As her voice fell, her long purple hair turned into threads of blood, swaying gently as it fell. Her skin gradually lost its tangible texture, and her bones completely melted, turning into wisps of flowing light and shadow.
The moment MEI died, the false world shattered, and everything returned to the Eigenworld right after Li Mo had made his wish.
Time and space were frozen, and the world had lost its color.
Because of his wish, Li Mo had fallen into dormancy.
In the entire world, only MEI slowly awoke from the silence.
"Just as I thought, I'm back."
After waking up, MEI wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
The day had finally come. Everything was going according to plan.
"Next, is the most crucial step—to save all the timelines destined for destruction."
MEI looked up, pushed open the black coffin, and gazed at the massive dark shadow in the sky—the "Source of the Bizarre: The Eternal Void of Vanity."
"I deceived him and everyone else just to see you. Don't let me down."
MEI stepped out of the black coffin. She and Mei had brought this coffin back from another world.
Long before Li Mo brought Shigure Kira back, she had already placed the paper ghost in the black coffin to ensure the complete revival of her consciousness in the end.
The paper ghost was like that. When its consciousness could no longer sense a physical body, the Rule would transfer the consciousness to the next body.
Then, she just needed to hide it from Li Mo, use the information he brought back to go to various Bizarre entities with living consciousness, be killed by them, and obtain unique contamination.
There was only one reason for doing this—
To die a hundred times and still maintain a complete self, in order to learn the true name of the Source of the Bizarre.
This was what the notebook had told her.
Its accuracy was beyond question. Whether the notebook had the ability to deceive was not important; MEI would not be complacent in such matters.
From the beginning, she and Li Mo were the same kind of people. They didn't trust anyone or anything, only their own judgment.
She used a Bizarre item to sever her own soul, replacing the third-to-last page of the notebook with a paper ghost that carried her soul.
Even if after doing this, the "MEI" who survived was just a MEI with memories and consciousness.
Whether she was herself or not was not important.
Only oneself would not deceive oneself.
Only in this way could she help Li Mo.
MEI took a deep breath, her expression excited, and she gazed with immense anticipation at the void enveloping the Earth—
The "Source of the Bizarre: The Eternal Void of Vanity."
A chaotic, formless expanse, whose shape could not be described, whose name could not be spoken.
All things have their rules.
For humans, the rule to meet Him was to call out His true name.
Those who died a hundred times and remained sane would be granted three wishes by the Eternal Void of Vanity.
But the moment they saw the Void, the consciousness of both the living and the Bizarre would rapidly dissipate.
Therefore, whether ghost or human, once they spoke the true name, they would violate the unspeakable rule and either die immediately or fall into eternal dormancy. They would be completely unable to make a wish.
However, all things in the world have their own methods; all things carry yin and embrace yang.
After countless experiments, if the same body possessed both a Bizarre consciousness and a living consciousness at the same time, the Bizarre Rule would prioritize the Bizarre consciousness.
And the more Bizarre consciousness there was, the smaller the influence of the Rule.
MEI made the boldest speculation of her life. She just needed to come into contact with enough conscious Bizarre entities, let those special threads entangle her, and she could maintain a brief period of sanity when she saw the Void.
"Hah…"
MEI slowly closed her eyes, letting her mind calm with the rise and fall of her chest. When she opened them again, her eyes were exceptionally deep and sharp.
She took a deep breath, long and powerful.
"Eternal Void of Vanity, I know your true name."
As her words fell, a bottomless blackness appeared in the faded world, just like Li Mo's pupils in the passage.
In an instant, the darkness seemed to become a tangible object, opening a huge abyssal eye in a way that defied common sense, casting its invisible yet infinitely heavy gaze upon MEI without any obstruction.
This gaze had no specific form. When it fell on MEI, her heart suddenly stopped, her blood ceased to flow, and her thoughts were frozen.
"Tsk… good thing…"
MEI bit off a piece of her lip. Her consciousness was still clear… but it wouldn't last long.
This was an absolute contamination. Even a slight contact would cause the strongest consciousness to fall into instant dormancy.
What was resisting the contamination for her now were the traces of Bizarre consciousness left by the paper ghost, from those who had killed her.
"I wish—"
MEI stood up, gently touching her broken lips. The flesh grew back quickly.
"Revoke the descent! Revoke your descent!"
"Sever the past, bury this time."
"My and his, little happiness…"
After making the three wishes, MEI's body went limp, her consciousness gradually fading.
Her time of death had come.
Bizarre tentacles extended from the void, moving slowly, and drilled into MEI's body.
Her eyes became hollow and dull. Her consciousness blurred, her thoughts became chaotic, as if countless voices were echoing in her mind, trying to pull her into an endless void.
The Eternal Void of Vanity gradually disappeared from this time and space.
The frozen time began to turn again, the faded colors returned, and the world once again became vibrant and splendid.
"Look, is that person about to die?"
"Let's stay away from her."
MEI walked on the way home with hollow eyes, covered in blood. Her body was like a piece of glass about to shatter, covered in cracks and wounds, ready to break into pieces at any moment.
She smiled wanly.
