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If Kurosawa Ai truly attempted to grasp the power within her that belonged to Theresa during that period, could it be that Kurosawa Ai was also responsible for this? Who exactly did Kurosawa Ai engage in this battle with here last night?

Looking at the translucent filaments of light seeping from the three incredibly gruesome corpses, emanating the aura of the Time Threads that Kurosawa Shizuki was intimately familiar with, Kurosawa Shizuki frowned. Could they be spies of the Purifiers? Had they actually infiltrated this place?

What troubled Kurosawa Shizuki even more was Ando Chinatsu, who was standing silently behind her. Before, a few bloody footprints at home had made her so sensitive, but now there were three incredibly horrific corpses here that Ando Chinatsu had seen with her own eyes. Kurosawa Shizuki didn't dare to imagine how Ando Chinatsu would react.

Unexpectedly, Ando Chinatsu acted as if she hadn't seen anything, standing next to Kurosawa Shizuki with a puzzled look on her face, tilting her head in confusion: "Kurosawa-kun, why are you looking at me with such a strange expression?"

As she walked into the alley, despite strolling amidst pools of blood, she showed no signs of discomfort. Not even a drop of blood touched the soles of her shoes, as if no filth could contaminate her body.

"You... didn't see anything?" Kurosawa Shizuki asked incredulously, pointing to a corpse completely stuck to the wall and twisted into a paste.

"What do you think I should see here?" Ando Chinatsu leaned closer, getting so close to the corpse that even Kurosawa Shizuki found disgusting that it was unacceptable. However, Ando Chinatsu remained completely unfazed. The red mycelium growing on the corpse seemed to be alive, trying to grow towards Ando Chinatsu, but it froze a few centimeters in front of her, unable to advance any further. There was indeed an unparalleled and powerful force protecting Ando Chinatsu.

Even what she sees is naturally "filtered" by that strange power.

"All I saw was a lovely little pink flower growing from the dark mud, the tender bud was so cute." Ando Chinatsu looked at the corpse's cracked bones, viscous brain matter, and flesh and organs blooming like a flower with a dazed gaze, but there was a pleasant and light smile on her face.

P.S., sorry to have kept you waiting, I'm back.

Chapter 156, Section 159: Akagi Kana's Favorite Food Stealing

Chinatsu Ando's dazed smile, in contrast to the crimson and gruesome scene, was chilling yet possessed a bewitching beauty, like an innocent little girl holding a dead person's head, seemingly unaware of the true horror of reality due to her own ignorance.

However, Kurosawa Shizuki was in no mood to care about Ando's thoughts, because she heard a sound that made her even more uncomfortable. If she wasn't mistaken, it was the sound of someone licking something.

Following the sound, Kurosawa Shizuki looked into the depths of the alley. There was a corpse that seemed to have been torn in half at the waist, dragged a long distance on the ground. Blood and flesh were flying everywhere, making the scene look like the most gruesome abstract painting. Organs and flesh were splattered all over the walls. Kurosawa Shizuki could even imagine someone wantonly smashing the enemy's corpse, which was now only half its upper body, against the wall like a club.

What concerned Kurosawa Shizuki even more was the location of the upper body of the corpse. A petite and slender girl, reminiscent of a small animal, wearing a blood-red dress, was lying on the ground like a wild beast. She was licking and gnawing at something in the direction of the mutilated corpse, and a chilling chewing sound came from there.

Kurosawa Shizuki remembered the rabbit hair clip that the girl's younger sister wore, as well as the pair of bracelets that emanated a strange, invisible aura on her hands. The left bracelet was made of ruby, and the right bracelet was made of lapis lazuli. Now, they were stained with fresh blood, which made them shine even brighter and more precious.

"Hey~ Akagi, what are you doing?" While Kurosawa Shizuki's mind went blank, Ando Chinatsu ran up behind the girl with a carefree smile, patted her on the shoulder, and heard Ando's voice. The girl, who was "enjoying her meal" in the middle of the meal, suddenly froze, struggled to stand up, and slowly turned around to look behind her. As expected, her cute little face was covered with black and red blood and bits of flesh.

Although she only met him once in the Ghost Club, Kurosawa Shizuki could never forget that he was the beautiful girl named Akagi Kana, a member of the Ghost Club who called herself a "medium".

Was she really... devouring human corpses? Could she also be—? Kurosawa Shizuki recalled the first two enemies she faced after arriving in this world, those two monsters. If they had actually started hunting, the scene probably wouldn't have been this exaggerated, right?

Her eyes, bright and clear like black gemstones, remained as innocent as those of a child, yet paired with her weak and pitiful face, and the filth covering it, they evoked a deep-seated terror. She looked at Ando Chinatsu, her large eyes flashing with extreme fear. She slowly took a step back, using her body to shield the corpse whose upper body had been gnawed beyond recognition, forcing a weak smile.

