The sky was dim, bathed in moonlight. The surface of the Mirror Lake was covered with a strange, filthy white substance, like a thick layer of frost.
The evening wind rustled, and all was silent. Someone was moving quickly through the forest, leaving a clear rustling sound.
At the bottom of the Mirror Lake—
Li Mo's throat was tight, but at least he no longer had to worry about the danger of suffocation. He could escape after his body recovered in two hours.
That was Li Mo's original plan, but the tireless and increasingly obsessed Bizarre Kiana rejected this possibility.
The bottom of the cold lake was covered in fine sand. Li Mo lay flat on it, held down firmly by seemingly soft and powerless delicate hands, half of his body buried in the ground.
At this moment, Li Mo had not yet reacted. Bizarre Kiana had already grasped the cold-blooded, swollen vine, its surface slightly rough.
The hard vine was placed in one of the few smooth places at the bottom of the lake. Crimson shrimp swam out of the sandy cave, like wisps of floating auspicious clouds. Under the washing of the lake water, they were stripped into strands of lines, diffusing into the bone-chilling Mirror Lake, adding a rare touch of warmth.
In the Bizarre cold, a large amount of human blood inexplicably seeped in, and the crimson burst out.
With a shake of the lake water, the beautiful moonlight spread out. The faint halo rose and fell with the ripples, carrying a weak moan, extending to the distance in circles...
Two hours later, Li Mo recovered from his paralysis and no longer needed to exchange air to prevent himself from drowning.
But his body was still weak, and his Bizarre power was in a state of silence. His various physical abilities were only slightly stronger than a normal person's.
Therefore... in the two hours of being taken, the recovered Li Mo still had no strength to stand up or push away the Bizarre Kiana riding on him.
Occasional attempts were also suppressed by Bizarre Kiana's frantic riding.
His body felt like it was falling apart, on the verge of collapse. The bones all over his body were almost all dislocated, causing Li Mo to feel the pain of bone spurs piercing through his flesh at all times.
The black blood flowing from his wounds intertwined with the crimson, swirling around the filth, polluting the entire lake.
He could only watch the waves rise and fall, and the charming moonlight of passion.
Bizarre Kiana's face was full of excitement, and her smile was creepy.
After her instinctive impulse was satisfied, the humanity hidden deep in her consciousness was inadvertently revealed.
The long night was long. Every outburst made Li Mo tremble in unbearable pain, and Bizarre Kiana would also tremble, like a swaying tree shadow, its branches and leaves swaying, pulling at the source of life.
For the current Li Mo, this process was undoubtedly tormenting.
As time passed by minute by minute, the moonlight gradually faded from the Mirror Lake, and the light of dawn appeared, penetrating the gloomy and thick Mirror Lake.
The conspicuous white hair finally began to fade, turning into the ice-blue hair that belonged to Shigure Kira.
The crimson star-moon eyes also slowly lost their crazy instinct and emotion, becoming calm.
The azure eyes blinked, hazy, like a child who had not yet woken up. Her hands involuntarily clenched, and her blood-colored, white body fell, lying on Li Mo's chest, nestling greedily.
At this moment, Bizarre Kiana seemed to have turned back into a helpless child.
"A-Mo... home... I want to go home..." she murmured in a dreamlike, hallucinatory voice from her cherry lips.
The words spoken in the water were very incoherent and unclear.
Li Mo's gaze fell on Shigure Kira's face. These words should not have come from her mouth, so in this state, it was still Kiana's consciousness that was controlling the body.
Observing again, Shigure Kira's eyes were hazy and completely out of focus.
A person's consciousness is insignificant compared to a Bizarre. As long as Bizarre Kiana did not fall asleep or leave, no matter how complete and clear Shigure Kira's consciousness was, she could not regain her body.
At this moment, Shigure Kira's legs were tightly pressed together, and she was curled up into a ball.
Li Mo, who had no emotions, reached out and held her in his arms. His fingers slid over her exquisite body curve and landed on her wet, cascading waterfall-like long hair.
A ray of gentle and doting starlight flickered in his dead, murky eyes.
"You will... you definitely will..."
Li Mo held Shigure Kira from behind and said in a blurry, completely inaudible voice.
The next second...
Li Mo noticed that the girl in his arms trembled violently. She went from having no sense of security to a frightened little animal, her ten fingers rubbing back and forth anxiously.
Fear, joy, shame, panic...
For a moment, it filled her whole head, making her not know what to do.
