Li Mo stared intently at the five old women, completely disregarding the eye contact rule on Taixu Mountain.
He was about to bleed to death. Bizzare contamination of consciousness took time, and his brain would die before his consciousness completely faded.
Beneath their hats, grotesque eyes met his gaze.
"Meow…"
"Meow…"
"Meow…"
Perhaps because Li Mo was right in front of them, the five Granny Cat-Faces meowed three times in succession.
The next second, irreversible changes began to overtake Li Mo's body.
His legs atrophied, his head deformed, his spine twisted, his pupils distorted…
He was transforming into a Granny Cat-Face.
Soon, he would be one of them.
And as a Granny Cat-Face, he would instinctively seek out his closest loved ones, turning them into the same grotesque creature.
However, just as Li Mo was about to be fully assimilated, his heart failed. Prolonged blood loss to the brain resulted in brain death.
Li Mo died, his death registered, and the restart began.
Everything proceeded as he had anticipated.
Just before restarting, Li Mo's withered body, with a final surge of effort, raised its head.
His eyes stared intently at them, filled with a peculiar hatred.
"We'll meet again."
"And then, goodbye."
With those words, Li Mo's pupils dilated, his eyes clouding over, his body collapsing to the ground.
Silence descended upon the dimly lit room.
A cold wind howled, rattling the window screen, its mournful cries echoing through the room.
Changle, having finished changing, emerged from the adjacent room, her high ponytail still damp, her dark hair as smooth as silk, water droplets clinging to it like tiny jewels, falling to the ground one by one.
A flicker of annoyance crossed her eyes. She bit her lip, her face flushed, glaring at Mingyue.
But her anger quickly faded, replaced by confusion.
Something about Mingyue felt different.
Changle had dealt with demons before. Whenever a demon approached, the jade pendant at her waist would react, vibrating gently to warn her.
The moment she opened the door and saw Mingyue, the jade pendant reacted.
Although the reaction was subtle, it was clear that Mingyue's identity was now suspect.
Earlier, when she was bathing, he had seen her naked. Mingyue's initial reaction had been one of momentary embarrassment, then he had mistaken her for a Bizzare Entity, cautiously and angrily attacking her.
Changle could understand that, but Mingyue's current expression and gaze were too cold, completely different from before.
During the day, Mingyue had at least been able to joke and smile, his expressions varied.
Now, he seemed like a completely different person.
His appearance hadn't changed, but his aura was colder, his gaze chilling.
Like…
A demon wearing human skin.
"Who are you?"
Li Mo asked first, his expression flat, his voice devoid of emotion.
They were like complete strangers, having never met before.
The black-clad guards noticed Changle's tense expression. Two of them grunted, quickly restraining Li Mo's joints. "You clearly remembered just now, so why are you pretending not to know Her Highness?! What are you planning?!"
"..."
Li Mo was silent for a moment, then replied impassively, "First, I genuinely don't know who she is. I will kill anyone who appears suddenly without a reasonable explanation."
"Second…"
Before he could finish, Li Mo ignored the pain, twisting his joints in a way a normal person couldn't, turning around and grabbing one of the guards' heads with his deformed left hand, slamming it into the ground.
With a slight exertion of force, the guard screamed, his skull cracking, blood oozing from the wound.
"I don't like being restrained, especially by those who are weaker than me and clueless about the situation."
"Second Brother!"
The other guard shouted, thrusting his spear at Li Mo.
True Energy surged from him, amplifying his strength, attempting to teach Li Mo a lesson.
Li Mo's expression remained unchanged, his emotions seemingly dead, buried in an unfathomable abyss.
The guard's movements seemed to be in slow motion, his strength no different from a newborn chick's.
Li Mo caught the spear with one hand. The guard desperately channeled his True Energy, but he couldn't pull his weapon free.
He had to abandon his weapon, resorting to hand-to-hand combat.
But he didn't know that, compared to weapons, Li Mo excelled at brutal, close-quarters combat, because he didn't need to dodge.
The moment the guard approached, ready to throw a punch, Li Mo grabbed his head and slammed it into the ground.
The guard instantly lost consciousness.
Li Mo slowly stood up, his cold gaze fixed on the woman who had just emerged from the bath, his fists clenched, ready to kill her.
He hadn't killed the guards because he needed someone to test the Bizzare rules for him.
He had held back considerably. The guards' True Energy and years of training had only rendered them unconscious, not dead.
But this woman was different. She had appeared out of nowhere, putting Li Mo on high alert.
If she wasn't a Bizzare Entity, then she was a Bizzare derivative.
Bizzare derivatives were easy to deal with.
As long as the main entity wasn't powerful enough, Li Mo had plenty of ways to handle her.
Whether it was shooting her in the head, feeding her to the Head Ghost, or simply throwing her off the mountain.
There were always solutions, it just depended on how far he was willing to go.
"Mingyue…"
"Ugh!"
Seeing Mingyue's sudden violence, Changle instinctively stepped back, tripping over the threshold and falling.
"This is the last time."
"Who… are you?"
Li Mo slowly walked towards Changle, holding the guard's spear, ready to throw it at her head.
His tone had changed, no longer inquiring, but demanding.
Changle took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
She hadn't expected Mingyue to attack without warning. Not only that, but during the day he had seemed like an ordinary martial artist, yet his current display of power was far beyond her expectations.
The assassins' combat abilities were on par with the top martial artists in the world, second only to the Seven Swords of Taixu and the Jingwei the Immortal.
The fact that Mingyue could take down two of them in an instant meant he was close to the level of the Seven Swords of Taixu, far beyond the capabilities of ordinary mortals.
"Calm down and look at your left sleeve."
"I'm Changle."
Li Mo paused, looking down.
