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墨書 Inktalez
Although the thought flashed through my mind in an instant, it still left me drenched in cold sweat. Judging by the situation of that deceased girl, I should have returned to normal by now, but what if I hadn't...
As I pondered, my heart began to waver. "What is real, and what is an illusion..." My muttering was overheard by Li Zhisheng beside me.
Noticing my furrowed brow, he guessed my thoughts at that moment. "What is real and what is an illusion doesn't matter. What matters is what you choose to believe. Don't let those illusions shake your spirit!"
After hearing his words, I reflected on them and found them reasonable. I then looked at the wound on my hand, raised it to my mouth, and bit down hard. Instantly, a strong metallic taste filled my mouth, accompanied by a wave of intense pain that spread throughout my body.
Hu Fang saw this and quickly stopped me. "What are you doing?!"
I smiled and replied, "It seems that this is indeed real. If it were still an illusion, then I shouldn't feel pain from hurting myself..."
Seeing that I had returned to normal, everyone hurriedly pulled out bandages and some supplies to clean my wound. Yao Long looked at me in confusion. "We haven't even reached the town yet. How could you experience an illusion? And why is it only you showing symptoms..."
Yao Long voiced my own doubts, and for a moment, I didn't know how to respond; I simply shook my head silently. At that moment, Li Zhisheng pondered aloud, "Look, you're the only one experiencing this condition while we are all fine. Shouldn't we consider what the key point might be? Or what differences exist between you and us..."
After hearing Li Zhisheng's words, the others began to discuss animatedly, but their focus was on the Nine Star Diagram on me.
I thought to myself, "Isn't the Nine Star Life Diagram supposed to be something that saves lives? How could it turn into something harmful...?"
However, as they pointed out, the only thing that set me apart was indeed the Nine Star Diagram; if we were talking about marks, I had also once been a Death Apostle...
While everyone was engaged in heated discussion, Li Zhisheng remained silent, deep in thought. Seeing this, I asked him, "Li Zhisheng, do you know something? Why not just say it..."
Upon hearing my words, everyone quieted down. Li Zhisheng hesitated for a moment before speaking. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it's correct... The only things we know related to this matter are the girl from the hospital and Yao Long's story; there’s nothing else. So I'm wondering if your condition might be connected to that girl."
When he mentioned the girl, I suddenly remembered that during our initial conversation, she had described this thing as resembling some kind of illness. Furthermore, in Yao Long's story, the locals referred to this situation as a kind of disease. In other words, since it’s an illness, it could potentially be contagious—meaning I might have been infected by that girl...
As I pondered, I shared my thoughts with everyone. Li Zhisheng listened and said, "That's exactly what I mean. You're the only one among us who has encountered that girl. Could it be that you were infected by something that affects the mind at that time..."
"That's a possibility, because many common diseases only become highly contagious when they manifest..."
At that moment, Death Apostle, who had been silent until now, suddenly interrupted me. "According to what you’re saying, this place is very likely connected to Rui Xing in the Nine Stars... The town ahead could very well be one of the Onizuka..." With that, Death Apostle's expression turned serious.
Since I was clueless about these celestial matters, I asked, "What makes you say that?"
Before Death Apostle could respond, Li Zhisheng jumped in. "Rui Xing was originally named Yang Congfu Qing Rui Dongming Zuo Fu Star, abbreviated as Left Assistant Star. It corresponds to Death Gate in the Eight Gates. Its appearance generally indicates an outbreak of disease, hence it's considered a malevolent star."
After hearing this, Death Apostle gave a thumbs up and praised, "Impressive! He’s absolutely right. I suspect the town ahead is indeed an Onizuka, which corresponds to Rui Xing in the Nine Stars, thus linking it to disease. However, what kind of illness this is and why it has manifested like this remains unknown. One thing is certain though: this Onizuka is extraordinary; it is the last Cursed Mound among the Onizuka, so we must not take it lightly..."
"This is just a hypothesis for now. Until we actually check out the town, no one can say for sure. Let's not jump to conclusions..."
With that, I took out my phone to check the time; it was already past two in the morning. Yao Long said, "Regardless of whether it's an Onizuka or not, since we're here, we definitely need to take a look. But it's getting late now. You've been on watch with Mr. Death all night; let me take over for the rest of the night. I can handle any situation that arises; you all should get some rest."
Hearing this, I nodded and encouraged the others to rest as well; we could deal with anything in the morning.
So I leaned back in my seat and prepared to sleep. I noticed Yao Long had taken out Azure Spirit and aimed the bow at my position without placing an arrow on it.
Seeing this made me a bit anxious, but Yao Long was likely just being cautious. I decided not to dwell on it and slowly closed my eyes.
...
The night passed without incident. The next day dawned with sunlight streaming through the front window of the car. As I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the light, I opened my bleary eyes. At this point, the three people in the back seat had already woken up, and Yao Long was no longer in the car. The empty cabin contained only me.
I glanced around and saw them standing outside the car; Li Zhisheng was on a phone call while the others stood beside him, gazing at the rising sun in the distance.
I got out of the car and walked over to them. Li Zhisheng saw me getting up, put away his phone, and said to me, "You're awake. I just called the car rental company; they'll come to pick up the car. We just need to pay some compensation since the flat tire was caused by us..."
I nodded, indicating that I understood, and replied, "That's true, but what should we do next?"
Yao Long pointed to the hill beside us. "If I'm not mistaken, if we go around this hill, we should find it not far behind."
"Since we're almost there, let's not delay. We can deal with the car issue when we get back. Right now, our priority is to figure out where that town is. Otherwise, if we wait until the afternoon to set off, we might run out of time..."
With that, I returned to the car to grab my luggage. Seeing this, everyone else also went back to their cars to gather their belongings.
"Since it's just behind this hill, why don't we climb up and take a look? Once we confirm our position, it'll be easier to move around and we can avoid taking unnecessary detours," I suggested, and everyone agreed.
So, our group of five climbed up the slope until we reached the top of the hill. Looking out into the distance, I spotted a small town not far behind the mountain...
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