"The Sprout-enhanced left hand puts me in at least the first state of death. Only a rule can counteract a rule. For a new rule to appear on my body, or for another ghost to possess me, it would have to suppress the Sprout-enhanced left hand and return me to a complete human form."
"Sigh, isn't this a form of cuckolding? What do you think, mei?"
Li Mo looked down at his left hand and patted it with his right. The hand was supple, the skin like smooth jade, fair and tender. The touch was excellent, a 9.9 out of 10.
Sprout-enhanced Left Hand: "..."
"According to Mei's Law, you only get 'Mei-ed' once, or countless times. You better be careful."
Sprout-enhanced Left Hand: "..."
Li Mo set aside his joking mood. The test was a success.
He had indeed returned to the state of a complete human. He could joke around freely, and his emotional changes felt very real.
But for his current situation, this didn't seem to be a good thing.
Because human emotions were incredibly complex, thoughts disordered, a thousand ideas in a single evening. It was very easy to overthink, leading subjective thoughts to influence one's judgment and analysis of objective reality.
In any case, it was currently difficult for Li Mo to maintain focus for a long time and think about something with precision. There were bound to be some oversights.
"A crossroads. Which way should I go?"
Li Mo looked up and found himself at an unfamiliar intersection. Every direction was a place he had never set foot in.
Straight ahead was a square, to the left a school, to the right a hospital.
Of course, he could also go back to the forest he came from.
Just as Li Mo hesitated, unsure of where to go, a... very strange multiple-choice question suddenly appeared in his mind.
He could choose to ignore it, but the question lingered, seemingly unwilling to fade until he made a choice.
[I walk forward one kilometer, wait here for a moment, and meet a familiar person.]
[I walk left, and get lost in the city.]
[I walk right, and get sent to a mental hospital for two months.]
"It seems like there are three options."
"But in reality, it seems there's no choice."
Three choices. Though their appearance in his mind was abrupt, the Misfortune Ghost hadn't uttered a curse, which meant his consciousness wasn't being interfered with.
Li Mo wouldn't trust it completely. He needed to verify it in the safest way.
Left meant getting lost, right meant losing his freedom. The only option was forward.
"A familiar person. I hope so."
It was already five in the morning. Vendors on tricycles were gradually appearing on the streets to sell breakfast.
Li Mo counted his steps, stopping after confirming he had walked about a kilometer. According to the choice, he needed to wait for a moment.
---||---
On the other side, after leaving Schicksal HQ and returning to the city, Kira Shigure's stomach rumbled nonstop.
She checked her phone. It was breakfast time. If she didn't eat now, she'd probably only be able to eat dinner when she woke up.
"I don't have much of an appetite, but I should buy some breakfast before I go home. Got to keep up my nutrition," Kira Shigure sighed. She scanned her surroundings and finally chose a normal congee shop.
The food at the street stalls was certainly delicious, but the nutrition and safety were questionable.
Kira Shigure wasn't worried about her own body. A Valkyrie's body was much better than an ordinary person's. It wouldn't matter even if she ate junk food every day.
A body modified by Honkai Energy wasn't so fragile.
It was just that she had one more thing to consider now, so she couldn't be as carefree as before.
Looking at the cheap and delicious food at the stalls, Kira Shigure could only reluctantly part with it. She entered a shop, ordered a small bowl of nutritional congee, and began to eat by herself.
"..."
At the same time, under the dark night sky, Cecilia, wearing a black trench coat, sunglasses, and a pure black mask, watched Kira Shigure's movements from the side.
The brim of her hat was pulled low, almost covering half her face.
In the end, she still couldn't stop worrying about her teammate. Since there were no particularly important missions recently, she decided to dress up and investigate the reason for Kira Shigure's recent strange behavior.
Cecilia took out a notebook and a pen and quickly wrote in it.
"5:12 AM, bought a small bowl of nutritional congee, drank a cup of sweet soy milk. Four full spoons of white sugar added to the nutritional congee."
"Appetite is too small, and taste has become bland."
"Hmm? She's coming out."
Cecilia quickly hid behind a lamppost, her back to Kira Shigure.
As expected, Kira Shigure didn't notice at all. Her eyes were a little hard to open, very tired, with a drowsy look.
