Chapter 26
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Having the Same Name as the Demon Lord of the Abyss
The two of them sat side by side on the couch in the office, each holding the left and right pages of the diary.
In a slow and quiet voice, the priest recited softly, “To kiss, what does it feel like?”
It was exactly the same as the first diary that Shen Yuan read last time, but as he kept reading, the content of the book turned out to be very different.
【 It’s a slippery, nauseating feeling, like you are gradually dying! 】
【 When the ghost starts to eat people, it says I love you, opens its arms to hug, and eats your skin and flesh inch by inch from the place where your arms touch. 】
【 The ghost and the person sleep on the same bed. In the dark, a tongue is stuffed into the mouth, one bite at a time, starting from the tongue, starting from the heart, it eats until they are empty, unable to cry for help. 】
【 Who was eaten by the ghost? The ghost ate Baba. 】
【 Baba who was assimilated by the ghost ate Meimei. 】
【 Mama and Kaoru are accomplices. 】
【 Kaoru watched silently. The ghost ate Meimei’s flesh and blood, and she was only afraid for herself. 】
【 Mama hugged Kaoru and ran away. 】
【 But, but, familiar footsteps began to appear in the house, and the ghost who ate Meimei appeared once again. It came to our new home. 】
【 What about Meimei? Finally escaped from that grave? Have you come home with me too? 】
【 I’m so sorry. I left you there alone for so many years and ran away by myself. 】
【 This time, who will the ghost eat first? 】
【 Baba? Mama? Gege? Or Kaoru? 】
【 Where can I run away to this time? Can I not run away this time? 】
【 Can I…kill the ghost? No matter who it becomes, I will kill it! 】
The page was filled with “kill kill”, with the same written on every page that followed, and the last few pages were crusted with old bloodstains.
The strokes were startling, extremely fierce, the handwriting looking like the writer had gone insane. The writing was very calm until the end, but every line seemed to radiate the thick breath of ghosts.
Just looking at the handwriting, he felt that a ghost would suddenly climb out of the book and open its mouth to eat people.
Ye Zun sat there, stunned. It took a long time to find his voice, saying in disbelief, “That girl, she read a diary like this?”
——Then why, how could she be so calm and still smile, how could she look at him and still be able to talk?
Facing him, who was like a demon in her eyes, when she handed the diary back to him, she smiled brightly and said, “Don’t be nervous. I understand, because I am the same.”
He had thought—he even thought, she was like the priest, just comforting him. Him, who was not good at talking to strangers, will always be unconsciously nervous when in a conversation.
Ye Zun suddenly came to his senses, eyes empty as he stared at Lin. “She said, she is the same. What does that mean? Can it be that she’s also seen the kind of ghost written in Nogawa Kaoru’s diary? Did she have the same encounters and experience as Nogawa Kaoru?”
Lin furrowed his brows slightly, watching him warmly. “Possibly.”
Ye Zun immediately stood up. “Could there also be clues around her? Stuff about where exactly the ghosts come from?”
Lin’s fingers rested on his shoulder, and he gently reassured, “I will go investigate her classroom. Let’s go and have a look, if it’s like what you said, she might have left a message.”
As a teacher, Lin quickly found out which year and class the girl was.
In the teaching building where she jumped off, her class was on the fifth floor.
When Ye Zun ran into the classroom and went straight into searching for the things in her desk, he startled the surrounding students.
But no one stopped him. Everyone just stood farther away, whispering and murmuring.
“…dancing crazily in the locked dance studio on the top floor…I’ve heard that her private life is very chaotic, she had many boyfriends…”
“…her mother is not a decent person…took her and remarried several times…”
“…they say she was pushed down, this person present at the time is this person ba…”
“…so handsome ah…is it murder out of love? Such a pity for that kind of woman…”
“…it can’t be that he’s destroying evidence, right?”
Ye Zun was indifferent, his eyebrows coldly aloof without raising a single bit, focused on searching for clues.
“Excuse me, are you Nogawa Kaoru?”
At this time, a girl with glasses standing beside Ye Zun quietly talked to him.
Ye Zun paused and looked at her. “I am.”
The girl with glasses forced herself to hand over a wrapped gift, unwillingly saying, “She suddenly said that she had something come up and couldn’t do this in person… If you were to come, she told me to remember to give it to you… Here, it’s best if you stopped messing around in there. There’s nothing else.”
“Thank you.”
Ye Zun walked out of the classroom silently with the gift that looked like a notebook covered in wrapping paper.
Lin was waiting for him outside, quietly accompanying him out the building.
Ye Zun squeezed the gift in his hand with force, and said softly, “What does this mean? We clearly only just met, just a relationship with a stranger who picked up the diary. Why did she prepare a gift for me…for Nogawa Kaoru?
Li cast his eyes down at the gift in his hand. “It looks like she knew there was a possibility she was going to die.”
Not a possibility, but a certainty. That thing, rather than a gift, was more like a suicide note.
Ye Zun started to open the gift without a word. Inside was a locked diary without the lock.
Lin stood beside him, fingers resting on the place where Ye Zun was holding the diary, his other hand lightly placed on his shoulder. The inconspicuous temperature from the palm slowly passed through the layers of fabric and into Ye Zun’s ice-cold body, travelling up until it reached his trembling heart.
Lin read in a flat, emotionless tone:
【 Sorry, I actually read the contents of the diary, but in front of Kaoru, I will deny it, so that you will not be so uncomfortable ba. However, I can probably guess that you are trying to be seen by me on purpose. 】
【 Just like how I am now, I want to be seen by you. 】
【 I’ve always been looking at you from a distance, because, the first time I saw you, I knew that we might be the same. 】
【 Kaoru too, always looking at me from a distance ba. Being stared at like that, it can’t be ignored at all. 】
【 Sorry. Maybe it’s different from what you think. This is why I haven’t been able to take the initiative to respond to you all this time. I can’t, there is no way for me to call out to you. That is because, I am just pretending to be alive. 】
【 You already know, once that kind of ghost consumes a bite of your flesh and blood, no matter how unwilling, in the end, you will be swallowed and assimilated little by little. 】
【 Every day, I want to die. Every day, I use up all my energy thinking about how to die. 】
【 Waking up every day, this world still existing, it’s enough to make me despair. Whatever can be done to end this… Kaoru also has the same idea ba. 】
【 Wanting to die, unwilling to die. I obviously never did anything wrong, why is it me…why is it us? 】
【 There are more and more wounds festering, and it’s so hard to walk while dragging these shackles. In the beginning, I had no idea where the ‘me’ who kept running away wanted to go, despite knowing I have nowhere to go. There is clearly no exit. I knew it long ago, and I found out long ago. 】
【 Kaoru is probably the same ba. Even if I walk under the sunlight, I will suddenly remember and be reminded that it will not get better. It has been completely ruined. My life, every inch of my body stinks of rot and tainted blood. Even during a springtime full of hope and vitality, just thinking about it makes even breathing seem like a sin. 】
【 How disgusting ah. How the hell could I live with such a disgusting body until now, allow myself to slowly rot and be swallowed up, but dare not end it? Seeing Kaoru, I remembered, it is because I am unwilling. 】
【 I am unwilling to live in this world. Not once has anything gone well in my existence. I have never met beautiful things, I have never thoroughly loved or been loved. 】
【 Because I met Kaoru, I thought that I was not the only one alone in this world, and I could finally close my eyes a little at night. Last night, I had a beautiful dream. I dreamed of my childhood, and Kaoru woke me up. Even if I never seen it, I knew it was the Kaoru of the past, who said to me, “If you die, you can become the same existence as me. Let’s start again together ba.” 】
【 How nice ah, standing hopefully on the stool, one step away from the hanging rope. As long as I die, I can escape. I can be reborn. 】
【 But I hesitated in the dream, how can there be such a good thing in the world? Such great luck, how can it be my turn? 】
【 Waking up, I found that it really was just a dream. What a pity, I wasted such a beautiful dream. I should die. At the very least, I want to die once in my dream ah. 】
【 I want to die without any resentment or regret. Whether it is towards that ghost or the people around me who want to sacrifice my flesh and blood in exchange for their survival, I don’t have any strength to hold grudges, I just want to die. But my unwillingness is pulling me. 】
【 However, it doesn’t matter now. Because of Kaoru’s existence, my unwillingness has ended now. 】
【 Let’s end it together ba, let’s escape together ba, and start all over. 】
【 Because I have already made up my mind. At night, I wanted to run and find Kaoru immediately, regardless of anything. However, too many parts have been eaten, and the wounded areas were too large. No matter how hard I tried, the recovery rate was too slow, and I was so tired I didn’t even have the energy to die. So, I’ll just wake up tomorrow morning to go die ba. 】
【 As I have finished preparing, at least tonight I don’t have to be afraid. I don’t have to hide carefully, not daring to close my eyes and waiting for dawn to come. I can finally have a good night’s sleep. Once I wake up tomorrow, I won’t think about anything, I won’t do anything; I will go to meet Kaoru immediately. 】
【 This time, we just need to die and everything will be fine ba. 】
【 Thank you, it really is great. 】
【 It is because of Kaoru that I am finally able to end the torture willingly. To end it before I am completely eaten up while I am still human, before I am completely eaten clean, it really is great that I met Kaoru. 】
【 Does Kaoru feel the same as me? 】
【 At this moment, as Kaoru is reading my diary, is there the same peace of mind and happiness as I felt? 】
【 I’ve always wanted to perform a dance there. I want to dance once to show Kaoru. 】
【 Whenever I couldn’t hold on any longer, I looked there countless times, and thought about this countless times. 】
【 I want to invite Kaoru and dance there together. 】
【 Let the two of us escape from there! 】
After that, there was a huge mess…one that spread over several large pages.
