Public Execution

Then she folded her arms across her chest, turned, and gracefully walked back into the darkness she had come from.

As the sound of her footsteps faded into the distance.

Only then did Lynn exhale and relax.

"Young man," the Scavenger beside him said with a smile, "go back. But be careful. Whatever else you provoke, never provoke a vengeful spirit. Otherwise, they'll haunt you forever."

Lynn quickly collected himself and thanked her. "Whatever the case, thank you for helping me just now, Granny. Without you, I really would have been in danger."

The Scavenger chuckled as she hobbled along, pulling her cart, and said with a smile:

"If it hadn't been for you last night, Wandering Soul Alley would no longer exist."

"But this is the only time Granny will help you. Whatever happens to you next is none of my business."

Creak-creak-

Lynn watched the old woman pull her cart into the black fog and disappear.

His expression grew grave.

He hurried back to the Potion Shop.

He checked the time and raised an eyebrow. "All I can do is see whether my teacher comes back tonight. If he doesn't return today either, things will get troublesome!"

Soon.

The Soul Lamp outside flickered wildly, slowly growing dim.

Night was approaching.

Yet there was still no sign of his teacher returning.

Lynn paced back and forth.

He knew.

His teacher probably wouldn't return today.

That left him with only two choices.

Either go over as a guest, or stay here and hold out until tomorrow.

But clearly, with his current strength, surviving until tomorrow would be no easy task.

He frowned.

Without another word, he immediately spent 500 Skeleton Coins and logged into the Vision Realm to gather some information.

The moment he opened the Region Channel, he saw that familiar username.

[Region Channel]

[Burned Ghost]: "Your Majesty, did you kill that human brat?"

[Evil Spirit Queen]: "The brat got lucky. A Scavenger of unknown strength happened to pass by. He seems to have an unusual relationship with that old woman, so I didn't attack."

[Skeleton Demon]: "You don't mean the Human-Skinned Old Woman, do you?! Then you'd better be careful. She's one of the earliest residents of Wandering Soul Alley. Many residents say she might be a remnant left behind by a Root-Level Monster. Her strength is terrifying!"

[Evil Spirit Queen]: "Interesting. But if we actually fought, I wouldn't be afraid of her!"

[Evil Spirit Queen]: "I've invited that brat to my home tonight. If he comes, I've got quite a show waiting for him. If he doesn't, hehehe-then I'll have to find myself some entertainment."

[Burned Ghost]: "The Queen is invincible!"

Every comment below was pure flattery.

Clearly.

Despite having only recently moved here, she had already established considerable authority in Wandering Soul Alley.

This really was a world where strength ruled!

[Skeleton Demon]: "Your Majesty, could he be in the Vision Realm too, watching us chat right now?"

[Evil Spirit Queen]: "Impossible. That fellow is too weak to enter the Vision Realm yet. And so what if he is? I'm already itching to get my hands on him! Just wait for my battle report tomorrow!"

[Evil Spirit Queen]: @Human quack, are you there? Are you there?

[Evil Spirit Queen]: @Bastard who trained my daughter, are you there? Come out if you've got the guts!

Snap-

Lynn quickly closed the Region Channel, his eyes widening.

They really were openly plotting against him!

No!

Lynn immediately logged out, his expression serious.

Narrowing his eyes, he equipped himself with the Revolver, the heart, and the Boning Knife. These were the best tools he currently had for self-defense.

Then he opened his panel.

[Skills]

[Infectious Aura]: Slightly increases the success rate of persuasion.

[Curse Diagnosis]: Allows you to determine whether the subject is cursed during a diagnosis.

Lynn: "..."

A combat weakling who had put all his stat points into constitution and had only a handful of everyday skills...

"I can't take her head-on. I'll have to outsmart her."

Lynn's expression was serious.

Watching the Soul Lamp gradually fade.

Lynn hesitated no longer. He quickly shut the front door, picked up the steadily dimming Soul Lamp, and left the Potion Shop for the first time.

The light of the Soul Lamp dispersed the black fog.

The darkness was silent and deserted.

Soon.

Lynn stood before the entrance to Wandering Soul Alley No. 45.

He looked up, and an old, dilapidated house came into view. The heavy stench of blood and mildew washed over him.

This had been the Pighead Demon's shop.

Except that yesterday, he had been eaten.

Creak-

Holding the lamp, Lynn slowly pushed open the old wooden door.

"Ma'am! I'm here for my visit!"

Lynn shouted.

The interior was pitch-black, and waves of thick, musty air hit him.

Lynn carefully stepped inside.

In the darkness.

He vaguely heard repeated rustling sounds, as though something were writhing.

Something seemed to be hanging upside down around him, accompanied by the faint clinking of chains.

Then, in the next instant.

Whoosh-

The candles in the wall sconces flared to life one after another, instantly illuminating the entire room.

And Lynn immediately saw.

The things dangling upside down from all those chains were people who had been skinned and air-dried!

Lynn could even clearly make out the twisted expressions frozen on their faces.

Clearly.

Before the Pighead Demon died, this place had been a bloody, brutal slaughterhouse.

Lynn reached out and poked the face of a corpse hanging upside down in front of him.

"Not as handsome as me."

Lynn shook his head, pushed the hanging man aside, and walked forward.

The next moment.

Lynn saw a square table in the center of the room, covered with a blood-red tablecloth. Two candleholders held faintly flickering flames.

A pair of high heels sat beside the table.

The atmosphere was indescribably eerie and incongruous.

"Ma'am? Are you there?" Lynn shouted.

But no one answered.

Lynn stared wide-eyed, shrugged, and looked at the chair in front of the table that seemed to have been prepared for him. Then he plopped down into it.

Meanwhile.

Somewhere on the second floor, countless slimy tentacles crawled noisily over the walls.

The Blood-Robed Evil Spirit narrowed her eyes, staring at the scene downstairs reflected in a faintly glowing mirror before her. Her eyes brimmed with cold amusement.

"Everyone, that doctor has arrived. Since you all want to watch a public execution so badly, you're in for a treat today."

In the Vision Realm.

A live feed in the Region Channel was displaying the scene in the mirror.

There were already a full 541 viewers!

[Blood Doll]: "I don't think this is a good idea. He's Blood Saw's apprentice, after all. If you torment him to death now, things will get terrifying when Blood Saw returns!"

[Burned Ghost]: "As if the Queen would fear that! Blood Saw is a psychopathic murderer, and his apprentice is a little psychopathic murderer. Besides, a human acting so arrogantly in our Wandering Soul Alley deserves to pay!"

[Skeleton Demon]: "@Evil Spirit Queen, how do you plan to kill him?"

Before the mirror.

The Blood-Robed Evil Spirit smiled coldly, swept back her long hair, and said mockingly, "I won't kill him that easily. For a human, shouldn't the best execution begin with breaking his mind?"

"Don't you want to see his terrified face? I think that would be quite entertaining!"

She turned to look at the adorable little girl sleeping soundly in the corner, and her eyes instantly reddened.

If she hadn't already known that human was behind this.

She really might have been fooled by him!

Her poor daughter.

She could have become a powerful, twisted hunter, but now she could only be an adorable, utterly useless little girl.

This was all that bastard's doing!

She whipped her head around, fixed her gaze on the mirror, and said:

"Everyone, I've painstakingly prepared this scene. Just sit back and watch how he dies!"

In an instant.

She tugged on a tentacle hanging down from above.

Creak-

As though some mechanism had been triggered.