Bizarre Honkai, a Wife-Chasing Crematorium

Li Mo didn't turn around, immediately hiding beneath the execution platform.

Like when he was in elementary school, playing hide-and-seek with his friends, hiding under the teacher's desk, confident he wouldn't be found.

However… the outcome hadn't been as perfect as he'd hoped.

Children weren't so considerate. To find him, they had even checked the girls' restroom, let alone the office.

The most dangerous place is the safest place. Li Mo thought this way, and so did the others.

So, in the end, he was found and became the seeker.

In this current situation, if he was found by the human skin ghosts, would he become the next ghost seeking the living?

No, no, no…

Li Mo didn't think Bizzare Entities possessed human logic.

Most of them didn't rely on reflected light for vision.

Instead, they relied on specific rules, such as light in darkness, areas illuminated by moonlight, or the gaze through a medium…

The human skin ghosts had no eyes, only empty, black eye sockets.

So how did they find people?

Li Mo suddenly regretted his decision, remembering the actions of the Seven Swords of Taixu during the day.

They did possess human-like behavior, albeit incomplete. They still retained some of their consciousness from when they were alive.

Whether it was Su Mei's duplicitous smile and hidden schemes, or Lin Chaoyu's silence and reticence…

When he first saw the Seven Swords of Taixu, their expressions had been varied.

This proved they weren't completely corrupted.

But that didn't mean the Bizzare rules governing them were fake.

"Thud… thud…"

Footsteps approached. Soon, Li Mo saw paper-thin legs through the gaps beneath the platform, their bones and flesh seemingly flattened into a two-dimensional image, carved onto the human skin.

They moved by shuffling sideways.

Thin, skin-covered hands clutched blood-soaked cleavers.

Paper dolls wielding cleavers, searching for the living.

It would make a terrifying horror movie scene with the right production…

Li Mo lowered his head, keeping his gaze as low as possible, covering his nose and mouth with his other hand, holding his breath, eliminating any chance of being detected.

Besides eye contact, Li Mo didn't know what the human skin ghosts' killing rules were, or if each human skin had a different rule.

The rules could also change between day and night. Considering all these factors, it was difficult to arrive at a definitive answer.

However, one thing was certain: he absolutely couldn't make eye contact with these eyeless beings; otherwise, he might not even be able to restart.

This conclusion was based solely on Li Mo's intuition, without any concrete evidence.

Unlike when he first arrived on the mountain, he could now feel a strange warmth and eeriness in his mind.

The Misfortune Ghost must have awakened and protected his consciousness while he was unconscious.

The human skin effigy on the scholar tree, resembling himself, was an eyeless being.

Li Mo guessed it had no self-awareness, which was why it wanted to steal his consciousness to complete itself.

Most Bizzare Entities were like this, constantly striving for completeness, like picking up and piecing together shards of broken glass…

"Ah… there you are, guest."

Suddenly, a chill ran down Li Mo's spine, not a psychological one, but a physical one, as something cold pressed against his back.

Li Mo's eyes widened, and he quickly closed them.

The next second, the cold object, like a clinging shadow, quickly moved to the top of his head, making his forehead cold.

He reached up and touched it. It was soft leather, covered in a viscous liquid.

It was the human skin of one of the Seven Swords of Taixu.

The human skin draped over him like a sheet of paper. The dry, shriveled head quickly covered his face.

Except for his eyes, his entire face was enveloped by Jiang Wanxi's human skin face.

His eyes didn't feel anything unusual, but they were also the greatest danger.

Li Mo squeezed his eyes shut. He absolutely couldn't open them now.

The human skin's empty eye sockets were pressed against his closed eyelids.

Opening his eyes would mean making direct eye contact with the human skin, likely resulting in the same instant loss of consciousness he had experienced earlier.

Even with the Misfortune Ghost's curse, it didn't mean he could recklessly trigger the eye contact rule.

He wasn't stupid, and he couldn't afford to gamble.

Ghosts could lose countless times, but as a human, losing once meant death.

"Guest, what are you looking for outside your room so late?"

