169: Twenty-six.
The blood-colored tentacle that sank into the forehead 169: Twenty-six.
The blood-colored tentacle that sank into the forehead “`
Dawn was breaking.
Morning light spilled through the cracks in the overcast sky, illuminating a rundown and dim room.
On a dust-covered cabinet by the bed, an oil lamp cast a dim yellow glow.
The beam only lasted for a few seconds before the light again hid behind the dark clouds.
The brightness was fleeting, and the room returned to darkness, but it was enough to awaken the sleeping figure.
A shape on the bed began to stir.
The body lying on its side stretched out, and as the eyes opened, a pair of scattered black pupils slowly focused.
The black eyes, dark as the deep sea, gently shifted, sweeping over the cobweb-covered ceiling.
The figure sat up, a black tie slid from his shoulder, resting against the glaring white of his shirt.
A pair of eyes swept over the seemingly long-abandoned bedroom and paused slightly when they reached the wardrobe in the corner of the wall.
The distant sound of fishing boat horns drifted in from the far-off harbor outside the window.
Lu Li began to carefully recall the details of the bizarre events that had happened the previous night.
He hadn’t forgotten anything; the strange and eerie occurrences from last night were still fresh in his mory.
The missing coat proved that it wasn’t a hallucination or a dream.
But the experience inside the wardrobe was truly bizarre, a kind of nonsensical strangeness that was even more fantastic than a dream, especially the inexplicably positive and optimistic emotions about facing life that had been thrust upon Lu Li at the end.
The wardrobe doors were tightly shut, and the whistling of the wind ca through the cracks, seemingly touching Lu Li on the bed, yet his hair didn’t flutter.
Next to the oil lamp on the cabinet, the clock was still ticking, showing the ti to be 5:53.
The ti held no special aning.
Of course, you could force the three digits together to add up to 13, but that would be too far-fetched.
The detestable air of madness inside the wardrobe led Lu Li to speculate that it might be related to the “strangeness” Hades had always spoken of; asking him seed the best choice but… he didn’t know how to describe it.
“I broke into a strange space, the walls had instructions telling how to deal with the path ahead, it also told not to stay up late, not to indulge in fun, to read more books, and eat healthy.”
If he said that, Hades might take the initiative to help Lu Li contact the Asylum, of course, for a fee.
Lu Li was curious about the space inside the wardrobe but didn’t plan to risk entering it again.
Lost in thought, his expression shifted as he reached for his waist.
The flintlock pistol was still there, its cold, temperatureless handle gripped by Lu Li as he drew it from its holster.
Then he looked up at a corner of the ceiling.
Releasing his hand, he let the spirit-calling gun fall back into place.
Lu Li got out of bed and carried the oil lamp as he walked outside.
He left Claire’s residence, stepping on the rare stone steps of Belfast on his way upstairs.
Thump thump thump—
The sound of going upstairs ca from the never-closed bedroom door.
After a mont, the footsteps returned.
Click—
Upon closing the front door, Lu Li, holding a ghost by the nape of its neck, made his way to the bedroom and then let go.
“I am a ghost!”
The one he held in his hand was a youth dressed in simple clothes.
If not for the semi-transparent body, he might not look any different from the common folk on the street.
At this mont he shouted loudly, with a bit of a threatening undertone.
“I know, that’s why I brought you here,” Lu Li replied calmly, his indifferent face instilling a asure of fear in the young ghost.
“`
Lu Li was no longer new to the spiritual domain.
Ti spent in contact had allowed Lu Li to distinguish the strength of the ghosts’ auras, and he knew that ghosts were not as scary as they seed—at least most of them weren’t, as the evil ones generally didn’t live very long.
Only when they reached the status of vengeful spirits did they undergo a fundantal change.
And more often than not, ghosts were just a bunch of dead people holding onto their thoughts from life.
“There’s sothing I need you to do.”
In the gloomy bedroom, on a bed, one man said to another, “I have a task for you.”
Even though this ghost had braced for the worst, he couldn’t imagine the truth being so terrifying and impactful.
“I’m a ghost!
And I still have a mouth ulcer!”
The young ghost shouted loudly, trying to change sothing.
Lu Li, as if he hadn’t heard, continued, “There’s a staircase in the wardrobe that leads downward, I need you to go scout ahead.”
“Huh?
You’re not asking to go up…” The young ghost’s trembling stopped.
“What?” Dark eyes fell on him, locking with his eyes filled with lingering terror.
“Nothing…
If it’s just scouting.” The young ghost’s eyeballs moved as he tentatively asked, “Will I die if I go…?”
“Not sure, but you’ll die if you don’t go,” replied Lu Li as he unhitched the gun holster.
Is that a gun!?
The young ghost’s heart quivered, his unadjusted mindset triggering a subconscious fear.
The next mont, he realized, wait, why fear a gun when he’s already dead?
He straightened up from his stooped posture, ready to speak, then suddenly rembered how Lu Li had barged in, picked him up by the neck without explanation, and took him away.
His recently straightened form stooped down once more.
The ghost who had briefly fluctuated in mindset several tis lost the will to resist and nodded morosely in agreent.
Lu Li paid no mind to the ghost’s changing emotions, walked up to the wardrobe, and without looking back, said, “I’m temporarily calling it the ti layers inside.
There’s a 30-minute gap between each layer, aning if you go down one layer, ti will increase by 30 minutes.
Your starting layer is 12 o’clock, the first layer is 12:30, there will be hints on the wall, and if you encounter a corresponding trouble, follow the hints.
Should the walls start giving you lots of reminders to ‘say goodnight’ or suggest so kind of action, do as it says.
And do not backtrack—unless the wall hints instruct you to.”
Lu Li pulled the wardrobe doors with both hands, finished all the precautions, and tilted his head to look at him.
“Did you get all that?”
“Although it doesn’t sound very clear… Leave it to !”
Dust, long-settled on the closet doors, fell as Lu Li pulled them open amid the young ghost’s anxious mood.
The mont the closet opened, a streak of blood shot out from within, becoming an afterimage that hurtled towards Lu Li’s face!
In the blink of an eye, Lu Li’s pupils shrank to pinpricks; it was too late to block with his hand—
Lu Li could only focus his mind in that instant to make out the true form of the blood-colored afterimage: a torn, jagged blood-red tentacle.
The blood-red tentacle left a scar in the dust-filled air and instantly penetrated Lu Li’s forehead.
The very next mont, Lu Li finally reacted.
He drew the Spirit-Calling Gun incredibly fast but then, in a split second, reversed the barrel and pressed it against his own forehead.
“Hss…”
The young ghost let out a sharp intake of breath, speechless from shock at the scene.
Then he saw Lu Li slightly tilt his head, his strands of hair revealing cold indifference, with his dark eyes filled with negative emotions sweeping over him.
He covered his mouth in fear.
“I’m Lu Li, from another world, an Exorcist by profession.
This is Belfast, Anna is my partner, we are investigating the ‘door’ situation, currently looking for Richard’s whereabouts,”
With his finger on the trigger, Lu Li quickly whispered a recap.
Thinking was unaffected, no extra mories, emotions unchanged…
The calr things seed, the worse it was.
That blood-red tentacle that had burrowed into his forehead couldn’t possibly be problem-free.
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