Calamity Suppressing

"Ah!!!!"

Inside the [Morgue], Xiao Ran raised his head in confusion and looked outside the door. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he thought he heard Uncle Li's voice just now.

But when he listened carefully, it was gone. He shook his head and continued to focus on his work.

"Buzz buzz buzz..."

A harsh grating sound, like wood being sawed.

On a nearby plate lay an axe stained with blood and some minced meat.

Only when a broken rib was placed on a nearby tray did Xiao Ran finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Hoo!! More troublesome than I thought."

He put down the short saw in his hand and let out a long breath. Fortunately, all the broken ribs had been cleaned up.

He glanced at the time.

It was still early. Xiao Ran had already dealt with the shattered bones and spilled intestines.

All that remained was the final suturing.

After finishing these miscellaneous tasks, Xiao Ran began to carefully examine the corpse before him. The man wasn't old and had well-defined muscles, clearly someone who exercised regularly. Uncle Li saying he was a fitness coach made sense.

But it only made sense.

Xiao Ran beckoned and took out the [Calamity Suppressing Token] from his spatial storage.

"Activate!"

Along with a chilling coldness, wisps of black smoke seeped out from his palm. This time, Xiao Ran could clearly feel something special slowly peeling away from his body and integrating into the [Calamity Suppressing Token] in his hand.

Feeling a connection between the [Calamity Suppressing Token] and his own mind, Xiao Ran didn't hesitate. He picked up the needle and thread and began to suture the corpse.

Guo Lingfei's body had over a dozen cuts, large and small. Some were caused by broken bones piercing through the skin and flesh. Others were unclear, but because the corpse's skin was already stiff, the flesh on either side of many cuts had deformed, making them very difficult to suture.

An ordinary mortician would probably have to force the stitches, cover the wounds with clothes, and call it a day.

But Xiao Ran had the [Master-level Suturing Technique] from the [Corpse Stitcher] Curse Mark.

His gaze swept over the body, and several suturing methods appeared in his mind.

"Leave no trace!"

"Conceal wrinkles skillfully!"

"Interrupted suture!"

Xiao Ran's needle and thread danced along the torn flesh, his various wondrous suturing techniques becoming increasingly fluid.

Gradually, Xiao Ran felt a sense of getting into the groove.

As he was sewing, a cool breeze blew past Xiao Ran's ear. He paused.

This empty morgue had no windows, so where was the wind coming from?

He stopped sewing and glanced behind him.

"Whoosh whoosh..."

Guo Lingfei's mouth was open, and wisps of cool air seemed to be blowing out of it.

"It hurts!" Guo Lingfei's Adam's apple bobbed, his eyes slowly opened, and his bloodshot eyeballs began to dart back and forth.

"Hang in there, it'll be over soon."

Xiao Ran frowned but didn't stop his needlework.

He just found it strange. The file said he had been dead for three days. How could his soul still be in his body?

Guo Lingfei's body trembled slightly. "Gently, my whole body hurts. It feels like my bones are shattered."

Xiao Ran tightened the suture thread and moved to Guo Lingfei's other side. The wounds on this side were mainly under the armpit, and a surgical hook would be more convenient. As he changed tools, he asked, "How about we chat to distract you?"

"Do you remember how you suddenly fell into the blender?"

Xiao Ran asked casually. Guo Lingfei's corpse suddenly twitched, as if he had suddenly lost his footing in his sleep. He kicked his legs violently and widened his eyes, but after a moment, he shook his head. "I don't remember."

"Then let's talk about something else. I heard you were a fitness coach?"

Hearing Xiao Ran change the subject, Guo Lingfei's expression relaxed. "Part-time. I only teach private lessons, you know."

"I don't know. I've never been to a gym."

Xiao Ran shook his head, holding the surgical hook in one hand as he sewed down the left side of the corpse.

"Besides fitness, do you have any other hobbies?"

"Yes, I'm very good at fishing. I often shoot short videos about fishing. You can watch them. Last month, I won the Luo City Fishing Competition..."

Guo Lingfei's eyes lit up when he talked about fishing.

He began to chatter with Xiao Ran about his fishing experiences.

Xiao Ran didn't know how to fish either, but he still asked, "I often see people fishing at night. Is it better to fish at night?"

"Pretty much. Have you ever tried the feeling of being alone by the river at night? I often go fishing at night..."

Mid-sentence, Guo Lingfei suddenly paused, the light in his eyes gradually becoming vacant.

Xiao Ran was still stitching the wound. Noticing Guo Lingfei had stopped talking, he immediately looked up with alarm.

"Guo Lingfei?" Xiao Ran called out softly.

But Guo Lingfei's eyes had become empty and lifeless, like a soulless puppet.

Suddenly, his finger twitched. Then, with unnatural speed, he raised his hand into a fist, his knuckles cracking with a chilling sound, like ancient machinery that hadn't moved in years starting up again. He punched towards Xiao Ran's chest.

The punch came extremely suddenly. Xiao Ran swiftly dodged to the right, simultaneously using Tiger Fist to block Guo Lingfei's left wrist. At the moment of contact, Xiao Ran's fist changed into a claw, gripping Guo Lingfei's left palm and twisting forcefully.

"Crack!"

