Bizarre Honkai, a Wife-Chasing Crematorium

Li Mo completely ignored Shigure Kira and turned around, walking toward the black coffin behind him.

His second death had caused Li Mo to lose almost all of his "human" emotions. Now, he couldn't joke around, nor could he show a rich array of human expressions.

Even if he tried his best to control his facial muscles, he couldn't do it. It was hard for him to sense emotional changes now.

Fear, joy, sadness, relief… they had all been obliterated in his emotional center.

Only endless instincts told him what he should do.

The bizarre nature was influencing him, trying to turn him into their kind.

His heart felt empty, as if something was missing, but his organs, memories, and consciousness didn't show any signs of being affected, except for that ethereal soul.

Li Mo placed his hand over his heart. His heart was beating very slowly, and his skin temperature was also low.

However, under these circumstances, without the interference of various emotions, his thinking was actually more precise and faster.

Li Mo walked up to the spirit tablet and, without hesitation, bit his finger, letting his blood drip onto the blank spirit tablet.

A figure gradually appeared on the blank spirit tablet. It was a head. The head's face was ferocious, constantly twisting and deforming. As the blood was absorbed by the spirit tablet, the image on the spirit tablet was finally fixed as Li Mo's appearance.

But it was a black and white photo. The human face couldn't be called normal, with a pale face and faded eyeballs.

"What is he doing?"

Shigure Kira, upon seeing this scene, was filled with confusion, but he wasn't the type of person who would do meaningless things.

Perhaps he had found a way to break the situation. But...

Why did it feel like this gloomy man had changed? Shigure Kira had felt something was off since a while ago.

Even though it was summer, standing next to him felt like standing by a windy river. She felt cold from the bottom of her heart.

Li Mo closed his eyes and began to meditate. As the spirit tablet absorbed the blood, he began to organize the previous clues.

"The path to survival that the notebook proactively gave me, that path must have a trap that I can't handle with my current state."

"I could deal with the ghost in the broadcasting room before, but it would target me. She was willing to give me information only when I threatened the notebook, so the notebook didn't want to give me benefits for nothing."

"And with the desperate situation in the auditorium, I, who has only died once, can't overcome it, so it gave me the information very readily, making me bring everyone to the auditorium."

"This school shouldn't have only one path to survival. The auditorium can protect the people inside, but the premise is that the funeral process must be followed. Under the condition that information is missing, the auditorium isn't much safer than outside."

"It's waiting for me to die. Then I absolutely can't open the notebook unless it's absolutely necessary. I can't die again now. The bizarre power is already affecting my consciousness. If I die again, I may not be able to return to my true self."

Li Mo looked at his bloodless palm and murmured softly in the calmest tone, "I don't feel tired now. I can still think normally."

"I'm sure I'm still Li Mo."

After confirming this information, Li Mo immediately got to the point.

The head-eating ghosts would be back in three minutes. There was no need to delay time with the coin again. The spirit tablet already had a portrait.

The first day was encoffining.

The reason why they couldn't lift the coffin lid before was because there was no corpse in the coffin. How could the coffin be closed without a corpse?

And the spirit tablet had no portrait. Even if there was a corpse in the coffin, it couldn't manifest in reality.

The spirit tablet was a medium. With a portrait, the corpse that existed in the virtual coffin would appear.

Only with a corpse could the coffin lid be lifted to continue the encoffining.

"Gloomy man, you..."

Shigure Kira ran in front of Li Mo. Her pupils contracted instantly.

Because she saw that a portrait had appeared on the blank spirit tablet?! And it was the gloomy man's portrait!

"Is there something wrong with you?!"

Shigure Kira couldn't help but shout. In an instant, the members of her team pointed their weapons at Li Mo.

Saori Tsuruyo rushed out and tried to say something, but was interrupted by Li Mo.

"The burning grave incense can suppress the vengeful spirits from killing, and an auditorium with burning grave incense can shield the perception of ghosts," Li Mo said coldly, as if he didn't see everyone pointing their weapons at him.

Everyone was puzzled. Someone in the crowd questioned, "But isn't the grave incense burning now? Those heads outside are still rushing toward the auditorium. From this point of view, the grave incense can't suppress the heads from killing."

Li Mo slowly and calmly replied, "Because all of this has to be under the premise that the funeral is being carried out properly."