His sleeve was turned inside out.
This was typical of him. To remember things he might forget, he would deliberately perform these small, unnecessary actions.
MEI, Mo, forgotten twice, target Changle.
"...How many times have I forgotten you?" Li Mo asked.
Changle quickly replied, "I haven't been counting, but probably five or six times."
Probably…
Li Mo's wariness eased slightly. Using that word indicated she possessed a relatively complete human personality.
But he still wouldn't trust her completely.
"I've remembered you, Changle. If you're telling the truth, I'll forget you soon. When I do, and when I try to kill you, please explain yourself briefly."
"At that time, it's best if you stay where you are and do nothing, especially don't approach me. Otherwise…"
"You won't even have a chance to explain."
Li Mo calmly explained the conditions for her explanation after he forgot her.
Changle paused, biting her lip, and nodded reluctantly.
She had never been so humiliated in the palace, but the difference in their strength was too great. She could only do as Mingyue said.
Even though her jade pendant warned her that he might not be human.
The fact that he could communicate and hadn't killed them outright was the only reason Changle was willing to cooperate with him.
Li Mo understood this, so he had shown mercy.
"Your Highness?"
The guard who had brought back the last guard saw his two companions lying unconscious on the ground, Changle sitting there nervously, and Mingyue holding a blood-stained spear with a menacing gaze.
He immediately sensed something was wrong.
He rushed forward.
"Wait! Stop!" Changle shouted. The guard stopped abruptly.
In most cases, Changle's orders were absolute. Even if he didn't understand, he had to obey.
Li Mo's gaze remained cold, but he didn't point the spear at the guard.
Because in his eyes, the guard rushing towards him meant certain death, with or without a weapon.
Not just these martial artists using True Energy, even if all Seven Swords of Taixu attacked him at once, Li Mo could eliminate them all now.
Cheng Lingshuang, who wielded the power of the Taixu Sword God, would be a bit tricky; it was best not to take her attack head-on.
But the others would be severely injured with just one punch from Li Mo. If they didn't defend themselves, they would die instantly.
His current strength surpassed that of the top S-rank Valkyries of Schicksal during the second Honkai eruption. He could defeat a fully equipped S-rank Valkyrie without any armor or weapons himself.
In his twice-dead state, even his hunger had lessened considerably.
"Carry those unconscious men and follow him. From now on, you listen to everything he says," Changle said, pulling her clothes tighter and standing up unsteadily, trying to maintain her composure.
"Your Highness…"
"Do you need me to explain it to you?"
Changle snapped.
She was already upset about being seen naked while bathing, and now her subordinates had been beaten unconscious. She was so flustered that she had forgotten her royal demeanor.
She was about to explode, and now her assassin was questioning her. Changle felt like she was on her period, irritable and easily angered.
It had been a terrible day…
"Yes, I understand. Fourth, let's go."
The guard called out to the one behind him, also called "Fourth," and the two of them carried the unconscious guards on their backs.
"Why did you come looking for me? You couldn't possibly have been lonely and unable to sleep, just wanting to chat, right?" Changle asked, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere.
Li Mo replied frankly, "I was worried you'd all die tonight. I'm the next target, so I came to warn you to spend the night in my room. In the current situation, it's safer for all the living to stay together."
"My room is safer than yours."
Li Mo's words were blunt and to the point, without any further explanation.
My room is safe, and if you die, I die, so come to my room and guard it.
It was that simple.
"Alright, I'll listen to you," Changle said, grabbing a few belongings from her room before following Li Mo.
The two guards, carrying the other two, walked towards Li Mo's room.
On the way back, Li Mo kept his eyes fixed on "Fourth."
This strange behavior caught Changle's attention. She was also perceptive and sensed that Li Mo had noticed something amiss.
Li Mo thought quickly.
Before restarting, he had opened the door to the room and seen five ghosts, five Granny Cat-Faces.
This meant that before 10:30 pm, Granny Cat-Face had entered the room and assimilated everyone.
Granny Cat-Face could only target one person at a time, so there must have been another ghost helping her.
Five people, four guards and Changle. No more, no less, no extra ghosts among them.
But that didn't mean there wasn't a second ghost. It was highly possible that the second ghost was disguised as one of the five, keeping the others occupied while Granny Cat-Face assimilated her targets.
That's why everyone had been assimilated by the time he entered the room.
So what he needed to do next was simple:
Find the ghost disguised as a human and find a way to suppress it.
Li Mo stared intently at "Fourth." His movements were stiff, as if he hadn't woken up properly, or like a child learning to walk, stumbling.
A top martial artist, walking unsteadily, his steps clumsy and disordered?
It didn't make sense.
"Mingyue, do you still remem…"
Changle wanted to ask if Li Mo still remembered her, but he covered her mouth with his hand, signaling her to be quiet.
"Your guard… is already demonic."
"Demons must be slain."
Li Mo leaned down and whispered in Changle's ear.
Hearing this, Changle was skeptical.
She was more inclined to trust her own assassin, raised since childhood, than Mingyue, whose presence triggered her jade pendant's reaction. At least her assassin still obeyed her.
Moreover, her jade pendant was vibrating even more intensely now.
Changle placed her hand over her waist, pressing down on the jade pendant, preventing Mingyue from noticing and taking it.
However, Changle didn't completely ignore Mingyue's words. She observed carefully and noticed that the assassin's movements were indeed stiff, like his True Energy was disordered, as if he had gone astray in his cultivation.
Had something gone wrong during his training?
Although this kind of deviation was irreversible, it still took time to completely lose oneself.
A few days at the fastest, half a month at the slowest.
Even if one of the assassins became demonic, it wouldn't matter. With the other two assassins and herself, they could easily control him.