Should she push away Li Mo who was holding her, or let him continue this ambiguous and intimate posture.
Ngh...
It hurts...
Shigure Kira's face twitched slightly. The base of her thighs and that place were troubled by sharp pain.
She couldn't stand steadily, and had no strength.
Just moving a limb slightly, she could feel a clearer pain.
The lower part of her body felt as if it had been torn apart, and the tearing pain constantly stimulated her nerves.
Shigure Kira slowly looked at herself, and suddenly bit her lip. Her pale cheeks were completely swept by a bright blush, and her ears and neck turned red, as if she had heatstroke.
The memories of last night were crystal clear. Every beautiful posture, every soft moan, every crazy movement, she remembered them all clearly, playing in her mind like a slideshow.
No, not a slideshow, but a 3D panoramic, 100% personal experience of pain.
"Kiana..."
"?"
Li Mo's eyes became cold again. After being reset to zero, they returned to their calm appearance.
The moment he lost his gentle emotions, Li Mo knew that Bizarre Kiana had already left.
As for where she went back to and how she left, it was not something he could consider.
The characteristics of Bizarre Kiana on Shigure Kira's body had dissipated. Although some pollution still remained, Shigure Kira would not be possessed by Bizarre Kiana again in a short period of time.
And when the girl in his arms heard Li Mo say another girl's name, the shyness on her face disappeared without a trace.
I'm really sorry, I'm not her...
Shigure Kira really wanted to say that, but it was too difficult to speak in the water. She had to go ashore.
Shigure Kira struggled internally for a long time, and finally no longer hesitated to turn around. She covered the unavoidable light in front of her chest with her hand and looked at Li Mo with a complicated expression.
She didn't seem to have the right to blame Li Mo, but... this method was too difficult to accept.
It was hard for Shigure Kira to accept the fact that she had lost her virginity.
She pushed Li Mo away and stared at him intently. She didn't swim ashore immediately, but endured the torn and tattered chastity and innocence, waiting for Li Mo's response.
Yes, as long as Li Mo said a word, or reached out and grabbed her, held her.
She would blame all the responsibility and mistakes on herself, and be willing to be his behind-the-scenes guest, following in his footsteps.
Deceiving herself, that all of this was worth it.
"..."
"..."
The two of them looked at each other without a word.
Li Mo's eyes were still calm, without a trace of desire. In his cold eyes, there was only thought and analysis of Shigure Kira's behavior.
Li Mo didn't understand. What was she waiting for?
Anger?
Happiness?
Sadness?
Expectation?
Why?
Li Mo couldn't quite understand the source of other emotions. The joy of surviving a disaster was inevitable, and the sadness of discovering the truth could also be explained. But what about the angry eyes and expectant expression?
The wooden Li Mo was like a puppet, staring blankly at Shigure Kira.
Forget it.
A few seconds later, Li Mo gave up on guessing Shigure Kira's thoughts and focused on the transfer of the misfortune curse.
This was his cognitive blind spot. Through the most primitive human behavior, the misfortune curse could be transferred.
No, the behavior itself couldn't, but Bizarre Kiana had accepted everything about him during her request for love.
Flesh and blood, emotions... whether good aspects or bad flaws, she accepted them all along with the misfortune curse.
She didn't want him to die from the misfortune curse.
Li Mo suddenly remembered something. Countless small details in his mind seemed to be connected by a thread, leading directly to the gate of truth.
Before the funeral was completed, the first page of the notebook rarely answered him. Only when he was in a desperate situation would it provide a way out, even though that way out was full of loss and sacrifice.
And on the first day of the funeral, the notebook tried every means to kill him.
From having his head cut off at the entrance at the beginning, to finally being forced to swallow a gun and commit suicide by the human-head ghost.
Bizarre Mei's world suggested that he summon Bizarre Kiana, racking his brains to lead him into a dead end.
All of these actions seemed to be simply trying to harm him, but in fact, all the facts concealed the same point.
To let him be killed by a Bizarre rule contaminated with Bizarre Kiana.
Only when he was killed by a Bizarre power contaminated with Bizarre Kiana would he provide coordinates for Bizarre Kiana to descend to his side.
The notebook knew that if he really fell into a certain-death situation, he would inevitably summon Bizarre Kiana and drag the spreading Bizarre down with him.
Li Mo stared at the sunken notebook and a group of Bizarre items at the bottom of the lake. This trip was not without gains.
He had obtained eternally clear memories, and had learned the general rules of the first page of the notebook.