"This is a funeral of Shenzhou [China], and the layout here is obviously the ritual of the first day: encoffining."

A coffin that wasn't closed, a spirit tablet that lacked a portrait.

Combining them made it easy to deduce.

Li Mo walked to the coffin lid, grabbed it with one hand, and easily lifted the seemingly heavy coffin lid. In his hands, it was like a light piece of paper.

Li Mo placed the coffin lid on top of the coffin, but not completely. He left a gap above.

Suddenly, the grave incense no longer burned so fiercely. It completely calmed down.

The ground stopped shaking, and the countless heads, as if they had lost their target, turned into dead heads, collapsing on the ground and no longer moving.

But Li Mo knew that these heads were just temporarily silent. They hadn't truly died.

The grave incense was still burning. The auditorium had shielded the perception of ghosts. The ghosts just couldn't see them. They hadn't left.

When the first grave incense stick was extinguished, these heads would revive again, repeating the tragedy of the previous timeline.

"It, it stopped?"

Shigure Kira rushed to the auditorium entrance, looking in disbelief at the vast expanse of bloody heads.

One moment they were aggressive, but the next, they were completely silent.

"They've only become silent. The ghosts haven't left."

"I advise you not to go out. The auditorium is safe, but outside isn't necessarily safe. You've also seen it. After 7 PM at night, there's almost no possibility of there being living people in the academy," Li Mo kindly advised. "So if we see any survivors, we should kill them as soon as possible."

Shigure Kira: "Isn't that a bit too extreme? What if there are normal people who have been fortunate enough to survive?"

Li Mo: "Perhaps there are, but I won't gamble everyone's lives here on 'maybe' or 'fortune.' If you can't do it, I can do it for you."

"I don't mind killing. You can judge me for it after this is over, but don't interfere with my choices now, no matter what I do."

Li Mo said emotionless words with a calm face. He took the grave incense and walked to the auditorium entrance, placing the extremely short end of the grave incense securely at the auditorium entrance, which greatly increased their activity space.

And even though the grave incense only had a short end, it seemed like it would never burn out.

Because the funeral was being carried out properly, the grave incense couldn't burn out before the encoffining ritual was complete, unless Li Mo and the others didn't carry out the encoffining ritual.

The burning incense suppressed the habits of the vengeful spirits, and, coupled with the mysterious auditorium, removed Li Mo and the others from the ghosts' perception.

Ghosts that had lost their target would either become silent or wander aimlessly.

Shigure Kira was thoughtful and released the greatsword in her hand, no longer arguing with Li Mo.

Li Mo was right. The people who were alive outside at this time were most likely not human.

But Shigure Kira also had her own principles. If she really encountered that kind of situation, she would communicate and discuss with Li Mo. Kindness towards a wicked person was not advisable.

"I understand," Shigure Kira said, standing beside Li Mo like a follower.

She understood Li Mo's thoughts. As a person in charge of directing, every choice had to be made for the good of the team, instead of focusing on one's own desires and putting everyone in danger.

---

The Black Coffin (黑棺, hēi guān): In traditional Chinese culture, the color of a coffin can be significant. While red is usually seen as auspicious, a black coffin is often associated with death due to tragic circumstances, an untimely demise, or for those who had a troubled life or past. The blackness can also sometimes symbolize the unknown journey of the soul into the afterlife.

Grave Incense (坟香, fén xiāng): These are sticks of incense specifically used in funerary rituals. Their burning is believed to purify the space, ward off evil spirits, and honor the deceased. The number of incense sticks used and how they are placed can vary depending on specific traditions, usually the odd numbers are yang, which represents the living, and even numbers are ying, which represents the dead.

The Spirit Tablet (灵位, líng wèi): Also known as a memorial tablet or ancestral tablet, this is a plaque used in Chinese culture to represent the spirit of the deceased. It is believed to serve as a temporary resting place for their soul and can be placed during funerals or at home for worship. It is typically made of wood or another material and can have the name and/or portrait of the deceased written or printed on it.

The Ritual of Encoffining (入殓, rù liǎn): This is a significant ritual performed on the first day of a traditional Chinese funeral. It involves the careful cleansing, dressing, and preparing of the deceased's body before it is placed into the coffin. This process is done according to specific customs and beliefs, ensuring the proper transition of the deceased's spirit.