xiao Ran could look any longer, Brother Tao, who had already recovered, could no longer hide his madness. He let out a roar, like a wild dog breaking free from its chains, and raised his axe to strike the Old Woman in front of him.

"Bang!!"

The axe struck the Old Woman's decaying body, emitting a dull thud like that of wood.

The Old Woman, already suffering from the backlash, trembled even more violently after being hit by the axe.

"Hahahaha, die, die, old hag, die!!"

Brother Tao's bulging eyeballs were bloodshot. The resentment suppressed in his heart for over a hundred years finally found an outlet.

But as he was about to raise his axe for a second strike, the Old Woman suddenly slapped him away with immense force.

The Old Woman turned her head, her eyes fixed on Xiao Ran. Her lips parted slightly, but no sound came out. However, from her lip movements, one could discern the pronunciation of a word...

"Kill, kill her!!"

The next second, everyone seemed to go mad and rushed forward. They rained blows upon the Old Woman's mangled corpse with hoes, sickles, axes, and even dung shovels. Some, lacking weapons, simply jumped up and kicked her a couple of times.

This Old Woman, who had turned the village into this hell on earth, the local emperor who had suppressed the villagers for a hundred years, preventing them from daring to resist, was thus beaten to the ground by the furious crowd.

Xiao Ran had already retreated to the side. His gaze pierced through the gaps in the crowd. One of the Old Woman's eyes, on her already smashed face, was still staring at him.

The Old Woman's lip movements from earlier flashed through his mind. He silently mouthed the two words...

"Run!"

A ripple of emotion stirred within Xiao Ran.

But it was only a ripple. Xiao Ran looked up towards the deep darkness in the distance. Compared to the lives lost at this old woman's hands, the women and children who had been trafficked, her fate evoked no sympathy from Xiao Ran. He could only summarize it in two words...

"Serves her right!"

Just then, Brother Tao looked up and saw Xiao Ran standing not far away. Seeing that the kid hadn't run yet, he was overjoyed.

He immediately picked up his axe and strode towards Xiao Ran.

He didn't quite understand why Li Shang had gone mad and smashed the important Golden Toad, but that wasn't important. What was important was that this guy couldn't be allowed to live.

No matter what, they had to make this guy endure the suffering they had endured for the past hundred years.

Seeing the murderous crowd rushing towards him, Xiao Ran frowned. "If I say I'm not Li Shang, can you let me go?"

"You're not Li Shang?"

The crowd was taken aback. If he wasn't Li Shang, then smashing the Golden Toad might be explainable.

"Nonsense!"

Brother Tao sneered. "If you're not Li Shang, how can you know Li Shang's Tiger Fist? The way you crawled out of that coffin, if you say you're not Li Shang, I'll slap my own face."

Hearing Brother Tao's words, Xiao Ran could only spread his hands in a helpless expression. He couldn't blame himself for acting too well; at least when Da Zui slapped him, he was serious.

"Stop the crap. Today, whether you're Li Shang or not, you're going to die here!"

"That's right, we killed him. Who cares who he is? Even if he's not Li Shang, we won't let him leave alive."

At this moment, the crowd's eyes were already bloodshot. They didn't care if Xiao Ran was Li Shang or not; all they wanted was an outlet, a target for their resentment.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran sighed and looked at Brother Tao and the others. "So, if I slap you, you have to slap back twice as hard. Then…"

Xiao Ran's gaze gradually sharpened. "The villagers you killed, the women you trafficked, and Yang Xuan, whom you tortured to death—shouldn't their revenge be repaid twice as hard?!"

Listening to the crimes Xiao Ran listed, some people in the crowd hesitated and slowed their steps, while others silently lowered their heads.

Only Brother Tao and a few people around him showed a nonchalant attitude. Brother Tao even taunted, "Yeah, but why don't you have them come find me for revenge?"

As he spoke, Brother Tao even spread his arms and shouted to the surroundings:

"Where are you?"

"Come out!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a white shadow drifted past Brother Tao's eyes. He casually grabbed it and looked.

It was actually white paper money.

"Whoosh…"

A gust of cold wind blew over his head without warning, and more and more paper money began to fall like snowflakes.

"Brother Tao, this money…" A subordinate following Brother Tao looked at the paper money in front of him, suddenly shivered all over, and whispered, "Isn't this the money we burned?"

After they killed those villagers, the Old Woman had taken out a lot of paper money and told them to burn it along with the villagers' bodies.

And now, this money had appeared here.

