Chapter 33: Before the Mourning
The slender waist revealed a large area of pale skin.
Strangely, it didn't have any corpse spots or foul odors, but was instead so smooth that it didn't seem like the skin of a corpse that had been dead for a long time.
The blood no longer gushed out, and the half of Kiana's body that had descended into reality also began to twist, blur, and disappear...
The dates on the diary stopped moving.
She had failed.
Li Mo had guessed correctly. If he had lingered for even a moment longer... and waited for the date to jump to the last day, Kiana, contaminated by the bizarre, would have completely arrived in reality.
The content on all the diary pages changed.
The letters became increasingly twisted, the color suddenly changing to a glaring crimson.
W̷̜̟̤̒̉h̷͖͖͔̃ỳ̷̘̋Ẃ̴̛̳̄ĥ̶̛̠̲̘͝͝y̵̢̳̻̏͜Ẁ̴̮͉h̷̡̤̓̀͌̇y̶̞̔̿W̴̞͇͗̾͝h̷̯̯̟͐͑̈́y̴̡̗̝͙̿͝͝Ẃ̷̝h̷̚͜͜y̸̭̩̬̓̇W̴͙͎̲͂̓h̶̠̅̕y̵̳̝̮͛̿̌̀͜W̶̩̋̚͜h̴̺̹͘y̴̢̡̫̐̉Ẁ̷͚̎̓̊h̷̘̠͈̼̓̏̚͝y̵̹̟͕͐̏̚̕W̷̝̼̒̃͘ͅȟ̶͖̻͕̬̾y̵̯̺̩̼͌̈ ̶̡͈̩͙͌̊͆̚
̴̢͎̼̳̑̐W̷̺̙̒̍̓h̵̛̘y̴̨͔̘͘ ̶̺̄̍́͠ḑ̷̫̩̾̐i̵̘̗͊d̶̡͇̈́̓͝ ̷̻͍̈́͝y̷̼̐ͅo̵̙̘̬̐u̸̫̻̓̍ ̷̧̩̯̃͆̈́͘ͅa̵̛̘̐̈́̕b̷̺̓a̸̩̋n̵̛̖̯͍̪d̷̡̪̠̔õ̸͖̠͂̏ň̴͙̳̐ ̷̳͑m̶̢̳͑̆̉͒ę̴̠̪̘̐̈̾͠?̸͈̖͐]̴̧̮̓̊̔͆
̴̰̦́[̶̻̰̰̒͗W̴̢̯̬͛h̸͎̜̏y̵͓̏͜ ̸̜̔ḏ̵̨͋̽̉ȋ̷̼d̸͍̩̓̄ ̶̝̫̔̀͆ỳ̶̝̌̈͘ô̶͙͖̲̜u̸͇̬̜͂̑ ̵̡̊͊̈́̚l̷̥̈͗̇e̶̡̙͛̑͝ā̵͓̜̥̂̂v̴̡̉̏ē̶̥̝͑̑ ̸̣̝̈͂͌m̴͔̣͔͇͛͆̄͝ẹ̴̦̙͂͒͘ ̷̛̞͉̱̿̚͝b̴̩͉͙̃ͅe̴̱̘̩̅̇̈́͝h̵̠̘̘̀̈́͛̏i̶̫̬̞͋ͅn̸͕̋d̷̜͆̀̉̾?̸̲̐̐͐]̸̘͂
̷͕͆̈́̕[̵̨̒͊͑́W̴̢̰̆h̴͈̬̠͈͆̍̇y̵͇̓̇ ̸̛̟̦͇͠ď̷̥̩͚͚i̸̺̗̓̋̔͠d̶͓̎̈́̋̚ ̷̙͐̀̈́͜͠y̸̛̯o̸̜̟̫̤͛ủ̴̙̲ ̸͖͈̋̇̇w̶̦̺͎͐ą̵̡͑̉l̵̯͈̒̇k̶̨̦̱̓͊͌̋ͅ ̶̳̻͂͂̅̍a̵̳͋w̵͖̩̗̃͒̉̅a̵̰̱̭̺͑͂͐͠y̸̮̱̑̑͊̆ ̸̢̑̑ͅf̸̤̑̍̚r̵̰̞͉̞̄̋̾o̴̤̩̽̋͠m̸͚̒̅̇̌ ̵̳͚̺̏̅m̶̧̗̈́̌̅̕ḙ̸̝̯̼̀͠͠?̸̡̣̺̞̅]̸̮̠̞̟̋
̸͙̄͊̉̿Ẃ̸̻̖̜͔̌̀͝h̶̩̫͗̍y̷͇͍̒͆͌͘W̸̲̤̫̠̕h̶̼̬͒̔y̷͎̐͑̀͝Ẃ̴̛̰̯̘͊͂h̵͆͐̀͜y̷̪̣̋W̵͈̫͚͑́̑͝ȟ̸̡͔͂y̵̭͐W̶̢̰̩͛̄͂̐h̶͙͆̍̈́̿ỳ̷̰̮͕̫͘͝W̶̘̠͆̿̀̈h̵̲̥̒̄̽y̶̤͓̆͒͝W̵̻̮̓̂̂̈́h̷͙̫́̓ỷ̸̨̭̔́W̶̛̫̞̼͐̓͘h̴̯̘̚ÿ̵̭̝̙̳́̈̾W̶̤͓̖͚̎́͠h̴̻͕̩́͗͋͘y̷̧̳͗ ̸̢̖̙͚̇
The questions and hatred, filled with resentment like a curse, instantly and completely contaminated the entire infirmary.
All the furniture and medicines in the infirmary were contaminated by the aura of the bizarre, transforming them into a different kind of bizarre entity.