【 …… 】
【 Important friend…it turns out, Kaoru already has an important person? Unlike me. 】
【 I am a lonely one, until the end. 】
【 But, it doesn’t matter. 】
【 Kaoru has an important friend. This time, I will escape by myself first. 】
【 This gift, you probably can’t see it ba. But, I really want it to be seen ah. 】
【 My pain, at least once, I want it to shout it out loud and be heard, be seen. 】
On the last page, there were two blood-red sentences. The handwriting for the two lines were not the same, as if two separate people had dipped their fingers in blood to write on the page.
One line of words was crooked and twisted, like a child.
One line of words was graceful and thin, bright and brilliant.
【 “It’s really scary here, will you jump down to escape with me?”
“Okay ah, I can’t wait.” 】
Ye Zun’s fingers let go of the diary. He couldn’t help but step back, knocking into the arms of the priest behind him. He felt the man’s body temperature, but he subconsciously panicked, wanting to run.
Lin grabbed his wrist. “Calm down.”
Ye Zun couldn’t help panting, his brown pupils blown wide and blank as he stared at him.
In addition to the bouts of chill crawling over his body, because it was too cold, he couldn’t help shivering deep in his bones. Because of this, he didn’t feel like he was not calm at all.
Talking to himself, he tried to regain his composure by rationally analysing. “Did she want to die because of Nogawa Kaoru? No, she wanted to die because of Nogawa Kaoru’s diary. No, she has always wanted to die… Just how many ghosts of that kind exists in this world?”
Lin watched him quietly, his Adam’s apple rolling slightly. “At least you know who the ghost is now.”
Ye Zun was lost in a trance. “I know who the ghost is?”
Nogawa Kaoru’s diary said that his mother took Nogawa Kaoru and ran away, leaving his little sister alone in a house with ghosts, and the little sister who was eaten by ghosts returned to their new home with the ghosts.
Little sister…a house with ghosts…
The nightmare from last night suddenly came up——
The bleeding little girl in the dream said, “Gege made me hide here and then disappeared. I don’t know where he is, or if he was eaten too. Maybe Mama went to find Gege…”
Nogawa Kaoru wrote in the diary:【 Mama hugged Kaoru and ran away. I’m so sorry. I left you there alone for so many years and ran away by myself. 】
Ye Zun’s eyes gradually calmed down, and he swallowed with his dry throat. “I get it. It wasn’t a dream, it was me who released her from the grave.”
Lin’s hand that had grabbed him never loosened. “En, what are you talking about?”
“The little sister is the ghost.”
In the old room that resembled a grave, he met a seven-or-eight year old girl.
Nogawa Kaoru’s younger sister was also seven-or-eight years old.
The little girl he rescued from the grave-like house was Nogawa Kaoru’s little sister, who had been left behind.
“The little sister… I only saw her on Monday morning. Today is Thursday, but except for that morning, no matter morning or night, I haven’t seen her at home once! I didn’t even suspect anything at all.”
Perhaps neither of the two lied.
Dad said that Mum was missing because Mum was hiding from the ghost who came into the house, or, because she had already been bitten by a ghost and didn’t want to hurt the rest of the family, she went hiding on purpose.
The dead father she was talking about, perhaps didn’t mean Shen Yuan’s father, but her ex-husband, Nogawa Kaoru’s own father?
Kaoru Nogawa’s father and sister were bitten by ghosts a few years ago, but after Mum escaped with Kaoru Nogawa, the father and daughter should not have been completely eaten by the ghost immediately.
——Judging from the time the footsteps appeared, that ghost had already appeared in the house during the weekend nights at the latest.
——But according to Shen Yuan’s remarks, he had heard them even earlier.
Perhaps it was because Nogawa Kaoru’s father was accidentally hospitalised, and when his mother went to the hospital to get in touch with her ex-husband, the ghost followed the mum back to this new home.
The ghost bewitched the mother to unplug her ex-husband’s respirator, leading to the man’s complete death.
With this, everything made sense.
The thirteen-or-fourteen year old girl he saw in Nogawa Kaoru’s room who was eating her own arm the night before may have been the little sister, if she had grown up.
The little sister, like Nogawa Kaoru’s father, lasted for several years before she was completely eaten. Before her death, she might have been thirteen or fourteen years old, and the little girl he saw in his dream was only what the girl looked like back when she was a human.
——But, if the little sister is a ghost, why would Shen Yuan say that there was only one girl in the family?
——Mum also said more than once that they should leave food for the little sister to eat.
Could it be that Mum was already bitten by a ghost at that time?
Because Mum took Nogawa Kaoru to run away at the beginning, leaving the little sister to her ex-husband who was assimilated by a ghost, the ghost-turned sister resented her mum, so the mother’s reaction after being infected by a ghost was a subconscious want to compensate the little sister?
Is this right?
The truth seemed to gradually become clear and Ye Zun also calmed down, his mind trapped in thinking about the logical contradiction.
——Everything that I have experienced has already happened, everything that Nogawa Kaoru has experienced. For the instance, ghosts already exist.
The clues in the diary, the guidance of the nightmare, these were all to allow him to experience Nogawa Kaoru’s encounters all over again.
——Therefore, the little sister may not have entered the house after being rescued by me. Maybe she was already existing at home.
——The ghost did this on purpose. In order to pull me into its energy farming system, it’s calculating every step taken to tempt me into these discoveries, making me pay attention to it, making me think about it. It wants to confuse and scare me.
Yes, with the diary that was obviously hiding information, because he wanted to decipher the clues in the diary, he began to have nightmares under the influence of the ghost.
Then he was pulled by the ghost into its domain, and he rescued the little sister from the ghost all by himself, letting the ghost’s power be fully released and enhanced.
The senior sister with the cherry blossom hairclip committed suicide, but the extra girl at the scene was definitely not an illusion. It must be the ghost of the little sister!
It was the little sister who lured and killed the senior sister.
Her power was already enough to start killing people!
——So, I shouldn’t have saved that little girl?
Lin pulled Ye Zun’s hand and lowered his eyes slightly. Except for Ye Zun’s pale expression, he looked calm, but his hands were ice-cold and shivering uncontrollably.
A richness fermenting in fear, cool and sweet, with the fragrance of roses and the slight astringency of leaves, it was incredibly attractive.
However, as Lin’s palm wrapped around that ice-cold hand, his consciousness and instinct ran in the opposite direction to one another.
The knot on his throat rolled, but his body was warming him up.
“Don’t be scared, what did you think of? Tell me.”
Ye Zun’s eyes were already calm and there was no weakness nor confusion. His pale lips were slightly pursed, and he looked at Lin attentively. “The school is already becoming dangerous, I can’t stay here any longer. Father too, it’s better to stay away from this whirlpool.”
Lin still looked at him gently, his voice soft as he said, “Where are you going? I will come with you.”
“Where I’m going, Father can’t come.” Ye Zun’s face revealed a faint smile. He looked into the priest’s eyes. “Thank you.”
Lin looked at him with slightly probing eyes. There were no traces of waves in the already restrained expression. “Why the sudden thank you? Did I do anything?”
Ye Zun blinked. He didn’t look flustered or scared at all. His face was slightly pale, but his expression was clear and calm. “Even if Father didn’t do anything, your mere existence alone has already saved me once.”
Ye Zun glanced at the girl’s diary, and then at the scene of the accident on the other side of the sea of flowers.
“She was originally going to invite me to die with her. That was why she dressed up.”
However, because Ye Zun saw Lin’s back—
……”It was a very important friend of mine.”
Because Ye Zun said this, and now knowing Nogawa Kaoru already had someone important unlike her, she temporarily gave up this invitation to their deaths and decided to die alone.