Brother Tao's pupils tightened, and he then turned back and cursed, "Shut up, what nonsense are you talking about."

Turning his head, he stared at Xiao Ran. "Stop playing tricks. If there really are ghosts, I'll be the fiercest ghost. You have them come find me, you…!!!"

Before Brother Tao could finish speaking, a white shadow suddenly flashed before him.

He immediately rubbed his eyes and looked again. Under the white paper money, a woman's figure appeared, floating amidst the falling paper money, seemingly near yet far. In the moment he was stunned, the woman suddenly turned around. Her familiar face had no eyes, no teeth, and two lines of blood flowed down like tears, making Brother Tao tremble uncontrollably.

"Ghost, ghost! There's a ghost!"

Brother Tao took two steps back, only to feel something he bumped into. He turned around and saw two bloody, mangled figures standing silently behind him amidst the fluttering paper money, staring at him with hollow eyes.

When he clearly saw their faces, Brother Tao's mind involuntarily recalled that night when he had kicked open the door and then chopped them down with an axe. The screams and pleas from back then seemed to echo in his ears even now.

"Screw you, I'm not afraid of you!"

Fear turned into rage. Brother Tao's mind buzzed, and he simply raised the axe in his hand and swung it at the two figures in front of him.

"You were alive, I could kill you once, I can kill you twice, three times, countless times. Even if I become a ghost, I'll be the worst, fiercest ghost…"

Brother Tao, with bloodshot eyes, swung his axe desperately forward. With each swing, heart-wrenching screams could be heard.

It wasn't just Brother Tao; the few people who had participated in the massacre were all the same at this moment. They seemed to have gone mad, swinging their axes and swords wildly at those around them.

Everything was just like that massacre back then, except this time the targets were the silent ones from that year.

Instantly, the scene before them was a chaotic mix of shouts and screams.

"Dong!!"

Xiao Ran had been hiding to the side, watching the show. Suddenly hearing the sound of a gong behind him, he turned around and saw Li Ji standing behind him, smiling at him.

"Let's go."

Li Ji didn't say where they were going, only gestured for Xiao Ran to follow him.

"Young man, I misjudged you. I didn't expect you to be someone with a knack for this."

As Xiao Ran followed, he heard Li Ji say this and was immediately stunned. This was the second time he had heard these words.

The last time he heard them was when the Old Woman stuffed gold bars into his pocket.

It was clear that this "knack" seemed to be some kind of special mark. If his guess was correct, it should be related to the Curse Marks.

"Just a stroke of luck."

Unsure of the depth of it, Xiao Ran didn't dare to reveal too much.

Li Ji smiled. "There's no such thing as luck for those who have entered the path. It's just that entering is difficult, and the road ahead is even harder. One wrong step leads to an abyss. Look at that Old Woman; she was originally in the business of lending gold, but she turned herself into this."

At this moment, Li Ji stopped and looked back at the village in front of them. He saw a flickering fire within the village, and wherever it spread, a raging fire immediately ignited from the ruins.

"It's her!"

Xiao Ran focused his gaze and saw a young girl in white, acting crazy and foolish, humming a tune while holding a torch. The small flame took root, and in a moment, the village was set ablaze.

Watching the fire grow larger, the girl stood in the sea of flames, dancing lightly. She let the flames ignite her white dress, then looked in Xiao Ran's direction, waved, and leaped into the inferno.

Watching the girl disappear, Xiao Ran's emotions were complex. If not for her, he might not have noticed that something was wrong with this village at all.

Yet, he was powerless to save her.

"Actually, you've done very well. At least she is free now."

Li Ji comforted him softly and handed Xiao Ran the oil lamp in his hand. "Take this lamp and keep walking forward, and you'll be able to get out. I'm giving you this lamp. If you ever feel lost, you can use it to light your way."

Xiao Ran took the oil lamp, filled with questions he wanted to ask Li Ji. He felt that Li Ji was not like the wandering spirits of this village, but more like… a guide for newcomers.

Li Ji, however, waved his hand and urged, "Go on, hurry up. If you're late, you'll miss the way back."

"Okay, thank you!"

After thanking Li Ji, Xiao Ran turned and walked forward, holding his lantern. Under the dim oil lamp, the white mist around him seemed to be gradually receding. After walking for an unknown amount of time, bright red blood-red characters began to reappear before Xiao Ran's eyes...

"You have completed the Lost City Trial.

Completed Main Quest [Help Niujia Village] (Rank F)

Completed Side Quest [Soul Snatching] (Rank F)

Trial Score: E

Settlement commencing..."