As long as the source didn't die, they would have the same characteristics as bizarre entities: impossible to kill, infinite reset.
They were bizarre entities that had evolved from emotions of hatred originating from the source. Therefore, all the bizarre entities in the infirmary only had one behavior: indiscriminately kill anyone who entered.
From this moment on, this infirmary would become a nightmare for any living person who entered it.
"…So, the influence can still reach even from there," Li Mo murmured, a slight edge to his voice.
Li Mo stopped after running at full speed for five minutes, turning back to look at the infirmary again.
Visually, he couldn't detect any changes in the infirmary. The infirmary was still the same old infirmary, and there was nothing strange lingering around it.
"Am I being too cautious?" Li Mo couldn't help but ask himself.
Although a diary page could indeed become a medium, was he being too extreme in being so careful?
"No...I believe in my instincts."
After a moment of self-doubt, Li Mo became even more resolute in his thinking.
He had almost instinctively destroyed the medium and escaped the scene. And after dealing with the bizarre for so long, his instincts and intuition had saved him many times.
Li Mo always adhered to the principle of trusting himself:
The more the enemy opposed him, the more it meant he was right. The more his friends supported him, the more it meant he was right.
If a friend opposed him, it meant that the friend had become an enemy.
He was always right.
"I absolutely can't go in there again," Li Mo said frustratedly, turning around and running towards the auditorium.
Carrying a cabinet weighing several hundred pounds, he was running as if he wasn't carrying anything.
But this wasn't a good thing. It just meant that his body was becoming more and more detached from the realm of normal humans.
On his way back, Li Mo noticed that the sky was gradually darkening, and the golden glow of the setting sun was appearing inappropriately in the morning.
"Did time change? Or is it a new bizarre phenomenon?"
Li Mo kept this doubt in his mind until he returned to the auditorium.
"Senpai, you're back!"
Seeing Li Mo return, the girls rushed up to him as if they had found their backbone.
However, Li Mo completely ignored them, pushing through the crowd and walking to the black coffin, looking up carefully at the clock on it.
6:30 PM.
Li Mo had left very early in the morning. St. Freya Academy was large, but the school within the academy wasn't that huge.
It was impossible for it to take more than an hour to walk around. And Li Mo had left at 7:00 AM and only returned at 6:30 PM, which meant that almost half a day had passed.
"What day is today?" Li Mo asked inexplicably.
"It's the third day, Big Brother. The ritual that needs to be done today is the death announcement, but Big Brother has already done that. So the ritual that needs to be done now is the mourning. Nothing in the auditorium makes the thermometer drop, not even the spirit tablets that reacted before," Saori Tsuruyo said immediately, holding onto a thermometer tightly as she replied to Li Mo's question.
Time had changed. Perhaps his perception was contaminated, and his mind was being invaded by the bizarre, causing some kind of disorder...
Li Mo subconsciously wanted to think about what had happened.
But when he saw Shigure Kira, who was still on the verge of death behind Saori Tsuruyo, her face pale, he temporarily stopped thinking.
He slowly put down the cabinet, opened it, and searched for suitable medicine inside.
"Senpai, what's this?"
"I brought it from the infirmary. You're students of St. Freya, you should know better than I do. But I need to emphasize this: don't even think about going into the infirmary... I'm not joking, it's probably not much safer than the outside of the auditorium after 7:00 PM."
Li Mo's serious expression made everyone shiver.
The meaning of his words was that there was an extremely vicious killer inside, and if a living person entered, they would have a very slim chance of survival.
Li Mo had almost died bringing that cabinet out of the infirmary.
"We understand," everyone answered without any hesitation. They didn't even dare to leave the auditorium now, let alone go to the infirmary.
When they first met, everyone didn't care for the young-looking Li Mo, but as they encountered the bizarre one time after another, Li Mo's words carried more and more weight. It had already reached the point where what he said was the law.
Therefore, no one dared to try to satisfy their curiosity by testing Li Mo's warning.
But Li Mo was now in a difficult situation. He knew that all these medicines were for replenishing blood and healing wounds, but he didn't know how to use them, or which ones were more effective.
After a brief moment of embarrassment, Li Mo called out:
"...You guys, take a look and see which medicines would help Shigure Kira's current condition."
With that said, Li Mo stepped aside, as if abdicating his position, giving the students from St. Freya a chance to step in.
"The capable should take the lead. There's no need to be shy about it," Li Mo said frankly.
Hearing this, everyone stopped hesitating and rushed forward to start identifying the medicine.
"This one is for oral consumption, but the effect is average..."
"This one has a great effect, but it needs to be injected, and it's best to use an IV..."
"Let's disinfect again first..."
Soon, everyone had drawn up a series of plans and started to take action.
Li Mo, as an outsider, couldn't help, so he could only stand aside and observe quietly.
The students of St. Freya didn't have much experience in actual combat, but they had always had plenty of mock training. They would definitely have practiced some kind of emergency treatment.
After all, the head of St. Freya was the apple of that Schicksal bishop's eye.
...Theresa was most afraid of ghosts. If she saw this ghostly version of him in a parallel world, she would probably hide in Cecilia's room and become a NEET for two months.
And Kiana. If the current Kiana went to Himeko-sensei, how would Himeko-sensei see her student?
And how would Kiana treat her teacher?
But... I'm not much better myself.
Li Mo lowered his eyes, his dim gaze fixed on the palm of his hand, which was stained with crimson blood. The smell of decay was stronger than the smell of blood now.
His current physical condition wasn't optimistic. But fortunately, there were still two days. After the funeral, he could deal with the bizarre entities here based on the actual situation.
No, right now I need to think about why time is accelerating.
Li Mo reminded himself. There was less than half an hour until the start of the mourning.