Terror at the Old Manor

Li Mo ignored them and went to find the boy's mother from his memories.

"Where is your son now?" Li Mo asked.

"Weren't you just playing with him a few days ago?" the noblewoman replied.

Not two seconds later, as the flaming house collapsed, crushing the dark silhouette of the boy inside, the woman blinked as if waking from a daze. She shook her head, her expression crestfallen. "He went on an adventure last year. He's been dead for a long time."

Just before the figure disappeared, Li Mo met its eyes.

The boy was completely oblivious to the flames consuming his entire body. Even as his flesh began to melt away, the eerie, unsettling smile remained on his face.

His lips moved, as if trying to say something, but they were too far away for Li Mo to hear.

The noblewoman found Li Mo's question very strange.

Just then, Nicholas walked up to Li Mo, his eyes narrowed slightly as he asked probingly, "What happened?"

Li Mo closed his eyes and shook his head. "I don't know. I was sleeping, and I woke up when I smelled something wrong. I saw the fire and ran out."

He had to deny the existence of the Impostor. No one could be trusted.

However...

Li Mo's brow furrowed. He was concerned about why an Impostor had suddenly appeared in his room.

Judging by the build, the Impostor boy was not the same dark figure from the wall.

If it wasn't, then when did he become a target for an Impostor?

And why was it such an easy-to-spot Impostor? What if Nicholas was an Impostor? What would he do then?

"Oh, it seems... someone is not pleased with your performance today. I will arrange a new residence for you, and a new servant. She will handle these matters for you."

"As a child of the Apocalypse family, you should know that you are not completely safe until you come of age. Unless you can find evidence, I will not help you judge the arsonist based on mere speculation and conjecture," Nicholas said to Li Mo in a grave tone.

Li Mo nodded. Nicholas had assumed it was a family power struggle, which was fine. It saved him the trouble of coming up with an explanation.

He still had to go to the Kaslana family's territory early tomorrow morning.

Tonight had confirmed the existence of Impostors, so he needed to get enough rest. After all... intuition and reflexes wouldn't be sharp when he was drowsy.

"Come with me," Nicholas called to Li Mo.

Li Mo followed him to the back mountain of the Apocalypse estate.

He searched his memory for a moment. On the back mountain, there was only one lavish mansion, but it was rarely visited.

There seemed to be some bad rumors about it in his memory. It was where a former Apocalypse family head had lived, but after several of them died for unknown reasons, the residence was moved to its current location.

Of course, rumors weren't to be trusted. People could die in family power struggles too.

Plus, with the progress of the times, it was more likely a move to adapt to change, relocating from the back mountain to the central city of Vienna to be in contact with the general public.

"A long time ago, this was where the head of our family lived. As for why it has become so desolate, you should know the reason."

Nicholas walked ahead and pushed open the mansion's main doors.

Instantly, a sharp, metallic, rust-tinged smell assaulted his nostrils, rushing out of the house like a mad torrent.

Li Mo's expression soured, because as soon as the main door opened, he saw a mirror.

Seeing a mirror the moment you open the door was not a good sign.

Mirrors themselves were considered objects of both yin and yang. It would be one thing if it were constantly exposed to sunlight, but this one had been sitting in a dark, sunless environment for decades.

Even if it wasn't a problem before, it would have become one by now, turning into an object of extreme yin. There might be something nasty hiding inside.

The only thing that gave Li Mo some comfort was that the mirror on the first floor was covered in dust, so it didn't reflect his image.

"What? You don't like it?" Nicholas asked, looking back.

"I don't. I'll move out of here if I get the chance," Li Mo answered frankly. "Of course, I know that will only happen when I've proven my worth."

"You're right. Remember, when you have power and money, people will even pluck the stars from the sky for you, let alone a mere house."

"I've already plucked the stars from the sky..." Li Mo turned his head and muttered under his breath.

Nicholas didn't understand the true meaning behind Li Mo's words.

The two of them walked into the old manor, went up the stairs, and arrived at the second floor.

The old manor only had two floors, and the bedrooms were on the second.

