Transmigrated to a Sacrificial Ritual

Li Ran vaguely remembered that he had already died.

The last image he saw in his previous life was a truck rushing toward him, followed by the clear, azure sky. His body and soul drifted upward together, as if merging with the thin clouds in the sky, gradually dissipating.

So, what is the situation now? Did I transmigrate?

He rolled his eyes, and the surrounding scene came into view.

He seemed to be in a dim room with the doors and windows tightly shut and heavy curtains drawn; only a few candle flames barely emitted a faint light.

And what the candlelight illuminated was—

Li Ran's pupils constricted sharply.

An ornate candlestick, a large cauldron burning herbs, and a large amount of flesh and blood tissue piled up around the cauldron.

He was actually lying in this pile of flesh and blood.

The suffocating smoke of the herbs and the thick, pungent scent of blood strongly irritated his nasal cavity.

What the hell is this? An altar? Have I become a sacrifice?

He thought, realizing it only after the fact.

Strange, frenzied chanting reached his ears. Li Ran followed the sound and looked over, and a fanatical, twisted face immediately jumped into his sight.

The owner of the face was an elderly man. He had sparse hair, messy eyebrows, and a sinister, strange gleam flickering in his gray-blue eyes. He was waving a blood-stained dagger around wildly, clearly in an extremely abnormal state.

Looking at this face, Li Ran felt, for some reason, that it was somewhat familiar.

Sirius Aripice.

The name of this person automatically popped into his mind.

What is going on?

Even though he had never seen him before, why did he know his name?

Familiarity and strangeness surged into his heart at the same time. This eerie sense of confusion left Li Ran feeling utterly bewildered.

The old man was immersed in his own world and didn't notice that Li Ran was observing him at all. He prayed loudly, swaying his body back and forth, using a language Li Ran couldn't understand at all, piously and crazily calling out to something unknown.

Looking past his shoulder, Li Ran saw the state of the back of the room.

On the floor further back lay a pitiful and beautiful young girl. Her hands and feet were tied with ropes, her mouth was gagged, and her eyes were tightly shut. Her delicate eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if she had fallen into a coma.

Looking at the girl's haggard face, a sense of pity and anger naturally welled up in Li Ran's heart. Subconsciously, he called out the other person's name.

"Cecilia..."

Boom!

A loud noise suddenly erupted in his mind. The girl's face was like a key, unlocking memories locked deep within his brain, and countless images poured in incessantly.

"Brother!"

A little girl smiled, holding his hand as they walked down the street together;

"Brother..."

At the funeral, the young girl threw herself into his arms and sobbed bitterly, her thin, delicate shoulders trembling uncontrollably;

"Brother."

In front of the hospital bed, the young girl gently wiped his cheeks as he wore a straitjacket...

A massive amount of memories made Li Ran's head ache as if it were splitting, but they also let him know his current situation.

First of all, he had indeed transmigrated. The world he had transmigrated to was roughly equivalent to 18th-century Europe, with multiple countries on the continent coexisting in opposition. As for the Kingdom of Ruin where he was currently located, it was similar to the Victorian-era British Empire.

Luther Rondal was the name of the original owner of this body. He had just turned eighteen today and lived in Tingen City of the Kingdom of Ruin.

Compared to ordinary citizens, Luther Rondal was a little bit different.

What kind of difference?

He was sick.

That's right, Luther suffered from a severe mental illness.

Since he was a child, Luther had frequently experienced terrifying hallucinations and auditory hallucinations, seeing The Hanged Giant and hearing crazy Whispers. He was constantly tortured by these hallucinations and had suffered mental breakdowns several times.

Fortunately, his family did not give up on him but kept him by their side and took meticulous care of him. It was a pity that two years ago, Luther's father, a small clerk, died in a company accident, and his mother, overcome with grief and exhaustion, followed her husband a few months later, leaving only him and his sister, who was two years younger than him, to depend on each other.