Perhaps if it were her alone, she would have given up her plan at the end as she was unwilling, but a ghost went to her appointment in place of Ye Zun.
……”It’s really scary here, will you jump down to escape with me?”
Romantic yet terrifying, a fatal invitation to death.
Lin frowned slightly and looked at him, his clear eyes calm and focused. “Thanking me, then leaving me. Where are you going?”
Ye Zun looked into his eyes earnestly and showed a shallow smile. “I really am not afraid. I know what to do. Although I can always rely on Father, still, I want to become stronger by myself.”
——That little sister’s ghost was released from the diary by me. Although I can’t see, I can feel it. She is right next to me, following me.
——Maybe I was briefly scared, but I never really thought about running away.
He had never shied away from the fact that his personality was unlikeable. Before recently, he didn’t particularly like anything, and he could generally ignore the people around him.
But now he hopes that he at least has some positive qualities in himself, to have a calm and comfortable confidence, to believe that the friend he likes also has reasons to like him.
He finally met his important person, one he wants to properly cherish, one whose goodwill he doesn’t want to take advantage of, one he doesn’t want to hide behind to be protected with peace of mind.
Kindness will be spent, and the priest can’t be by his side forever.
Rather than relying on the other to escape danger all the time, he wants to try to become stronger himself.
——I hope to become a strong protector, not someone who hides behind shamefully, like a pitiful little one who needs to be protected.
In this way, to fill in the kindness that was constantly being consumed, is it possible for the other person’s kindness towards him to be retained more, so the relationship between them can last for a long time?
——It sounds a lot like a schoolboy’s declaration. I’ll probably never say it out loud because it’s too shameful. But, it’s true. I want to be close with Lin forever, just like now, or if it’s possible, it’ll be even better if we can be closer than we are now.
——For this wish, I am not afraid now.
For this wish, he wanted to live longer in this game.
The game allowed him to decipher Nogawa Kaoru’s fate of death, and to live until the seventh day. Today was the fourth day.
Thus, his eyes slightly curved into crescents and he looked into the priest’s eyes. “Now is a safe time. I should face my fears and try to become stronger. I will solve it successfully, and I will definitely come and find you when the time comes.”
——I have to go back to that house again to confirm once again, just when did the little sister’s existence appear in the house.
All the inferences at present were just guesses. There must be something missing, or maybe the existing clues are wrong, and there were hidden and unknown traps.
——I probably have a vague understanding of how to deal with ghosts. You must not enter the other party’s energy farming system. The first thing to do is to not run away from your fears.
Therefore, it is better to do the opposite. The unknown is the most terrifying thing. As long as you know why the misfortune came to be, you can find a way to escape.
Lin stood there, watching Ye Zun leave the school that was surrounded by cherry blossoms.
The gentleness on his face gradually disappeared as the young man left his sight, his handsome and noble face calm and unwavering.
Not only the smile, but his face was devoid of all emotions.
The fountain of precious crystals and starlight had turned back into the deep pool of dark death.
The knot on his throat rolled and there was a very light and empty sigh. Words were spoken with a sullen voice, because the owner had lost the source of his fun, reverting to their lonely and bored tone. “You want to become stronger by yourself, because your subconscious mind does not trust anyone, including me. Even with a curse of that level, is it still not enough?”
Then, let’s make things a little scarier.
What should he do with the dessert that walked away without permission, harbouring delusions that he can learn the skills to escape on his own?
Nothing compared to this special offering. He had already placed his mark.
……
At first, Ye Zun took the bus.
Very soon into the ride, the driver and several passengers revealed a black line like a centipede on their necks, and they smiled at him through the window glass and rearview mirror reflections.
The driver even blatantly ignored Ye Zun’s intentions and drove past the stop directly. He didn’t plan to let him down at all, and he didn’t know where they were headed.
It wasn’t easy for him to finally find a chance to get off the bus with other passengers. By the time he got off, the distance to the house was more than if he had walked home from school.
Sure enough, this instance grew more and more dangerous as time progressed. He should’ve known to walk back.
It was not just the school. As time went on, he soon saw infected ghosts on the road as well.
But these ghosts didn’t attack him directly. It should be because not enough conditions have been met.
The sky was already oppressively dark and cold rain began to drop.
Even the rain seemed to carry a shadowy corrosive resentment, which made people extremely uncomfortable.
Ye Zun didn’t bring an umbrella and there were no shops along this route, so he could only speed up and walk in the rain.
In the end, it took around an hour to arrive back home.
It was almost noon now, but the entire old building complex was quiet, as if not a single person was moving.
This was the first time Ye Zun saw the residential building in the daytime.
Whenever he went out in the morning, perhaps because of his preconceived notions, he never felt that there was anything wrong with the quietness here. After all, except for students, most people rarely get up that early.
Ye Zun stood downstairs. It was only early April, but there was already the appearance of lightning.
The dark clouds settled themselves in the sky like it was evening and the lightning was ferocious and fierce.
Standing in the doorway, he counted his heartbeat while watching the lightning in the distance. Only when his emotions had completely calmed down did he continue to make his way upstairs.
The dilapidated residential building was full of debris, old stoves, honeycomb cinder blocks, trash cans covered in dust, old plastic basins and hot water bottles that were so old that people would worry if they could still be used.
These things were much older than how Ye Zun remembered.
The first floor was almost a utility room and garbage area. Nogawa Kaoru’s home was on the third floor.
This building really was very old so many homes were unoccupied. They were locked from the outside, and some were even blocked by wooden boards specially brought over.
But there were people living on the same floor as Nogawa Kaoru’s house, such as the neighbour on the left side of the corridor. The houses that were lived in and the houses that weren’t, the breath of life could be seen from the outside.
There were other people on this floor, which loosened Ye Zun’s nerves that had unconsciously tensed a little.
He stood at the door, paused, then inserted the key into the door lock and slowly twisted it open.
——I am ready. No matter what picture I see, I will not be afraid.
“Kaoru, you came back to eat.” The busy woman was putting the food on the table. Raising her head and brushing away her dry bangs, her eyes were warm and loving. With a happy face, she spoke to him.
The author has something to say:
Demon Lord:
What should he do with the dessert that walked away without permission, harbouring delusions that he can learn the skills to escape on his own?
Nothing compared to this special offering. He had already placed his mark.
……
It is recommended to eat it directly ba.
And then…the full text is over (dog head~)
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Having the Same Name as the Demon Lord of the Abyss
The two of them sat side by side on the couch in the office, each holding the left and right pages of the diary.
In a slow and quiet voice, the priest recited softly, “To kiss, what does it feel like?”
It was exactly the same as the first diary that Shen Yuan read last time, but as he kept reading, the content of the book turned out to be very different.
【 It’s a slippery, nauseating feeling, like you are gradually dying! 】
【 When the ghost starts to eat people, it says I love you, opens its arms to hug, and eats your skin and flesh inch by inch from the place where your arms touch. 】
【 The ghost and the person sleep on the same bed. In the dark, a tongue is stuffed into the mouth, one bite at a time, starting from the tongue, starting from the heart, it eats until they are empty, unable to cry for help. 】
【 Who was eaten by the ghost? The ghost ate Baba. 】
【 Baba who was assimilated by the ghost ate Meimei. 】
【 Mama and Kaoru are accomplices. 】
【 Kaoru watched silently. The ghost ate Meimei’s flesh and blood, and she was only afraid for herself. 】
【 Mama hugged Kaoru and ran away. 】
【 But, but, familiar footsteps began to appear in the house, and the ghost who ate Meimei appeared once again. It came to our new home. 】
【 What about Meimei? Finally escaped from that grave? Have you come home with me too? 】
【 I’m so sorry. I left you there alone for so many years and ran away by myself. 】
【 This time, who will the ghost eat first? 】
【 Baba? Mama? Gege? Or Kaoru? 】
【 Where can I run away to this time? Can I not run away this time? 】
【 Can I…kill the ghost? No matter who it becomes, I will kill it! 】
The page was filled with “kill kill”, with the same written on every page that followed, and the last few pages were crusted with old bloodstains.
The strokes were startling, extremely fierce, the handwriting looking like the writer had gone insane. The writing was very calm until the end, but every line seemed to radiate the thick breath of ghosts.
Just looking at the handwriting, he felt that a ghost would suddenly climb out of the book and open its mouth to eat people.
Ye Zun sat there, stunned. It took a long time to find his voice, saying in disbelief, “That girl, she read a diary like this?”
——Then why, how could she be so calm and still smile, how could she look at him and still be able to talk?
Facing him, who was like a demon in her eyes, when she handed the diary back to him, she smiled brightly and said, “Don’t be nervous. I understand, because I am the same.”
