Chapter 28: Intentional Harm
“Ah!”
A dull, agonized scream echoed clearly—Yang Liuqing’s voice.
“Peerless philanthropist Liang Dan, you intentionally harmed others to death. You’re dead!”
*
Liang Dan held the scissors and strolled slowly outside the temple.
On either side of the temple stood two statues.
There were four statues in total, each shaped like a little girl. They wore dresses of different colors, their faces beaming with boundless vitality and smiles.
Liang Dan approached the statue on the right. The little girl’s eyes were wide open, as if speaking to her.
With a deliberate plunge, Liang Dan drove the scissors through the statue’s center.
“Peerless philanthropist Liang Dan, you deliberately damaged public property. You’re dead!”
*
Leisurely, Liang Dan walked to the statue on the left.
Though the statues were all the same height, the girls carved into them appeared to be of different ages.
This particular statue before Liang Dan seemed to depict a girl only one or two years old.
She wore a red dress taller than her own body, furrowing her brow with a smile that held a hint of reproach.
Liang Dan couldn’t help but recall a scene.
A mother working away from home, leaving her child alone to play with building blocks.
After some time, the child fell asleep on the sofa. A key finally turned in the door lock.
The child woke up.
She opened her eyes, jumped down from the sofa, and ran to the door to greet her mother.
“Mom,” the girl said, “where’s the chocolate you promised to bring me?”
Her mother shook her head. “I’m really sorry, sweetheart. Work was so busy today that I forgot.”
Pouting, the girl shouted, “Mom, you’re a big liar! You promised to bring me chocolate!”
“Don’t be angry, darling!”
Her mother smiled and pulled a box from her pocket. “Look, isn’t this the chocolate you wanted?”
The girl smiled but immediately frowned, furrowing her brows. “Mom, you’re an adult. Stop playing these pranks—it’s not funny at all. I’m really upset!”
Her mother quickly apologized, “I’m so sorry, it won’t happen again.”
The expression the girl wore then was probably just like the one on this statue.
For the first time, Liang Dan gripped the scissors with unprecedented force, stabbing through the little girl’s heart in the statue. A pained scream rang out.
*
This voice was unfamiliar to Liang Dan.
“Peerless philanthropist Liang Dan, you intentionally harmed others to death. You’re dead!”
*
Wiping the blood from her fingers, Liang Dan slowly stood up. “This person is really annoying, making such a mess of a peaceful little temple. I’ll clean up the temple inside and out properly.”
She said as she helped lift the fallen offering table, gathering scattered incense sticks and placing them back into their box.
She righted the two side tables and carefully placed the candles back one by one.
The iron basin rang with a “clink” as she set it in the center of the altar table.
Holding the scissors, Liang Dan strolled slowly toward the temple’s exit.
“Huh?”
She paused at the temple entrance, eyeing the two statues on either side.
“Who put these two statues so crooked? I have to straighten them.”
Saying this, she leisurely approached the statue on the left.
Patting her thigh with all her strength, she said, “Ouch, the leg I hurt yesterday still aches today!”
After speaking, she continued forward with the scissors in hand.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through the leg she had just patted. Her foot gave way, and she toppled forward.
The scissors in her hand plunged straight into the statue’s heart.
“Ah!”
A heart-wrenching scream pierced the air.
Liang Dan leapt up, bewildered. “What’s going on? How can a statue scream?!”
In her jump, her foot slipped again, and the scissors stabbed once more into the statue’s heart.
“Ah!”
Another scream cried out.
Hurriedly, Liang Dan dropped the blood-stained scissors to the ground, their tips glaring red.
She circled to the statue’s back, pried open a seam, and removed the rear panel.
Inside stood a strange woman, clutching her chest, blood seeping through her fingers.
Her eyes widened in disbelief, voice breaking, “How… do you… know I’m… in… here…”
Liang Dan’s voice trembled with tears, “This innocent passerby, why are you hiding inside the statue? Are you seeking shelter from the heat?”
“Pfft!”
The woman spat blood onto Liang Dan’s face.
“Sir Peerless Philanthropist Liang Dan, you saw death and did nothing. You’re dead!”
*
The woman’s pupils dilated. “How…”
Liang Dan yanked her body out and pressed her clothing against the wound. “I’ll stop the bleeding right now. You must hold on—don’t die!”
“Pfft!”
The woman spat out a mouthful of blood. Her head tilted, and she lost her breath.
Liang Dan’s heart raced. The woman’s eyes were still open. Her image was etched like a seal upon Liang Dan’s heart.
With a thud, Liang Dan dropped to her knees. “It’s all my fault. I wounded you with these scissors. If not for me, if not for these cursed scissors, you wouldn’t have died!”
“Peerless philanthropist Liang Dan, shirking responsibility. You’re dead!”
*
Liang Dan knelt again. “It’s all my fault. I really didn’t mean to kill you!”
“Peerless philanthropist Liang Dan, lying to deceive the dead. You’re dead!”
*
Liang Dan knelt down once more, covering the woman’s face with her clothes. “Rest in peace.”
A crashing sound came from inside the temple. Liang Dan sprang up and dashed inside.
Yang Liuqing had already come out, trying to pry open another statue. When she opened it, Shen Si gasped for breath.
“My goodness,” Shen Si held her chest, panting. “Those children must have incredible lung capacity. I was only in there a short while, but I felt like I was suffocating. I don’t even know how long they had to stay in there when they were killing before.”
Yang Liuqing glanced at Liang Dan’s face. “Did you kill her?”
Liang Dan’s tone was heavy. “My leg suddenly ached, then slipped. The scissors in my hand stabbed into the statue, right into her.”
Shen Si gave a thumbs-up. “Only you. That’s some coincidence.”
Liang Dan pressed her hand to her chest. “In my heart, I carry boundless remorse for the deceased.”
Yang Liuqing smiled. “The one who just died was probably her true form.”
Liang Dan asked, “Why did she capture you two?”
“Why else?” Shen Si replied. “Players capturing players is always about one thing—skills and other resources.”
“But,” Shen Si continued, “was it really necessary to go through all this trouble to capture a few of us?”
Yang Liuqing said, “Obviously, she was after our original skills.”
Before the two could ask further, Yang Liuqing explained, “Original skills are the abilities we each gain after answering questions and earning titles.”