Since there were many rooms, Nicholas impatiently opened them one by one, letting Li Mo choose his favorite.

First room: mirror facing the head of the bed.

Second room: mirror facing the wardrobe.

Third room: mirror facing the window.

Fourth room: mirror facing the doorway.

Li Mo: "..."

He was at a loss for words when it came to this house.

The back mountain already saw little sunlight because of the forest, and now they had made it so gloomy. Every room had a mirror. Were they afraid the ghosts wouldn't be able to find a place to live?

He had originally wanted to pick a room without a mirror, but now it seemed like sleeping in the forest would be better.

"I have a question."

After seeing all four rooms, Li Mo suddenly spoke up.

"Ask away. I have wronged you in the past. As long as it doesn't involve secrets, I won't hide anything from you. You have a fair chance to compete with Ferdinand and the others. You can know everything they know."

Nicholas's expression was serious, devoid of any emotion.

Compared to being Otto's father, Nicholas was more like a stern elder.

"It's about the family heads who died here before."

A faint smile touched Nicholas's lips.

"Heh, I suppose so... You're still young, and you have doubts about ghosts and monsters."

"Well, it's all about dead people, baseless rumors. It doesn't matter if I tell you. But do you really want to hear this? Not try to get other information about the family out of me?"

Duh. If I don't find out how they died before, I'll be the one dying tonight.

There must be a reason for placing the mirrors like this. Although the mirrors in the old manor have become objects of extreme yin, in a way, they are also key to helping the living avoid ghost attacks.

Forget it. If Nicholas's answer doesn't satisfy me, I'll just go sleep in a tree for the night.

"Yes, I want to hear it," Li Mo said with a very firm attitude.

"Fine." Nicholas was a little disappointed, but he still chose to tell Li Mo what had happened.

"This happened a long time ago, so long that even I only heard it from my great-grandfather."

"Before the city of Vienna was fully established, the heads of the Apocalypse family lived in a house on the back mountain to ensure they wouldn't be betrayed by those around them. Only their personal guards knew the exact location."

Li Mo thought about it. It was true.

If Nicholas hadn't led him, he might not have been able to find this old manor in such a large forest on the back mountain.

Nicholas continued, "But one day, strange legends began to spread. Every family head would die mysteriously at night. Even if the head had guards stationed at the door and standing by the bed, it couldn't be prevented. Even the guards protecting the family head would all die violently that night, with no survivors."

"The family head once tried to escape into the forest, but the next day, the family members never saw him return. They searched the back mountain and finally found the family head dead in a tree in a strange posture, his eyes wide open, with a strange smile on his face."

Li Mo: "..."

And you still brought me here? Are you afraid I won't die fast enough?

Li Mo was screaming insults in his head. If he didn't still need something from Nicholas, he would have definitely given this old bastard a huge slap.

"It's all just ghost stories. Don't take it seriously. What, are you scared?" Nicholas looked at Li Mo teasingly.

Nicholas thought he was just a child, and it was normal to be afraid of ghosts. It had nothing to do with one's character.

But this was all just an act Li Mo was putting on for him.

What Nicholas saw was what Li Mo wanted him to see.

A naive child might see things that adults couldn't, like the female corpse hanging from the door, the bloody eye peeking in from the window...

"A-a little... Can you tell me how they died? I'm very curious." Li Mo's eyes were wide, his expression tense. He clutched his clothes with both hands, showing the fear a normal child should have.

Nicholas thought for a moment, then said calmly:

"The dead family heads all died with their eyes open. And the last thing they looked at before they died was—a mirror."

"As for the cause of death, there were all sorts of strange ones. Some were strangled to death but had no marks on their necks; others suffocated with their stomachs full of water, but their bodies were completely dry. It must have been some very sophisticated assassination techniques."

"But these should all just be coincidences. You don't need to take it seriously. Ghosts don't exist in this world."

"The mirrors were originally something the family head saw in an ancient book... something called feng shui, I think. Although the frequency of the family heads' deaths decreased after these mirrors were installed, that was closer to the present time. Compared to living on the back mountain, it was better to return to the family's native territory."