She used to think the way home was very short, so short that just a few words with Li Mo and she would be home.
Now she felt the way home was so long, so long that she didn't dare to look up, afraid she would fall and not make it home…
"Is that a zombie? Which psychiatric hospital did this patient escape from?"
"I don't know, better not get involved…"
The streets were bustling with people coming and going.
Though she was walking on a bustling street, it felt as if she were all alone, walking in an uninhabited world.
"MEI! MEI!"
The newly awakened Li Mo immediately used Ghost's Vision to capture the sight of the battered MEI on the street.
Without any hesitation, he teleported in front of her at any cost, rushing up to find out what had happened.
Only my time and space shouldn't have been frozen, right? Why did MEI become like this after time started moving again?
"Ah…"
A hoarse grunt escaped MEI's throat.
MEI walked over. She didn't dare to look at him for long, as if facing the sun, but also like facing the sun, even if she didn't look at him, she could still see him…
Her last remaining consciousness wanted to speak, but no sound came out.
Her current consciousness could only support her in saying one thing to Li Mo…
—We must have been reunited countless times. You are the one I have loved deeply, followed, and protected, even as the world repeats itself in endless cycles.
—You are my reason for living, and I am the support for your humanity.
Countless words flashed through the starry sky of her thoughts like meteors, fleeting in an instant.
Each one carried a different color and temperature, brief and dazzling.
Some were gentle and delicate, like a whisper at dawn, gently brushing the heart; others were intense and surging, like a downpour on a summer afternoon, stirring up ripples…
But she found that none of this was suitable.
She didn't need these roundabout confessions at all, because… every word she said to Li Mo was a confession.
Remember what I said.
Which sentence?
Any sentence will do.
"..."
"..."
MEI used the last bit of strength in her body to part her dry lips and slowly uttered an extremely soft sound: "I… love… you… ya…"
As MEI's faint words gradually faded in the air, her eyes slowly closed, sealing a lifetime of emotions and attachments in that moment.
The surrounding air seemed to freeze, and time lost its meaning in that instant.
This was her final selfishness, her final wish—a little happiness.
She couldn't hold on until she met Li Mo, and this final wish was what allowed her to come here and say her last words to him.
Li Mo stared blankly at the lifeless MEI, momentarily losing his composure.
He wasn't stupid. He naturally knew that MEI had used her own life to do something very dangerous.
"Rewind!"
Whether MEI had betrayed him or not, Li Mo would not stand by and watch her die, simply because she was MEI. That was all, that was all…
Li Mo tried to use the Impostor's Rule to go back to the past.
However, the expected rewind did not succeed.
"I can't go back…" Li Mo's voice trembled.
He couldn't find an anchor point in the past. Even though the past truly existed, he couldn't go back.
"Rewind! Rewind! Rewind!"
"Wish! Rewind!"
Li Mo activated his own Rule at any cost, but no matter how many times he tried, it was useless.
Neither "Wish" nor the Impostor's Rule could go back to the past.
Being unable to go back meant that this tragedy could not be undone…
"It's fake… you're still alive, right… just like the corpse at home, you must still be alive somewhere on Earth… Yes, you must be!"
Li Mo's tears and smile intertwined, mixed with a near-fanatical obsession and hope.
Even though his reason had already pointed out that if it weren't a matter of life and death, MEI would never have said what she had just said…
Li Mo picked up MEI's body, his smiling-yet-not-smiling expression more like he was hypnotizing himself.
"Wait for me, I'll exchange for Ghost's Vision, I'll find you right away! I'll find you right away! MEI, just wait a moment, just a moment!"
"Wish!"
Li Mo obtained Ghost's Vision and instantly enveloped the entire Earth.
However, he did not capture MEI's figure.
"You're on the moon, right? The you from the Previous Era is there. Yes, you must be on the moon!"
Li Mo wished again, expanding his vision.
But even after searching the entire moon, he couldn't find any trace of MEI.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto… even the impossible-to-survive Sun was swept over by Li Mo with Ghost's Vision.
If you're not in the solar system, then you're in the Milky Way. If you're not in the Milky Way, then you're in a galaxy cluster!
Even if I have to turn the entire universe upside down, I will find you!
Just as Li Mo was about to make a wish, an ambulance pulled up beside him.
"What is your relationship with the patient? What is the patient's condition? Hurry and get her on the ambulance, we'll perform emergency treatment in the car!"
"..."
Li Mo's rationality gradually returned.
The discussions of the crowd, the sirens of the ambulance, the questioning of the medical staff…
All the sounds became clearer and clearer, pulling him back to reality.
The cold corpse in his arms, the unfreezing of time, the world regaining its color…
Everything, all of it, was telling Li Mo with the most objective fact—she was dead.
"..."
"..."
"Quiet."
Li Mo picked up MEI and froze the surrounding time and space.
"I'm taking you home…"
Li Mo didn't wish to cross space and go straight home. Instead, he held MEI and walked home step by step, slowly and steadily.
Along the way—
He remembered hiding from a ghost's pursuit in the Previous Era, the two of them huddling by a fire in a cave deep in the snowy mountains, so distant they didn't even want to touch.