He had thought—he even thought, she was like the priest, just comforting him. Him, who was not good at talking to strangers, will always be unconsciously nervous when in a conversation.
Ye Zun suddenly came to his senses, eyes empty as he stared at Lin. “She said, she is the same. What does that mean? Can it be that she’s also seen the kind of ghost written in Nogawa Kaoru’s diary? Did she have the same encounters and experience as Nogawa Kaoru?”
Lin furrowed his brows slightly, watching him warmly. “Possibly.”
Ye Zun immediately stood up. “Could there also be clues around her? Stuff about where exactly the ghosts come from?”
Lin’s fingers rested on his shoulder, and he gently reassured, “I will go investigate her classroom. Let’s go and have a look, if it’s like what you said, she might have left a message.”
As a teacher, Lin quickly found out which year and class the girl was.
In the teaching building where she jumped off, her class was on the fifth floor.
When Ye Zun ran into the classroom and went straight into searching for the things in her desk, he startled the surrounding students.
But no one stopped him. Everyone just stood farther away, whispering and murmuring.
“…dancing crazily in the locked dance studio on the top floor…I’ve heard that her private life is very chaotic, she had many boyfriends…”
“…her mother is not a decent person…took her and remarried several times…”
“…they say she was pushed down, this person present at the time is this person ba…”
“…so handsome ah…is it murder out of love? Such a pity for that kind of woman…”
“…it can’t be that he’s destroying evidence, right?”
Ye Zun was indifferent, his eyebrows coldly aloof without raising a single bit, focused on searching for clues.
“Excuse me, are you Nogawa Kaoru?”
At this time, a girl with glasses standing beside Ye Zun quietly talked to him.
Ye Zun paused and looked at her. “I am.”
The girl with glasses forced herself to hand over a wrapped gift, unwillingly saying, “She suddenly said that she had something come up and couldn’t do this in person… If you were to come, she told me to remember to give it to you… Here, it’s best if you stopped messing around in there. There’s nothing else.”
“Thank you.”
Ye Zun walked out of the classroom silently with the gift that looked like a notebook covered in wrapping paper.
Lin was waiting for him outside, quietly accompanying him out the building.
Ye Zun squeezed the gift in his hand with force, and said softly, “What does this mean? We clearly only just met, just a relationship with a stranger who picked up the diary. Why did she prepare a gift for me…for Nogawa Kaoru?
Li cast his eyes down at the gift in his hand. “It looks like she knew there was a possibility she was going to die.”
Not a possibility, but a certainty. That thing, rather than a gift, was more like a suicide note.
Ye Zun started to open the gift without a word. Inside was a locked diary without the lock.
Lin stood beside him, fingers resting on the place where Ye Zun was holding the diary, his other hand lightly placed on his shoulder. The inconspicuous temperature from the palm slowly passed through the layers of fabric and into Ye Zun’s ice-cold body, travelling up until it reached his trembling heart.
Lin read in a flat, emotionless tone:
【 Sorry, I actually read the contents of the diary, but in front of Kaoru, I will deny it, so that you will not be so uncomfortable ba. However, I can probably guess that you are trying to be seen by me on purpose. 】
【 Just like how I am now, I want to be seen by you. 】
【 I’ve always been looking at you from a distance, because, the first time I saw you, I knew that we might be the same. 】
【 Kaoru too, always looking at me from a distance ba. Being stared at like that, it can’t be ignored at all. 】
【 Sorry. Maybe it’s different from what you think. This is why I haven’t been able to take the initiative to respond to you all this time. I can’t, there is no way for me to call out to you. That is because, I am just pretending to be alive. 】
【 You already know, once that kind of ghost consumes a bite of your flesh and blood, no matter how unwilling, in the end, you will be swallowed and assimilated little by little. 】
【 Every day, I want to die. Every day, I use up all my energy thinking about how to die. 】
【 Waking up every day, this world still existing, it’s enough to make me despair. Whatever can be done to end this… Kaoru also has the same idea ba. 】
【 Wanting to die, unwilling to die. I obviously never did anything wrong, why is it me…why is it us? 】
【 There are more and more wounds festering, and it’s so hard to walk while dragging these shackles. In the beginning, I had no idea where the ‘me’ who kept running away wanted to go, despite knowing I have nowhere to go. There is clearly no exit. I knew it long ago, and I found out long ago. 】
【 Kaoru is probably the same ba. Even if I walk under the sunlight, I will suddenly remember and be reminded that it will not get better. It has been completely ruined. My life, every inch of my body stinks of rot and tainted blood. Even during a springtime full of hope and vitality, just thinking about it makes even breathing seem like a sin. 】
【 How disgusting ah. How the hell could I live with such a disgusting body until now, allow myself to slowly rot and be swallowed up, but dare not end it? Seeing Kaoru, I remembered, it is because I am unwilling. 】
【 I am unwilling to live in this world. Not once has anything gone well in my existence. I have never met beautiful things, I have never thoroughly loved or been loved. 】
【 Because I met Kaoru, I thought that I was not the only one alone in this world, and I could finally close my eyes a little at night. Last night, I had a beautiful dream. I dreamed of my childhood, and Kaoru woke me up. Even if I never seen it, I knew it was the Kaoru of the past, who said to me, “If you die, you can become the same existence as me. Let’s start again together ba.” 】
【 How nice ah, standing hopefully on the stool, one step away from the hanging rope. As long as I die, I can escape. I can be reborn. 】
【 But I hesitated in the dream, how can there be such a good thing in the world? Such great luck, how can it be my turn? 】
【 Waking up, I found that it really was just a dream. What a pity, I wasted such a beautiful dream. I should die. At the very least, I want to die once in my dream ah. 】
【 I want to die without any resentment or regret. Whether it is towards that ghost or the people around me who want to sacrifice my flesh and blood in exchange for their survival, I don’t have any strength to hold grudges, I just want to die. But my unwillingness is pulling me. 】
【 However, it doesn’t matter now. Because of Kaoru’s existence, my unwillingness has ended now. 】
【 Let’s end it together ba, let’s escape together ba, and start all over. 】
【 Because I have already made up my mind. At night, I wanted to run and find Kaoru immediately, regardless of anything. However, too many parts have been eaten, and the wounded areas were too large. No matter how hard I tried, the recovery rate was too slow, and I was so tired I didn’t even have the energy to die. So, I’ll just wake up tomorrow morning to go die ba. 】
【 As I have finished preparing, at least tonight I don’t have to be afraid. I don’t have to hide carefully, not daring to close my eyes and waiting for dawn to come. I can finally have a good night’s sleep. Once I wake up tomorrow, I won’t think about anything, I won’t do anything; I will go to meet Kaoru immediately. 】
【 This time, we just need to die and everything will be fine ba. 】
【 Thank you, it really is great. 】
【 It is because of Kaoru that I am finally able to end the torture willingly. To end it before I am completely eaten up while I am still human, before I am completely eaten clean, it really is great that I met Kaoru. 】
【 Does Kaoru feel the same as me? 】
【 At this moment, as Kaoru is reading my diary, is there the same peace of mind and happiness as I felt? 】
【 I’ve always wanted to perform a dance there. I want to dance once to show Kaoru. 】
【 Whenever I couldn’t hold on any longer, I looked there countless times, and thought about this countless times. 】
【 I want to invite Kaoru and dance there together. 】
【 Let the two of us escape from there! 】
After that, there was a huge mess…one that spread over several large pages.
【 …… 】
【 Important friend…it turns out, Kaoru already has an important person? Unlike me. 】
【 I am a lonely one, until the end. 】
【 But, it doesn’t matter. 】
【 Kaoru has an important friend. This time, I will escape by myself first. 】
【 This gift, you probably can’t see it ba. But, I really want it to be seen ah. 】
【 My pain, at least once, I want it to shout it out loud and be heard, be seen. 】
On the last page, there were two blood-red sentences. The handwriting for the two lines were not the same, as if two separate people had dipped their fingers in blood to write on the page.
One line of words was crooked and twisted, like a child.
One line of words was graceful and thin, bright and brilliant.
【 “It’s really scary here, will you jump down to escape with me?”
“Okay ah, I can’t wait.” 】
Ye Zun’s fingers let go of the diary. He couldn’t help but step back, knocking into the arms of the priest behind him. He felt the man’s body temperature, but he subconsciously panicked, wanting to run.
Lin grabbed his wrist. “Calm down.”
Ye Zun couldn’t help panting, his brown pupils blown wide and blank as he stared at him.
In addition to the bouts of chill crawling over his body, because it was too cold, he couldn’t help shivering deep in his bones. Because of this, he didn’t feel like he was not calm at all.