"If you're afraid of these mirrors, just throw them away."

With that, Nicholas prepared to enter the first room to throw the mirror out the window.

"Wait!"

Li Mo stopped Nicholas.

"I'll stay in the fourth room. You don't need to throw away the mirror. It's all just rumors. I'm not afraid, of course."

Hearing this, Nicholas nodded in satisfaction.

"You'll have to make do for tonight. I'll arrange for a servant to help you clean the house and your room tomorrow. It's getting late, and I need to rest. Our promise still stands. I will restore all your rights as a son of the Apocalypse family."

After speaking, Nicholas left, leaving Li Mo alone in the gloomy old manor.

There was not a single speck of light in the room, only the faint moonlight shining in from the window, allowing Li Mo to barely make out his surroundings.

The spiderweb-covered corners harbored many arthropods, and a musty smell emanated from the dust-covered floor.

A large bed stood before Li Mo. He turned his head and looked into the mirror.

Due to the dust, Li Mo couldn't see his reflection clearly.

He had originally thought the mirrors were the key factor in the deaths, but since Nicholas had said that a family head who spent the night in the forest still died a tragic death, Li Mo understood that the mirrors were originally on the side of the living.

They could help the people in the old manor survive.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many mirrors here, which had reduced the death rate of the former family heads.

"But I can't blindly plan based on Nicholas's account. The mirrors might have been able to help the living at first, but after years of wear and tear, and being in a dark, enclosed space for so long, they are no longer the same mirrors."

"There might be a ghost inside."

Li Mo took off his coat and wiped the dust off the surface of the mirror.

He couldn't see the mirror on the first floor facing the main door while sleeping in the bedroom, so he decided to ignore it for now.

The fourth room. The number was not very auspicious.

The only reason Li Mo chose this room was because he could see what was happening at the door through the mirror.

Why not choose the room with the mirror facing the window? Or the wardrobe, or the head of the bed...

The reason was simple—

He was on the bed, and the mirror's placement couldn't be easily changed. A person sleeping on the bed could only see what was in the mirror opposite the door.

The mirror hung at a forty-five-degree angle in the corner of the wall, and its reflection allowed one to see the scene at the ninety-degree turn of the doorway.

"The mirror facing the wardrobe... heh, if I chose that room, I might as well just wait to die."

"If the mirror can reveal ghosts, then the moment I see a ghost in the mirror, the ghost has already seen me on the bed."

"Same goes for the head of the bed. The mirror is facing the head of the bed."

"Hilarious. The only ghost it could possibly reveal would be one right above my head..."

Li Mo felt a shiver of fear at the thought. The room was already dim, and the mirror originally only reflected himself.

What if he woke up in the middle of the night and glanced at the mirror, only to find a person with a miserable, eerie smile standing behind him in the reflection?

"So those two rooms are more likely meant to confuse the ghost's judgment, to make it unsure of the living person's exact location..." Li Mo concluded.

Four rooms. If there was only one ghost, according to the general rules of this world, it would search the rooms one by one until it confirmed no one was there, and then leave.

The first three rooms were where the ghost's attention would be most focused. The ghost in the manor must have been activated by the presence of a living person.

When it didn't find anyone in the first three rooms, the rules would change to some extent. It would assume the fourth room was the same and just glance around before leaving.

Ghosts don't get lazy, but the ghosts in this world were special.

Impostors, ghosts that mimicked humans, would also mimic human fatigue...

"Strangled to death with no marks on the neck; suffocated with a stomach full of water, but no water on the body."

"This means the ghost doesn't kill in reality, but in another special space. Or perhaps... the ghosts here only appear in that special space."

"Only a mirror can reveal them."

Li Mo analyzed quickly, glancing at the dusty bedspread.

Normally, he would have shaken it out to get rid of all the dust.

But obviously, he couldn't do that. The ghost would notice.

The bedspreads in the first three rooms were all historical artifacts. If the fourth room was different, it would definitely be noticed.

"So annoying, a ghost with partial human consciousness..."

Li Mo opened the window, letting the moonlight flood in.

