The Scalpel

"Xiu! It's been two minutes!" Zhao Hao interrupted Fang Xiu's ecstasy.

Fang Xiu's expression instantly returned to calm.

"Get some distance first. I'm going to test the power of Spirituality."

"So you really became the Spirit Tamer Wang Ziteng was talking about?" Zhao Hao was overjoyed.

Fang Xiu nodded, and Zhao Hao tactfully ran down the corridor to the left.

Suddenly, Fang Xiu raised his right hand, coating it with Spirituality.

He looked at the Female Physician, who was still eating, and murmured, "You'll be the first to feel pain."

He was very satisfied with the nature of his pain ability, and he suspected it was powerful, too.

In anyone else's hands, this ability would naturally be pathetic. But in his, it was a god-tier skill!

A one-hit kill!

Because this punch carried all the pain he had suffered through twenty-one deaths. Who could withstand that?!

And as his death count rose, the pain would only increase, meaning this ability could grow stronger without limit.

Boom!

Fang Xiu drove a punch at the Female Physician's head.

The Female Physician was still eating and did not react at all.

Thud!

A dull impact rang out.

Roar!

The Female Physician let out an agonized roar and crashed to the ground. Her long hands clamped over her head as she trembled uncontrollably, dropping the Scalpel she had been holding.

Despite this initial success, Fang Xiu frowned. His punch had not achieved the result he wanted.

Although the Female Physician was in pain, it clearly fell short of what he had suffered back then. The transmission of Spirituality had met obvious resistance, and that single punch had also depleted all his Spirituality.

He could not throw a second punch.

One percent Spirituality was still too weak. And the lackluster effect was probably because he had failed to penetrate her defenses.

There was no visible wound on the Female Physician's head. She had suffered only slight damage, preventing the full force of the pain from reaching her.

It seemed he would have to truly wound the Ghost next time.

The power of his fists was limited, after all. A weapon would be better.

But could an ordinary weapon conduct Spirituality?

At that thought, Fang Xiu suddenly noticed the Scalpel the Female Physician had just dropped!

Without the slightest hesitation, he picked up the Scalpel. It felt freezing cold in his hand, like a block of ice.

The instant he touched it, he felt waves of violently turbulent negative emotions assault his mind, filled with countless people's resentment, anger, hatred, and more.

These raging negative emotions could practically tear a person's mind apart.

An ordinary person would probably become a monster that knew only slaughter the instant they touched it.

But Fang Xiu was no ordinary person.

If these negative emotions were ink, they would stain any mind pitch-black. But what if that mind was already black?

Cover black paper in ink, and it was still black.

So these negative emotions did not break Fang Xiu's mind. Instead, they gave him the feeling of encountering his own kind.

Gradually, countless fragmented images appeared before Fang Xiu's eyes. One half-human, half-Ghost being after another lay strapped to an operating table as an incredibly sharp scalpel sliced into their bodies and dismembered them.

Suddenly, he understood.

The Female Physician had once used this Scalpel to experiment on the Ghosts in the Mental Hospital, one after another. That was why the blade had absorbed the resentment of countless Ghosts.

Later, some kind of incident might have occurred at the Mental Hospital, and the resentment within the Scalpel had broken the Female Physician's mind, turning her into a Ghost as well.

That meant the true Ghost was actually this Scalpel. The Female Physician had merely been affected by it.

Now that I have this blade, can I kill the Female Physician?

Swish!

A cold flash of bright silver slashed viciously toward the Female Physician's pale neck.

Clang!

A clear metallic clash rang out, followed by a shower of sparks.

The Female Physician's neck remained completely unscathed.

Fang Xiu froze for a moment.

That's impossible!

How could a Scalpel that cut through countless Ghosts fail to cut through the Female Physician?

Unless... it's Spirituality!

He realized it instantly!

This Scalpel needed Spirituality to power it. With his Spirituality depleted, it could not unleash its true strength.

It seemed revenge would have to wait.

Without the slightest hesitation, Fang Xiu turned and ran.

He was afraid the Female Physician would recover, stop eating Wu Dahai's corpse, and turn to attack him instead.

Zhao Hao, who had been waiting in the passage to the left, immediately started running as well when he saw Fang Xiu approach.

As he ran, Fang Xiu emerged from the corridor into a spacious, empty hall, where he once again encountered the two coworkers from earlier.

The two coworkers were hiding behind a large pillar in the hall.

Fang Xiu should not have been able to see them with the pillar blocking his view. But ever since he had awakened his Spirituality, his senses had become sharper, allowing him to easily hear their rapid breathing and the anxious pounding of their hearts.

There were four doors around the hall, one in each cardinal direction. Nobody knew what lay beyond them.

"Xiu, there are four doors here. Which way should we go?" Zhao Hao asked.

Hearing voices, the two coworkers hiding behind the pillar immediately stepped out.

"Thank goodness! You two are all right."

"Fang Xiu, hurry and lead the way."

Zhao Hao jumped in fright. "Damn, so you two were hiding here! You sure ran fast earlier, and now you're asking Xiu to show you the way again."

The two gave sheepish smiles without saying anything, turning pleading eyes toward Fang Xiu instead.

Fang Xiu paid them no attention. He calmly studied the four doors. "Simple. We try them one at a time."

Zhao Hao and the others froze.

They were racing against time in this Ghost Domain. How could they possibly have time to try every door?

Before anyone could protest, Fang Xiu was already walking toward the westernmost door.

The others had no choice but to follow.

But just then-

Roar!

An inhuman roar reverberated through the hall.

Then the ceiling began to shake, as though something were running across it.

Everyone instantly paled in terror.

"A Ghost! The Ghost caught up with us!"

"How is that possible?! Wang Ziteng and Wu Dahai were two whole people! How could it be this fast?"

Fang Xiu quickly realized that his attack on the Ghost, or perhaps his theft of her Scalpel, had most likely disrupted the Female Physician's killing pattern.

"Go!"

He barked the order, pushed open the westernmost door, and ran inside. The others filed in after him.

Beyond the westernmost door was a staircase leading upward, and everyone began racing up it for their lives.

Fang Xiu was the fastest among them. Although his Spirituality was depleted, the enhancement from awakening it remained, allowing him to engage most of the muscles in his body and unleash astonishing strength.

But no matter how fast he was, he could not outrun the Ghost. The Female Physician seemed to have no special abilities. Her only specialty was her exceptionally long legs, which let her crawl at terrifying speed.

Within moments, she appeared on the stairs. Ignoring everyone else completely, she lunged straight at Fang Xiu.

Fang Xiu had no time to dodge and was instantly pinned to the floor. The Female Physician's long limbs clamped his own in place like iron pincers.

Roar!

The Female Physician let out a furious roar, opened her enormous, bloodied maw, and bit savagely into Fang Xiu's neck.

Splurt!

Blood sprayed.

Fang Xiu was dead!