A Mistake That Won't Be Repeated

"What... is that?"

Through the slightly open crack of the window, little Chiyo saw the thin, gaunt shadow on the small hill not far away.

"It's so late. Why is someone still awake and standing at my door?"

Out of curiosity, little Chiyo opened the window completely and poked her head out to take a closer look.

Little Chiyo squinted, but she couldn't see clearly.

The figure on the hill didn't move, like a lifeless statue in the night.

The moonlight did not illuminate it; deep black was its only color.

"Hey! Who are you!"

Little Chiyo cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted loudly.

The black shadow still stood on the small hill, not responding.

"What are you doing standing at my door?!"

The black shadow was unmoved.

But danger was quietly growing. The shouts in the night called not only to people.

A spatial distortion appeared on the small hill, but this change did not last long before it stopped, as if the progress bar had been intercepted by something.

Another strange black shadow appeared behind the original black shadow on the small hill.

Step by step, it approached. The strange black shadow's eyes glowed with an eerie green light, and its body was bloated, like a huge rat.

Little Chiyo's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that a demonic beast had appeared in the village again?

But hadn't the festival just been held?

In the past, the village would be briefly peaceful after the festival, right?

Without time to think more, little Chiyo shouted at the gaunt shadow on the hill, "Go away! There's something behind you!"

The giant rat's shadow flickered. Its two small hands rested on the figure, and it opened its mouth and bit down on the neck.

Bang!

A flower of blood suddenly bloomed in the dead silence of the darkness. The giant rat's shadow was torn to pieces, and the chunks of its corpse on the ground quickly rotted.

Everything returned to silence. On the hill, there was still only a human-shaped black shadow.

"Ugh... I have to tell Grandma."

Little Chiyo quickly put on her clothes and went to her grandmother's room next door, calling her grandmother to her room.

The moment Grandma Chiyo saw the window open, her heart skipped a beat, and she felt a sense of unease.

Because last night, Li Mo had told her to keep the windows tightly closed.

She just didn't know if tonight was different from last night, and if she needed to keep the windows tightly closed. If it wasn't necessary, then they probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

Grandma Chiyo silently and quickly went forward to close the window.

But she was pulled by little Chiyo's clothes. Her finger pointed at the black shadow on the hill, "Grandma, why are you closing the window so quickly? There's been a person looking at us outside, and he didn't respond no matter how I called him."

"And then there was something that looked like a demonic beast. When it got close to him, it suddenly exploded with a bang!"

As little Chiyo spoke, she used exaggerated movements to act out the demonic beast exploding.

After hearing this, Grandma Chiyo became even more terrified. This was no longer something they could solve. If that thing came to the courtyard, who knew if she and her granddaughter would be blown to pieces like fireworks.

She could only forcibly pull little Chiyo back and close the window.

"..."

On the hill, the derivative created by Li Mo had empty eyes, and the pollution on its body far exceeded that of Li Mo in the main keep.

The wound on its neck healed quickly, and before it healed, what flowed out of the wound was not Li Mo's heavily polluted black and red blood, but a brilliant golden liquid.

It was just like the brilliant golden stream when entering Yae Village.

The giant rat in Yae Village that tried to approach it, just by licking a little, its rules and form of existence underwent an indescribable distorted change.

The existence of ghosts did not rely on a real body, but came from an unreachable bizarre source.

It was like a river that flowed endlessly.

Restarting, restoring, and rules were all part of the water in the river, and the water depended on what flowed out of the source.

And the source of the giant rat had clearly undergone an unspeakable change. Its real body was twisted, and its rules suddenly dissolved, flowing into another river.

It was absolutely impossible for a derivative to have more pollution than the main body.

It was like the energy of a single universe, it could not be increased.

Unless...

The derivative still stared intently at little Chiyo's room. It was still restricted by the three rules.

If there was only the first rule, regardless of life or death, regardless of the method, it could be easily completed.

The second rule was to restrict the first.

And the third rule was to restrict its existence. After completing the first rule according to the second, it would execute the third—self-destruction.

But in other words, if the first rule was not completed, it would exist forever.

This would not affect anything, after all, it had no thoughts.

And it would not become a real ghost.

Its essence was a river, not a source.

But who knew what would happen in the future?

What if the source was cut off?

Time passed minute by minute. Under the night sky, the candlelight flickered, and the darkness it illuminated swayed like a ghost's shadow.

