[Congratulations on completing the quest ‘Cooperation’. Quest rewards obtained: Experience +700, Ghost Coins ×5000, Soul-Cutting Knife, Big Stomach Bag.]
A line of text slowly materialized in Bai Tang’s vision. She blinked in surprise, yet felt nothing new weighing down her pocket.
It wasn’t until the Eye of Breaking Delusions displayed the reward’s location that the girl lifted her hand.
“Theresa, wait here for a second. I’ll be right back.”
“Hmm? Sure.”
After leaving the back kitchen, Bai Tang returned to the spot where they had fought earlier and scanned the area. Before long, she spotted a patch of black mud on the floor—the leftover remains of the Barrel Butcher’s corrupted flesh body. The stench of decay was so strong she had to pinch her nose.
“Is everything supposed to be in here?”
Frowning, she grabbed a broken table leg and poked through the sludge. Sure enough, she struck something solid: a boning knife the undead had once wielded, and a fleshy lump that looked suspiciously like a stomach pouch.
[Name: Soul-Cutting Knife]
[Item: Relic]
[Description: A boning knife inhabited by an evil spirit. It possesses the ability to sever souls while demanding a corresponding price from its user.]
[Value: No one wants a weapon that actually eats people.]
Bai Tang’s breath hitched. A weapon specialized for attacking souls sounded useful, but she had a feeling the side effects would be anything but pleasant.
She wondered if it could actually help wake the girl up.
Turning her attention to the second item, another window appeared.
[Name: Big Stomach Bag]
[Item: Living Organ]
[Description: An organ taken from the Barrel Butcher’s deceased flesh body. For some unknown reason, it has developed its own consciousness. Its interior contains an enormous space that can function as a portable shoulder bag. Remember to feed it regularly—never place living creatures inside!]
[Value: A poor man’s budget magic bag. Other than looking disgusting, it has no real drawbacks.]
The Ghost Coin reward wasn’t lying in the mud. Bai Tang had a pretty good guess where it had gone. Bracing herself against the revulsion, she picked up the tripe-like lump of flesh.
The moment her fingers made contact, the Big Stomach Bag stirred from its dormant state and came alive. Its massive maw gaped open, lined with two rows of razor-sharp fangs. The inside was pitch black, as though it opened into an entirely different space.
It waited quietly, almost expectantly.
Bai Tang wasn’t stupid enough to stick her actual hand inside. She extended one of her eye-covered tentacles instead, slowly reaching into the stomach bag. As expected, the tentacle emerged clutching a thick wad of Ghost Coins.
“Hungry~”
Hungry? Bai Tang froze. Had the Big Stomach Bag just spoken?
“Hungry~~”
On Earth, a talking stomach bag would’ve gotten someone committed. After everything she had seen in this hell world, however, Bai Tang had grown used to far stranger things. She no longer startled so easily.
“Even if you’re hungry, I don’t actually have anything I can feed you right now.”
Denied its meal, the Big Stomach Bag lost all patience. Its fang-filled jaws snapped shut with a vicious *shhhk*.
The two rows of teeth sheared straight through the tentacle Bai Tang hadn’t fully retracted. It chewed the severed flesh with a loud, crisp crunch, like biting into a churro.
“Are you serious?!”
Bai Tang’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor. It hadn’t even given her a chance to bargain—just bit down without warning! If she hadn’t used a tentacle instead of her real hand out of caution, she would’ve lost an actual limb.
Her hand had almost been severed!
Now that its hunger was satisfied, the Big Stomach Bag seemed quite pleased with her. The straps—formed from what looked like withered intestines—wrapped themselves around Bai Tang on their own, letting the stomach bag hang at her side like a proper shoulder bag.
“From now on, every time you put stuff in or take stuff out, you better pay me my due. And remember—I don’t like eating vegetarian!”
The Big Stomach Bag’s gruff reminder echoed in her mind.
…
…
Tavern back kitchen.
“Bai Tang, you’re back!”
At the sound of approaching footsteps, Theresa turned around and immediately noticed the Soul-Cutting Knife gripped in Bai Tang’s tentacle.
“That relic—is it the one the undead was holding earlier?”
“Yeah.” Bai Tang nodded. “I just found it. Looks like it can cut souls directly. Maybe it can help wake her up.”
Relics were different from ordinary weapons. They seemed deliberately designed to tempt their users into relying on them more and more, paying steeper prices each time. There was almost no barrier to using one. Aside from the unknown cost, the method of activation had already imprinted itself into Bai Tang’s mind the moment she touched the knife.
With that thought, she moved to bring the blade down on the black cat resting on the unconscious girl’s chest.
“Wait.” Theresa suddenly spoke up, stopping her. “To play it safe, wouldn’t it be better to use a tentacle instead of your hand?”
Bai Tang considered it and had to admit the suggestion made sense.
She extended one of her eye-covered tentacles, wrapped it around the knife’s handle, and took hold of the Soul-Cutting Knife.
After a brief pause, she flipped the blade around and gently tapped the back of the knife against the black cat’s skull.
In the next instant, the black cat’s body went completely limp, as if all life had drained from it. A faint blue soul cat slowly emerged from the corpse, glowing with a soft luminescence. It gave the two girls a small nod before diving straight into the unconscious girl’s body.
“This should wake her up before too long.”
Bai Tang muttered to herself.
“Bai Tang, your tentacle!”
The price of using the relic arrived right on schedule. The tentacle wrapped around the Soul-Cutting Knife was being rapidly drained of its vitality. Flesh withered and dried up at a visible speed, shrinking down to something thin and brittle.
In mere moments, it had become as dry and fragile as old kindling, and the effect showed no signs of stopping.
Theresa’s reaction was lightning fast. Her short blade flashed downward, cleanly severing the tentacle before the curse could spread any further.
“It’s some kind of flesh-devouring curse.”
Theresa’s gaze stayed calm as she stared at the withered remnant on the floor.
Everything had happened so quickly that Bai Tang still felt a cold sweat when she looked at the Soul-Cutting Knife in her tentacle.
“I… almost grabbed it with my bare hand just now.”
She felt a wave of belated frustration at her own carelessness.
“It’s normal,” Theresa said. “Most relics are evil by nature. They erode the user’s sanity little by little, making them subconsciously ignore the price they have to pay.”
Without warning, she reached out and gave Bai Tang’s butt a sharp, stinging slap.
The girl yelped and jumped on the spot.
“Y-You—! Why did you suddenly slap my butt?!”
She had given Theresa all the remaining recovery potions out of kindness, and now her butt was hurting again on top of everything else.
Theresa wagged a finger at her, speaking with complete seriousness.
“Essentially, the evil relic is trying to trick you into using it more often. That slap was just a lesson so you’ll remember next time.”
“You expect me to thank you for slapping my butt?!”
Theresa flashed a peace sign with both hands and stuck out her tongue.
“That… that meow… W-Was it you two who saved me meow? You… you can… can you also save my Coffee meow?”
A crisp, tender girl’s voice suddenly rang out. The unconscious girl had woken up at some point. Despite her waist-length golden hair and distinctly European features, she spoke in perfect, fluent Mandarin. The human girl clutched the black cat to her chest, her eyes brimming with tears.
And… meow?