—That is the young girl lying on the floor right now, Cecilia Rondal.

So, what is the situation now?

After their parents passed away, the sister took care of Luther alone, and the siblings barely lived for a period of time on the meager pension from the company. Just as their savings were exhausted and life became increasingly difficult, Sirius Aripice came knocking.

—That is the old man who is currently having a fit in front of him.

Sirius claimed to be an old friend of their father, wanting to repay their father's past kindness, and was willing to provide them with a living allowance. However, for the sake of convenience in taking care of them, the Rondal siblings needed to move to the place where he lived and live with him.

This is just too suspicious!

Li Ran thought to himself.

But the siblings were in such a desperate situation that they had no choice but to agree.

Sure enough, after living there for a while, the eccentric old man Sirius bared his fangs. On the day of Luther Rondal's eighteenth birthday, he suddenly attacked the siblings, bound the sister, and placed Luther Rondal upon the altar, piercing his heart with a dagger...

Recalling this, Li Ran finally felt something strange in his chest.

Looking down, he discovered that the collar of his shirt had been roughly torn open, and a horrific wound lay across his chest. Through the gash, he could even see his damaged heart deep within.

Am I going to die again?

The moment this thought surfaced in his mind, Li Ran witnessed an incredible scene.

At the site of the heart's damage, muscle fibers began to writhe, spontaneously connecting and fusing together. In the blink of an eye, his heart was fully repaired and began to pump powerfully. The shallower wounds also recovered rapidly; muscles reconnected, tissues bonded, skin pulled together, and finally, it became smooth and flat.

A fatal injury had just healed like that!

Li Ran was shocked beyond measure, but once he considered that even transmigrating was possible, healing a wound didn't seem so inconceivable after all.

As his mind was filled with wild thoughts, he suddenly felt the light before his eyes dim; it turned out that Sirius had suddenly leaned in close to the altar!

He was startled and immediately held his breath.

Fortunately, Sirius was merely changing his prayer posture; his attention was entirely focused on the void behind Li Ran, and he did not notice Li Ran's anomaly. Li Ran breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, he became alert.

Stop thinking about all that nonsense for now; the most important thing at the moment is to subdue this eccentric old man. If he doesn't take him down, he will definitely meet a miserable end!

In his chest, his heart was beating powerfully, transporting blood to every part of his body, and his previously weak limbs gradually regained sensation.

Li Ran knew he had to act.

Taking a deep breath, he suddenly reached out and grabbed the metal candlestick in front of him.

Sirius Aripice was still praying fervently, calling out to his incomprehensible God. Just then, he suddenly heard a fierce whistling of wind, and then he saw the base of a metal candlestick magnifying infinitely before his eyes!

"Clang!"

The crisp sound of impact rang through the room, and the vibration traveled through the candlestick to Li Ran's hand, nearly making him lose his grip. Having landed the blow, he quickly scrambled off the altar while clutching the candlestick, watching Sirius vigilantly.

"Ugh..."

Sirius Aripice's expression was somewhat dazed, as if he hadn't yet figured out what had happened. He swayed his body but did not fall. Li Ran gritted his teeth, jumped down, and continued to swing the candlestick, smashing it against his head several more times!

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

His arm was numbed by the vibration, and the edge of the candlestick was stained with blood. Having been struck repeatedly, Sirius finally fell backward.

Li Ran cautiously stepped forward and kicked the dagger out of his hand. After observing for a dozen seconds and confirming that Sirius was no longer moving, he picked up the dagger, walked over to Cecilia, leaned down, cut the ropes binding the young girl, and removed the cloth from her mouth.

"Cecilia, Cecilia!"

He shook the beautiful girl's slender shoulders and called out to her.

The girl was shaken awake by him, opened her eyes in a daze, and her pupils slowly focused on him.

She suddenly became terrified.

"Look out!"

Cecilia stared behind Li Ran and screamed.

Almost at the same time, Li Ran heard heavy footsteps coming from behind him!