In total darkness, Bai Fan felt his body falling endlessly.
Falling, falling, falling…
Until, at some point, he suddenly sank into a deep pool.
Freezing cold water rushed into his mouth and nose, then quickly seemed to lose all weight as he floated, drifting with the tide in the darkness.
It was so dark, black without end.
Was he already dead? Or was he dying?
His consciousness drifted hazily until the icy tide washed him onto a muddy shore.
Someone came.
A blurry figure emerged from the darkness, bent down, pulled him up, and dragged him to a shelter under the eaves by the shore.
Pushed open the door. Entered the house.
A chill like an ice needle swept toward him.
Bai Fan had almost lost all sensation, but still felt a slight sting on his skin, as if the last remnant of instinct in his body was warning him.
He wasn’t completely gone yet.
He was pushed onto a cold tabletop.
The person pinched his neck, pressed on his shoulders, then felt around his chest.
Bai Fan’s eyelids trembled slightly. He tried desperately to move, to speak.
But all he did was cough up a mouthful of bloody froth, the sickly sweet smell rising into his throat.
“Huh?”
A voice sounded.
“Not completely dead yet?”
Smack.
The lights suddenly turned on, and a blinding white ceiling came into view.
Several fluorescent lamps hung overhead, stinging his eyes.
A woman in a protective suit and surgical cap was looking down at him.
She was wrapped up tight, with only a pair of ice-blue eyes showing.
Cold as a frozen lake.
Who was she? And where was this?
Bai Fan tried to prop himself up and sit, but his body no longer seemed to belong to him; his limbs didn’t respond at all.
The woman pried open his eyelids and examined him carefully.
“There’s still a little Spiritual Essence left that hasn’t dissipated, with residual soul consciousness.”
Her palm ran along his bones, pressing down all the way.
Shoulders, ribs, arms, spine — like she was inspecting a piece of merchandise.
After a moment, she nodded in satisfaction.
“The bone structure is standard and intact. Though the strength is a bit lacking, it’s not bad as a spare part.”
“I’ll need to cut open the rest to check.”
With that, she pulled a toolbox over to the side.
Bai Fan’s pupils contracted slightly.
Cutting knives, bone saws, tissue clamps, separation scissors.
All things he was all too familiar with.
They were the tools he usually used to dissect Skeletal Beast corpses.
And now, they were laid out in front of him.
The woman picked up a sickle and slowly moved it in front of his neck, searching for an angle.
Then she swung it down.
“Ugh… uh-huh…” Bai Fan struggled desperately.
His broken soul drove the last shred of consciousness, making sounds like a beast dying.
The woman stopped, somewhat exasperated.
“Since you’re going to die anyway, wouldn’t it be better to just die cleanly? Why struggle at the last moment? Aren’t you just making it harder on yourself?
Your Spiritual Essence is almost completely gone. Just settle down, pretend you’re falling asleep on a cool summer night. Doesn’t that sound good?”
“Ugh…” Bai Fan blinked frantically, clearly wanting to speak.
“After all that talking, you still don’t want to die?”
“Really a restless one,” she sighed. “Do you have something else to say?”
With that, she pulled out a vial of medicine and poured it directly into Bai Fan’s mouth.
The next instant.
An intense spiciness and sourness exploded at the same time, like molten iron pouring down his throat into his body.
His internal organs felt like they were on fire. Bai Fan convulsed all over, veins bulging on his forehead.
“This Activator wasn’t cheap.”
She shook the empty bottle.
“I traded it with a border merchant. Cost me a fair amount of Ether Crystals. It won’t save your life, but it can squeeze out what little lifespan you have left and let you speak a few more words.”
She added seriously, “But let me warn you: once you finish your last words, just die quietly and don’t interfere with me making parts.”
Bai Fan’s body trembled uncontrollably. He gritted his teeth and finally forced out a complete sentence.
“Where… is this?”
“In terms you’d understand,” the woman said casually, “this is Hell. The layer between the Reality Border and the Abyss Border. I run a small business here — pick up raw materials, process them into parts, and sell them to customers.”
She swung the sickle.
“And you’ll be parts soon, too.”
Bai Fan was silent for a moment, then spoke with difficulty. “Can… we negotiate?”
“About what?”
“I don’t want to die.” His voice was so weak it was almost inaudible. “I want to live. Can you send me back?”
“No.” The woman refused without hesitation. “You’re already a corpse. It’s absurd enough that a corpse can talk, and you still want to live?”
Her ice-blue eyes swept over his body, as if deciding where to cut.
“Your body is already empty. Spiritual Essence depleted, vitality exhausted. You’re like a match that’s almost burned out — just a little heat left. Dying would be easier.”
“Money. I can pay you however much you want.”
“Even though I don’t have much,” Bai Fan’s voice was hoarse, “I can write an IOU. I’ve never defaulted on money I owed anyone. As long as you can send me back…”
“I’ve never heard of anyone buying a soul back from Hell with money.”
The woman seemed to find it amusing. “And you want to write an IOU? Sorry, no deal.”
She said softly, “So can you just die nicely?”
“I… I don’t want to die.”
Bai Fan stared at the harsh light overhead, his voice dry.
“I can’t die yet. I still have debts to pay. I haven’t taken Da Gan away from that place yet.”
“I haven’t found them yet, to ask why they abandoned me. I still haven’t…”
“So many reasons why you can’t die.” The woman cut him off, her tone calm. “Anyone can die.”
She turned and pointed to a skeleton behind her.
“This person was an Ancient Empress in life. Her beauty was famous across the world; countless heroes fell for her.”
Then she pointed to another skeleton.
“This person was an Overlord in life. Everything he saw, he conquered; myriad nations knelt before his iron cavalry.”
She looked at the room full of bones, as though she had weathered countless ages, witnessing the rise and fall of one legend after another.
“They all thought they were important. They all died in the end.”
“After they died, the world kept spinning. The sun still rose. No one is special.”
“Born, then die. A hundred years, a thousand years — it’s all the same.”
She looked down at Bai Fan.
“So why can’t you die?”
The room fell silent, only the faint hum of the lights remaining.
After a long time, Bai Fan’s eyes reddened.
“But…”
His voice trembled.
“But I still don’t want to die.”
Tears finally spilled from the corners of his eyes.
He blinked frantically, as if trying to force them back.
“Look, you may think I’m weak and scrawny, but I’m actually a tough guy. Ever since my parents disappeared, I haven’t cried once.”
He forced an ugly smile, his voice thick with tears.
“A man’s tears are worth a thousand gold. I’ve cried like this — can’t you just let me go?”