Talking to himself, he tried to regain his composure by rationally analysing. “Did she want to die because of Nogawa Kaoru? No, she wanted to die because of Nogawa Kaoru’s diary. No, she has always wanted to die… Just how many ghosts of that kind exists in this world?”
Lin watched him quietly, his Adam’s apple rolling slightly. “At least you know who the ghost is now.”
Ye Zun was lost in a trance. “I know who the ghost is?”
Nogawa Kaoru’s diary said that his mother took Nogawa Kaoru and ran away, leaving his little sister alone in a house with ghosts, and the little sister who was eaten by ghosts returned to their new home with the ghosts.
Little sister…a house with ghosts…
The nightmare from last night suddenly came up——
The bleeding little girl in the dream said, “Gege made me hide here and then disappeared. I don’t know where he is, or if he was eaten too. Maybe Mama went to find Gege…”
Nogawa Kaoru wrote in the diary:【 Mama hugged Kaoru and ran away. I’m so sorry. I left you there alone for so many years and ran away by myself. 】
Ye Zun’s eyes gradually calmed down, and he swallowed with his dry throat. “I get it. It wasn’t a dream, it was me who released her from the grave.”
Lin’s hand that had grabbed him never loosened. “En, what are you talking about?”
“The little sister is the ghost.”
In the old room that resembled a grave, he met a seven-or-eight year old girl.
Nogawa Kaoru’s younger sister was also seven-or-eight years old.
The little girl he rescued from the grave-like house was Nogawa Kaoru’s little sister, who had been left behind.
“The little sister… I only saw her on Monday morning. Today is Thursday, but except for that morning, no matter morning or night, I haven’t seen her at home once! I didn’t even suspect anything at all.”
Perhaps neither of the two lied.
Dad said that Mum was missing because Mum was hiding from the ghost who came into the house, or, because she had already been bitten by a ghost and didn’t want to hurt the rest of the family, she went hiding on purpose.
The dead father she was talking about, perhaps didn’t mean Shen Yuan’s father, but her ex-husband, Nogawa Kaoru’s own father?
Kaoru Nogawa’s father and sister were bitten by ghosts a few years ago, but after Mum escaped with Kaoru Nogawa, the father and daughter should not have been completely eaten by the ghost immediately.
——Judging from the time the footsteps appeared, that ghost had already appeared in the house during the weekend nights at the latest.
——But according to Shen Yuan’s remarks, he had heard them even earlier.
Perhaps it was because Nogawa Kaoru’s father was accidentally hospitalised, and when his mother went to the hospital to get in touch with her ex-husband, the ghost followed the mum back to this new home.
The ghost bewitched the mother to unplug her ex-husband’s respirator, leading to the man’s complete death.
With this, everything made sense.
The thirteen-or-fourteen year old girl he saw in Nogawa Kaoru’s room who was eating her own arm the night before may have been the little sister, if she had grown up.
The little sister, like Nogawa Kaoru’s father, lasted for several years before she was completely eaten. Before her death, she might have been thirteen or fourteen years old, and the little girl he saw in his dream was only what the girl looked like back when she was a human.
——But, if the little sister is a ghost, why would Shen Yuan say that there was only one girl in the family?
——Mum also said more than once that they should leave food for the little sister to eat.
Could it be that Mum was already bitten by a ghost at that time?
Because Mum took Nogawa Kaoru to run away at the beginning, leaving the little sister to her ex-husband who was assimilated by a ghost, the ghost-turned sister resented her mum, so the mother’s reaction after being infected by a ghost was a subconscious want to compensate the little sister?
Is this right?
The truth seemed to gradually become clear and Ye Zun also calmed down, his mind trapped in thinking about the logical contradiction.
——Everything that I have experienced has already happened, everything that Nogawa Kaoru has experienced. For the instance, ghosts already exist.
The clues in the diary, the guidance of the nightmare, these were all to allow him to experience Nogawa Kaoru’s encounters all over again.
——Therefore, the little sister may not have entered the house after being rescued by me. Maybe she was already existing at home.
——The ghost did this on purpose. In order to pull me into its energy farming system, it’s calculating every step taken to tempt me into these discoveries, making me pay attention to it, making me think about it. It wants to confuse and scare me.
Yes, with the diary that was obviously hiding information, because he wanted to decipher the clues in the diary, he began to have nightmares under the influence of the ghost.
Then he was pulled by the ghost into its domain, and he rescued the little sister from the ghost all by himself, letting the ghost’s power be fully released and enhanced.
The senior sister with the cherry blossom hairclip committed suicide, but the extra girl at the scene was definitely not an illusion. It must be the ghost of the little sister!
It was the little sister who lured and killed the senior sister.
Her power was already enough to start killing people!
——So, I shouldn’t have saved that little girl?
Lin pulled Ye Zun’s hand and lowered his eyes slightly. Except for Ye Zun’s pale expression, he looked calm, but his hands were ice-cold and shivering uncontrollably.
A richness fermenting in fear, cool and sweet, with the fragrance of roses and the slight astringency of leaves, it was incredibly attractive.
However, as Lin’s palm wrapped around that ice-cold hand, his consciousness and instinct ran in the opposite direction to one another.
The knot on his throat rolled, but his body was warming him up.
“Don’t be scared, what did you think of? Tell me.”
Ye Zun’s eyes were already calm and there was no weakness nor confusion. His pale lips were slightly pursed, and he looked at Lin attentively. “The school is already becoming dangerous, I can’t stay here any longer. Father too, it’s better to stay away from this whirlpool.”
Lin still looked at him gently, his voice soft as he said, “Where are you going? I will come with you.”
“Where I’m going, Father can’t come.” Ye Zun’s face revealed a faint smile. He looked into the priest’s eyes. “Thank you.”
Lin looked at him with slightly probing eyes. There were no traces of waves in the already restrained expression. “Why the sudden thank you? Did I do anything?”
Ye Zun blinked. He didn’t look flustered or scared at all. His face was slightly pale, but his expression was clear and calm. “Even if Father didn’t do anything, your mere existence alone has already saved me once.”
Ye Zun glanced at the girl’s diary, and then at the scene of the accident on the other side of the sea of flowers.
“She was originally going to invite me to die with her. That was why she dressed up.”
However, because Ye Zun saw Lin’s back—
……”It was a very important friend of mine.”
Because Ye Zun said this, and now knowing Nogawa Kaoru already had someone important unlike her, she temporarily gave up this invitation to their deaths and decided to die alone.
Perhaps if it were her alone, she would have given up her plan at the end as she was unwilling, but a ghost went to her appointment in place of Ye Zun.
……”It’s really scary here, will you jump down to escape with me?”
Romantic yet terrifying, a fatal invitation to death.
Lin frowned slightly and looked at him, his clear eyes calm and focused. “Thanking me, then leaving me. Where are you going?”
Ye Zun looked into his eyes earnestly and showed a shallow smile. “I really am not afraid. I know what to do. Although I can always rely on Father, still, I want to become stronger by myself.”
——That little sister’s ghost was released from the diary by me. Although I can’t see, I can feel it. She is right next to me, following me.
——Maybe I was briefly scared, but I never really thought about running away.
He had never shied away from the fact that his personality was unlikeable. Before recently, he didn’t particularly like anything, and he could generally ignore the people around him.
But now he hopes that he at least has some positive qualities in himself, to have a calm and comfortable confidence, to believe that the friend he likes also has reasons to like him.
He finally met his important person, one he wants to properly cherish, one whose goodwill he doesn’t want to take advantage of, one he doesn’t want to hide behind to be protected with peace of mind.
Kindness will be spent, and the priest can’t be by his side forever.
Rather than relying on the other to escape danger all the time, he wants to try to become stronger himself.
——I hope to become a strong protector, not someone who hides behind shamefully, like a pitiful little one who needs to be protected.
In this way, to fill in the kindness that was constantly being consumed, is it possible for the other person’s kindness towards him to be retained more, so the relationship between them can last for a long time?
——It sounds a lot like a schoolboy’s declaration. I’ll probably never say it out loud because it’s too shameful. But, it’s true. I want to be close with Lin forever, just like now, or if it’s possible, it’ll be even better if we can be closer than we are now.
——For this wish, I am not afraid now.
For this wish, he wanted to live longer in this game.
The game allowed him to decipher Nogawa Kaoru’s fate of death, and to live until the seventh day. Today was the fourth day.
Thus, his eyes slightly curved into crescents and he looked into the priest’s eyes. “Now is a safe time. I should face my fears and try to become stronger. I will solve it successfully, and I will definitely come and find you when the time comes.”
——I have to go back to that house again to confirm once again, just when did the little sister’s existence appear in the house.