The bright moonlight was like solidified brilliance, like tears shimmering with pure light, pouring into the room without reservation.

The girl who had searched through endless time and space for a million years was the final anchor in Li Mo's countless memories.

His memories far exceeded five hundred years, surpassing the limits of ordinary people. He should have lost himself long ago.

If it came down to it, using that faint sliver of Kiana's humanity might be able to turn the tide.

Of course, it was more likely he would be eaten, deader than dead.

Li Mo didn't know if Ghost Kiana would recognize his soul inhabiting Otto's body.

Crack—

Crack—

Crack—

"???"

Li Mo was stunned. That was clearly the sound of glass shattering, right next door.

The mirrors in all three rooms shattered at the same time!?

Li Mo, still fully dressed, quickly dove under the covers, his head at the foot of the bed and his feet at the head. He lay on his stomach and slightly opened a small slit in the covers...

A very thin slit.

He observed the mirror through the slit, but he didn't see any ghost, not even the door opening.

Strange...

Li Mo's mind was a mess. The simultaneous shattering of the three mirrors next door baffled him. The key was, why was the fourth room fine?

Was the ghost not coming?

Li Mo held his breath. He didn't dare to fall asleep now, only staring intently at the reflection in the mirror.

The door was closed.

No... no...

Li Mo's pupils dilated. He suddenly realized something. The three mirrors shattered at the same time, but the mirror in his room did not.

This didn't mean the ghost hadn't entered the fourth room. It was very likely that the mirror didn't break because the ghost was already in this room!

So from the very beginning, the ghost had been watching him get into bed...

At this thought, Li Mo couldn't help but stop breathing completely, his hand clutching his chest over his heart.

One second, two seconds, five seconds...

Finally, an image appeared in the mirror.

Through the mirror, Li Mo saw four pale children standing on either side of him, their heads bowed, their gazes fixed on him under the covers.

Crap...

Li Mo instinctively reached for his waist. It was empty. The anomalous pistol was long gone.

"...Ki."

Before he could say the name, Li Mo bit his tongue and dismissed the thought.

This wasn't the final moment. He could still maneuver.

The blanket temporarily protected him from the ghost's attack. He was safe for at least ten minutes.

Calm down... Since the previous Apocalypse family heads could survive, even if the mirrors have undergone some unknown change, there should be a way for me to survive too.

Li Mo carefully observed the scene in the mirror and noticed a discrepancy.

The mirror he had just wiped clean was once again covered in a layer of dust.

Thump... thump...

At the same time, footsteps sounded from the hallway, heading straight for the fourth room.

Knock, knock, knock... three knocks on the door.

"Young Master Otto, I am the maid sent by the master to take care of your daily needs. May I come in?"

A hopeful voice came from the door.

Li Mo: "..."

Silence. Li Mo gave no response.

Even though his mind was overwhelmed with many sudden events, he still remembered the three countermeasures recorded in his journal very clearly.

[Three: Do not easily agree to anyone's request. Even if you agree verbally, do not actually follow through.]

Crack—

The mirror in the fourth room suddenly shattered. Li Mo's pupils trembled, and he struggled to keep his body from shaking.

The self-proclaimed maid walked in and first stopped in front of the mirror.

"Are you sleeping, Young Master Otto? I have prepared a late-night snack for you."

Li Mo didn't dare to look at the mirror. The small opening in his blanket was almost completely closed.

From just one sentence, one action.

Li Mo was almost certain that the other party was an Impostor.

It had nothing to do with whether she made a request.

The Impostor was very smart. She should know that people sleep on the bed, so she faced the bed and spoke while holding a tray.

And she didn't ask directly like other ghosts, "Are you in the room?"

Instead, she asked, "Are you sleeping?"

Can't respond...

"Young Master Otto?"

"Young Master Otto?"

"Young Master Otto?"

After calling out three times, the maid left the room with the tray.

Bang!

Hearing the door close, Li Mo carefully opened a small slit in the covers, wanting to check the situation in the mirror.

The next second—

"Young Master Otto... so you, weren't, sleeping, after all."

