Red Skull's First Battle

Footsteps grew closer.

Xiao Ran turned to look at Yang Kai, seeing his still bewildered expression: "Didn't you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

Xiao Ran couldn't explain it to him for the moment, but the Black Swan Brooch under his cloak had already started to alert him.

And this alarm was clearly much stronger than the one on the bus.

"Go!"

No time to see clearly what had descended, Xiao Ran turned and ran back without looking.

"Hey, what are you running for??"

Yang Kai was completely confused, but seeing Xiao Ran run, Yang Kai also panicked. He couldn't ask more questions and ran after Xiao Ran.

The lights in the corridor flickered a few more times, followed by a "click!", and the entire dormitory building plunged into darkness.

Yang Kai's heart pounded, he could almost hear his own heartbeat echoing in his ears. He stopped and looked back in Wang Jun's direction, seeing a few blurry figures standing there, seemingly waiting for something.

"Old Wolf, are you crazy? Run!" Yang Kai shouted loudly, his voice echoing in the empty corridor, sounding particularly piercing.

Wang Jun didn't respond, his gaze fixed on the direction of the stairs.

Seeing that Wang Jun and the others didn't respond, and even silently raised the weapons in their hands, looking ready to fight for their lives, Yang Kai suspected they were possessed.

"Is this guy that brave?? I didn't know that?"

Just then, a light sound of footsteps came from above the corridor, like something running down. Although they couldn't see it, listening to the crisp "dada dada" footsteps made people imagine thick-soled little boots.

A chill ran down Yang Kai's spine. He knew it was definitely not something good.

At this moment, Xiao Ran, who was running ahead, suddenly stopped and stared back at the stairwell.

Seeing that he had stopped running again, Yang Kai and the other two were caught in a dilemma.

He wanted to leave immediately; the safe house was quite close. But the dark corridor in front of him only had a few emergency lights, casting a ghastly green glow, making him feel uneasy.

Seeing Xiao Ran motionless, he gritted his teeth and decided to wait there with him.

"Kai Ge!"

"Hm?"

Xiao Ran took a deep breath, feeling the coldness emanating from the Black Swan Brooch on his chest growing stronger. He clenched the machete at his waist with one hand, and at the same time, the dark red Curse Mark began to quietly merge with the Mourning Ring.

A layer of eerie red light began to appear on the Mourning Ring, activated by the Corpse Stitcher.

"Go, quietly," Xiao Ran whispered to Yang Kai in the darkness, his voice barely audible.

"What about you?"

"Jun Ge and the others didn't leave, how could I leave?" Xiao Ran pointed at Wang Jun and the others standing at the stairwell.

Yang Kai was surprised by this. He didn't expect Wang Jun to be not only lucky but also decent, and his new subordinate was so loyal.

Yang Kai wanted to say a few polite words at this moment, but the footsteps from the stairwell were getting closer, each step felt like it was stepping on his heart, making Yang Kai's skin crawl.

Looking up, he saw a pair of pink embroidered shoes standing at the turn of the stairs. He could only see the shoes, not the person.

The shoes were small, with a foot-high horse-hoof heel. From a distance, it was unclear whether the embroidery was a tiger or a lion. They looked like the high-heeled shoes worn by palace maids in Qing Dynasty dramas.

Yang Kai's throat felt as if something was stuck. He tried to speak, but found he couldn't form words.

Beside him, Xiao Ran tensed even more, gripping his machete tighter. The red light from the Mourning Ring grew brighter.

With a soft "click," the emergency lights suddenly went out, plunging the corridor into bottomless darkness.

"Dada dada..."

The next moment, hurried footsteps sounded.

Xiao Ran's pupils contracted, and his heart stirred. As if receiving an order, Wang Jun and the other three raised their weapons and charged forward.

However, in the next second, the small embroidered shoes were lifted forward, instantly becoming larger than a door panel in mid-air. One foot stomped down on the student who was charging at the front.

The sole of the shoe twisted a few times, like the habitual action of stepping out a cigarette butt, making a "crackling" sound of bones shattering, crushing him into a pulp.

At the same time, another embroidered shoe stepped down.

The shoe's upper tore open, revealing a gaping maw that swallowed the other two in one bite. After a thorough chewing, they were gnawed to the bone, leaving no trace.

"Yaa!"

Under Xiao Ran's control, Wang Jun quickly raised the axe in his hand and swung it heavily at the embroidered shoes. To his surprise, he couldn't even leave a mark. Instead, the two pairs of embroidered shoes quickly shrank and, in the next moment, burrowed under his feet like two pink mice.

Then Wang Jun's toes pushed forward, and Xiao Ran immediately lost control of Wang Jun.

"Run!!" Yang Kai could no longer care about his pride. He screamed and turned to run.

Hearing his scream, his two subordinates realized that this guy was already five meters away. Their speed was definitely that of a level-two athlete. Neither of them cared about the other and ran forward with all their might.

"How could it be this thing!"

Xiao Ran had imagined many possibilities for the so-called Night Ghost, but when he actually encountered it, he realized his thoughts had been too simple.

As the saying goes, there are four types of fierce ghosts: malevolent spirits, infatuated locusts, red-clothed specters, and soul-snatching phantoms.

These four types are the most taboo ghosts in folklore.

Among them, this malevolent object refers to old items that have been around for years. Placed there, they don't absorb human energy but are imbued with the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, and by chance, absorb malevolent energy to become ferocious ghosts.

