Li Ran vaguely remembered that he had died.
The last image he saw in his previous life was a truck rushing towards him, and a clear blue sky. His body and soul floated upwards together, as if merging with the thin clouds in the sky, gradually dissipating.
So what's the situation now? Did I transmigrate?
He turned his eyes, and the surrounding scene came into view.
He seemed to be in a dim room, with the Door and windows tightly shut, and heavy curtains, with only a few candle flames emitting a faint glow.
And what the candlelight illuminated was—
Li Ran's pupils suddenly constricted.
Carved candelabras, a large cauldron burning herbs, and a large amount of flesh and blood piled around the cauldron…
He was lying in this pile of flesh and blood.
The choking herbal smoke and the strong smell of blood intensely stimulated his nostrils.
What the hell is this, an altar? Am I a sacrifice?
He thought belatedly.
Strange, manic chanting entered his ears. Li Ran looked in the direction of the sound, and a fanatical, twisted face immediately jumped into his eyes.
The owner of the face was an old man, his hair sparse, eyebrows messy, and gray-blue eyes flickering with an evil glint. He was wildly waving a blood-stained dagger in his hand, clearly in an extremely abnormal state.
Li Ran looked at this face, and for some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity.
Sirius Arepis.
The man's name automatically appeared in his mind.
What's going on?
He had never seen him before, so why did he know his name?
Familiarity and strangeness surged into his heart at the same time. This bizarre sense of disorientation left Li Ran confused.
The old man was immersed in his own world and didn't notice Li Ran observing him. He prayed loudly, swaying back and forth, using a language Li Ran couldn't understand at all, devoutly and maniacally calling out to something incomprehensible.
Over his shoulder, Li Ran saw what the deeper part of the room looked like.
On the floor further back, lay a beautiful, pitiable young girl. Her hands and feet were bound with ropes, her mouth was gagged, her eyes were tightly shut, and her delicate eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if she had fallen into a coma.
Li Ran looked at the girl's pale face, and a natural sense of pity and anger welled up in his heart. Subconsciously, he called out her name.
"Ceci… lia…"
Boom!
A sudden loud noise echoed in his mind. The girl's face was like a key, unlocking memories hidden deep in his brain, and countless images flooded in.
"Brother!"
The little girl smiled, holding his hand, and walking with him on the street;
"Brother…"
At the funeral, the young girl threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably, her frail, slender shoulders trembling;
"Brother."
By the hospital bed, the young girl gently wiped the face of him, who was wearing a straitjacket…
The flood of memories made Li Ran's head ache terribly, but it also let him know his situation.
First, he had indeed transmigrated. This world he transmigrated into was roughly equivalent to 18th-century Europe, with multiple countries on the continent, coexisting in opposition. As for the Loen Kingdom where he was currently located, it was similar to the Victorian-era British Empire.
Caesar Cardini was the name of the original owner of this body. He had just turned eighteen today and lived in Tingen City, Loen Kingdom.
Compared to ordinary citizens, Caesar Cardini had one small difference.
What difference?
He was sick.
That's right, Caesar suffered from severe mental illness.
Since childhood, Caesar had often experienced terrifying hallucinations and auditory hallucinations, seeing inverted giants and hearing mad whispers. He was constantly tormented by these hallucinations, his mind breaking down several times.
Fortunately, his family did not give up on him, but kept him by their side, caring for him meticulously. It was only two years ago that Caesar's father, a small clerk, died due to a company accident, and his Mother, overwhelmed with grief, became frail and passed away a few months later, following her husband, leaving him and his sister, two years his junior, to depend on each other.
—That is, Cecilia Cardini, the young girl lying on the ground at this moment.
So, what's the situation now?
After their parents passed away, his sister took care of Caesar alone, and the siblings barely managed to live for a period on the meager company pension. Just as their savings ran out and their lives became increasingly difficult, Sirius Arapis came knocking on their Door.
—That is, the old man who was acting crazy in front of him now.
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 living support. However, for convenience of care, he required the Cardini siblings to move to his residence and live with him.
This was simply too suspicious!
Li Ran thought to himself.
But the two siblings were truly in great difficulty, and having no other choice, they could only agree.
Sure enough, after living there for a while, the eccentric old man Sirius showed his fangs. On Caesar's eighteenth birthday, he suddenly attacked the siblings, tied up his sister, and placed Caesar Cardini on the altar, stabbing a dagger through his heart…
Recalling this, Li Ran finally felt the abnormality in his chest.
Looking down, he found that the collar of his upper garment had been violently torn open, and a terrifying wound lay across his chest. Through the wound, he could even see his damaged heart deep inside.
Am I going to die again?
As this thought just emerged in his mind, Li Ran saw an incredible scene.
At the damaged part of the heart, muscle fibers began to squirm, spontaneously connecting and fusing. In an instant, his heart was completely repaired and began to pump powerfully. The shallower wounds also rapidly recovered, muscles reconnected, tissues adhered, and skin closed, eventually becoming smooth and flat.
A fatal injury had healed just like that!
Li Ran was shocked beyond belief, but then he thought that if transmigration could happen, then healing wounds didn't seem so unbelievable anymore.
He was lost in thought when he suddenly felt the light in front of him dim. It turned out that Siris had suddenly moved closer to the altar!
He was startled and immediately held his breath.
Fortunately, Sirius was only changing his prayer posture, his attention entirely on the void behind Li Ran, and he didn't notice Li Ran's abnormality. Li Ran then let out a sigh of relief, but at the same time, he became alert.
Stop thinking about all that other stuff. The most important thing now is to subdue this eccentric old man. If I don't take him down, I'll be in big trouble!
In his chest, his heart was beating powerfully, sending blood to all parts of his body, and his originally weak body gradually regained sensation.
Li Ran knew that he had to act.
Taking a deep breath, he suddenly reached out and grabbed the metal candelabra in front of him.
Sirius Arapis was still praying ecstatically, calling out to his incomprehensible god. Just then, he suddenly heard a violent whooshing sound, and then saw the base of a metal candelabra infinitely enlarging in front of him!
"Clang!"
A crisp impact echoed through the room, the shock reverberating back to Li Ran's hand through the candelabra, almost making him lose his grip. Once he hit, he quickly climbed off the altar, while gripping the candelabra tightly, watching Sirius warily.
"Uh…"
Sirius Arapis's expression was a bit bewildered, as if he hadn't quite figured out what had happened. He swayed for a moment but didn't fall. Li Ran gritted his teeth, jumped down, and continued to swing the candelabra, hitting his head several more times!
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
His arm tingled, and the edge of the candelabra was stained with blood. Sirius took repeated blows and finally fell backward.
Li Ran cautiously approached, lifting his foot to kick away the dagger from his hand. After observing for more than ten seconds, confirming that Sirius was no longer moving, he picked up the dagger, walked to Cecilia's side, bent down, cut the ropes binding the young girl, and removed the cloth from her mouth.
"Cecilia, Cecilia!"
He shook the beautiful young girl's slender shoulders and called out.
The young girl was shaken awake by him, opening her eyes in confusion, her pupils slowly focusing on him.
She suddenly became terrified.
"Watch out!"
Cecilia yelled, staring behind Li Ran.
Almost simultaneously, Li Ran heard heavy footsteps coming from behind him!