Chapter 2: The Hanged Man
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
Heavy footsteps sounded behind him. Li Ran was about to dodge to the side when a huge force slammed into his back. His body involuntarily lunged forward, crashing into the wall.
"Bang!"
The intense pain made it difficult for Li Ran to breathe. He rolled onto the floor, taking a second or two to catch his breath.
The candlestick was no longer in his hand. Li Ran, enduring the pain, struggled to prop up his upper body. Looking up, Siris stood where he had just been. Sure enough, it was this old man who had knocked him flying.
Li Ran truly hadn't expected that after hitting him so many times, this old man could still get up, and that his aged body contained such immense strength!
He should have stabbed him a few times if he had known!
Li Ran regretted in his heart.
"Get up quickly, Lu Ze! He's coming for you!"
Cecilia urgently called out.
Siris Arepi walked towards Li Ran. Under the faint candlelight, his figure appeared dark and eerie. Blood dripped from his forehead, and without a word, he reached out his hands directly towards Li Ran.
The instinct for survival made Li Ran leap up. Seeing those hands coming for his throat, he almost subconsciously raised his arm to block.
In an instant, their skin made direct contact.
"Sizzle!"
An intense stinging sensation arose at the point of contact, like a surging electric current, piercing directly into Li Ran's brain!
"Ah!"
Li Ran was caught off guard, screaming in pain and clutching his head.
So painful!
It was as if someone was splitting his head with an axe!
He was in so much pain that he knelt on the ground, unable to straighten up.
But Siris Arepi did not take the opportunity to attack; instead, he froze. He shook his head, a strange expression on his face, as if he was about to cry, yet also as if he was overjoyed beyond measure.
"Lord… Is it You? I feel Your presence."
Large tears welled up in his fierce eyes as he mumbled incomprehensible words, staggering and trembling, walking towards Li Ran.
As for Li Ran, he could no longer hear the outside world, because at this moment, his mind was filled with terrifying whispers.
This was a language incomprehensible to human intellect, as if thousands of people were speaking at once, shouting, laughing wildly, wailing, and mumbling. Countless voices layered and mixed into a pure, extreme madness, making one unable to resist Listening, as if Listening more carefully would allow one to discern the true meaning of these whispers.
Intense pain was a constant companion; every whisper entering his ears was like a searing hot steel needle, repeatedly piercing the nerves in Li Ran's brain.
It's that auditory hallucination!
It's the sound the original owner of the body would hear during an episode!
Past memories collided with present pain in his mind. Li Ran clutched his head, his vision blurring with agony.
It was at this moment that Siris's hand reached out again.
"Boom!"
Li Ran felt a huge roar in his mind, the real world vanished, and terrifying hallucinations engulfed him.
What did he see?
A cross.
A giant cross.
On an inverted cross so massive it seemed to prop up the sky, a colossal giant was Hanged, pierced by iron nails, blood streaking his entire body. His face bore an expression of pain and bewilderment, as if he was on the verge of death, yet also as if he was in a deep sleep.
Sacred, peculiar, eerie, terrifying!
The mad whispers echoed in Li Ran's mind, the sound growing higher and clearer, finally exploding like a thunderclap.
Finally, Li Ran understood the meaning of the whispers.
"…The Lord's will shall be done on earth.
He shall be with man, He shall bear our sins.
His great light illuminates the Darkness, and so all beings shall be saved."
It was countless ancient people singing primeval hymns in an unknown language, an unnamed epic from a primitive era illuminated by torches. The singing was filled with fanaticism and reverence; they trembled, rejoiced, and went mad!
Who knows how long passed, perhaps an instant, perhaps an eternity.
Just as Li Ran thought he would be trapped forever in this hallucination, he seemed to hear the sound of waves.
An incredibly ethereal sound of waves.
Along with this sound of waves, the hallucinations and whispers quickly receded, and his vision gradually cleared.
But as soon as he regained consciousness, he felt the agony of suffocation.
"Cough, cough."
The pressure on his neck made it difficult to breathe. Looking down, Siris's hands were tightly gripping his throat. The wound on his forehead was still dripping blood, but the color of the blood had changed from bright red to deep black.
But the color of the blood was no longer the main concern! More terrifyingly, Siris's entire face had twisted and deformed, becoming like a Monster. Protruding lumps covered his face and hands, and his mouth was split all the way to his ears, revealing sharp, stark white teeth inside!
"Lord… Indeed, You are here."
He mumbled indistinctly with his split mouth, his grey-blue eyes filled with fervent joy!
"Let go, let go!"
From the side came a girl's anxious cry; it was Cecilia, fruitlessly pounding on Siris's arm, trying to save him.
"The knife…"
Li Ran felt his vision darken, his lungs burning and shriveled. He exerted all his strength, squeezing two words from his mouth.
Reminded by him, Cecilia immediately reacted. She turned, picked up the dagger from the ground, then gritted her teeth and, without hesitation, plunged the dagger into Siris's waist!
"Ouch! Ouch!"
Siris let out a cry of pain, his arm flailing, throwing Li Ran away!
"Bang!"
Li Ran flew again. This time, he hit a desk on the other side. He lay on the ground, wincing, feeling a sharp pain in his back.
"Ah—"
Just as he was in excruciating pain, Cecilia's scream came from the opposite side; Siris had pounced on her.
Hearing the scream, Li Ran instinctively grew anxious. Memories from Lu Ze urged him to save his younger sister. He reached out to grab the desk, wanting to get up quickly, but in his haste, he accidentally pulled out a drawer, and the contents spilled onto the floor with a clatter.
With a "thud," something heavy hit the back of his hand.
Li Ran looked down and saw a revolver lying on the floor, reflecting a metallic sheen under the candlelight. He picked up the revolver; its heavy feel and intricate mechanical structure came into view.
Is it real?
Cecilia let out another scream; she had been cornered by Siris, with nowhere to hide!
Never mind!
Li Ran steeled himself, knelt up, and, mimicking steps he'd seen in videos, checked the cylinder. It was fully loaded with six bullets.
"Hey! You idiot!"
He adopted a shooting stance, aimed the gun at Siris, then raised his voice and shouted, "Your Lord is here, come over quickly!"
Siris paused, as if instinctively drawn by Lu Ze's words, then changed direction and pounced towards him.
"Hoho!"
He became even less human, his mouth wide open, saliva stringing and sticking between his sharp teeth.
Go to hell!
Li Ran gritted his teeth and desperately pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
A loud gunshot echoed in the room. The powerful recoil violently struck the web of his hand, transmitting through his arm all the way to his shoulder, like a sledgehammer blow.
Siris's body stiffened for a moment, seemingly hit, but very quickly, he charged at Li Ran again.
Li Ran didn't dare to hesitate, and fired all five remaining bullets at Siris.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!…"
He had never practiced shooting and was firing purely by luck. Fortunately, the target was close enough, and his luck was good enough that one bullet happened to hit Siris's head. The latter's brains splattered with a *splat*, and he fell forward onto the ground uncontrollably, twitching a few times before becoming motionless.
"Huff, huff…"
Li Ran gasped for air, which smelled of gunpowder. His gaze traveled over the corpse to Cecilia on the other side.
The girl was unharmed but still shaken.
Li Ran's mind was blank, and his stiff face managed a bitter smile to comfort her.
On his first day of transmigration, he had personally killed someone. What a terrible start.