Chapter 47: "The Ghost is Waiting for Me"

"The source of the curse seems to have been found. It's a photograph featuring a bloody hand. But I find it very strange..."

Ji Li walked up the stairwell leading to the eighteenth floor. Apart from the sound of his own footsteps, there was only the analysis of the Third Personality echoing in his mind.

"It is very strange. Earlier, we guessed that the source of the curse was located near one of our store clerks. But judging from the current situation, there are still too many doubts regarding how the ghost kills. Perhaps once we find Xiao Li's mobile phone and see that photograph, many things will make sense."

At this point, Ji Li was surprisingly not in a hurry. He knew very well that events were progressing almost exactly as he had anticipated; Xiaoqi's existence had indeed become the key to unlocking the ultimate truth. And now, he was only a single step away from the true source of the mission!

"Number Two, why have you fallen dormant?"

Aside from the doubts surrounding the mission, what puzzled Ji Li the most right now was the change within himself. Ever since the last mission, the Second Personality seemed to have been gradually weakening in strength, constantly falling into slumber, and lacking energy even when awake.

Moreover, that "Ji Li" with grey pupils and a black robe he had spotted earlier instilled in him a natural sense of dread. Although he did not know who that person truly was or how he had managed to worm his way into his body, Ji Li still realized that a subtle, imperceptible integration was taking place between them.

Some intuition told Ji Li that that person had existed inside his body for a very long time and possessed extraordinary power. Perhaps his own special ability to "return from the dead" originated from that entity!

Yet, Ji Li was still terrified...

He had never feared anything to this extent—not even ghosts. What worried him was that before he could accomplish his grand objective, he would lose himself prematurely. He could sense that once he completely merged with that entity, he would no longer be himself. If that happened, all truths about his own identity and the secrets of the Tianhai Hotel would be aborted and left hanging in limbo.

"I don't know. I just feel that recently, my five senses have grown increasingly weak, as if I'm suffering from a severe illness. My strength... is almost gone."

Ever since its birth, the Second Personality had represented volatility and hot-blooded impulse. Although Ji Li did not care much for this disposition, he had to admit that the presence of Number Two made his journey for survival in this hellscape appear a bit more vibrant. After all, Ji Li himself was a rather lifeless person.

"Grey represents that person inside your body. But what about the red light..."

The Third Personality brought the focus back to the matter at hand. Before leaving, Xiaoqi had mentioned that aside from his original eye color, Ji Li also exhibited red light and grey. The grey was easy to explain, but what was the red light?

Ji Li glanced at the approaching eighteenth-floor marker and said softly, "When I just reached the fifth floor, I felt an unprecedented sense of crisis. It was precisely at that moment that a sharp pain tore through my head, and some external force began to invade my body."

At this point, he suddenly fell silent, his footsteps halting abruptly. Then, he jerked his head up as if realizing something, and blurted out urgently, "Could that chilling external force be the ghost?!"

A ghost, invading the body of a living human...

This fit the killing method of this mission to perfection: possession-suicide!

The Third Personality was prompted by these words. After a moment of silence, sudden enlightenment dawned upon him:

"So that's how it is! When you reached the fifth floor earlier, the ghost of this mission must have attempted to possess you, and that red light represented the ghost! It entered your body, and it was precisely because of this that the grey soul within you was provoked! The grey soul tried to block the invasion of the red-light ghost! From the looks of it, it seems to have succeeded, otherwise you would already be dead by your own hand!"

Ji Li nodded repeatedly upon hearing this. If explained this way, everything made sense.

Grey was another soul hidden deep within his body for a long time, possessing incomprehensible power.

Red light was the ghost of this mission; for some unknown reason, Ji Li had triggered a dead end just now, and the ghost was preparing to initiate its invasion, only to be blocked by the grey entity.

"However, if the grey soul is a protective force, why didn't it appear during my previous encounters with death..."

Ji Li believed the matter was not that simple. He still believed that it was only because he had reached a certain threshold that the grey entity's protection had been triggered. Furthermore, this protection was definitely not out of goodwill; perhaps the entity residing in the depths of his soul harbored even deeper secrets, and such actions must have a specific purpose. Once this secret was exposed, utter destruction awaited Ji Li.

"How did the ghost find you in the first place..."

Ji Li shook his head, harboring a vague suspicion that the ghost had been hiding right by his side all along.

Yet, in what guise and by what means it existed, he still had no clue.

He swept a stray lock of hair behind his head, his burning gaze fixed intently on a certain direction ahead—that was where the final clues lay.

This trip would determine the fate of all the store clerks currently alive. Fang Shenyan and Yu Guo were monitoring the situation on the ground floor, while Tong Guan and Chang Nian were bargaining with Li Xing on the floors below. This left Ji Li as the only free person, and the one closest to the truth.

"As long as I find that photograph, I am confident I can unravel the whole truth!"

Ji Li took a deep breath. Abandoning any thought of walking, he followed the route etched in his memory and dashed swiftly toward the scene of the incident.

Xiao Li's corpse, along with the bodies of the other five clerks, should still be in their old spots.

But...

When Ji Li reached that familiar corner, he saw the five stiff and ice-cold corpses lying along the corridors to his left and right.

Yet, one was missing—the most crucial one of all.

Xiao Li's corpse!

Ji Li's expression changed drastically. In fact, he had already anticipated this on his way here: Old Xue's corpse had vanished, so Xiao Li's corpse...

He whipped around and stared fixedly toward a specific room on the eighteenth floor.

Only one location remained now. That was the place where Xiao Li had once sent word that Old Brother Xu had died.

Now, both Old Xue's and Xiao Li's corpses had disappeared. Among the three people who originally knew about the supernatural events, only Old Brother Xu was left!

"Ji Li! I have a bad omen. Old Brother Xu is the final clue-bearer, but everything right now seems like a trap! The ghost is consciously guiding us over there!"

Indeed, the corpses at two of the three death sites had completely vanished, leaving only the final one.

This situation was entirely too explicit. Having survived numerous crises, Ji Li thought of this possibility immediately.

Yet, he had no choice but to go!

Ji Li's face turned exceptionally gloomy. He was only a single step away; even if it was a trap, he had to jump right in!

His figure strode rapidly toward the innermost depths of the eighteenth floor, without the slightest hesitation or doubt.

"I must find it, even if it kills me!"