All the inferences at present were just guesses. There must be something missing, or maybe the existing clues are wrong, and there were hidden and unknown traps.
——I probably have a vague understanding of how to deal with ghosts. You must not enter the other party’s energy farming system. The first thing to do is to not run away from your fears.
Therefore, it is better to do the opposite. The unknown is the most terrifying thing. As long as you know why the misfortune came to be, you can find a way to escape.
Lin stood there, watching Ye Zun leave the school that was surrounded by cherry blossoms.
The gentleness on his face gradually disappeared as the young man left his sight, his handsome and noble face calm and unwavering.
Not only the smile, but his face was devoid of all emotions.
The fountain of precious crystals and starlight had turned back into the deep pool of dark death.
The knot on his throat rolled and there was a very light and empty sigh. Words were spoken with a sullen voice, because the owner had lost the source of his fun, reverting to their lonely and bored tone. “You want to become stronger by yourself, because your subconscious mind does not trust anyone, including me. Even with a curse of that level, is it still not enough?”
Then, let’s make things a little scarier.
What should he do with the dessert that walked away without permission, harbouring delusions that he can learn the skills to escape on his own?
Nothing compared to this special offering. He had already placed his mark.
……
At first, Ye Zun took the bus.
Very soon into the ride, the driver and several passengers revealed a black line like a centipede on their necks, and they smiled at him through the window glass and rearview mirror reflections.
The driver even blatantly ignored Ye Zun’s intentions and drove past the stop directly. He didn’t plan to let him down at all, and he didn’t know where they were headed.
It wasn’t easy for him to finally find a chance to get off the bus with other passengers. By the time he got off, the distance to the house was more than if he had walked home from school.
Sure enough, this instance grew more and more dangerous as time progressed. He should’ve known to walk back.
It was not just the school. As time went on, he soon saw infected ghosts on the road as well.
But these ghosts didn’t attack him directly. It should be because not enough conditions have been met.
The sky was already oppressively dark and cold rain began to drop.
Even the rain seemed to carry a shadowy corrosive resentment, which made people extremely uncomfortable.
Ye Zun didn’t bring an umbrella and there were no shops along this route, so he could only speed up and walk in the rain.
In the end, it took around an hour to arrive back home.
It was almost noon now, but the entire old building complex was quiet, as if not a single person was moving.
This was the first time Ye Zun saw the residential building in the daytime.
Whenever he went out in the morning, perhaps because of his preconceived notions, he never felt that there was anything wrong with the quietness here. After all, except for students, most people rarely get up that early.
Ye Zun stood downstairs. It was only early April, but there was already the appearance of lightning.
The dark clouds settled themselves in the sky like it was evening and the lightning was ferocious and fierce.
Standing in the doorway, he counted his heartbeat while watching the lightning in the distance. Only when his emotions had completely calmed down did he continue to make his way upstairs.
The dilapidated residential building was full of debris, old stoves, honeycomb cinder blocks, trash cans covered in dust, old plastic basins and hot water bottles that were so old that people would worry if they could still be used.
These things were much older than how Ye Zun remembered.
The first floor was almost a utility room and garbage area. Nogawa Kaoru’s home was on the third floor.
This building really was very old so many homes were unoccupied. They were locked from the outside, and some were even blocked by wooden boards specially brought over.
But there were people living on the same floor as Nogawa Kaoru’s house, such as the neighbour on the left side of the corridor. The houses that were lived in and the houses that weren’t, the breath of life could be seen from the outside.
There were other people on this floor, which loosened Ye Zun’s nerves that had unconsciously tensed a little.
He stood at the door, paused, then inserted the key into the door lock and slowly twisted it open.
——I am ready. No matter what picture I see, I will not be afraid.
“Kaoru, you came back to eat.” The busy woman was putting the food on the table. Raising her head and brushing away her dry bangs, her eyes were warm and loving. With a happy face, she spoke to him.
The author has something to say:
Demon Lord:
What should he do with the dessert that walked away without permission, harbouring delusions that he can learn the skills to escape on his own?
Nothing compared to this special offering. He had already placed his mark.
……
It is recommended to eat it directly ba.
And then…the full text is over (dog head~)
Having the Same Name as the Demon Lord of the AbyssThe two of them sat side by side on the couch in the office, each holding the left and right pages of the diary.In a slow and quiet voice, the priest recited softly, To kiss, what does it feel like?It was exactly the same as the first diary that Shen Yuan read last time, but as he kept reading, the content of the book turned out to be very different. It's a slippery, nauseating feeling, like you are gradually dying! When the ghost starts to eat people, it says I love you, opens its arms to hug, and eats your skin and flesh inch by inch from the place where your arms touch. The ghost and the person sleep on the same bed. In the dark, a tongue is stuffed into the mouth, one bite at a time, starting from the tongue, starting from the heart, it eats until they are empty, unable to cry for help. Who was eaten by the ghost? The ghost ate Baba. Baba who was assimilated by the ghost ate Meimei. Mama and Kaoru are accomplices. Kaoru watched silently. The ghost ate Meimei's flesh and blood, and she was only afraid for herself. Mama hugged Kaoru and ran away. But, but, familiar footsteps began to appear in the house, and the ghost who ate Meimei appeared once again. It came to our new home. What about Meimei? Finally escaped from that grave? Have you come home with me too? I'm so sorry. I left you there alone for so many years and ran away by myself. This time, who will the ghost eat first? Baba? Mama? Gege? Or Kaoru? Where can I run away to this time? Can I not run away this time? Can Ikill the ghost? No matter who it becomes, I will kill it! The page was filled with kill kill, with the same written on every page that followed, and the last few pages were crusted with old bloodstains.The strokes were startling, extremely fierce, the handwriting looking like the writer had gone insane. The writing was very calm until the end, but every line seemed to radiate the thick breath of ghosts.Just looking at the handwriting, he felt that a ghost would suddenly climb out of the book and open its mouth to eat people.Ye Zun sat there, stunned. It took a long time to find his voice, saying in disbelief, That girl, she read a diary like this?Then why, how could she be so calm and still smile, how could she look at him and still be able to talk?Facing him, who was like a demon in her eyes, when she handed the diary back to him, she smiled brightly and said, Don't be nervous. I understand, because I am the same.He had thoughthe even thought, she was like the priest, just comforting him. Him, who was not good at talking to strangers, will always be unconsciously nervous when in a conversation.Ye Zun suddenly came to his senses, eyes empty as he stared at Lin. She said, she is the same. What does that mean? Can it be that she's also seen the kind of ghost written in Nogawa Kaoru's diary? Did she have the same encounters and experience as Nogawa Kaoru?Lin furrowed his brows slightly, watching him warmly. Possibly.Ye Zun immediately stood up. Could there also be clues around her? Stuff about where exactly the ghosts come from?Lin's fingers rested on his shoulder, and he gently reassured, I will go investigate her classroom. Let's go and have a look, if it's like what you said, she might have left a message.As a teacher, Lin quickly found out which year and class the girl was.In the teaching building where she jumped off, her class was on the fifth floor.When Ye Zun ran into the classroom and went straight into searching for the things in her desk, he startled the surrounding students.But no one stopped him. Everyone just stood farther away, whispering and murmuring.dancing crazily in the locked dance studio on the top floorI've heard that her private life is very chaotic, she had many boyfriendsher mother is not a decent persontook her and remarried several timesthey say she was pushed down, this person present at the time is this personbaso handsomeahis it murder out of love? Such a pity for that kind of womanit can't be that he's destroying evidence, right?Ye Zun was indifferent, his eyebrows coldly aloof without raising a single bit, focused on searching for clues.Excuse me, are you Nogawa Kaoru?At this time, a girl with glasses standing beside Ye Zun quietly talked to him.Ye Zun paused and looked at her. I am.The girl with glasses forced herself to hand over a wrapped gift, unwillingly saying, She suddenly said that she had something come up and couldn't do this in person If you were to come, she told me to remember to give it to you Here, it's best if you stopped messing around in there. There's nothing else.Thank you.Ye Zun walked out of the classroom silently with the gift that looked like a notebook covered in wrapping paper.Lin was waiting for him outside, quietly accompanying him out the building.Ye Zun squeezed the gift in his hand with force, and said softly, What does this mean? We clearly only just met, just a relationship with a stranger who picked up the diary. Why did she prepare a gift for mefor Nogawa Kaoru?Li cast his eyes down at the gift in his hand. It looks like she knew there was a possibility she was going to die.Not a possibility, but a certainty. That thing, rather than a gift, was more like a suicide note.Ye Zun started to open the gift without a word. Inside was a locked diary without the lock.Lin stood beside him, fingers resting on the place where Ye Zun was holding the diary, his other hand lightly placed on his shoulder. The inconspicuous temperature from