Boy in the Crematorium

In the vast area 50 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, which is where Kanagawa Prefecture is located.

Outside the suburbs, the young man expressionlessly finished dealing with the last corpse, took off his slightly blackened gloves, and threw them aside.

"Ran-chan, don't look like a dead person. Although our job is to handle corpses, work is work and life is life. You have to smile, come on, give me a smile."

Hijikata Shichiro put down the shovel in his hand and chattered at Lin Ran with a smile, like an elder teaching a junior.

Of course, given Hijikata Shichiro's age, he was indeed Lin Ran's elder.

"If you had to deal with these corpses every day, could you smile?" Lin Ran glanced speechlessly at Hijikata Shichiro.

He, Lin Ran, was the one lifting and burning the bodies. Hijikata Shichiro just used a shovel to add bricks and tiles to the furnace, making the fire burn more vigorously.

In fact, Hijikata Shichiro had a strong aversion to "corpses," but there was no other way. His grandfather was the person in charge of this crematorium. Even though Hijikata Shichiro was a hundred percent unwilling to work here, he had to submit to money in the end.

That's right, his grandfather, Hijikata Izumi, had told Hijikata Shichiro that after he passed away, he would be the owner of this small private crematorium. At that time, he would just need to sit in the office and sign some papers to get paid, and the hard and tiring work would be taken over by others.

However, years had passed, and his grandfather was still alive, while Hijikata Shichiro was starting to buckle under the pressure.

"Ugh..." Hijikata Shichiro covered his mouth and said repeatedly, gagging, "Stop talking, I'm already feeling sick."

"Tch... Who was it that told me to smile just now?" Lin Ran shook his head and walked outside. It was time to get off work. The last corpse to be dealt with today had just been finished. Other matters were no longer his concern.

"Clang clang~ Clang clang~"

After leaving the Hijikata Crematorium, Lin Ran suddenly stopped. His gaze turned to a hillside on his left. After the sun set, the path looked somewhat dim and eerie. No one usually walked here.

Lin Ran, who was staring at the small path on the hillside, actually smiled. "After half a month, new Cursed Spirits have appeared?"

As expected, at the dark slope, a shadowy figure revealed its form. When Lin Ran clearly saw the Cursed Spirit, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"It's a Grade 1 cursed spirit?"

Its body was dark and slender, as if it had been doused in oil. Its shoulders were broad, but its arms were thin. It had three eyes on its head, the middle one being a dark red and extremely eerie.

"Leave my grandson, leave my grandson..."

Lin Ran was stunned for a moment. Cursed Spirits also had tiers and grades. They were divided into five grades. If we were to compare them to ordinary weapons, a wooden stick could deal with a Grade 4 curse, a handgun could deal with a Grade 3 curse, a shotgun could deal with a Grade 2 curse, a tank might be able to defeat a Grade 1 curse, and carpet bombing with cluster bombs might not even be able to take down a Special Grade.

The grade of a Cursed Spirit was also linked to its intelligence. Generally speaking, Grade 4 Cursed Spirits had no self-awareness, meaning they only had a single train of thought: pursuit and predation.

As the grade and strength of the Cursed Spirit increased, so did its intelligence. Some were innate, while others were developed over time.

The Grade 1 cursed spirit in front of him clearly had intelligence, but the words it had just spoken did not seem to come from its own consciousness. It was more like...

"That's right, the reason Hijikata Izumi is still alive now is definitely because of your existence." Lin Ran finally understood. Hijikata Izumi had been critically ill three months ago, but at a certain point, she had miraculously recovered. Although her subsequent words and actions were a bit strange, no one had suspected anything.

Now that he thought about it, it didn't make sense. Until this Grade 1 cursed spirit appeared, everything was explained.

Behind this Grade 1 cursed spirit, there was a faint black ribbon. The direction this ribbon was connected to was precisely Hijikata Izumi's room.

"Although Hijikata Shichiro is cynical, likes anime, farts terribly, and doesn't like brushing his teeth... at least he's simple and honest. I don't dislike him." Lin Ran beckoned to the Grade 1 cursed spirit with a greedy expression. "Come on, as soon as I deal with you, Hijikata Shichiro will get his wish."

"You're not scared?" The Grade 1 cursed spirit was somewhat surprised. The words it had spoken earlier were indeed not its own consciousness, but the lingering obsession of Hijikata Izumi's living-dead state. Now it realized that the black-haired youth in front of him was too calm.

But it had observed Lin Ran three months ago and found nothing unusual. If it had to say anything unusual, it was that he was very calm when dealing with corpses.

So calm it was heartbreaking.

"Scared?" Lin Ran looked at the Grade 1 cursed spirit in front of him. Then he remembered that when he had dealt with other Cursed Spirits before, he had been too quick, so it hadn't noticed him at all.

Seeing Lin Ran's silence, the Grade 1 cursed spirit seemed to discard its reservations. A young man with no Cursed Energy at all, what was there to be afraid of? So it flashed forward directly, intending to finish Lin Ran with one blow.

Lin Ran was waiting for this moment. The instant it charged forward, he lifted his leg and swept out. It looked like a simple kick, but within 0.000001 seconds before it made contact with the Cursed Spirit, black light instantly flashed, and a hint of azure flashed within this black light.

"Boom!"

The Grade 1 cursed spirit's left arm was directly shattered by this blow. Its entire body was smashed into the ground of the small path like a cannonball, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Lin Ran retracted his right foot, stomped on the ground, and looked into the dust. "Under normal circumstances, an ordinary Cursed Spirit would have already been pulverized. You're quite special."

Is it because of absorbing too much resentment and Cursed Energy?

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. I have to eliminate you today." Lin Ran shook his leg and walked towards the Grade 1 cursed spirit.

The dust had not yet dispersed, but the black shadow had already disappeared. Lin Ran's eyeballs moved rapidly, and he suddenly turned and raised his arm to block. A paralyzing pain struck him, and he was sent flying backward.

"This body really can't take much punishment..." Lin Ran had already strengthened his training to better adapt to this immense Cursed Energy, but in reality, the results of this training were not enough to block the attack of a Grade 1 cursed spirit. His hands were already numb.

The situation was indeed a bit dangerous. Although he was surprised to encounter a Grade 1 cursed spirit for the first time, his strength was not yet enough to crush it. It could even result in a one-for-one exchange.

But Lin Ran was not the least bit timid; instead, he became excited. He shook his hands and quickly moved away from his original position.

The next moment, a large pit was smashed where Lin Ran had been standing, and black energy spewed out. It was the unique aura of this Cursed Spirit.

"Take another one from me!" Lin Ran appeared in the air and pressed down fiercely with one foot. Just as he was about to touch the Grade 1 cursed spirit's head, the black and blue light appeared again.

"Bang!"

"Again!"

After landing, Lin Ran immediately swept out another leg, and the black and blue light flashed instantly.

One kick.

Two kicks.

Three kicks.

Four legs.

Five legs.

Six legs...

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang..."

"Only... six times? Is this my limit..." Lin Ran's legs felt a little weak after landing. With his current strength, he couldn't support the vast amount of Cursed Energy. Releasing six black flashes was already his limit.

A Grade 1 cursed spirit was not a Special Grade, after all. Its head and body endured six black flashes head-on. Under such powerful impact, its body could no longer withstand it. Its form began to dissipate and vanish, and the black ribbon connecting to Hijikata Izumi snapped at this moment.

"After all, this isn't an ordinary black flash..."

Lin Ran shook his numb hands, feeling relieved. His eyes suddenly became lively. "A Grade 1 cursed spirit... how many points will that be?"