Xiao Ran had the enhancement of a Curse Mark, giving him much greater strength than ordinary people. With this Tiger Seize move, all that could be heard was a "crack" as Guo Lingfei's already fractured left arm bone was twisted and broken.

Although Guo Lingfei's eyes were vacant, his body's reactions were exceptionally swift. The instant Xiao Ran twisted his left hand, Guo Lingfei's right fist shot out like an arrow, silently striking towards Xiao Ran's head.

Xiao Ran urgently ducked, feeling the wind of the punch graze his head. A cold sweat broke out on his brow. If he had been even a little slower, that punch would have given him a lot of trouble.

His gaze gradually turned icy. He took out the Calamity Suppressing Token. With a thought, the old-looking iron token began to emit a chilling aura.

Privilege 1: Calamity Suppression. Forcefully suppress evil spirits and malevolent entities, greatly weakening their power.

"Suppress!"

As the privilege was activated, Xiao Ran could clearly feel a force being drawn from his body.

A distorted black sigil materialized in front of the Calamity Suppressing Token, as if some power had been awakened. It then slammed fiercely into Guo Lingfei's forehead.

"Ah!!" In his daze, Xiao Ran thought he heard a woman's scream.

Guo Lingfei, who had been about to sit up from the stretcher, trembled a few times, like a final, unwilling spasm.

"Thud!" He fell back heavily.

At the same time, through the Calamity Suppressing Token, Xiao Ran felt a strange resonance. It seemed his actions were not just physical contact, but a collision deep within the soul.

In his daze, Xiao Ran's vision seemed to penetrate Guo Lingfei's body. He saw, beneath the skin and flesh of his shoulder, a mass of shadow rapidly dissipating under the power of the Calamity Suppressing Token.

Guo Lingfei's expression shifted from contorted pain to peace, as if all suffering had quickly faded.

"Curse Mark??"

After Xiao Ran put down the Calamity Suppressing Token, his expression grew serious. He was sure that in the shadow he had just seen, he had vaguely glimpsed the lines of a Curse Mark, but it had been too fast; he hadn't seen it clearly.

He could only see that the Curse Mark was enveloped in a black mist, as if it were attached to Guo Lingfei.

"Could it be..." Xiao Ran looked at Guo Lingfei's corpse before him. "A cursed object?"

If that were the case, all his previous doubts would be explained.

With the abilities of a cursed object and a Curse Mark, controlling an ordinary person wouldn't be difficult.

For example, the old woman's gold bars in the previous Mystery City were the most direct method.

"Knock, knock, knock..."

A rapid knocking at the door interrupted Xiao Ran's thoughts. Before Xiao Ran could ask, the door to the embalming room was pushed open.

Old Zhou poked his head in anxiously. Seeing Xiao Ran standing by the stretcher, he couldn't help but be surprised, "You're okay?"

"Okay?"

Xiao Ran looked at Old Zhou with confusion.

Immediately after, Uncle Li walked in, holding his head. Seeing that Xiao Ran was unharmed, he spoke with impatience, "See? I told you nothing serious could happen. Why are you all making such a fuss? Rushing in here all flustered just because you heard a little noise."

After speaking, Uncle Li glared back at those behind him, "And you, where else could you sleep but the morgue? And humming a tune? Are you sick?"

Only then did Xiao Ran notice a young woman, around twenty years old, following behind Uncle Li.

The young woman had short purple hair and fair skin, creating a stark contrast with her hair. Coupled with her large eyes and high nose bridge, she looked quite striking.

Facing Uncle Li's scolding, she merely stuck out her tongue playfully, "I had my headphones on. How was I supposed to know you were outside?"

After speaking, the young woman turned and looked towards Xiao Ran, her expression like she had discovered a new continent, "Whoa!"

"So this is the guy who fell into the blender. He's actually quite handsome. What a tragic death."

The young woman stared intently at the corpse in front of her without any reservation.

Xiao Ran's face darkened. He turned to look at Uncle Li.

Uncle Li looked helpless. Old Zhou, however, quickly stepped forward, pulled the young woman over, and apologized to Xiao Ran, "I'm sorry, this is my niece. She's always been a bit careless since she was little. She's interning here, and I didn't explain some of the rules clearly to her."

After speaking, Old Zhou glared fiercely at his niece, but she maintained an indifferent attitude, her eyes darting between Xiao Ran and the corpse.

"Um... if there's nothing else, could you please leave for now? I'll be done soon."

Although this was Old Zhou's territory, Xiao Ran unceremoniously asked them to leave. Every profession had its rules, and it was strictly forbidden for outsiders to be present when an embalmer was repairing a body.

"Okay, okay, we'll go out first, we'll go out first."

Old Zhou knew he was in the wrong and could only smile apologetically as he pulled the young woman towards the exit. The young woman looked very reluctant, and before leaving, she cast one last glance between Xiao Ran and the corpse.

After Old Zhou closed the door again and locked it with a key, Xiao Ran finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking at Guo Lingfei lying on the stretcher, Xiao Ran quickly stitched the last wound.

[You have met the conditions to trigger the privilege. Do you wish to activate the privilege Spirit Seizing!]

Xiao Ran's eyes twitched slightly. "I'll know if it's a cursed object or not with just one look." He placed his hand on Guo Lingfei's chest and whispered, "Spirit Seizing..."