NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24: Split Paths
Shigure Kira also thought of this point: "Speaking of which, since head-eating ghosts can influence their hosts, then could this be a clue that the ghost deliberately left for us? To make us tired of thinking about this meaningless word and overlook the fact that they have already mixed into the crowd today, preparing to enter the auditorium?"
"Possibly, but it's unlikely."
"Why?"
"Because there's no need to."
Li Mo decisively denied this theory. Experience told him that these marks had been left behind by humans.
The level of distortion on it was so high that if one didn't look closely, they couldn't even tell what the letters were.
This represented that when she wrote that word, she had already gone mad.
Without regard for anything, she desperately bit her finger to write this word, and this struggle was exactly the stage where the ghost's consciousness was completely merging with the human's.
Ekri had glimpsed something in the ghost's memories, but she couldn't leave behind obvious clues, otherwise, the ghost would erase it.
The broadcasting equipment had been deliberately preserved. It was related to that inexplicable word.
"Why did he have to leave behind such a cryptic clue? Argh!" Shigure Kira's mind was already a mess. There were too many details and strange phenomena. They seemed unrelated but were actually interconnected.
But she was already overwhelmed by just thinking about how to get through tonight, let alone other clues.
"Because he was a smart person. I suddenly understood something."
"Understood what?"
"How to handle the third day's ritual."
"Really?!"
Shigure Kira was pleasantly surprised. Only two hours had passed since they left, and Li Mo had already thought of a solution for the third day.
For the current predicament where they knew nothing, there was no better news.
"But why do you look like you're not that happy?"
"I always have this expression."
Li Mo walked to the school bag, took out three bottles of cola and put them on the table in the broadcasting room, and then lay on the sofa.
He tilted his head back at a 45-degree angle, opened the bottle cap, and drank it all in one go.
His current body was too special. Even if drinking the cola all at once was very stimulating, it was nothing more than that for Li Mo, whose organ senses had deteriorated.
"You..."
"I have to stay here."
Li Mo's sudden slackening made Shigure Kira stunned.
"Why?" Shigure Kira asked. She still preferred for Li Mo to act with them.
After all, Li Mo was the true leader. Without him, everyone would probably have been wiped out on the first night.
Li Mo lowered his head and tossed the silver-gray pistol on his waist to Shigure Kira.
"Take this. Once you get back, shoot every single one of the survivors with this. The bullets of this gun won't cause fatal injuries to a living person, but if the person is a ghost, the wound will be burned by a blue-purple flame."
Li Mo spoke as if he was giving his last words, explaining everything clearly.
Before Shigure Kira could ask anything, Li Mo also gave her a coin: "You should have seen me use this. If you throw this coin and expose it to the ghost's sight, then the ghost will not be able to stop itself from picking it up. Use these two methods to determine whether the survivors are human or ghosts."
Shigure Kira suddenly felt that things were getting serious because Li Mo had no intention of returning at all and had even given her all his weapons and anomalous items.
"But, isn't there a seam on the necks of the people possessed by the head-eating ghosts? Isn't it faster to use that method to judge them?"
"That's right, but how do you know that the head-eating ghosts are the only ones mixing in?" Li Mo said coldly, "It's time for you to make a decision, Shigure Kira. Is it to directly or indirectly kill other people for the sake of your teammates, or is it to harm your teammates for the sake of those who might be innocent?"
"To be honest, if it were me, I wouldn't even think of saving anyone else, because I have no interaction with them, nor did I promise to bring them away. Some special anomalies are able to hide perfectly. Even using these two methods might not be able to accurately identify them."
"You should have seen the scene last night. The anomalies revived, and a hundred ghosts roamed. I don't think there are many living people left under these circumstances. So, driving them away or killing them before the anomalies in their bodies revive is the best option."
Li Mo's voice was very cold. His eyeballs were completely cloudy, without any resemblance to a human eye.
As Shigure Kira was stared at by Li Mo, she felt as if she was being stared at by a fierce ghost.
A chilling and sinister aura pervaded around her.
"I understand. I will make a choice, but why aren't you going back with me? There's no suppression of grave incense here, nor is there the protection of the auditorium. The ghosts will find you..."
Shigure Kira asked in confusion. Now, every place in the academy had hidden anomalies. If Li Mo was exposed alone in the broadcasting room, he would definitely die when night came.
Li Mo shook his head. "I must stay here to complete the third day's ritual. The second day's ritual is the night watch, and the person on watch is not allowed to leave the auditorium. If I were to go back with you and if we needed to carry out the third day's ritual tonight, then someone would have to leave the auditorium to announce the death."
"The rules for the second day is that we can't leave, and the rules for the third day is that we must leave. The rules conflict. Under normal circumstances, there is no way we can survive."
Li Mo analyzed rationally, each word spoken in a very calm tone.
Knowing that by doing this, he would be putting himself in a trap, but he didn't seem to care about his own life or death.
Li Mo had understood the word that Ekri had left behind. It wasn't Thred, but rather, Three Day, which meant: the third day.
He didn't dare to leave the Roman numeral 3 because the ghost would realize it, so he could only use this kind of puzzling message to transmit information to the outside world.
There were bloodstains on the broadcasting equipment, which meant that he had thought about destroying it, but he stopped.
The reason why he had stopped was because the ritual of the third day needed to use the broadcasting equipment.
"What can I do now?" Shigure Kira asked.
"You need to do three things."
Li Mo took off his clothes without a single hint of embarrassment, stretched out his hand, and passed them to Shigure Kira.
Shigure Kira's pupils constricted, cleared her throat, and turned her head, but her eyes couldn't help but glance at his direction.
"W-why are you taking your clothes off?"
Li Mo said seriously, "First, throw away all feelings of sympathy. Execute the survivors who try to enter the auditorium, and protect the black coffin and the grave incense."
"Second, with the first point accomplished, if a ghost enters the auditorium without being suppressed, then it means that the third day has started. You need to release a signal bright enough for me to see. This isn't difficult for you."
"Third, swap these clothes with the clothes on the corpse in the black coffin. Go later. It's not the right time yet."
Shigure Kira shouted angrily, "Then why are you taking your clothes off now!"
"To ensure that there are fewer signs of life on it and to prevent the black coffin from changing. And you need to send the clothes of the headless male corpse in the black coffin to me before 7 PM," Li Mo said frankly.
The clothes of the headless male corpse might be able to help him avoid the perception of ghosts.
When that time came, his enemies would only be dead people who had been invaded by ghosts.
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The Concept of "Announcing a Death" (报丧, bào sāng): The practice of announcing death is a traditional part of a Chinese funeral. There are specific ways of doing it, usually by telling the family member of the deceased, but can also be extended to friends and relatives. It is to ensure that their soul has the guidance it needs to cross over, if the death was sudden or unexpected.