It symbolized that the life of the living was being devoured bit by bit.

Little Chiyo, who had been scolded by her grandmother, curled up in her blanket, her heart not calm for a long time.

Although they were far apart, she clearly felt that the other party was very familiar. What's more, it was a human silhouette, what was there to be afraid of.

After hearing her grandmother go back to bed in the next room, little Chiyo couldn't wait to take out the mirror her grandmother had given her.

The bronze-colored mirror had actually become vivid.

Her grandmother had told her to give this mirror to big brother, saying that he would know how to use it.

Little Chiyo once again aimed the mirror at herself, but she still couldn't see her own reflection in it.

But before, when her grandmother looked in the mirror, she could see herself in black and white.

A flash of inspiration came to little Chiyo. She carefully opened the window and aimed the mirror at the black shadow on the hill.

Logically, because the distance was too far, a person's face could not be seen clearly in the mirror.

But this mirror strangely reflected the true appearance of the black shadow.

Little Chiyo tilted her head and looked at the mirror, wanting to know if this strange mirror could reflect the other's appearance.

"Big brother?"

Little Chiyo was stunned, looking at the face in the mirror in disbelief.

In the mirror, Li Mo had his eyes closed and was lying in a dim black coffin. The lid of the coffin was slowly lowering, about to be buried.

After getting this information, little Chiyo couldn't wait to get out of bed again, wanting to tell her grandmother that the black shadow outside was Li Mo.

And when little Chiyo's attention was diverted, the image in the bizarre mirror suddenly changed.

The gaunt-faced Li Mo was facing the young, school uniform-wearing Li Mo, seeming to be saying something. The two stood on the riverbank, and the stream beside them was particularly brilliant under the afterglow.

The next second, Li Mo unhesitatingly pushed the young Li Mo into the stream.

...

...

After a while, Li Mo woke up on the riverbank.

A notebook that recorded endless years was listed alone beside him.

The night wind rustled, and the flickering candlelight was the only visible thing in the darkness, attracting waves of peeping.

Humans, ghosts, derivatives.

"Grandma, why do I feel like... someone is always watching us."

Little Chiyo couldn't help but shrink back, tightly grasping her grandmother's arm.

After she had told her grandmother the whole story, her grandmother had confirmed it and then immediately took her out of the courtyard and walked towards the figure on the small hill.

"...Don't be afraid, you'll be fine," Grandma Chiyo comforted.

Clearly, this comfort did not work, and only made little Chiyo's hand grip her even tighter.

The surrounding temperature plummeted. The two of them walked in the blood peach orchard, which was filled with a strong smell of blood, particularly pungent.

Along the way, the peach trees made a creepy sound, as if someone were constantly scratching the trunks with their claws.

This sound was close at hand, rising and falling one after another, and the real object could not be seen.

Squeak, squeak—!

The rats' cries were very miserable, much more tragic than what they had heard the past few nights, as if they were being tortured.

Little Chiyo had the intention to retreat, but Grandma Chiyo insisted on taking her to the small hill.

The reason was also very simple.

She believed in the relics left by her husband. Little Chiyo's description was correct, which meant that Li Mo had indeed successfully escaped from Yae Village in the future.

Even though the image in the mirror was of him being buried.

But at least he wasn't buried in Yae Village.

Now she couldn't care less whether the figure on the hill was a ghost or the ghost exorcist Li Mo. She had to take the risk with either one.

If he was still human, that would be for the best. According to the premonition in the mirror, the other party must have a way to take little Chiyo away, which was why he would stand outside waiting instead of entering the courtyard in the middle of the night.

Perhaps he was under some restriction and couldn't speak, so he could only stand on the hill and watch, hoping to attract their attention.

If he was a ghost, it meant...

the real him had already met his end, and Grandma Chiyo could no longer think of a way for little Chiyo to leave.

There was no time.

She was also going to die. She could only gamble.

Thinking of this, Grandma Chiyo quickened her pace. The screams in her ears became louder and louder, with a faint hint of a human voice.

From the moment Li Mo entered the village, she had been anxiously testing him, and then making a deal.

Not just Li Mo. Before Li Mo, there were many more people, but they had all disappointed her.

Those people were not even as alert as she was.

The two of them quickly walked out of the blood peach orchard. Instantly, their whole bodies trembled, and the surrounding temperature had dropped to zero.

