Completely Drained

Xiao Ran closed his eyes and absorbed all the memories related to Blade Draw Slash.

A moment later, he opened his eyes again, unable to hide his disappointment.

Blade Draw Slash was certainly powerful. The first time he and Xue Hongling clashed, he'd taken a Blade Draw Slash head-on. That strike had been fast and ruthless. If he hadn't been protected by the curse [Composure], he would've lost the ability to fight on the spot.

But it was only decent. The move required time to charge, and if the first strike missed, there was no follow-up.

It was even worse than Tiger Fist's three basic moves.

After all that effort, this was the only ability he'd gotten? Had he... taken a loss?

The more Xiao Ran thought about it, the more he felt he'd lost out. He glanced sideways at Xue Hongling's corpse and raised an eyebrow. "Sorry about this!"

As he spoke, he reached for the axe beside him.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

Before long, the sound of chopping meat rang through the room...

Luoshi, the central office building of Nadu Express Company.

As soon as you entered the building, the eye-catching bright yellow logo came into view.

Although it was a courier company, the lobby was every bit as luxurious as those of internationally renowned hotels.

The 68-story office building wasn't especially tall, but it was a rare sight in the flatlands of the Central Plains.

At that moment, Xiao Ran's file lay on the desk in the audit room on the 17th floor. Xue Hongling's file was beside it.

"So Zhong Yi has classified this as a personal feud, which means the company has no reason to get involved, right?"

"Yes. Zhong Yi seems to like that kid quite a lot."

The middle-aged man sitting at the desk replied with a cheerful smile.

"Then that's settled. Take care of all the arrangements for Xue Hongling." The man at the audit desk picked up the company seal and glanced at the middle-aged man. "Tell Zhong Yi that the company doesn't oppose this kind of special treatment, but it doesn't encourage it either. If anything goes wrong, she'll be held responsible."

"Understood, understood."

The middle-aged man nodded to show he understood. Only then did the other man raise the seal and stamp the words [Account Closed] firmly onto Xue Hongling's file.

"You repaired Xue Hongling's corpse. Rating: B-class. You gained 10 Energy Value."

"Calamity Suppressing Token's Spirit Seizing succeeded. You gained Xue Hongling's ability [Beginner Maze Steps]."

"You repaired Xue Hongling's corpse. Rating: D-class. You gained 5 Energy Value."

"Calamity Suppressing Token's Spirit Seizing succeeded. You gained Xue Hongling's ability [Introduction to Physiognomy]."

"You repaired Xue Hongling's corpse. Rating: E-class. You gained 0 Energy Value."

"Calamity Suppressing Token's Spirit Seizing succeeded. You gained Xue Hongling's ability [Basic Swordsmanship]."

"You repaired Xue Hongling's corpse. Rating below F-class. You gained 0 Energy Value."

"Calamity Suppressing Token's Spirit Seizing failed..."

A thick stench of blood filled the room, and blood dripped from the tabletop onto the floor.

"Slurp..."

Xiao Ran was happily eating instant noodles from a bowl.

On the table in front of him, Xue Hongling's corpse had been taken apart and stitched back together several times. It was covered in blood, and perhaps because he'd repaired it so often, even Xiao Ran's skill could no longer produce a decent result.

"It fell apart after just three tries?"

Holding his bowl of noodles, Xiao Ran pondered the information he'd read from Xue Hongling's memories as he ate.

The gains had been considerable.

Setting aside the abilities he'd obtained, he'd gained 45 Energy Value from Xue Hongling alone. Adding the 10 from Li Shang and the 5 from Guo Pengfei, he was now only 40 points away from the 100 Energy Value needed to upgrade the [Calamity Suppressing Token].

He'd also gleaned a great deal of information from three other stretches of Xue Hongling's memories.

Those who completed the Maze City Trial were known among their peers as Initiates.

Initiates didn't readily reveal their identities to one another. Xue Hongling had learned by chance of an organization called the Changchun Association. By calling a number at a specific time, one could obtain certain services from them.

Of course, the services weren't free. They charged a fee, and it was very expensive.

You got what you paid for. Through the Changchun Association, Initiates could trade with one another at designated times, purchasing the corresponding curse patterns as well as access to certain information. With the Changchun Association acting as an intermediary, the transactions were guaranteed to be safe.

Interestingly, in another memory, Xiao Ran had seen Xue Hongling and several masked people join forces to hunt down and kill a middle-aged man. As they attacked, several people in courier uniforms stood nearby, quietly watching.

From their conversation in the memory, they were all company employees.

The company hadn't stopped them. On the contrary, it had blocked the surrounding signals and evacuated nearby residents under the pretense of a gas leak.

Afterward, the company had even taken responsibility for recovering the corpse and handling the aftermath.

"It looks like the company and the Changchun Association aren't actually opposed to each other."

With so little information, Xiao Ran couldn't analyze much more.

But one saying had left a deep impression on him: "If you're in trouble, go to the company. If you have a need, go to the Changchun Association."

"Too bad there's nothing more about Maze City."

