The Beggar Sees Grandpa in His Memories

"Ring ring ring..."

As dawn broke, the dormitory door opened. Many students who had survived the previous night breathed a sigh of relief. Without delay, they rushed to the classroom, afraid of missing today's three lessons.

However, in the innermost room on the second floor, muffled chopping sounds could still be heard from time to time.

Dark red blood dripped from the bed board onto the floor.

Slender fingers slid up the dry skin, gently parting the cut wound to reveal the red and white muscle layer beneath the incision. The severed blood vessels could even be clearly seen.

"Flesh Suturing Technique!"

Xiao Ran took out his needle and thread and began to suture the flesh. This time, he chose the more difficult internal suturing method, which involved suturing directly beneath the skin layer.

As a type of Master-level Suturing Technique, Xiao Ran had also tried it on Xue Hongling before, but the effect was not good.

To put it bluntly, his own skills were not good enough. After all, for the profession of a second-rate craftsman, the requirements for suturing were not high. Because the heart of a dead person had stopped beating, most of the blood was stagnant, and there would be no massive bleeding. Second-rate craftsmen only needed to ensure the superficial suturing was complete.

As for the situation beneath the flesh and skin, it had nothing to do with a second-rate craftsman.

In some troublesome areas, such as broken bones or ruptured internal organs, they would simply be removed if they affected the suturing effect.

Compared to medical aesthetics and surgical operations in reality, this had to be admitted as being far behind.

However, Xiao Ran now wanted to try more in-depth suturing. On one hand, after gaining the Empty Handed Master, his technique had reached a deeper level of understanding. On the other hand, Xiao Ran wanted to see if doing so could lead to a higher rating.

If it was feasible, would it mean that his future suturing direction could align with the direction of medical surgery in reality?

This was the second time he had used the Flesh Suturing Technique. His technique was a bit rusty at first, but he quickly became more proficient.

The old man lay on the bed, but his eyes had lost their luster.

More than ten minutes ago, the old man was still trying to resist Xiao Ran, but when the bell rang outside, he had completely stopped moving.

These Night Ghosts seemed to have some kind of special restriction. Once the time limit was exceeded, the heavy death aura on their bodies would immediately dissipate.

Perhaps this was why they could only appear at night.

However, Xiao Ran was not considering these issues for the time being. His eyes were focused on quickly suturing the cut wound, ensuring that every detail was as perfect as possible.

Soon, after Xiao Ran finished suturing, a pleasant notification sound echoed in his ears.

[You have met the conditions to trigger the special privilege, do you wish to activate the Spirit Seizing privilege!]

"Spirit Seizing!"

Following that, a series of memories surfaced before Xiao Ran's eyes. These memories were scattered, the memories of the old man when he was alive. To his surprise, this old man was actually a teacher.

He was responsible for teaching history at the school.

Afterward, the scene continued to shift. This history teacher also collected antiques and calligraphy and paintings in his daily life.

"The corpse of Guo Zhenglin you repaired was rated A-class, and you received 30 energy points."

"Calamity Suppressing Token Spirit Seizing successful, you have obtained Guo Zhenglin's ability [Qing Dynasty Porcelain Identification]."

Soon, the relevant knowledge and information merged into Xiao Ran's mind, making him unable to help but laugh and cry. He hadn't expected that after all his efforts, he would end up with an identification skill.

"It seems that the Calamity Suppressing Token's effect on these Yin souls and ghosts is more about obtaining their abilities from when they were alive."

Combining this with the Empty Handed Master he had obtained on the bus earlier, Xiao Ran had a rough conclusion in his mind.

"Ding! Calamity Suppressing Token energy value has reached 100. Please complete the special mission to upgrade!"

The subsequent notification made Xiao Ran pause. He then remembered that the Calamity Suppressing Token could be upgraded.

"Special Mission Discovered: Calamity Suppressing Token"

Mission Requirements: Use the [Calamity Suppressing Token]'s privilege to suture an E-class corpse and a D-class corpse, with a rating of A-class or above!

Mission Time: Unlimited

Mission Reward: Calamity Suppressing Token will be upgraded to D-class.

(Note: During the suturing process of D-class biological corpses, the corpses themselves may exhibit various strange curses. Please be careful!)

"I still need to complete missions."

Xiao Ran pouted. This was purely increasing the difficulty for himself.

An E-class corpse was manageable. For example, the beggar on the next bed should definitely qualify as E-class. However, it might not be so easy to encounter a corpse of D-class or above.

He glanced at the old man again and, thinking that the other party was just a teacher in life, Xiao Ran did not waste any more energy on him.

He turned and walked to the beggar's side.

The beggar's corpse was covered in knife marks. Zhao Jiguang's saber had struck heavily. The areas cut by the blade were curled on both sides, indicating that the blade was at an extremely high temperature when it cut through the flesh and skin. Otherwise, such wounds could not have been inflicted.

Xiao Ran frowned. These kinds of wounds were the most annoying. No amount of money at the crematorium would make anyone take them; they were mainly troublesome to deal with. Those who often killed people knew that after death, the skin of a corpse would gradually lose its elasticity.

At this time, after dealing with the burnt outer layer and then suturing the wound, it would look very unsightly.

However, these were not difficult for Xiao Ran. He took out the fruit knife, cut off the curled outer skin, then dealt with the charred flesh inside the wound on both sides, and hollowed out both sides to reshape the distance between the flesh and blood.

Xiao Ran's movements were very fast. His slender fingers perfectly combined stability and dexterity. The needle and thread seemed like dancing sprites at his fingertips, yet every stitch was precise, stable, and swift, without any sloppiness.