Because they were still wearing summer clothes, their skeletal muscles couldn't help but shiver.

"Grandma, I'm so cold... why don't we go back... it won't be cold if we go back to the room."

Little Chiyo seemed to have sensed something. She pulled her grandmother and wanted to go back to the blood peach orchard, and then back to the house.

Creak, creak—creak, creak—

The sound of joints twisting sounded behind them. The threshold in front of them was already dilapidated.

Grandma Chiyo suddenly stopped, standing there between the courtyard gate and the blood peach orchard.

Her old face was covered with wrinkles, and the tense nerves made the wrinkles even more obvious. Every slight tremble of her body made the dead flesh on her face even more terrifying, as if it would fall off her face at any moment.

A cold hand touched her back and was slowly moving towards her heart.

"..."

What did death feel like? Perhaps no one understood it better than this old woman.

Was it scary? Of course, it was scary. To see her loved ones being torn apart, a country full of cannibals, and one by one, fresh lives ending in a tragic way. As a young woman, she was extremely afraid.

She had dreamt of the past scenes of cannibalism in countless nights, and still felt scared after waking up.

If her parents hadn't loved her and refused to abandon her back then, she would have been someone else's toy long ago, covered in wounds and then becoming food.

She had always been afraid of death, which was why she was willing to come to this ghostly place with her husband rather than leave.

But now it didn't seem so scary, because death had left her with one last mercy—a chance to sacrifice her life, just like her parents back then.

"Be good, be obedient... Chiyo, don't look back after you go out the door. Run to his side."

Grandma Chiyo did not use her hand to block the ghost hand that had already reached into her body from behind.

Instead, she gently grabbed little Chiyo's shoulders with both hands and pushed her out the door.

"Grandma, I don't want to go anymore."

"Let's go back, okay? It's too cold outside. Let's go home..." Chiyo turned around, but was stopped by Grandma Chiyo.

At the same time, the ghost hand had already touched her heart. A cold feeling instantly swept through Grandma Chiyo's whole body.

Without the protection of the threshold, and having walked out of the blood peach orchard, it was only natural to be found by a ghost...

Fortunately, this ghost did not lock on little Chiyo.

Go back? Grandma Chiyo couldn't help but smile wryly.

If she hadn't seen her own son turn into that ghostly appearance, she might really have been unwilling to return to that chaotic world of war outside.

The same mistake could not be made again.

And before she died, little Chiyo would be safe. Next, it was up to her to attract their attention.

"Run!" Grandma Chiyo shouted, and with a backhand, she slammed the gate shut.

"Wait! Grandma! Let me in! Let me in!"

Little Chiyo pounded desperately on the gate.

However, the gate was held tightly by Grandma Chiyo. Finally, with a "clank," the lock closed, and the gate was completely sealed.

"..."

Grandma Chiyo grabbed a groove on the wall with one hand, supporting her body with the wall, and raised a torch with the other.

At this time, the ghost hand had completely grasped that heart.

Grandma Chiyo took a deep breath and said her last words before death, "I am a living person. I am here."

The beating heart suddenly stopped. The speed of the blood flowing in her body rapidly slowed down until it stopped completely.

Her limbs became cold, her glass crystal became cloudy, and her brain stopped thinking.

But her body did not fall, and her hand did not fall.

Countless ghosts walked out from the darkness, ignoring little Chiyo, and passed through the gate to the side of Grandma Chiyo, whose life was gradually disappearing. The faint light of the fire illuminated the child's path to the future.

"..."

"..."

A moment later, her body was torn to pieces, and blood splattered on the painting on the door. She died without a sound.

No one knew how she died. Perhaps Li Mo could guess, but a guess was, after all, not a fact.

On the other side, little Chiyo clenched her fists and ran quickly on the mountain road.

Her nails dug deep into her palms, and blood flowed from between her fingers.

Tears couldn't stop welling up in her eyes.

The mountain road was rugged and uneven. Little Chiyo fell again and again.

The bumps and bruises made her already fragile body bloody and mangled, but she didn't care about the pain. She didn't even have time to catch her breath, and she ran forward.

She bit her lip tightly, letting the grief flow in her heart.

Finally, he saw Li Mo at the end of the mountain. The grievance in her heart could no longer be held back, and she threw herself into Li Mo's arms and cried loudly.

"Waaaahhh...!"

"Waaahhh...!"