Jiang Wanru's voice was soft and sweet, like a gentle younger sister. If it weren't coming from the human skin pressed against his face, it would have been pleasant to listen to.

However, the voice was coming from his face, and Li Mo found it terrifying.

"Wanru, don't cling to Mingyue so much. He'll get tired of it," Jiang Wanxi said, seemingly displeased.

As the older sister, she couldn't be as shameless as her younger sister. An older sister had her dignity.

"Hee hee, Big Brother Mingyue definitely won't reject Wanru, right?"

"..."

Li Mo remained silent. He wanted to say, Can't you tell I'm rejecting you from here to the ends of the earth?

Please get off my face, you're creeping me out.

"Jiang Wanru, you're not a child anymore. Is it really necessary to put on this innocent act?"

It was strange. They were just pieces of human skin, yet they could speak like living people.

Judging by their conversation, they seemed to retain a relatively complete human consciousness and emotions, a stark contrast to their behavior during the day.

During the day, they had been more like ghosts wearing human skin, their every action governed by rules, never stepping out of line.

But at night, they became mischievous, more human-like.

After all, bickering required both parties to possess a relatively complete personality.

Wait…

Big Brother Mingyue?

Li Mo noticed this address. If they retained their memories from the daytime, and Changle and the others had called him Mingyue, it was understandable that the Seven Swords of Taixu would know this title.

But why add the "Big Brother" suffix?

Wouldn't just "Mingyue" be enough?

Judging by their tone, it seemed like he was very familiar with them?

Had they called him "guest" earlier just to tease him?

Were they playful ghosts?

Conjecture aside, Li Mo kept his eyes closed, remaining silent and motionless, continuing to listen to their conversation.

Perhaps this was related to his predicted death at 10:30 pm. As long as his consciousness wasn't disturbed, it wouldn't hurt to listen.

Li Mo gripped the combat knife, patiently listening to the Seven Swords of Taixu.

"Blah blah blah, what do you know, old woman? What? Are you reminiscing about Big Brother Mingyue's kindness when you were young, regretting marrying that Li Shen?"

"Hee hee, too late! Sister Suyi, you're a married woman now. You should know better~"

"Sister Suyi, you wouldn't want your daughter, Li Sushang, to find out what you and Big Brother Mingyue did behind the mountain, would you?"

Hearing this, Qin Suyi's human skin flushed crimson. She pointed a trembling, flattened hand at Jiang Wanru, who was on top of Li Mo's head.

"How dare you slander me!"

Enraged, she swiftly moved to the top of Li Mo's head, just like Jiang Wanru.

She also left his eye sockets uncovered, waiting for him to open his eyes.

Their actions and habits seemed contradictory.

They still followed Bizzare rules, but their consciousness guided the general direction of their actions, while the rules dictated the specific steps.

"Jiang Wanru, you're shameless! What do my family matters have to do with you? Don't you dare mention it again!"

"Hee hee, are you angry? Oh dear, I'm such a kind soul. Seeing that Sushang girl, I just think she's such promising material, possessing a beauty untainted by knowledge. Why don't I take her as my goddaughter, teach her everything I know, and enlighten her about the crazy things her mother did behind the mountain…"

"You're insane! Haven't you done things behind the mountain? You were like a geyser!"

"I did, so what? I did it openly! You can tell whoever you want; I don't care. Unlike you, I'm not married, and I don't have a family. I'm…"

"Waiting for him until I die…"

Jiang Wanru's tone was defiant, relentlessly targeting Qin Suyi's weakness.

"Die?"

"Die…"

"..."

Jiang Wanxi's words suddenly reminded them of one thing.

They were already dead.

Their master waited for him until she died. They waited for him until they died.

He waited for his ideal self, the one who could bring her happiness, until he died.

It wasn't just one person.

From the very beginning, the tragedy of the Immortal and the poet was inevitable.

Realizing their own deaths, the conversation between Qin Suyi and Jiang Wanru abruptly stopped. The Seven Swords of Taixu fell silent, the lively banter and arguments replaced by unwavering rules and utter stillness.

