Chapter 67.3
He looked back and found that the zombies around him were piled up like mountains. Xue Junli, Duan Hongzhen and the others were already so tired they were numb, but no one relaxed — who knew if this was the end of it?
Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously looked at the Miko and saw that her expression was calm, without sadness or joy. Of course, this was normal. It would be strange for her to have any expressions of joy and sadness… But the problem was that she did not take up the Kagura Bell that could purify souls like last time.
His heart sank… the matter was not over yet.
Sure enough, the next moment, hedgehog-head’s voice suddenly sounded behind them, “So that’s it… that’s it…”
That hedgehog-head woke up a long time ago. He watched Xiao Tangqiu and co killing the cla.s.smates he used to be familiar with. He didn’t stop them but he didn’t help either. He just stood by and watched all this happen.
He saw the killing from the beginning to the end, and he finally reacted when it was about to end.
“So that’s it… So I really died long ago…”
Hedgehog-head’s expression was blank and numb, “So I am really dead… Although we managed to survive the earthquake… But after we escaped to the playground, we died in the playground…
“No matter how hard we tried to escape, we still died…
“Too unresigned…”
Xiao Tangqiu instantly realized what was going on. No wonder hedgehog-head reacted so strongly to the word “playground” earlier and when Mei asked him to go to the playground.
According to the original path of fate, Mei had already died during the collapse of the school building. Naturally, she wouldn’t know what happened afterward. Although hedgehog-head and his cla.s.smates managed to escape the earthquake, they still died when they took refuge in the playground. They died in the playground’s sinkhole.
They survived with difficulty but still died in such a place, no wonder their resentment would be so big. No wonder the playground zombies were so strong!
Xiao Tangqiu’s heart jumped. Could this hedgehog-head… become the strongest zombie king?
The others obviously became vigilant at once. Only Kisaragi the Miko looked at hedgehog-head with an indifferent expression. After a while, she said, “Let go of the obsession in your heart, I will send you to reincarnate.”
Hedgehog-head’s expression suddenly became savage, “No! I am not resigned! I refuse to reincarnate!”
Kisaragi said indifferently, “There was a rare major earthquake in Hundred Ghost Village many years ago. Many deaths and injuries occurred, especially in this school which happened to be at the epicenter. Of the teachers and students in the school, no one survived…”
No one survived…
As soon as these three words came out, hedgehog-head’s expression suddenly became more ferocious, and his expression completely darkened, “No! Impossible! That is impossible!”
“Because of your obsession, your teachers and cla.s.smates are not at peace even after death. They have to constantly reproduce the scene of the great earthquake that year, suffering that torment time and time again, and the resentment becomes deeper and deeper. If this continues, they will never be able to reincarnatek2026;”
Kisaragi said coldly, “When people die, they should go to the afterlife and let go of their obsessions.”
Hedgehog-head murmured to himself, “No… no… I shouldn’t die… None of us should die…
“No! I don’t want to die!”
Hedgehog-head broke down completely. As soon as his voice fell, countless zombies crawled out from the cracks and holes in the ground again. They lumberingly leaped toward Xiao Tangqiu and them.
Xiao Tangqiu suddenly yelled, “Why are you so selfish? Do you think you alone are unwilling? Your cla.s.smates and your friends, are they willing then? Of course they are not! But you guys died! You are already dead! Rather than wandering around here being a ghost, it is better to reincarnate earlier and get a new life! Even if you are willing to be a wandering ghost, have you asked your cla.s.smates and your friends? Are they willing to be wanderers too? To be wild ghosts?”
“And Mei… is she willing to be a wandering ghost?”
After hearing Mei’s name, hedgehog-head suddenly froze for a moment, “Mei… Mei…”
“Yeah! Don’t you like her?” Xiao Tangqiu saw hedgehog-head’s movements stop and hurriedly continued shouting, “Such a beautiful and lovely girl, she should live in the sun. She should go to school and study, not be here. Being a wandering ghost, you can only live in the eternal night forever. Can you bear it?”
As Xiao Tangqiu spoke, another zombie crawled out of the cracks in the ground and staggered towards them.
Hedgehog-head’s face changed drastically, the zombie was Mei!
“Mei…”
Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment and did not make a move on Mei. Everyone else gained a tacit understanding and put down their weapons one after another.
Mei walked crookedly towards hedgehog-head. Hedgehog-head’s eyes gradually turned red, “Mei…Mei…”
He excitedly wanted to rush forward and hug Mei, but Mei had already become an unreasonable zombie. She gave a low growl and rushed towards hedgehog-head.
Mei threw hedgehog-head to the ground and viciously bit him!