Xiao Ran couldn't understand how such a thing could be in the school.

But he didn't have time to ponder it further. He saw that after Wang Jun put on the embroidered shoes, his demeanor became even more bizarre. His body seemed to be suspended in mid-air by a rope, with only his tiptoes touching the ground.

His face turned a frightening pale gray, and only the whites of his eyes were visible.

His entire body limped rapidly towards Xiao Ran.

"Got you!"

Seeing this, Xiao Ran quickly raised the [Mourning Ring] in his hand. The gem on the ring's surface flashed with a dazzling red light, and the next moment, a red skeleton erupted from the ring.

The skeleton's demonic form was clearly stronger than when it was in Xue Hongling's hands.

When its gaze fell upon Xiao Ran, it found Xiao Ran staring back at him vigilantly at the same time.

Xiao Ran hadn't forgotten the description of the [Mourning Ring], which clearly stated that this thing was inherently rebellious. No matter when he used it, he had to be wary of it.

As Xiao Ran pointed his finger at Wang Jun ahead, he said, "What are you looking at me for? If you can't even handle these damn shoes, I'll throw you into the latrine!"

The skeleton demon was stunned. Flames flickered in its hollow eye sockets as it stared intently at Xiao Ran for a moment before abruptly turning around and pouncing towards Wang Jun's figure.

Wang Jun was practically floating as he charged forward. The ten-meter distance was covered halfway in an instant, but facing the power of an E-class Cursed Object like the skeleton demon, he was clearly outmatched.

When Wang Jun was only a few steps away from Xiao Ran, the red skeleton blocked him in the blink of an eye.

The red skeleton emitted a dazzling red light, and the flames burning in its hollow eye sockets flared as it raised its massive palm and slapped directly at Wang Jun.

This palm strike carried a gust of wind, lifting Wang Jun directly off the ground and slamming him hard against the ceiling.

After hitting the ceiling, Wang Jun's body fell heavily back to the floor with a dull thud.

Cracks spread across the ceiling like a spiderweb, and dust and debris rained down. However, before Wang Jun could even get up, the red skeleton struck again, punching Wang Jun's back of the head.

But this time, Wang Jun's leg joints twisted backward. The embroidered shoes on his feet quickly slipped off, and one shoe suddenly grew to the size of a door panel, smashing towards the red skeleton. Simultaneously, the other shoe split open into a gaping maw, baring its teeth as it lunged from the side.

This sudden attack instantly put the red skeleton at a disadvantage. Its body was stomped to the ground by the shoe, and the other shoe took the opportunity to bite its shoulder. Xiao Ran could even hear the sound of bones cracking on the red skeleton.

Just then, Xiao Ran waved the [Mourning Ring] on his finger. A scarlet whip flew out from the ring and lashed fiercely at the red skeleton.

"Crack! Crack!!"

With two loud cracks, the red skeleton, which had been at a disadvantage, trembled a few times. The blood-red light around its body suddenly ignited, and its power increased another level. After glaring fiercely at Xiao Ran, the bones in its arms extended into slender bone blades, slicing through the embroidered shoe in front of it, creating a hole. It then punched the embroidered shoe on its shoulder, the immense force causing the teeth within the shoe's maw to fly out.

One of the teeth shot past Xiao Ran's eyes like an arrow. Xiao Ran dodged to the side, only to see the tooth embed itself in the wall beside him.

With such power, if it had been even slightly off, he probably would have had a hole in his body.

Xiao Ran looked at the tooth embedded in the wall, then at the red skeleton, and could clearly feel its resentment towards him growing significantly. He wasn't surprised by this.

Because the ability he had just used was the [Mourning Ring]'s second privilege.

Privilege 2: Painful Lash Can use Painful Lash on the ring spirit, greatly increasing its power for a short period. However, each use increases the ring spirit's dissatisfaction with you.

But he had to admit, the red skeleton's combat power was quite fierce. The embroidered shoes' abilities didn't seem to be suited for direct confrontation, especially not against the red skeleton after being fueled by Painful Lash.

It was quickly pinned to the ground and beaten. The red skeleton seemed intent on venting all the pain it had suffered onto these two pairs of embroidered shoes.

In less than a moment, both pairs of embroidered shoes were twisted into a mess in the red skeleton's hands. If Xiao Ran hadn't intervened in time and forcibly recalled the red skeleton into the [Mourning Ring], the shoes would likely have been torn to shreds by the red skeleton in the next second.

After putting the red skeleton away, Xiao Ran walked up to the pair of embroidered shoes and examined them carefully. The intense malevolent aura on them had almost been hammered away by now.

Especially the left shoe, which had a hole pierced through it by the red skeleton.

"Well, it's also a rare item. It's a shame it's been destroyed like this."

Xiao Ran thought for a moment, took the shoe box that Wang Jun and the others had used to store the badges, and placed it over the shoes. With a gentle scrape, he scooped the shoes into the box.

At this moment, when he looked towards the stairwell, the old man who had warned him earlier had disappeared.

But screams could be heard incessantly from other floors.

"Might as well go join the fun."

Xiao Ran tossed the shoe box into the Micheng Space, turned, and headed straight for the second floor. He arrived at his dormitory door, quickly took out his key, opened the door, stepped onto the bed in one fluid motion, easily climbed onto the coffin, pushed open the coffin lid, and lay down inside. Not long after, a hand, withered and bony, slowly emerged from the coffin