Chapter 36: Visions of Purgatory

"How could it be this fast!"

Without even a moment to react, Ji Li’s mind went blank. His hands were still gripped onto the man’s shoulders, but the man’s head had already begun to twist!

The event was so sudden that Ji Li froze for an instant before leaping back, simultaneously grabbing the man’s arm joints and pulling backward with all his might!

"Li Xing! Bring everyone here, quick!"

In reality, the distance between Ji Li, Li Xing, and the others was not great. Logically, with eight people present, such a situation should not have occurred. Yet, it had happened, and without any warning.

Fine beads of sweat broke out on Ji Li’s forehead. In less than a second, he felt his own arms begin to stiffen. It felt as if he were gripping two steel bars—hard objects tainted by a curse. By merely touching them, he had come into contact with the curse, and it was already beginning to spread. Little by little, he watched his palms turn a cyan-black, as if something was slowly infecting him from the man’s shoulders!

Ji Li shuddered violently. This was a discovery he had never made before, and he immediately released his grip. His hands trembled uncontrollably, as if covered by frost; the icy chill refused to dissipate, lingering persistently on his skin.

At that moment, Li Xing arrived with the others, only to see Ji Li leaning against the wall, his hands turned an unnatural, pitch-black color, as if poisoned.

"What’s going on?"

Li Xing could not help but ask, and no sooner had he spoken than he heard a crisp, crunching sound, like the breaking of human bone! He stepped forward and, just past the corner, saw the head of a living man being twisted in an impossible direction!

"Don't just stand there! Tackle him!" Ji Li roared, his eyes bloodshot. A bone-chilling stiffness and cold emanated from his palms as he reached for the pistol at his waist.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two shots rang out, striking the dying man’s legs, but he did not collapse!

Li Xing and the staff members behind him were nearly paralyzed by the sight. The staff did not understand the situation; they saw an employee from their own building about to commit suicide, while Ji Li was attacking a living person for no reason. Most importantly, that man had taken two bullets and had not even stumbled!

Blood trickled from the two bullet holes, flowing toward the floor, yet the man remained motionless. Only his head, already on the verge of being snapped off, continued to force itself against the limits of human anatomy!

Li Xing’s eyes were filled with blood vessels. He clenched his fists, wanting to rush forward, but he knew better! The man still looked like a living person, but there was a ghost inside him! He had been possessed by a spirit; if he rushed in now, would he be killed along with him? Besides, he wasn't stupid—if it were safe to intervene, Ji Li would have stopped him long ago, rather than waiting for them to arrive!

Seeing the man on the edge of death, Ji Li ignored the mysterious injury on his hands and lunged forward, slamming his left shoulder into the man’s back with all his weight!

The impact felt as though he had hit a truck; his own bones seemed to shatter. The man didn't move an inch, while Ji Li’s entire body went limp, his left shoulder losing all sensation, replaced only by a numb, throbbing ache.

Seeing death fast approaching, Ji Li disregarded the pain in his left side and pulled a short blade from his pocket. His eyes filled with madness, he stabbed at the man’s wrists again and again, attempting to sever the hands before the man died!

Li Xing and the others behind him were stunned by Ji Li’s "inhumane" rescue method. Li Xing was terrified; they had exhausted every possible method, yet the possessed man remained unshakeable. How could they protect him? It was impossible to stop him from being murdered!

The staff members behind them began to retreat, intent on fleeing. Previously, Ji Li’s killing had been so calculated that it left them too afraid to resist. But now, seeing Ji Li use a gun and then a knife on a "living person," they realized completely that he was a cold-blooded madman.

The five staff members fled. Li Xing tried to dissuade them, barely stalling for time. He hadn't helped Ji Li at all, and if he let these five people run off, he couldn't guarantee that Ji Li wouldn't vent his fury on him.

Ji Li was completely exhausted. The man’s arms were riddled with holes, especially at the wrists; logically, his hands should have been severed. He had struck a dozen times, but while he caused wounds, they stopped at the flesh. The hardness of the man’s bones after being possessed was no longer something Ji Li could overcome.

Ji Li gave up entirely, watching as the head was twisted completely off, unable to utter a single word.

"This is... an unsolvable kill!"

Only the Third Personality in his mind let out a sound of utter shock. Unsolvable. Killing. Ji Li had realized it too: once possessed by the ghost, no matter how they tried to save the victim, it could not be reversed! Death was inevitable!

"Does the 'lone-target theory' not exist after all..."

Ji Li turned his head to look at the five staff members struggling with Li Xing, then back at the man who stood dead in his tracks.

"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible..."

His gray, clouded pupils were filled with too much doubt and shock. Since the store clerks had entered the building, nearly two hours had passed. Ji Li had faced possessed victims time and again, and he had only managed to deduce one rule of the killing. He believed staff members near the clerks would be possessed and killed when they became isolated in unknown numbers.

But... the first conclusion seemed to hold—every dead employee had been near a clerk. Yet, the "lone-target theory" had been completely overturned. There had been eight people present, enough to crowd the corner space entirely; it was no longer logical to call that being "alone."

But if there was no "lone-target" rule, why had so many people gathered on the first floor without a single death?

Ji Li watched the people scuffling together. Although there were still too many doubts, the worst-case scenario had emerged: the efforts of the past two hours had been completely in vain. The direction of the "path to survival" was wrong.

Ji Li sat on the ground, watching the six people beside him. His vision began to blur for no reason. It was as if something had interfered with his visual nerves, and by the time he regained his focus, he saw a scene that filled him with even greater despair!

Li Xing let out a piercing scream. He was unharmed, but the other five staff members, who had been huddled together... were, at that very moment, completely frozen.

Some were half-kneeling on the ground, some leaned against the wall, and some were mid-sprint toward the stairwell, but without exception, they were all locked in place!

In the eyes of a terrified and helpless Ji Li and Li Xing, everyone’s hands moved to the tops of their own heads. There was no blood, no screaming, but the scene was so absurd and grotesque that it resembled a vision of hell!

On the eighteenth floor, every living person except for the store clerks had been possessed and killed simultaneously!