The seven human skins clung to Li Mo's head like leeches, refusing to let go.

Nothing else happened.

As long as Li Mo didn't open his eyes, the Seven Swords of Taixu posed no threat to him.

But he couldn't keep moving around with human skins on his head, effectively blind. Being blind wasn't entirely bad in his current situation, but it wasn't good either.

Unable to receive visual information meant losing most clues related to Hua. The advantage was that he didn't have to worry about the eye contact rule.

He could avoid the eye contact rule, but he couldn't miss out on clues.

That's why he had risked his life, turning on his flashlight to see what was on the scholar tree, and venturing into the slaughterhouse.

The seven human skins, seemingly devoid of human consciousness, clung to Li Mo's head instinctively, enveloping it.

Li Mo tried calling out to them a few times, but the human skins didn't react.

He tried pulling them off with his hands, almost tearing off his own skin in the process. The seven human skins seemed to have fused together, impossible to remove individually.

Even though Li Mo's current strength could easily punch through a large tree.

Thankfully, he still had one last resort.

An inconspicuous combat knife. In Bizzare incidents, even firearms weren't very effective, let alone cold weapons.

Trigger a rule, and you die, regardless of whether you use a gun or a knife.

Even with an unlimited ammo Gatling gun, you could only delay your death.

After all, Bizzare Entities couldn't be killed.

Li Mo gripped the combat knife, carefully peeling off the six layers of human skin.

The knife was incredibly sharp, and Li Mo's control over his strength was precise.

He could tear the human skins off with brute force, but they were so tightly attached that he would need to use enough force to kill them to separate them.

Death would make them restart, reattaching themselves.

So he had to use normal physics, ensuring the human skins weren't killed, just injured enough to loosen their grip.

Soon, Li Mo successfully removed six layers of human skin. The most difficult one was Jiang Wanru's, stuck to his face.

Li Mo tentatively tried pulling it off with his hand, but he realized he was tearing off his own skin along with it.

Jiang Wanru's human skin had almost fused with his face, refusing to separate.

Even when Li Mo turned on his phone's flashlight, Jiang Wanru's human skin didn't react.

Li Mo guessed this was likely related to their special state. Although they appeared dead, their thought processes earlier had been like those of living people.

Their consciousness might have become dormant, but they still retained human-like habits.

Since light didn't work, Li Mo quickly turned off his phone. Jiang Wanru's human skin might not be attracted to light in the short term, but other Bizzare Entities on Taixu Mountain would be.

Even the Bizzare source could be attracted.

"Hiss…"

Li Mo hissed in pain. If he forced it, he might tear off his entire face.

There was only one way.

Li Mo picked up the combat knife and lightly pierced his own flesh.

Blood loss alone wouldn't kill him. The most important thing now was to remove the human skin from his face.

Enduring the excruciating pain, the sharp knife left horrifying wounds on his face. Not being a medical professional, Li Mo's precision was questionable.

He accidentally hit his cheekbone, gouging out a large chunk of flesh.

His lip was pierced by his teeth.

Li Mo's face was covered in bleeding wounds.

But he couldn't stop. As long as he didn't die, he would keep cutting.

With clumsy, brutal movements, Li Mo finally peeled Jiang Wanru's human skin from his face.

Squinting with one eye, he saw the seven human skins lying motionless on the ground, seemingly lifeless.

"Huff… huff…"

Li Mo gasped for breath. He had exerted himself too much, not from aerobic exercise, but from being in a constant state of tension while enduring the torture of self-mutilation.

"It hurts…" Li Mo reached out his right hand and touched the wounds on his face, crying out in pain.

His Bizzare left hand trembled slightly, as if feeling his pain.

After finishing, Li Mo placed the human skins of the Seven Swords of Taixu under the butcher's block.

He didn't expect an ordinary butcher's block to restrain the human skin ghosts, but he still felt the need to take precautions.

At least for now, he could physically contain the human skins of the Seven Swords of Taixu, reducing the pressure on himself.

It was worth a try; he had nothing to lose.

Li Mo quickly searched the slaughterhouse, looking for any trace of Hua.