the palm slowly passed through the layers of fabric and into Ye Zun's ice-cold body, travelling up until it reached his trembling heart.Lin read in a flat, emotionless tone: Sorry, I actually read the contents of the diary, but in front of Kaoru, I will deny it, so that you will not be so uncomfortableba. However, I can probably guess that you are trying to be seen by me on purpose. Just like how I am now, I want to be seen by you. I've always been looking at you from a distance, because, the first time I saw you, I knew that we might be the same. Kaoru too, always looking at me from a distanceba. Being stared at like that, it can't be ignored at all. Sorry. Maybe it's different from what you think. This is why I haven't been able to take the initiative to respond to you all this time. I can't, there is no way for me to call out to you. That is because, I am just pretending to be alive. You already know, once that kind of ghost consumes a bite of your flesh and blood, no matter how unwilling, in the end, you will be swallowed and assimilated little by little. Every day, I want to die. Every day, I use up all my energy thinking about how to die. Waking up every day, this world still existing, it's enough to make me despair. Whatever can be done to end this Kaoru also has the same ideaba. Wanting to die, unwilling to die. I obviously never did anything wrong, why is it mewhy is it us? There are more and more wounds festering, and it's so hard to walk while dragging these shackles. In the beginning, I had no idea where the me' who kept running away wanted to go, despite knowing I have nowhere to go. There is clearly no exit. I knew it long ago, and I found out long ago. Kaoru is probably the sameba. Even if I walk under the sunlight, I will suddenly remember and be reminded that it will not get better. It has been completely ruined. My life, every inch of my body stinks of rot and tainted blood. Even during a springtime full of hope and vitality, just thinking about it makes even breathing seem like a sin. How disgustingah. How the hell could I live with such a disgusting body until now, allow myself to slowly rot and be swallowed up, but dare not end it? Seeing Kaoru, I remembered, it is because I am unwilling. I am unwilling to live in this world. Not once has anything gone well in my existence. I have never met beautiful things, I have never thoroughly loved or been loved. Because I met Kaoru, I thought that I was not the only one alone in this world, and I could finally close my eyes a little at night. Last night, I had a beautiful dream. I dreamed of my childhood, and Kaoru woke me up. Even if I never seen it, I knew it was the Kaoru of the past, who said to me, If you die, you can become the same existence as me. Let's start again togetherba. How niceah, standing hopefully on the stool, one step away from the hanging rope. As long as I die, I can escape. I can be reborn. But I hesitated in the dream, how can there be such a good thing in the world? Such great luck, how can it be my turn? Waking up, I found that it really was just a dream. What a pity, I wasted such a beautiful dream. I should die. At the very least, I want to die once in my dreamah. I want to die without any resentment or regret. Whether it is towards that ghost or the people around me who want to sacrifice my flesh and blood in exchange for their survival, I don't have any strength to hold grudges, I just want to die. But my unwillingness is pulling me. However, it doesn't matter now. Because of Kaoru's existence, my unwillingness has ended now. Let's end it togetherba, let's escape togetherba, and start all over. Because I have already made up my mind. At night, I wanted to run and find Kaoru immediately, regardless of anything. However, too many parts have been eaten, and the wounded areas were too large. No matter how hard I tried, the recovery rate was too slow, and I was so tired I didn't even have the energy to die. So, I'll just wake up tomorrow morning to go dieba. As I have finished preparing, at least tonight I don't have to be afraid. I don't have to hide carefully, not daring to close my eyes and waiting for dawn to come. I can finally have a good night's sleep. Once I wake up tomorrow, I won't think about anything, I won't do anything; I will go to meet Kaoru immediately. This time, we just need to die and everything will be fineba. Thank you, it really is great. It is because of Kaoru that I am finally able to end the torture willingly. To end it before I am completely eaten up while I am still human, before I am completely eaten clean, it really is great that I met Kaoru. Does Kaoru feel the same as me? At this moment, as Kaoru is reading my diary, is there the same peace of mind and happiness as I felt? I've always wanted to perform a dance there. I want to dance once to show Kaoru. Whenever I couldn't hold on any longer, I looked there countless times, and thought about this countless times. I want to invite Kaoru and dance there together. Let the two of us escape from there! After that, there was a huge messone that spread over several large pages. Important friendit turns out, Kaoru already has an important person? Unlike me. I am a lonely one, until the end. But, it doesn't matter. Kaoru has an important friend. This time, I will escape by myself first. This gift, you probably can't see itba. But, I really want it to be seenah. My pain, at least once, I want it to shout it out loud and be heard, be seen. On the last page, there were two blood-red sentences. The handwriting for the two lines were not the same, as if two separate people had dipped their fingers in blood to write on the page.One line of words was crooked and twisted, like a child.One line of words was graceful and thin, bright and brilliant. It's really scary here, will you jump down to escape with me?Okayah, I can't wait. Ye Zun's fingers let go of the diary. He couldn't help but step back, knocking into the arms of the priest behind him. He felt the man's body temperature, but he subconsciously panicked, wanting to run.Lin grabbed his wrist. Calm down.Ye Zun couldn't help panting, his brown pupils blown wide and blank as he stared at him.In addition to the bouts of chill crawling over his body, because it was too cold, he couldn't help shivering deep in his bones. Because of this, he didn't feel like he was not calm at all.Talking to himself, he tried to regain his composure by rationally analysing. Did she want to die because of Nogawa Kaoru? No, she wanted to die because of Nogawa Kaoru's diary. No, she has always wanted to die Just how many ghosts of that kind exists in this world?Lin watched him quietly, his Adam's apple rolling slightly. At least you know who the ghost is now.Ye Zun was lost in a trance. I know who the ghost is?Nogawa Kaoru's diary said that his mother took Nogawa Kaoru and ran away, leaving his little sister alone in a house with ghosts, and the little sister who was eaten by ghosts returned to their new home with the ghosts.Little sistera house with ghostsThe nightmare from last night suddenly came upThe bleeding little girl in the dream said, Gege made me hide here and then disappeared. I don't know where he is, or if he was eaten too. Maybe Mama went to find GegeNogawa Kaoru wrote in the diary: Mama hugged Kaoru and ran away. I'm so sorry. I left you there alone for so many years and ran away by myself. Ye Zun's eyes gradually calmed down, and he swallowed with his dry throat. I get it. It wasn't a dream, it was me who released her from the grave.Lin's hand that had grabbed him never loosened. En,what are you talking about?The little sister is the ghost.In the old room that resembled a grave, he met a seven-or-eight year old girl.Nogawa Kaoru's younger sister was also seven-or-eight years old.The little girl he rescued from the grave-like house was Nogawa Kaoru's little sister, who had been left behind.The little sister I only saw her on Monday morning. Today is Thursday, but except for that morning, no matter morning or night, I haven't seen her at home once! I didn't even suspect anything at all.Perhaps neither of the two lied.Dad said that Mum was missing because Mum was hiding from the ghost who came into the house, or, because she had already been bitten by a ghost and didn't want to hurt the rest of the family, she went hiding on purpose.The dead father she was talking about, perhaps didn't mean Shen Yuan's father, but her ex-husband, Nogawa Kaoru's own father?Kaoru Nogawa's father and sister were bitten by ghosts a few years ago, but after Mum escaped with Kaoru Nogawa, the father and daughter should not have been completely eaten by the ghost immediately.Judging from the time the footsteps appeared, that ghost had already appeared in the house during the weekend nights at the latest.But according to Shen Yuan's remarks, he had heard them even earlier.Perhaps it was because Nogawa Kaoru's father was accidentally hospitalised, and when his mother went to the hospital to get in touch with her ex-husband, the ghost followed the mum back to this new home.The ghost bewitched the mother to unplug her ex-husband's respirator, leading to the man's complete death.With this, everything made sense.The thirteen-or-fourteen year old girl he saw in Nogawa Kaoru's room who was eating her own arm the night before may have been the little sister, if she had grown up.The little sister, like Nogawa Kaoru's father, lasted for several years before she was completely eaten. Before her death, she might have been thirteen or fourteen years old, and the little girl he saw in his dream was only what the girl looked like back when she was a human.But, if the little sister is a ghost, why would Shen Yuan say that there was only one girl in the family?Mum also said more than once that they should leave food for the little sister to eat.Could it be that Mum was already bitten by a ghost at that time?Because Mum took Nogawa Kaoru to run away at the beginning, leaving the little sister to her ex-husband who was assimilated by a ghost, the ghost-turned sister resented her mum, so the mother's reaction after being infected by a ghost was a subconscious want to compensate the little sister?Is this right?The truth seemed to gradually become clear and Ye Zun also calmed down, his mind trapped in thinking about the logical contradiction.Everything that I have experienced has already happened, everything that Nogawa Kaoru has experienced. For the instance, ghosts already exist.The clues in the diary, the guidance of the nightmare, these were all to allow him to experience Nogawa Kaoru's encounters all over again.Therefore, the little sister may not have entered