He remembered almost dying after eating a meal MEI had made, and from then on deciding to cook himself, catching wild game in the deep mountains to add to their meals.
He remembered their tacit cooperation, entrusting their backs completely to each other, one staring at the ghost to prevent it from triggering its rule, the other completing the ritual.
He remembered after the world was destroyed, MEI was so tired she fell asleep against a wall, and he carried her through the Bizarre cave to a new world to settle down.
At that time, MEI's breathing was faint and even, very weak.
He remembered just after arriving in the Eigenworld, he was running around, and MEI took him to a gym to relax—
Just after escaping from despair, the dejected him and MEI sat on a public bench in the gym, quietly watching the sunny and lively students play basketball.
He was stunned, his eyes fixed on the students' agile figures, unrestrained smiles, and the cheers and high-fives of their teammates after a goal.
Suddenly, a sweaty player ran over and invited Li Mo to join with a smile: "Hey, friend, how about a couple of games? The more the merrier!"
"I'm not very good."
He declined the request, not lying. He didn't know how long it had been since he last played basketball.
In paranormal incidents, although he kept track of the changes in time every moment, returning to reality always felt like a different world, unable to distinguish between reality and dream.
The ordinary life was long gone. From very early on, he no longer had the chance to immerse himself in it.
The player, without any complicated guesswork, ruthlessly exposed Li Mo's true feelings.
"I've seen you sitting here for half an hour. You definitely want to play. It's okay, it's okay, we're all bros. Look, your girlfriend didn't even object. You have to show off a bit, right~"
"She's not…"
"I get it~"
The player lightly elbowed Li Mo's shoulder, placed the basketball in his hands, and gestured with his wrist for Li Mo to get on the court.
"…MEI?"
"You can decide this kind of thing yourself. Don't rely on me too much. I hope you can live more freely. Go if you want to. You deserve this leisure."
After getting MEI's approval, he finally stopped hesitating and summoned the courage to step onto the court.
However, he seemed out of place on the basketball court. His dribbling was unstable, his shots were off, and he was easily stripped of the ball by his opponents several times.
The good-natured laughter of his teammates and the easy teasing of his opponents made him feel a little embarrassed and frustrated.
He didn't quit. Every time he fell, he quickly got up and continued to play.
For the others on the court, this was just an ordinary form of entertainment. But for him, it was a rare opportunity.
Perhaps tonight, perhaps tomorrow, he would have to throw himself into the next paranormal incident, his mind tense, never relaxing.
To advance amidst the death and cries of his own kind…
He didn't have much time to rest.
The Bizarre wouldn't allow it, his own kind wouldn't allow it, and he wouldn't allow it himself.
Falling and getting up, falling and getting up again.
On the court, the smile on his lips grew hotter, even though his skills were still worlds apart from the others.
It could be said that on this court, only Li Mo was fully invested in the competition. The others were more or less showing off for MEI.
MEI's outfit today was not too outstanding, but she had taken off her black-rimmed glasses. Even in plain, everyday clothes, her cool and elegant temperament was perfectly accentuated.
The teenage boys were completely mesmerized.
Just as the others seemed to be preparing to show off more "exciting" "duels" in front of MEI, she crossed the court and walked straight up to Li Mo.
"Sorry to make a fool of myself, I lost completely, haha…"
"Not at all," MEI smiled, her eyes bright. She took a handkerchief from her bag and gently wiped the sweat from Li Mo's forehead, her gaze gentle. "I'm very happy to see this side of you. It's much more dazzling than I expected."
The surrounding sounds seemed to fall silent at this moment. Everyone's eyes were focused on him and MEI.
At that time, his mouth was wide open, unable to say anything. He only felt a gaze hotter than the midsummer sun, watching him from beginning to end.
Winning or losing didn't matter, whether he lost face or not also didn't matter.
Because she would not abandon him.
Just knowing this was enough. Entrusting his back, advancing with his life on the line, ending the Bizarre to get his final little happiness was his choice, his dream.
…
…
Returning home, everyone's pupils dilated when they saw the lifeless MEI. They stood there, stunned, not knowing what to do.
Li Mo said nothing, and they didn't dare to speak.
The living were ashen-faced, blood and tears streaming down.
The dead were full of happiness, still smiling.
"It's getting to be night."
"Yeah."
They would sooner or later greet the morning of the next day. Someone would forever remain in the dusk of today.
The sky was like it had been soaked in thick ink. The stars were hidden, and the moonlight was stingy with its gentle glow. A cold wind silently passed through the empty streets.
Anger is real, and love is real too…
What he had thought was friendship turned out to be just a guise to deceive himself.
"I want to save her."
Li Mo took out the notebook and calmly stated an almost impossible idea.
The notebook flipped its pages, from the first to the third-to-last, then back to the first, back and forth, but not a single page could give an answer.
Perhaps it was because on these pages, there was simply no answer that could save MEI from her already-dead situation.
Finally, the notebook stopped on the last page—
[My name is Li Mo. As you read this, I am dying, and I am about to be reborn.]