Not only did hedgehog-head not struggle, he allowed Mei, who turned into a zombie, to bite his body, “Mei… I’m sorry… It’s all my fault… It’s my fault for not saving you…”
Mei couldn’t understand him anymore and continued to bite in instinct. Although hedgehog-head was bitten until his skin and flesh tore, he did not shed a drop of blood.
“Sorry Mei… It’s my fault… It’s my fault…”
At this moment, Kisaragi said coldly, “Is this your obsession? But even if you rescued her, even if you escaped to the playground, you would have still died because of the sinkhole…
“No matter how many times you reproduce the scene from back then, no matter how many times the cycle is repeated, the ending is already decided. No one can change that. Mei is dead, you are dead, all of you are dead.”
Xiao Tangqiu felt that Kisaragi’s words seemed too cruel, but he had to admit that she was right. No matter how many times hedgehog-head reproduced the scenes from back then, he could not change the results that had already happened. He was not successful in rescuing Mei in the first earthquake. He failed to escape the deadly sinkhole after successfully escaping to the playground… The ending had already happened. Even if the earthquake scene was reproduced continuously, it was irreversible. There was only regret. The grievances turned more and more serious, and the deceased were trapped and unable to move on.
Hedgehog-head howled and burst into tears, “I’m sorry! Mei! I didn’t save you! And the others… I didn’t save you! Even myself… I can’t save anyone in the end!”
Kisaragi looked on coldly and raised her longsword high towards hedgehog-head.
Hedgehog-head glanced at her unwillingly and finally hugged the already zombified Mei in his arms and closed his eyes.
The longsword in Kisaragi’s hand fell, and the silhouettes of hedgehog-head and Mei gradually disappeared. She sighed softly, took out Kagura Bell again, and shook it gently.
Under the crisp and melodious ringing of the Kagura Bell, all the zombies that had piled up like mountains disappeared.
Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and looked around to see that there was only a field of ruins left around him. The library, auditorium, and other buildings that were still visible had all collapsed… It seemed that this was the real tragedy after the great earthquake.
Tang Mianmian sighed, turned his head, and asked Kisaragi, “Is it over?”
Kisaragi glanced at him indifferently and didn’t answer.
Tang Mianmian awkwardly touched his nose and looked up at the sky, “Why is it still dark?”
Xiao Tangqiu also looked up. Although they didn’t know how long it had been since the sky was bright, it was still far from the next dawn. This night was too long. He tentatively asked Kisaragi, “Are we going to go somewhere else?”
Kisaragi still did not respond. She put away the sword and Kagura Bell, turned, and walked out of the ruins.
Xiao Tangqiu and the others looked at each other and quickly followed.
Soon, they pa.s.sed through the ruins of what was once a school and set off towards the next location.
This time they didn’t walk long before they stopped.
Xiao Tangqiu looked up and saw that it was a hospital.
It stood to reason that a hospital should be operating 24 hours a day, but this hospital looked dark from the outside. It was dilapidated everywhere as if it had been abandoned for a long time.
However, in a dead town such as Hundred Ghost Village, it seemed normal to have such an abandoned hospital. Xiao Tangqiu calmed down.
Tang Mianmian looked dumbstruck, “No way…”
Who didn’t know that the hospital was the most dangerous place in horror movies and horror games?
Xiao Tangqiu patted Tang Mianmian on the shoulder, “Accept it!”
Tang Mianmian chuckled dryly, “Can we… negotiate… I won’t go in?”
Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow, “Do you want to stay outside alone?”
Tang Mianmian immediately cried and asked, “Aren’t you staying with me?”
Xiao Tangqiu asked lightly, “Just by adding one of me, you won’t be afraid?”
Tang Mianmian thought about it. They were not simply live streaming now. Xiao Tangqiu was indeed a reliable helper when playing horror games, but at this time… Forget it! When in danger, who knows who would save whom in the end!
So he said tearfully, “Forget it, let’s go in together!”
Without waiting for them to cheer each other on, Kisaragi already walked straight into the hospital. Xiao Tangqiu quickly followed.
Just like the school earlier, as soon as they approached this hospital, the abandoned appearance began to change. The barren lawn grew with green gra.s.s again, the dried-up fountain in front of the building also gushed out water again.
Suddenly many patients and doctors appeared in the open s.p.a.ce in front of them, coming and going, all of them busy.
When Xiao Tangqiu was looking at the fountain at the entrance of the building, a voice suddenly rang out behind him.
“Move aside! Please move aside!”
He turned around to take a look and saw a young man with an anxious expression.
The man helped a pregnant woman with a painful expression and said in a rush, “Please move aside! My wife is about to give birth!”