The maid had a gentle face, wore a neat black and white maid outfit, and her legs were wrapped in high-quality, over-the-knee black stockings. She was squatting motionless at the foot of the bed.

A small slit, their eyes met.

Li Mo took out the Void Archives.

He got out from under the covers, not looking at the maid, but at the mirror.

The mirror was shattered, but not completely broken.

The dust on it was all gone again...

What did this mean?

For what reason did the mirror in the fourth room not shatter at the beginning?

Looking at the beautiful Impostor maid before him, Li Mo remained unmoved.

"My, my, sleeping in such a dirty blanket will make you sick." The maid showed concern, walking forward and reaching out to grab the blanket to shake off the dust.

"You have no right to do anything unless I tell you to," Li Mo snapped.

Sure enough, hearing Li Mo's rebuke, the maid stopped her actions and placed the tray on the table.

"I'm sorry, Young Master Otto... I am newly assigned by the master. Please forgive my impertinence."

The maid expressed her apology with a deep bow.

"I was asleep just now. Why didn't you leave?" Li Mo asked bluntly.

On the surface, he showed no emotion, but in reality, Li Mo was ready to mimic the Judgment of Shamash at any moment.

Impostors could evolve, just like the humanoid spider in the haunted mansion.

But Li Mo didn't know what an evolved Impostor was, or what rules it followed.

If an Impostor completely mimicked a real person, would it die like a real person when it suffered a fatal injury?

Impossible... that would violate the primordial rules of the Bizarre.

It would only Restart.

But the Impostor boy who had died before hadn't Restarted. Li Mo had waited for a long time but didn't see any figure rising from the flames.

So there was only one possibility left—

The Impostor's Restart was to be reborn in another person...

Faced with Li Mo's questioning, the maid answered calmly, "Because the master told me that you, Young Master Otto, should not be asleep yet. I must stay in the same room with you tonight... otherwise, the master will punish me tomorrow."

Hearing the maid's explanation, Li Mo once again suspected that his judgment was flawed.

But the shattered mirror and the four dead children he had seen in it before were definitely not a coincidence. The key was... the other party's words, actions, and expression were flawless.

Just as Li Mo was racking his brains, the maid looked at the window behind Li Mo and asked:

"By the way, Young Master Otto. Are the three children sitting on the window your friends?"

Hearing this, a sudden chill ran down Li Mo's spine.

"Mimic, Judgment of Shamash!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the Void Archives mimicked the dual pistol form of the Judgment of Shamash. Li Mo immediately turned and raised his aim, only to find the window empty.

Tricking me?

If the maid was a normal person, she wouldn't dare.

If she was an Impostor, this didn't count as a request.

Crack—

Suddenly, the mirror shattered again. Li Mo glanced to the side, and his peripheral vision caught no abnormality in the maid's reflection.

But on the window, three pale-faced children were sitting, staring at him with eerie expressions.

Wait, where's the other one?

Li Mo adjusted his angle and finally found the last dead child in the mirror. It was standing at the door, blocking the only other exit.

It was an unknown ghost, not an Impostor.

"..."

"Go get the mirror from the first floor and bring it up here, quickly," Li Mo ordered.

The maid was baffled, but she still followed Li Mo's command, running to the first floor to bring up the mirror.

At the same time, the mirror belonging to the fourth room completely shattered, followed by cracks appearing on the new mirror.

Li Mo quickly thought of a countermeasure.

If it was an Impostor, he just needed to find it and kill it.

Although he didn't know who it would be reborn in, it was better than being targeted now.

These four ghosts had to wait for the mirror to completely shatter before they could kill. They knew I was hiding in the blanket before, but they couldn't do anything to me.

But hiding in the blanket couldn't stop the ghosts forever. The fact that they were standing on either side of me before proved this.

They were waiting...

"Young Master Otto? You look very tired. Let me wipe your sweat for you."

The maid held a handkerchief and was about to wipe the sweat from Li Mo's forehead, but he slapped her hand away. "Don't touch me without my permission."

"Yes, sir." The maid obediently stood still and did not proceed.

"What's your name?" Li Mo suddenly asked.

