The Phantom Groom System

Chapter 4: Just Ask Me Already, Damn It!

Vince had grown up on the streets. He'd been cut before, plenty of times.

But this was different.

The wound was barely an inch long. Hardly any blood came out of it.

And yet a wave of pain tore through his entire body like a lightning strike. For a few seconds he forgot how to breathe entirely, his face going a sickly shade of purple.

It took four or five full breaths before he could gasp air back into his lungs. His whole body shook, sweat pouring down his forehead.

Through the agony, he forced his head up to look at the person standing over him, someone who barely resembled the Danny he thought he knew.

"You're a dead man!"

"I'm Kessler now! You touch me and, AAAHH!!"

Before the threat could finish leaving his mouth, the blade flashed again, opening a second wound.

Danny turned the knife slowly in his hand, something cold glinting in his eyes.

Through the blade's sight, Vince's body was mapped out in constellations of colored light. Some spots, an inch deep meant instant death. Others, you could run the blade clean through and barely scratch anything vital. And some spots were dense knots of nerve endings, where a single cut wouldn't kill...

...it would just make a man beg for death instead.

"Kessler can't save you now."

Danny shook his head and slashed again, carving a strip of flesh clean off Vince's shoulder.

"Hnnngh"

Vince convulsed like a fish on a hook, eyes rolling back, body twitching in violent spasms. When he finally caught his breath enough to raise his head, his eyes burned with pure hatred, blood-streaked teeth bared in a snarl.

"You dog, AAAHH!!"

Another slash. Danny only shook his head.

"I ask. You answer. I don't have time to play games."

Vince roared and thrashed, but there was no dodging that knife. Cut after cut opened across his body, and slowly, his roars broke down into wails, then into pleading.

"Boss Danny! Please, I'll give you anything, just please!"

"What do you want to know? Just ask! Just fucking ask me already!!"

His clothes were soaked through with blood by the time Danny finally stopped.

He was quiet a moment before he asked, "This curse on me. Where did it come from?"

Relief flooded Vince's face. Terrified of another cut, he rushed to answer.

"A few days back, after I signed on with Kessler, the higher-ups handed me a blood jade bracelet. Told me to use it on someone."

"Said the thing had real power in it, any unmarried man who touched it would get dragged straight down by the Phantom Bride. No exceptions."

"I kept it at the house. Was gonna deal with you first, then handle the bracelet after."

"Didn't think you'd steal it out from under me."

"An unmarried man touches that bracelet, he's dead, guaranteed. So I wasn't in any hurry to hunt you down. Figured I'd just get it back once you'd already died on your own..."

Danny's brow furrowed as he listened.

It matched what he'd found buried in the original Danny's memories. Not long ago, once Vince had learned about the affair, he'd spent days hunting for him. And instead of laying low, the old Danny had brazenly snuck back to see Gloria the moment Vince left the house.

On his way out, he'd spotted the blood jade bracelet on the table and pocketed it, thinking he'd pawn it off just to spite Vince. But the moment he stepped outside, the bracelet had simply vanished.

The old Danny hadn't given it a second thought. Just walked off, pleased with himself.

Looking back now, it was obvious, the bracelet had fused straight into his body and become the curse.

Danny sighed. The previous owner of this body had gone looking for his own death and left this whole mess sitting in Danny's lap instead.

He shook his head. "So how do I break the curse?"

Vince opened his mouth, then dropped his head, nervous.

Fwip.

The knife flashed again, carving another strip of flesh off his shoulder.

"*AAAAAH!!*"

"Damn it, Danny, you son of a! Stop! Stop, I'll talk!"

Vince's face went bone-white, teeth chattering. "This curse... it can't be broken!"

Danny didn't waste a word. The blade came down again.

Blood pooled beneath him. After a few more wails, Vince finally went quiet.

Danny stopped, studying him. "You're really not afraid to die?"

Vince slowly lifted his head and grinned, blood packed between his teeth, tongue bitten clean through, words slurring out.

"Heheh. The big shot at Kessler told me, nobody breaks the Phantom Bride's curse."

"Going back generations, a thousand years of it, the ones cursed by that blood jade bracelet were geniuses of the great martial sects, generals who held the frontier, powerful governors, even sons of emperors..."

"When the Phantom Bride marked men like that, all they could do was burn through rare treasures and miracle pills just to buy a little time."

"And even then, the longest any of them lasted was a single year."

"Not one of them made it. What makes a gutter rat from Blackwood Alley think you're any different?"

Danny was quiet a beat before asking, "What kind of treasures? What kind of pills?"

Vince spat a mouthful of bloody phlegm. "Century-old spirit herbs, at minimum. Or blood-nourishing pills brewed by a fourth-rank alchemist or better. There might not even be that many of either left in all of Ashford County."

"But those big shots, some of 'em had more money than God. Things we'd kill for, they ate like breakfast."

