Chapter 57 He is going to betray us!

"Any method may be used to identify the location of the ghost, and doing so shall be deemed a successful summoning of the ghost."

This was the most crucial point in the mission details, outlining an immensely broad boundary:

"Any method!"

Under any condition and requirement, once the modifier "any" is added, the scope for operation becomes vast indeed.

For instance, the mutual identification among Fang Shendian and the others, or even Tong Guan's practice of recording videos in advance, could all fall within the category of "any method."

For this mission, it could almost be said that as long as the true nature of the mission was discovered, there would be no further difficulties.

However, Ji Li's current situation was far more complex.

He carried two parts of the ghostly entities: one that originally came with the mobile phone, and the other from the ghost that had killed him.

At the same time, he did not have a backup phone opportunity like Tong Guan did. Right now, at the very bottom of this elevator shaft, he was completely alone.

Only old Xue's and Xiao Li's phones remained in his possession.

During the time since he regained consciousness, Ji Li had also considered a method similar to Tong Guan's—using a phone to record in advance—unfortunately, doing so was still not foolproof.

After all, Tong Guan was facing one ghost, while he had to face two.

After much deliberation, Ji Li prepared to act on the judgment he had made just before his death.

In the silent elevator shaft, the wind howled. Ji Li wrapped his trench coat tighter around himself, and the only sound left was the crackle of a cigarette being consumed.

A long while later, the third personality adjusted his emotions before responding to the previous statement.

"So, what is your path to survival?"

Ji Li's hair danced in the wind as he raised his head, ash scattering and swirling from his fingertips.

"Do nothing at all, and let those two ghosts come and kill me one by one."

His voice was not loud, but his tone when saying this was extremely firm, as if this non-plan of a plan was the most proper solution he could conceive.

The third personality possessed considerable intellect, yet for a moment, he failed to grasp the full meaning of Ji Li's words.

After a long pause, Ji Li spoke again:

"When a ghost possesses someone with an unsolvable curse, the living person loses all consciousness and all ability to act. Once possessed, no one has any way to reverse it.

"But... I am an exception!"

The third personality gasped inwardly. He seemed to have figured out Ji Li's plan, yet he remained silent.

Building upon this thought, Ji Li asked the third personality: "When I died previously, did you shout my name?"

"Yes..."

"That's right then. I am the bug in this mission!"

Hearing this, the third personality fully understood.

Pinpointing the exact current location of a ghost was no easy task.

The best method, naturally, was for the ghost to possess someone, as such an identification would be the safest and most reliable.

Yet this ghost possessed an utterly unsolvable ability: once possessed, even thought itself would be suspended.

The victim, despite clearly knowing the ghost's location, would still remain unable to complete the identification.

This was a contradiction, but the assertion made by Ji Li—that he was a bug—successfully resolved this paradox...

Because, residing within Ji Li's body, there were other personalities!

Furthermore, judging by consistent manifestations and attributes, Ji Li did not suffer from dissociative identity disorder; the extra personalities within him were actually separate souls!

This much was evident from the abilities and bizarre phenomena displayed by that gray soul.

In particular, at the exact moment Ji Li's primary personality was eradicated by the ghost, he had distinctly heard the third personality's unhindered roar.

This made him even more certain that whether it was the vulgar second personality, the perceptive third personality, the dormant fourth personality, or the most deeply hidden gray personality—

They were all additional souls sealed within this body of his!

This was a recent discovery, an astonishing truth realized after he had died three times.

Following this incident, Ji Li drew a conclusion:

Unknown numbers of individual souls were locked within his body, and death was the key that unlocked and released them!

Presently, the first two souls, meaning the personalities, did not pose much danger and had provided considerable help in executing his missions.

However, over the long term, as more souls revived, his psyche would become increasingly cluttered, and uncontrollable personalities might emerge.

In fact, he had already begun to suspect that the fourth personality within him had long since awakened and was now merely disguised under a facade of calm.

Yet what worried him most of all was that mysterious gray soul...

This soul had revealed itself slightly while on the fifth floor, engaging in a clash with a ghost that had invaded from the outside, and it appeared to have emerged victorious.

Ji Li even guessed that this was the reason why the ghost originally inside his phone had never launched an attack!

Perhaps the flash of red light that invaded the fifth floor at that time was none other than the ghost from the phone, and it had been swallowed by that gray soul!

This was the only way to explain why, even though the ghost originally in the phone was closest to him, it was another ghost that struck first.

"Suspected of being able to devour ghosts!"

This was merely a conjecture, but Ji Li was extremely reluctant to believe it was true: a soul even more powerful than a ghost was hidden inside him.

Could this gray soul, too, be a ghost...

The cigarette had burned down to the end, and Ji Li's fingertips were being scorched, yet he was too dazed to care.

Until the third personality asked:

"So, you believe that when the ghost possesses you and your primary personality perishes, I should speak up and identify the presence of the ghost?"

The matter was pulled back into the context of the mission by the third personality's words. Although Ji Li suspected that the other ghost had most likely been swallowed by the gray soul, he still chose to adopt this unorthodox method.

After all, deep down, he was unwilling to believe that the gray soul could consume ghosts.

"That is correct."

Following Ji Li's words, the space fell completely still. Everything grew quiet as they awaited the arrival of the ghost.

Ji Li firmly believed that his plan could not fail. The mission explicitly stated "any method," offering an unusually loose limit that fundamentally left no room for error.

He sat quietly in the shaft like a piece of dead wood, waiting for the ghost to arrive.

Before him lay a mobile phone—Xiao Li's phone. During this period, he had also attempted to identify this phone, but the ghost was not there.

After a long while, Ji Li saw a beam of light emerge in the upper part of the shaft: morning sunlight.

A long time had passed. Ji Li felt the surrounding environment was somewhat too tranquil; his throat felt dry, yet deep in his heart, he felt an intense urge to smoke.

Only a single cigarette remained in the cigarette case. He sighed inwardly, reached out to pull it out, and at that moment, he suddenly saw his own hands—they had turned pitch black!

A jolt of shock pierced Ji Li's heart. Previously, the light source had been too scarce, and only now, with the breaking of day, did he notice that his hands had completely changed color at some unknown point!

This reminded him of the touch-transmitted curse he had witnessed when he tried to stop Xiao Li's death on the eighteenth floor.

Just as Ji Li was about to speak, his hands abruptly stopped obeying his will, and a intense aura began to revive within his palms!

As it turned out, that ghost had never left after killing Ji Li; it had been lurking in his palms all along!

Ji Li no longer possessed the faculty of thought required to make an identification, but events still proceeded according to his original plan. His head was gripped tightly by those hands, and they began to wrench it little by little.

The ghost had fallen for the trap, but at this very moment, the third personality...

Watched this scene unfold, without saying a single word!