"Misha Schariac," the maid replied.

Li Mo dismissed the Judgment of Shamash mimicry and instead mimicked Judah's Oath. A heavy golden cross appeared in the room, instantly creating a huge crater in the floor.

"Come here," Li Mo beckoned.

"Yes, Young Master Otto."

The maid looked at the golden cross in surprise. It was emitting a faint light.

The next second, Judah's Oath opened, and golden chains shot out, binding the maid to it, unable to move.

Li Mo observed the reactions of the ghosts and the maid in the mirror.

The maid acted no differently from a normal person, but the ghosts began to stir. They saw the maid as a living person.

In the dark room, the golden cross glowed, and the bound maid was the primary target.

The mirror shattered faster. Li Mo returned to the bed and wrapped himself in the blanket.

As long as the ghosts didn't see him as the target, he was safe in the blanket.

The maid could see the ghosts, so she was no good. She was most likely an Impostor. In that case, let them fight it out among themselves.

Crack—

The second mirror also completely shattered. Through the small opening in the blanket, Li Mo witnessed one after another, rotting, purplish-blue children crawling out of the mirror.

"Ahhh! Young Master Otto! Young Master Otto! There are ghosts! Save me, save me!" the maid screamed for help, but Li Mo ignored her.

The dead children came to the maid's side and climbed onto her body.

Then... they crawled into her mouth.

"Mmph—!" the maid let out a muffled groan, her expression filled with pain.

Before long, all four ghosts had crawled into the maid's body. Her stomach swelled dramatically, looking terrifying.

Damn it.

Doesn't this look just like the dead kid from 'Ju-On'?

Li Mo observed for a while longer. The maid was still wailing but showed no signs of dying.

Has the rule been balanced...

No, it probably doesn't count as a rule balance. Impostors can be killed. they are just reborn in another person's body after death.

From the story Kallen told, Li Mo roughly deduced the priority from high to low:

Agreeing to an Impostor's request—spending a long time with an Impostor—not suspecting the Impostor's identity—the Impostor existing in one's memory—having seen an Impostor.

I hope the Impostor maid can last a little longer and not die, otherwise, I'll probably be the one to die.

No, this Impostor can disguise herself so perfectly that she even deceived herself.

The number of people who have agreed to her requests must be quite large. It's not my turn yet.

Just like that, Li Mo fought off sleepiness and survived the night.

When the sunlight shone into the room, Li Mo was relieved and got out of the blanket.

"Mimic, Judgment of Shamash."

The red and black pistol appeared in Li Mo's hand once again.

The maid's stomach had flattened, no longer as swollen as it was at night.

"Otto... Young Master?"

The maid looked at Li Mo in horror as he approached step by step, instinctively trying to break free from the chains, but it was a futile effort.

"Sorry, I have to kill you."

"Misha Schariac, I will give your family sufficient compensation. Goodbye."

With a gunshot, a bloody hole appeared on the maid's forehead, and she lost all signs of life.

Li Mo took out his journal and added to the Impostor rules—

[Four: Impostors can be killed by humans, but after being killed, they are suspected to be reborn in a specific target. There is currently no way to prevent this special rebirth.]

[Five: Impostors can trigger ghost rules just like living people.]

Li Mo's writing hand paused for a moment, then he hesitated before continuing to write.

[Six: The reborn person, after spending too much time with humans, will hypnotize themselves into believing they are real humans. But when the human completely lets down their guard, they may realize they are Impostors and begin to "hunt" humans.]

Li Mo put away his journal, glanced at the two shattered mirrors on the floor, and shook his head. "Not paying attention to the time was my biggest failure. I will not make the same mistake again."

"The mirrors are a must, otherwise, the ghosts will directly invade reality."

"To sleep peacefully in the old manor, I must get into the blanket before the sun goes down."

"The previous heads of the Apocalypse family found this rule, but what killed them was not a ghost, but an Impostor among them."

"Nicholas Apocalypse... Francis Kaslana... and, Kallen Kaslana."

"Of these three people I must get close to, who is the Impostor? Or are all of them Impostors?"