"Still. Doesn't matter how good the herbs or the pills are, take too many, and they stop working."

Madness flickered in his eyes, and he cackled through blood-slick teeth.

"Ha! Danny! I'll be waiting for you on the other side!"

And with that, he bit down and severed his own tongue, spitting blood as his body convulsed and collapsed to the ground.

Danny didn't stop him. He just watched, silent, as the light drained out of Vince's eyes.

Everything worth knowing, Vince had already given up. Anything beyond that, a foot soldier like him wouldn't know anyway. If Danny wanted more, he'd need to find whoever was running things at Kessler.

At the very least, he had a direction now.

Get his hands on century-old spirit herbs, use them to replenish his blood energy and buy himself time.

He wondered, could his equipment slots take herbs and pills, too? If they could, the effect would probably outperform just eating them raw. Maybe he could last longer than any of the ones who came before him.

As for actually breaking the curse for good...

Danny looked down at the bloody knife in his hand and tightened his grip.

A single knife had boosted his strength this much. Better gear would only do more.

Find stronger items. Keep equipping them. Keep growing stronger.

Reach the top of this world.

With enough raw power behind him, he refused to believe some curse couldn't be broken.

But first, Vince's estate.

As he headed for the courtyard gate, a voice called out from the dark street.

"D-Danny...?"

Two shapes emerged from the shadows across the way. One limped, leaning on the other for support. Both were armed, of a sort.

Squint was gripping a rock. Given his eyesight, it was anyone's guess whether he'd hit anything he aimed at.

Gimpy had brought something sharper, a small, rusted sickle that, in his shaking hands, looked more like a cane than a weapon.

It should have been funny. Danny didn't laugh.

"Danny! Wait for us, we're coming with you to find Vince!"

Only once they'd reached him did Squint and Gimpy notice the body lying in a spreading pool of blood. They both froze, trembling.

Even so, they gritted their teeth, ready to follow him inside.

Danny let out a breath. "No need."

"Sun's coming up soon. Deal with these two."

He turned toward the door, then paused, as if remembering something.

"And don't forget Vince. Back street."

Squint and Gimpy went rigid.

Vince... was dead?

They exchanged a stunned glance, standing frozen in the dark.

Maybe it was the pressure of tonight. Maybe it was something else entirely. But the Danny standing in front of them wasn't the same man from a few hours ago, decisive, ice-calm, unbothered even after taking a life.

The old Danny used to shake for an hour after a scuffle over spilled beer.

But the shock didn't last. A wave of pure elation crashed over it almost instantly.

Vince was dead. Killed by Danny's own hand.

Didn't that mean Blackwood Alley belonged to them now?

Maybe they'd finally eat something better than scraps for once.

Remembering how Vince used to lord over the whole block, excitement lit up both their faces. Newly motivated, they got straight to work cleaning up the mess in the street.

Anywhere else, disposing of two bodies would be a nightmare.

In Blackwood Alley, it wasn't much harder than taking out the trash.

As the two of them got to work, Danny stepped through the gate into the courtyard.

Creak.

He pushed open the battered door and walked straight into Gloria, clutching a stuffed bundle to her chest.

"Danny..."

She laughed nervously, instinctively backing up a step.

Expression flat, Danny sat down at the round wooden table and pointed to the seat across from him. "Sit."

She swallowed hard and lowered herself into the chair, trembling.

"Open it."

His voice was calm, almost gentle. But Gloria didn't dare hesitate, untying the bundle on the table as fast as her shaking hands allowed.

Danny sifted through it. A few changes of clothes, and a leather coin pouch.

He picked up the pouch, weighed it in his palm, and opened it.

His brow immediately furrowed.

"This is Vince's whole fortune?"

Gloria nodded. "Yes!"

"Why so little?"

Inside, barely ten silver coins.

To an ordinary man in Blackwood Alley, ten silver coins was a small fortune, enough to eat well for four or five years. But for a man like Vince, it was practically nothing.

Gloria lowered her head. "A few days ago, Vince paid a hundred coins as tribute to get into Kessler, that's how he got made a core member and got his hands on a training manual..."

Danny's head snapped up. "Where's the manual?"

Only then did she seem to remember. She hurried into the bedroom, pulled a worn manual out from under the bed, and brought it back.

The instant it touched Danny's hand, the system voice rang out in his mind.

【Equippable technique detected. Equip now?】

【Iron Bone Method (Incomplete)】

【Rank: White】

【Bonus: Strength +5】

【Special Effect: Grants Bone-Tempered Physique. Strength +5】

【Requirement: Max Blood Energy 50】

【An incomplete offshoot of Kessler's secret manual, the "Ironclad Mountain-Crushing Art" known as the "Iron Bone Method." Can be trained to full mastery in bone-tempering.】

【Completion Requirement: 10 catties of demon tiger bone】

【Multiple equippable items detected. Unlock second equipment slot?】

【Requirement to unlock second slot: 100 silver coins.】