As an S-rank Valkyrie, it was impossible to have no counter-surveillance ability.
But Kira Shigure's current performance gave Cecilia the impression that she was completely unaware of anything wrong, a very dull feeling.
Her own disguise was just a simple dress-up, far from perfect.
Yet Kira Shigure was completely oblivious.
Cecilia: "..."
The only explanation Cecilia could think of was that Kira Shigure was too tired and not paying attention.
Soon, Cecilia lowered her head and carefully tailed Kira Shigure, wanting to see what she would do next.
The sky gradually brightened. Kira Shigure walked calmly on the street, heading towards a nearby house.
Along the way, her attention was not on the road at all.
She already knew all about the dream of St. Freya High School. According to Saori Tsuruyu's analysis, it was very likely that Li Mo had restarted space-time and woken her from death.
Correspondingly, she would also lose this part of her memory.
It was just... why could these memories still return in the form of a dream?
Kira Shigure shook her head. Saori Tsuruyu couldn't figure it out, and neither could she.
All she knew was that after that, Li Mo became very cold, almost losing all ability to express emotion.
Like a machine, his thoughts rigid and stiff.
And then... there was that time at the bottom of the lake.
Kira Shigure pursed her lips, her eyes gradually becoming hazy.
Her steps became slower and slower. One hand couldn't help but grab the other arm, moving forward anxiously.
The beautiful, romantic images of that whole night played in her mind like a slideshow, over and over again with absolute clarity.
Kira Shigure's mood was very complicated.
From a realistic perspective, Li Mo was saving her, breaking the drowning ghost's killing rule.
As for Li Mo's subsequent coldness and indifference, it could also be explained as his personality being like that. Restarting space-time required a heavy price, there was no doubt about that.
But from her perspective, she hoped Li Mo could say something a little more responsible.
Even if he were lying to her, it would be fine.
Kira Shigure understood that she had never thought of asking Li Mo to take responsibility, just wanted a little comfort.
How pathetic, Kira. Have you become so humble?
Kira Shigure mocked herself internally.
Suddenly, Kira Shigure's body froze. She had bumped into something.
"Oof—!"
"Sorry, I was distracted and bumped into you. Are you alri—"
Before she could finish, Kira Shigure's voice trailed off. When she saw the face of the person in front of her, her hazy eyes instantly brightened. She covered her mouth with both hands, staring at the other person in disbelief.
"Li Mo?"
"Kira?"
Almost at the same time, Li Mo and Kira Shigure called out each other's names.
Li Mo was stunned. He had been thinking about the haunted manor when he suddenly felt someone bump into him.
He turned and saw Kira Shigure.
Kira Shigure was a familiar person, yes. Didn't that mean the choice in his mind was real?
Li Mo was about to fall into a long contemplation, but when he saw Kira Shigure subconsciously turn her head, some unsightly images flooded into his mind.
"...Ha, haha... what a coincidence... a coincidence..." Li Mo laughed awkwardly, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably.
No? What the hell am I saying?
Li Mo was dumbfounded. Was that the first thing he should say?
In the past, without the accumulation of death, Li Mo would have been a barrel of laughs, teasing and bantering, actively starting a conversation.
But for some reason, the moment he saw Kira Shigure, his brain suddenly crashed, and he couldn't even speak properly.
Li Mo quickly understood the reason for his embarrassment.
He felt guilty.
After a while, the head-lowered Kira Shigure finally unpursed her lips and nodded slightly.
Her ten fingers intertwined. To hide it, she put her hands directly behind her back.
"Yeah, what a coincidence."
Li Mo: "..."
Kira Shigure: "..."
The conversation was dead. Utterly dead.
Yeah, what a coincidence. And then?
Li Mo & Kira Shigure: "You..."
"..."
Clearly, both wanted to ask the other why they were here, but they stopped after speaking at the same time.
Li Mo & Kira Shigure: "I..."
"..."
Li Mo swore he had never been so embarrassed in his life.
He couldn't help it. He was a family man now, but Kira Shigure's fait accompli made him feel extremely guilty, and a strong sense of immorality.
Dealing with such an innocent girl was so tiring, especially when he owed her. Li Mo didn't know how to chat.