the house after being rescued by me. Maybe she was already existing at home.The ghost did this on purpose. In order to pull me into its energy farming system, it's calculating every step taken to tempt me into these discoveries, making me pay attention to it, making me think about it. It wants to confuse and scare me.Yes, with the diary that was obviously hiding information, because he wanted to decipher the clues in the diary, he began to have nightmares under the influence of the ghost.Then he was pulled by the ghost into its domain, and he rescued the little sister from the ghost all by himself, letting the ghost's power be fully released and enhanced.The senior sister with the cherry blossom hairclip committed suicide, but the extra girl at the scene was definitely not an illusion. It must be the ghost of the little sister!It was the little sister who lured and killed the senior sister.Her power was already enough to start killing people!So, I shouldn't have saved that little girl?Lin pulled Ye Zun's hand and lowered his eyes slightly. Except for Ye Zun's pale expression, he looked calm, but his hands were ice-cold and shivering uncontrollably.A richness fermenting in fear, cool and sweet, with the fragrance of roses and the slight astringency of leaves, it was incredibly attractive.However, as Lin's palm wrapped around that ice-cold hand, his consciousness and instinct ran in the opposite direction to one another.The knot on his throat rolled, but his body was warming him up.Don't be scared, what did you think of? Tell me.Ye Zun's eyes were already calm and there was no weakness nor confusion. His pale lips were slightly pursed, and he looked at Lin attentively. The school is already becoming dangerous, I can't stay here any longer. Father too, it's better to stay away from this whirlpool.Lin still looked at him gently, his voice soft as he said, Where are you going? I will come with you.Where I'm going, Father can't come. Ye Zun's face revealed a faint smile. He looked into the priest's eyes. Thank you.Lin looked at him with slightly probing eyes. There were no traces of waves in the already restrained expression. Why the sudden thank you? Did I do anything?Ye Zun blinked. He didn't look flustered or scared at all. His face was slightly pale, but his expression was clear and calm. Even if Father didn't do anything, your mere existence alone has already saved me once.Ye Zun glanced at the girl's diary, and then at the scene of the accident on the other side of the sea of flowers.She was originally going to invite me to die with her. That was why she dressed up.However, because Ye Zun saw Lin's backIt was a very important friend of mine.Because Ye Zun said this, and now knowing Nogawa Kaoru already had someone important unlike her, she temporarily gave up this invitation to their deaths and decided to die alone.Perhaps if it were her alone, she would have given up her plan at the end as she was unwilling, but a ghost went to her appointment in place of Ye Zun.It's really scary here, will you jump down to escape with me?Romantic yet terrifying, a fatal invitation to death.Lin frowned slightly and looked at him, his clear eyes calm and focused. Thanking me, then leaving me. Where are you going?Ye Zun looked into his eyes earnestly and showed a shallow smile. I really am not afraid. I know what to do. Although I can always rely on Father, still, I want to become stronger by myself.That little sister's ghost was released from the diary by me. Although I can't see, I can feel it. She is right next to me, following me.Maybe I was briefly scared, but I never really thought about running away.He had never shied away from the fact that his personality was unlikeable. Before recently, he didn't particularly like anything, and he could generally ignore the people around him.But now he hopes that he at least has some positive qualities in himself, to have a calm and comfortable confidence, to believe that the friend he likes also has reasons to like him.He finally met his important person, one he wants to properly cherish, one whose goodwill he doesn't want to take advantage of, one he doesn't want to hide behind to be protected with peace of mind.Kindness will be spent, and the priest can't be by his side forever.Rather than relying on the other to escape danger all the time, he wants to try to become stronger himself.I hope to become a strong protector, not someone who hides behind shamefully, like a pitiful little one who needs to be protected.In this way, to fill in the kindness that was constantly being consumed, is it possible for the other person's kindness towards him to be retained more, so the relationship between them can last for a long time?It sounds a lot like a schoolboy's declaration. I'll probably never say it out loud because it's too shameful. But, it's true. I want to be close with Lin forever, just like now, or if it's possible, it'll be even better if we can be closer than we are now.For this wish, I am not afraid now.For this wish, he wanted to live longer in this game.The game allowed him to decipher Nogawa Kaoru's fate of death, and to live until the seventh day. Today was the fourth day.Thus, his eyes slightly curved into crescents and he looked into the priest's eyes. Now is a safe time. I should face my fears and try to become stronger. I will solve it successfully, and I will definitely come and find you when the time comes.I have to go back to that house again to confirm once again, just when did the little sister's existence appear in the house.All the inferences at present were just guesses. There must be something missing, or maybe the existing clues are wrong, and there were hidden and unknown traps.I probably have a vague understanding of how to deal with ghosts. You must not enter the other party's energy farming system. The first thing to do is to not run away from your fears.Therefore, it is better to do the opposite. The unknown is the most terrifying thing. As long as you know why the misfortune came to be, you can find a way to escape.Lin stood there, watching Ye Zun leave the school that was surrounded by cherry blossoms.The gentleness on his face gradually disappeared as the young man left his sight, his handsome and noble face calm and unwavering.Not only the smile, but his face was devoid of all emotions.The fountain of precious crystals and starlight had turned back into the deep pool of dark death.The knot on his throat rolled and there was a very light and empty sigh. Words were spoken with a sullen voice, because the owner had lost the source of his fun, reverting to their lonely and bored tone. You want to become stronger by yourself, because your subconscious mind does not trust anyone, including me. Even with a curse of that level, is it still not enough?Then, let's make things a little scarier.What should he do with the dessert that walked away without permission, harbouring delusions that he can learn the skills to escape on his own?Nothing compared to this special offering. He had already placed his mark.At first, Ye Zun took the bus.Very soon into the ride, the driver and several passengers revealed a black line like a centipede on their necks, and they smiled at him through the window glass and rearview mirror reflections.The driver even blatantly ignored Ye Zun's intentions and drove past the stop directly. He didn't plan to let him down at all, and he didn't know where they were headed.It wasn't easy for him to finally find a chance to get off the bus with other passengers. By the time he got off, the distance to the house was more than if he had walked home from school.Sure enough, this instance grew more and more dangerous as time progressed. He should've known to walk back.It was not just the school. As time went on, he soon saw infected ghosts on the road as well.But these ghosts didn't attack him directly. It should be because not enough conditions have been met.The sky was already oppressively dark and cold rain began to drop.Even the rain seemed to carry a shadowy corrosive resentment, which made people extremely uncomfortable.Ye Zun didn't bring an umbrella and there were no shops along this route, so he could only speed up and walk in the rain.In the end, it took around an hour to arrive back home.It was almost noon now, but the entire old building complex was quiet, as if not a single person was moving.This was the first time Ye Zun saw the residential building in the daytime.Whenever he went out in the morning, perhaps because of his preconceived notions, he never felt that there was anything wrong with the quietness here. After all, except for students, most people rarely get up that early.Ye Zun stood downstairs. It was only early April, but there was already the appearance of lightning.The dark clouds settled themselves in the sky like it was evening and the lightning was ferocious and fierce.Standing in the doorway, he counted his heartbeat while watching the lightning in the distance. Only when his emotions had completely calmed down did he continue to make his way upstairs.The dilapidated residential building was full of debris, old stoves, honeycomb cinder blocks, trash cans covered in dust, old plastic basins and hot water bottles that were so old that people would worry if they could still be used.These things were much older than how Ye Zun remembered.The first floor was almost a utility room and garbage area. Nogawa Kaoru's home was on the third floor.This building really was very old so many homes were unoccupied. They were locked from the outside, and some were even blocked by wooden boards specially brought over.But there were people living on the same floor as Nogawa Kaoru's house, such as the neighbour on the left side of the corridor. The houses that were lived in and the houses that weren't, the breath of life could be seen from the outside.There were other people on this floor, which loosened Ye Zun's nerves that had unconsciously tensed a little.He stood at the door, paused, then inserted the key into the door lock and slowly twisted it open.I am ready. No matter what picture I see, I will not be afraid.Kaoru, you came back to eat. The busy woman was putting the food on the table. Raising her head and brushing away her dry bangs, her eyes were warm and loving. With a happy face, she spoke to him.The author has something to say:Demon Lord:What should he do with the dessert that walked away without permission, harbouring delusions that he can learn the skills to escape on his own?Nothing compared to this special offering. He had already placed his mark.It is recommended to eat it directlyba.And thenthe full text is over dog head~