Li Mo ignored the waiting Shigure Kira and walked straight to the notebook, picked it up, and opened it.
Unexpectedly, this time the notebook did not open to the first page as usual, but to the simple fourth page.
It was a very ordinary page, without any bloodstains, dirt, or damage. It was like a normal notebook page, and even the smell on it was quite mild.
The fourth page was silent, waiting for Li Mo's question.
It was inconvenient to speak underwater, so Li Mo decided to go ashore first and then observe the new page of the notebook.
Before that, he had to solve the matter at hand.
Li Mo picked up the tattered clothes on the sand. Although they were a bit tattered, they could still cover some parts. The remaining half of the clothes were tied around his waist as an apron, and then he swam towards the surface of the lake.
However, he was grabbed by Shigure Kira.
Li Mo turned back in confusion, only to see Shigure Kira with a wronged expression, as if she had endured great shame. Her other empty hand pointed to the armor fragments on the ground that were only a few dregs left. She didn't speak, but it seemed as if she had said everything.
After a moment of contemplation, Li Mo forcibly held Shigure Kira in his arms and quickly swam ashore.
The silent Bizarre Mei's left hand couldn't help him get new clothes, so he had to make do for now.
Li Mo didn't feel any shame now. If it weren't for the existence of human reason, it wouldn't matter whether he wore clothes or not.
After getting ashore, Li Mo put down Shigure Kira. The first thing he did was to question the fourth page of the notebook.
From the known information—
The first page hoped that he would be eaten by Bizarre Kiana; the second page provided an extreme way to survive, but as long as his physical body survived, it didn't matter what happened to his soul, consciousness, or memory;
Then what kind of deformed rule did the fourth page have?
Li Mo asked a very general question: "Where is Hua?"
A row of neat Shenzhou characters quickly appeared on the fourth page of the notebook. The handwriting was dignified and flowing.
[My name is Li Mo. At this moment, I am trying to explore the rules of the fourth page of the notebook, and I have obtained three futures from it.]
[At 8:32 AM on July 15th, I returned to the Mirror Lake and opened the Bizarre treasure chest. Using the characteristics of the Bizarre treasure chest, I found Hua inside. And I plan to complete the wedding ceremony with her to solve the source of the Bizarre and then leave. During the wedding ceremony, the highest level of misfortune curse is triggered.]
[At 9:15 PM, I died.]
---||---
[At 8:32 AM on July 15th, I left the Mirror Lake with Shigure Kira. In order to give Shigure Kira a proper status and prevent her from being wronged again, I married Shigure Kira at dusk that day and consummated the marriage. And I settled down in this world, abandoning all responsibilities, and enjoyed myself day and night.]
[Two years later, Saori Tsuruyo confessed to me at her coming-of-age ceremony. With Shigure Kira's consent, I married Saori Tsuruyo.]
[Five years later, my child with Shigure Kira was born.]
[Sixty years later, Saori Tsuruyo died of natural causes.]
[Sixty-three years later, Shigure Kira died of natural causes.]
[Four hundred and seventy-nine years later, I died.]
---||---
[At 8:32 AM on July 15th, I went to the Bizarre cave and no longer cared about the wedding ceremony.]
[Twelve years later, the Bizarre spread to my own world.]
[In the same year, I died.]
"...A strange future."
Li Mo took out his phone and looked at it. It was now 8:31 AM on July 15th. Did the fourth page of the notebook mean that the choice he made next would directly determine the entire future?
But he couldn't abandon Mei, nor could he turn a blind eye to the spread of Bizarre.
Except for the first future, the remaining two were the most ideal states, completely unrealistic, and absolutely not choices he could make.
The fourth page's prediction didn't care about morality, ethics, or logic at all.
It was just stating some unrealistic futures...
Was the rule of the fourth page that there was no rule?
No, there must be, but I haven't found it yet.
What purpose does it want to achieve? Maybe thinking from the purpose...
Just as Li Mo was racking his brains, Shigure Kira, fidgeting, hid behind a tree and stammered, "Clothes... get me some clothes..."
She didn't want to go back with Li Mo in this exposed state. If Saori Tsuruyo found out, the captain's dignity would be completely gone.
Shigure Kira lowered her head, trying to cover her body as much as possible.
"Wait."
Reason and common sense told Li Mo that this matter needed to be satisfied.
So he closed the notebook and quickly ran to a clothing store in the town, and snatched a few pieces of clothes while the shopkeeper was not paying attention.