If Kira Shigure didn't mind, it would be fine, but from Kira Shigure's reserved performance...
She cared a lot about her first experience at the bottom of the lake.
Li Mo, you really deserve to die!
[To ease the awkwardness, I decide to change the subject and say to Kira Shigure: "I heard your cat can do a backflip. Can I go see it?" — Kira Shigure's mood will improve. After all... people like to wear masks when interacting with others, to hide their truest selves.]
[A delayed harm is still harm. I take the initiative to talk about what happened at the bottom of the lake, to guide Kira Shigure, to let her not care too much about it. — Kira Shigure's personality will undergo an unknown change. Arrogance is a sin. Trying to change others with one's own will is an ugly arrogance, but sometimes, we have to make arrogant choices to avoid potential risks.]
Only two choices?
Li Mo stood there stunned. Obviously, he should choose the second one.
The hint was very clear. Although it was very arrogant, it could avoid potential risks.
It was just, what was the potential risk? He didn't know either... From a rational perspective, nipping the risk in the bud was what he should do most.
"Phew..." Li Mo let out a long breath.
But so what? If he had died once, he would have chosen the second one.
But he was just a "short-sighted" foolish human now. Of course, he would choose the option that made the person in front of him happy.
"By the way, Kira. Didn't you say your cat can do a backflip? Take me to see it," Li Mo said with a smile.
"I don't have a cat..." Kira Shigure was baffled. She didn't remember telling Li Mo this, and she didn't have a cat at all. The next second, Kira Shigure reacted and immediately replied, "That's right, my cat can do three consecutive flips in the air."
"I'll take you home!" Kira Shigure's mood improved considerably. The heavy stone in her heart was lifted a little.
"Oh?" Li Mo gave a half-smile, looking at Kira Shigure meaningfully.
Kira Shigure's face flushed. She pouted and didn't explain.
Not all misunderstandings need to be clarified, and besides, it might not be a misunderstanding...
The two tacitly walked together.
Cecilia: "..."
Cecilia: "?!"
What happened to the Bubble Universe? What happened to impressive?
Cecilia looked Li Mo up and down and came to a conclusion: a completely ordinary person.
Could it be that he's strong in that department?
"Plainclothes Detective" Cecilia puffed out her cheeks, thinking this child Kira Shigure was really not honest, even lying to her.
Secretly dating.
If you're going to date, just date. It's not like Schicksal forbids it. Why make up so many excuses?
"I don't remember little Shigure having a cat. Valkyries are on missions for ten days or half a month at a time, how can they take care of pets at home... Could it be that little Shigure's not feeling well because..."
Cecilia didn't say any more. Her mind had already conjured up many romantic scenes.
The so-called "my cat can do a backflip" was probably just a code.
"Gulp..." Cecilia swallowed and pulled her hat lower, quickly following.
She had a premonition that if she followed, she would definitely see something unexpected.
Whether out of concern for her junior or her own curiosity, Cecilia resolutely chose to tail them.
Soon, Kira Shigure brought Li Mo home. Because of special reasons, she didn't have to undergo daily Valkyrie training, so Kira Shigure had a lot of time to stay in the house below the floating island, not the Valkyrie dorms.
After all, no matter how good the Valkyrie dorms were, it was still a workplace.
No matter how bad a house you bought yourself was, it was completely private space.
Li Mo stood at the door and teased, "Is it okay for me to come in? Do you need me to stand outside and wait for you to tidy up the things inside?"
Kira Shigure rolled her eyes at Li Mo and replied nonchalantly, "What's there to tidy up? It's not like I'm a slob whose house is a mess."
Li Mo: "Is that what I was talking about?"
Kira Shigure: "Then what were you talking about?"
"..."
"Li Mo, you!"
Kira Shigure's pretty face instantly flushed red with anger. She threw down a threat: "Just stand at the door and don't move. I'll go in and tidy up!"
This caught Li Mo off guard. There really is something?
He had just said it casually.
But it couldn't be confirmed that it was those things. Perhaps it was something she didn't want outsiders to see, not something she couldn't.
After waiting for five minutes, a panting Kira Shigure walked back to the door, wearing a simple, comfortable pure white T-shirt that hugged her slender body.