Xiao Ran shoveled another mouthful of noodles into his mouth, unable to help feeling a little disappointed. Maze City was what he most wanted to learn about from Xue Hongling, but after three tries, he still hadn't seen anything about it in her memories.

He didn't know whether the [Calamity Suppressing Token] wasn't high enough level, or whether some special force was preventing him from viewing information about Maze City.

In any case, Xue Hongling, now lying on the wooden bed, had been completely drained of value. She was like a sugarcane that had been squeezed again and again, with nothing left but the pulp.

"Wait, there's still a little use left!"

Xiao Ran thought it over. After all, a corpse belonging to an Initiate like Xue Hongling was hard to come by. He could use the [Black Swan Brooch - Corpse Stitcher]'s Privilege to turn her into his servant. At a crucial moment, she could take a hit for him. Even having her get beaten up would be useful.

With that in mind, Xiao Ran put down his noodles, picked up the axe again, and got to work.

Some time later, the side door finally opened.

Xiao Ran emerged into the courtyard looking completely satisfied. He took off his bloodstained clothes, turned on the outdoor faucet, and showered in the sun with cold water.

Fortunately, it was his own courtyard. The houses on all sides were low, so he could enjoy himself without a care.

Once he'd washed up, Xiao Ran took out Xue Hongling's two Cursed Objects and began studying them.

After trying to activate them with Corpse Stitcher and Trainee, then making a simple comparison, he understood how the two items worked.

The Ghost Cloak wasn't suited for merging with Corpse Stitcher.

This Cursed Object was only F-class, and its ability leaned toward defense. Even after merging with Corpse Stitcher, its ability was very ordinary.

Its only privilege was reducing the chance of a corpse reanimating while he was stitching it.

The other privilege was even more useless. If he was attacked while stitching a corpse, he could assume a defensive stance.

Its effects after merging with Trainee were decent, though.

F-class Cursed Object: Ghost Cloak - Trainee

A must-have for night walkers. Wearing it grants the following privileges.

Privilege 1: Night Walk

At night, you can enter a partially invisible state. If you remain still, you become fully invisible, but this cannot conceal your breathing, scent, sound, or other such traces.

Privilege 2: Ironclad Cloak

When activated, the cloak's strength increases by 200%, granting excellent protection against physical damage. However, your mobility will be greatly reduced.

Duration: 2 minutes

Cooldown: 20 minutes.

It was a decent item. At a crucial moment, it could serve as a lifesaving shield.

The other item was the ring.

The black ring was made from some unknown metal, and a black gem was set into it.

On closer inspection, something seemed to be swimming inside the gem. Even holding it made him feel exceptionally cold.

E-class Cursed Ring - Corpse Stitcher

The owner can summon a ring spirit.

Corpse Stitcher Privilege 1: Nourishment

While stitching a corpse, you can draw out its soul as nourishment to nurture the ring spirit.

The more nourishment the ring spirit absorbs, the stronger it becomes. But be careful: if it senses that you're too weak, it may turn on you.

Privilege 2: Painful Whip

You can use Painful Whip on the ring spirit, greatly increasing its strength for a short time.

However, each use will increase the ring spirit's resentment toward you.

"This ring's pretty good. It'll make up for Corpse Stitcher's lack of offensive power."

Xiao Ran happily put the ring away. As for it turning on him? That was a small matter. If it dared to rebel, he'd toss the ring straight into the latrine.

After a busy morning, the time had flown by.

That afternoon, Xiao Ran took a nap.

When night fell, Xiao Ran ate a late-night meal, got on his bike, and headed straight for the agricultural market.

After seeing the benefits of having a talisman's power boost the night before, Xiao Ran had realized that the more of these things he had, the better. Zhou Shen had already helped him get in touch with someone, so after he arrived, he headed to the slaughterhouse.

The moment he stepped inside, a sharp, foul stench hit him. After passing disease-control inspections, herds of pigs and sheep were sent into the slaughterhouse for processing.

When the manager heard Xiao Ran's name, he immediately greeted him with a beaming smile and led him into the storeroom, pointing to a row of freshly slaughtered carcasses on the left.

"These were just killed. Help yourself, brother."

The manager's surname was Fang. As he spoke, he even offered Xiao Ran a cigarette.

"Thanks, but I don't smoke."

"Sure, sure. Just let me know if you need anything."

Manager Fang finished speaking, then changed the subject and asked, "What's your relationship with Boss Zhou?"

"He's my uncle."

Xiao Ran replied without batting an eye.

When Manager Fang heard they were relatives, his smile grew even wider. After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Xiao Ran, he tactfully headed out and closed the door behind him.

Xiao Ran looked at the carcasses hanging from the hooks, raised an eyebrow, and picked out a freshly slaughtered yellow cow to start stitching.

Before long, a notification sounded.

"[Calamity Suppressing Token - Trainee] Privilege 2: Borrowing has activated. You gained a Talisman of Strength."

"[Mourning Ring - Corpse Stitcher] Privilege 1: Nourishment has activated. Your ring spirit gained a portion of nourishment..."