"Huh—it's President Ando? Weren't you supposed to spend more time with Kurosawa? Why, why are you out now?" Any normal person would probably be terrified to see Akagi in her current state, but Ando Chinatsu could still chat with her as if nothing was wrong, as if she had discovered that Akagi was just secretly hiding in a corner after school eating "snacks".

Although Kurosawa Shizuki knew from the beginning that Ando Chinatsu had a big "problem," it now seems that the severity of the problem is far beyond her wildest imagination.

What does the world look like in Ando's eyes? Can she still see the normal world?

"Of course we came out for a surprise inspection to see if our cute little Akagi was cheating~ Hmph, we caught him red-handed! Akagi-kun, how many times have I told you, you can't eat that junk food from roadside stalls anymore!" Ando pouted unhappily, crossed his arms, and showed a very disgusted expression.

"I'm so sorry! I was wrong, I'll never do it again. Healthy eating starts with me!" Akagi pitifully lowered her head to Ando, ​​apologizing repeatedly. Kurosawa Shizuki, however, noticed that Ando's lower abdomen was swollen to an exaggerated degree, even more so than when she was pregnant, but it was now visibly shrinking back to a normal, flat state. Just how much could her belly hold?

"You dare to do it again?" Ando Chinatsu's expression changed.

"There won't be a next time, it was a slip of the tongue, a slip of the tongue," Akagi shook her head in a panic, but then her eyes darted around and she suddenly looked at Kurosawa Shizuki with ill intent, "But President, you can't be hypocritical! Kurosawa has stolen food far more times than I have!"

"Me—stealing food?!" Kurosawa Shizuki pointed at herself. Having just witnessed firsthand what Akagi-san usually "stealed" food, Kurosawa Shizuki never expected that she herself would be accused of stealing food.

If we're talking about stealing food... Kurosawa Shizuki thought for a moment and finally came to her senses. Although the scene was nowhere near as disgusting and terrifying as Akagi's, it seemed that the dark substance hidden in the shadow behind her was far more exaggerated in terms of both speed and extent of "stealing food" than Akagi. Moreover, it wouldn't even leave a trace afterward, making the whole process safe, fast, and pollution-free.

"Kurosawa-kun, how dare you put on such an innocent and naive face? We're all seasoned gourmets, why hide it? Anyone who follows Ando-kun into this club, who wouldn't have a good appetite?" Akagi revealed a sly and sarcastic smile.

"Kurosawa-kun, is what Akagi said true? You've been cheating on me too?" Ando Chinatsu turned around with ill intent, looking at Kurosawa Shizuki with icy eyes. Kurosawa Shizuki felt as if the air had frozen.

"No, no, that's not true! My diet and lifestyle have always been very healthy!" Kurosawa Shizuki felt that if she really admitted it, something terrible would happen! Although Akagi was staring at her with a accusing look as if she were a hypocrite, Kurosawa Shizuki still denied it vehemently. "Besides, Ando-kun, we're not here to discuss such trivial things as 'cheating'! My sister is still missing!"

“Oh yeah, Ai-chan, Kurosawa-kun’s younger sister. She just had a fight with him recently, and it seems she ran away from home not long ago,” Ando Chinatsu seemed uninterested in pursuing the “cheating” matter further, turning to Akagi in a businesslike tone and asking, “Akagi-kun, your ‘intuition’ is always very accurate, and your nose seems to be very sharp too. Whether it’s divination or just smelling, can you find out anything about Ai-chan’s whereabouts?”

"Kurosawa-kun, is your sister the little girl with the beauty mark under her eye, who always looks like she's about to cry? And who walks with a limp? Not long ago, I think I brushed past her here. Even though it was just a fleeting encounter, I felt she was very hot, extremely hot. The kind of heat that would dry you out if you got too close..."

"If she has a beauty mark under her eye and is a little girl with a limp, then it should be her." Kurosawa Shizuki has now vaguely realized that Akagi seems to have a habit of using some kind of code to communicate when she talks to Ando, ​​and even when they are talking face to face, the unusually oblivious Ando still doesn't seem to notice anything unusual.

After all, what Ando can understand seems to be a completely different world from what Kurosawa Shizuki can currently see with her eyes.

“She’s fine. She just encountered a few bugs and stomped on them,” Akagi said with a half-smile, pointing to a few unusually bright bloodstains on the wall. “She seems to be an innocent and good child. Even though she just stomped on a few bugs, she felt like she had committed some terrible crime. After that, she left with a blue-haired girl, who was carrying two very exquisite dolls with her.”

"A blue-haired girl? A doll?" Upon hearing the word "blue hair," Kurosawa Shizuki almost instinctively thinks of Theresa Aquino. She possessed Theresa's skull, and a precious fragment of Theresa's time resided within Kurosawa Ai's body. The fact that both she and Kurosawa Ai had such deep entanglements with this person could not possibly be a coincidence.

Now that Akagi has actually seen Kurosawa Ai leave with the "blue-haired girl," is Theresa really dead? And what are those two dolls anyway? