Bizarre Honkai, a Wife-Chasing Crematorium

Beichen hesitated and smiled for a while, a glimmer flashing in her eyes, but her expression didn't change.

"No."

MEI: "Emmm... was it that you encountered many happy and memorable things while learning the art of the sword?"

Beichen shook her head again and repeated, "No."

Being denied twice, MEI was a little annoyed. Although she could maintain absolute rationality in research and leadership, this did not mean that she had completely lost her girlish side.

No existence could escape the limitations of its own form.

Especially humans, who were extremely limited.

No matter how well they concealed it, no matter how strong their exterior, there was always a soft spot in their heart.

For the mysterious Beichen, who looked so much like her, MEI had always treated her as a good sister, not as a subordinate and a superior.

Her family didn't care about her inner journey, and no one in the Fire Moth was worthy of her trust. Only Beichen, who was in the "Poisonous Cocoon," was the most suitable person for communication.

MEI: "Could it be that I guessed it, and you're just pretending that I didn't? Is there a third possibility?"

The corners of Beichen's mouth lifted slightly, but this smile was not gentle, but rather poignant.

Beichen said in a very calm tone, "This sword is the fusion of countless evil spirits and my heart. I once set foot in a place of certain death, where there were endless evil spirits. In order to survive, I have been killing numbly for a long time. But ghosts cannot be killed. All I could do was wait for them to restart and kill them, then restart and kill them again..."

"Humans have physical limits, but in that place of certain death, the definition of 'human' becomes more and more 'vague' over time."

"At the beginning, a wound was a wound, and I could only endure it. Later, whenever I got a wound, it would heal quickly, and the healing speed became faster and faster. Even if I lost an arm or a leg, it would quickly return to its original appearance in a short time. In the end, even if my head fell off my neck, I could continue to fight, waiting for my head to return to my neck..."

Hearing this, MEI thought of something bad and took a deep breath, "It's just like..."

Beichen calmly continued, "Yes, just like a ghost."

"My swordsmanship was not taught by anyone. No matter who it is, in a place of certain death without a concept of time, swinging a sword to survive, over time, they will develop... a terrifying combat instinct."

After listening to Beichen's account, MEI only felt terrified. Even if the wounds would heal, the trauma to the spirit was irreparable.

Endless killing would make a person very numb...

MEI: "No, then how did you escape in the end? If I'm not mistaken, the rule of the place of certain death you mentioned is to turn people who enter into ghosts."

"Every time the place of certain death helps you heal your wounds, I'm afraid it will give you a little bit of a ghost's characteristics, until you completely become a ghost."

MEI quickly deduced and said it without any hesitation.

Beichen was able to frankly talk about the place of certain death and her past experiences, so the problem must have been solved, whether it was forever or temporarily.

She really wanted to know how Beichen had escaped from that terrifying place of certain death, the endless killing, the tireless fall...

Beichen smiled lightly and looked at her palm, "In fact, I am no longer human. Didn't you know this?"

MEI: "Mmm, I know. A human's consciousness simply cannot resist a ghost's rule. The only thing that can resist a rule is a more complete rule."

Beichen: "That's right. A human's consciousness indeed cannot stand against a rule. The endless ghosts in the place of certain death are probably all living people like me who have inadvertently entered, constantly struggled, constantly killed, constantly died, and finally assimilated into ghosts. According to normal development, I would have become one of them."

"I was very lucky. A long time ago, during my school days, I made a good friend. She was a ghost with her own consciousness, and her soul was almost untouched by the bizarre pollution."

"She collected my tattered soul and placed it in a nether lamp to burn, which allowed me to wake up and be liberated from the numb killing."

"Since then, I have been able to control the body of a fierce ghost with a human heart."

"There is no concept of time in the place of certain death, but pollution is another standard of time. This sword has killed too many fierce ghosts. Under the accumulation of countless pollutions, it has undergone a distorted change, and finally became a weapon that can kill (devour) ghosts."

Beichen slightly drew Sakura Blizzard, and the mirror-like blade reflected her strange eyes, resolute and determined.

MEI: "It sounds like a great thing. With this sword, you can ignore the threat of most ghosts. But... what about the price? Everything related to the Bizarre has a price, and it is relatively equal."

"A sword that can kill ghosts, the one who needs to pay the price is not the blade, but the host who wields the blade. It's just... how much is the price?"

MEI asked.

This was the conclusion she had drawn from dealing with supernatural incidents over the past few years. The power bestowed by the Bizarre must have a corresponding price.

And it was closely related to people. This was probably because [the birth of ghosts is inseparable from people], so the standards of power and price could be roughly estimated.

Beichen: "The host will, at a certain moment, bear all the pollution of the ghosts killed by the blade, unable to escape, unable to resist, and unable to transfer."

MEI: "A certain moment?"

Beichen: "Yes. It could be tomorrow, it could be now, and it could even be—'the past'."

MEI: "..."

MEI seriously considered Beichen's words, and her mind was filled with her original guess.

In a world invaded by the Bizarre, was the development of time really a conventional linear time?

Time could only move forward, not backward. This was just common scientific knowledge. The development of time was always forward. Anyone who tried to go back to the past would die without a burial place.

Perhaps by reaching the origin of the world, the Imaginary Tree, one could find a way to go back to the past, but the price would definitely be high. Death would not even be considered a price. The annihilation of existence would be more like it.

Beichen: "A very fair deal... before I die, this sword will kill any existence that holds it, whether it is a person or a ghost."

MEI: "Wait? Isn't there a bug in this? If you kill a person with this sword, can you turn from a ghost into a person?"

Beichen smiled slightly, "Theoretically, it can't be realized, unless a harsh condition is met."

"Killing a person will also retain all the corresponding existence attributes. If the host has not killed any ghosts and has killed a person, then it is possible to become that person at a certain moment, inheriting all the memories, consciousness, habits, and physical data of the other party before death."

"But this is only limited to the case where the host is a living person. I am a ghost. A human's consciousness is vulnerable under a ghost's rule."

"Even if I have never killed a ghost with this sword, and have only killed people, in the end I still can't become a person, because the ghost's rule does not allow it. I will only become... another ghost."

"What's more, becoming another person... is no different from suicide. It will not retain the original memory, so it is meaningless."

MEI exclaimed, "What a pity. There's no chance to exploit a bug. Humans are still too fragile in front of ghosts."

Beichen: "Yes."

The topic ended. The two of them sat next to each other for a long time but could not start the next topic. They just sat quietly, enjoying the rare leisure time.

It was Beichen who broke the silence. She stood up and quickly walked to the door, "I've said what I need to say. Now I have to go. I want to go back... home."

MEI smiled mischievously, "Are you so eager to go back to see your cute little boy?"

Beichen replied without thinking, "Mmm, I want to see him, I want to be by his side. I don't have much time left. In the remaining time, I want to spend as much time with him as possible."

The swiftness of her reply made MEI stunned for a long time, and it took her a long time to react.

Beichen's emotions were not complete, and neither were her memories.

But why was she so obsessed with that little boy she had never seen?

Strange...

It's really curious...

MEI was perplexed.

"By the way, I need someone from you. The adults next door have been replaced. I will kill them," Beichen said nonchalantly.

MEI instantly understood Beichen's meaning, "I will arrange the adoption procedures tonight. You can just take the people away then."

Beichen: "Okay."

MEI: "But I'm very concerned about why you want to take away those two unremarkable children. Aren't you afraid that they will also be replaced by Impostors?"

Beichen was stunned for two seconds. She placed her left hand on the blood-red rose on her right shoulder and gently rubbed it.

"Those two children have something I need. They can't die for now."

"And, Li Mo is still just an ordinary person now... Sakura has already agreed to the Impostor's request. It's only a matter of time before she becomes an Impostor..."

Beichen did not continue here. She did not know what the future held.

Her mind only had fragmented memories of past reincarnations, which were so fragmented that they were impossible to study.

To protect Li Mo, the simplest way was to... directly kill Sakura, who had agreed to the Impostor's request.

Impostors, like ghosts, could not be killed. Killing an Impostor would only cause the other party to be reborn in the next host, and they could not die completely.

At least knowing the identity of the Impostor now was much safer than not knowing.

So Sakura could not die and had to live well. Once they were born as Impostors and died, then the next target for the Impostor's rebirth would be Li Mo.

Her body was already in pieces. Irene would not come to her side for no reason.

Even if Irene didn't say it, Beichen knew very well.

The nether lamp could not maintain her already withered soul for too long. She could no longer bear the pollution of Crimson-Dyed Sakura. The number of ghosts she could kill now was probably only a few.

After killing them, she would face an endless counterattack of pollution, and she would surely die.

But Li Mo's constitution... was destined to attract countless bizarre things to his side in this life.

The young Li Mo was fine. The older he grew, the stronger the aura on him became.

Just by living in this world, he was like a brilliant star shining in the vast darkness of the universe, attracting the bizarre in the darkness to him.

If she died, Li Mo would also find it hard to survive.

All of this seemed to have reached a dead end.

Killing Sakura and Rin would lead to her premature death, and thus she would be unable to protect Li Mo until he turned seventeen.

Not killing Sakura and letting her live would lead to the Impostor being reborn in them, and no one would know when they would die. When they died, the Impostor would burst out from Li Mo's soul.

Not killing Sakura and Rin and imprisoning them in the basement, only providing basic living conditions and forcing them to live, was still a hidden danger. This civilization would be destroyed sooner or later, and by then, Sakura and Rin would be out of control, and Li Mo would still not be able to escape death.

Then, there was only one choice, and it was one that was almost impossible to replicate—

not to kill them, but to use some extreme means to cultivate the next... king of the "Poisonous Cocoon" and a Bizarre.

Beichen tightly grasped the blood-red rose. The bud flowed with scarlet juice that gave off a strong fishy smell. It slid down from her shoulder, along her arm, to her palm, her fingertips...

Drip... drip...

One drop, one drop fell to the ground.

A ghost would not be assimilated by an Impostor. As long as she turned Sakura into a ghost, she would not have to worry about the Impostor being reborn into Li Mo after she died.

Thinking of this, Beichen made up her mind and quickly left.

MEI came back to her senses. She looked up, and Beichen was already gone.

"This fellow, she runs really fast."

MEI took out her phone, used her authority to open the database, and found the teacher and student information for Class 5-2 of Chiba Primary School.

[Name: Li Mo.]

[Gender: Male.]

[Social Status: Commoner.]

[Main Social Relationships:]

[Home Address: Rich Area, Building XX, No. XX.]

Unremarkable information. From the written content, there was nothing special.

It was normal for Beichen not to be in the main social relationships, after all, the information of the "Poisonous Cocoon" was in her own hands and had not been included in the social personnel database.

But the blank in the main social relationships was particularly glaring.

Normally, it would talk about parents, siblings, etc. If it was none, it meant that he was an orphan and had not received any assistance, and did not live in any family.

This blank was somewhat thought-provoking.

Could an orphan grow up to this age without the help of outsiders? Obviously not. Even if he was adopted by an orphanage, there would be a note in the main social relationships.

"Did he smuggle over from another country? Or..." MEI smoothed the bangs in front of her forehead and shook her head with a helpless smile, "It's not important, just a child."

"To live with two Impostor's backup birth bodies... is really bold."

"Is it also because... you can't hold on anymore that you chose this method?"

MEI looked with some pity at the pool of blood on the ground. There must be a price for a bizarre exchange. Then, to kill so many ghosts, one could figure out what the price was with their feet.

From being carefree at the beginning to having to think carefully about every step, considering all possibilities.

All kinds of hasty actions indicated a possibility—

she was going to die.

Perhaps the next time she was forced to kill a ghost to protect Li Mo.

It could also be tomorrow.