Six of the seven knife wounds were sutured by Xiao Ran in the blink of an eye, leaving only the fatal stab wound on his chest.

Xiao Ran reached in to examine the wound. It was at this moment that a sudden change occurred. Xiao Ran felt a bone-chilling coldness surge through his hand, as if someone had suddenly grabbed it.

"Possessed? No! It's not possessed."

He instinctively pulled back, but his hand felt like it was sinking into mud. Instead of coming free, it was being pulled in further, as if the corpse had a black hole inside. In the blink of an eye, half of Xiao Ran's hand was sucked in.

At that moment, Xiao Ran suddenly felt his hand brush against something.

His fingers fumbled around a few times. A round, rectangular object. Like an iron nail?

After trying to pull it out a few times, the suction force actually grew stronger.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran didn't hesitate any longer. He immediately took out the [Calamity Suppressing Token] and slapped it onto the beggar's chest. "Suppress Calamity!"

Dark red light appeared on the [Calamity Suppressing Token], which then slammed fiercely onto the beggar's corpse.

"Clang clang!!"

The beggar's body convulsed on the bed, and wisps of black mist, like insects, emerged from his chest. Xiao Ran could clearly feel a strong malice within them. He didn't know what it was, but with the aid of the Calamity Suppressing Token, the suction force from the beggar's chest seemed to be gradually weakening.

Xiao Ran immediately took out three Talismans of Strength, crushed them, and a surge of warmth flowed into his body, making him feel invigorated. He gripped the unknown object in his hand with one hand, placed a foot on the beggar's corpse, and yanked backward with all his might.

With a "Pfft!" sound, a black iron rod was forcefully pulled out.

"Clatter!"

Xiao Ran threw the iron rod onto the ground, shook the blood off his hands, and felt a wave of numbness in his entire arm. Only then did he turn to examine the iron rod.

The iron rod was about the length of an adult's palm.

Below was a spike like a triangular pyramid. The shaft was carved with three naked women holding a skull, surrounded by patterns of many skeletons carved in dark lines.

At the very top sat an armored general, holding a treasure fan.

"This design..."

Xiao Ran couldn't quite figure it out, but this thing wasn't a Cursed Object. Yet, it felt incredibly cold and bone-chilling in his hand. "Is it some kind of magical artifact?"

In the old days, when encountering corpses that died unnaturally or tragically, families would often nail cinnabar-coated nails into the coffin during burial to prevent reanimation and suppress evil spirits.

But he had never heard of nails being driven into the corpse itself. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like a particularly vicious curse, designed to prevent the soul from ever finding peace, forever trapped within the corpse.

It was a shame he didn't know much about these supernatural rumors.

"It doesn't matter, I can figure it out myself!"

With that thought, Xiao Ran's curiosity about the beggar's origins grew. He picked up his needle and thread and began to stitch up the final wound on the chest.

"Spirit Seizing!"

As he finished stitching, Xiao Ran eagerly used his privilege to Spirit Seize.

Instantly, a stream of memories flooded Xiao Ran's mind.

The scene showed the beggar begging by the roadside with two young beggars. Judging by the surroundings, people were still wearing cotton clothes. There were no cars on the street, not even a single bicycle. Pedestrians walking a bit faster would stir up dust on the ground.

The beggar glanced around and his gaze fixed on a wealthy-looking house across the street. A woman was leading a little girl into the house. The appearance of the house's gate indicated it belonged to a well-off family.

The scene ended there. The memory then shifted. When the beggar reappeared, he was fleeing in sheer terror.

He ran, constantly looking back behind him.

Suddenly, the beggar stopped abruptly and warily eyed the bushes in front of him.

"Who's there! Come out!"

The bushes rustled, and three or four figures emerged. There were men and women, and their weapons were quite peculiar. One held a suona, another a fan, and one had two stone locks.

The woman in the floral cotton jacket, her hair in a long braid, held a lotus flower.

Beside her, a man with a square face carried a shoulder pole. Two bamboo baskets hung from the pole.

The baskets opened, and several bloody heads rolled out.

Seeing that the rolling heads were all his disciples and grand-disciples, the beggar's face changed instantly.

With a "Plop!", he knelt on the ground.

"It was my fault for not knowing the rules, elder sirs. I've offended you. Please show mercy. From this day forward, I will never set foot in the Central Plains again."

As he spoke, the beggar raised his finger to swear an oath, and then took out all the money he had extorted recently.

Hearing this, the group exchanged glances. Then, a mocking voice came from the bushes. "Too late. The tricks of the street performers, the glib tongues of the scholars. If you pay the entrance fee, you can have a place in the world of fortune-telling, medicine peddling, bodyguarding, or even thievery. But there's no room for a truly despicable trade."

Xiao Ran nodded upon hearing this. A simple translation of this sentence was: "The local businesses, the various trades, fortune-telling and selling medicine, bodyguards and thieves – as long as you pay the entrance fee, you can have a place. But there's no such thing as a truly despicable business. The implication is that he has no way out."

However, the voice sounded familiar. Xiao Ran followed the sound and saw three people emerge from the bushes. The middle-aged man leading them wasn't old, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, wearing a coarse cloth tunic.

Xiao Ran looked closely, and the more he looked, the more familiar the man seemed. Just as the beggar suddenly turned to glare at the three, his eyes seeming to spew fire as he cursed, "Pah! Xiao the Cobbler, since when did your family get a foothold in the Changchun Association? If I survive this, I'll kill your whole village!"

"Xiao the Cobbler?"

Xiao Ran's mind went blank. He looked at the middle-aged man again, and his head buzzed. "My grandpa??"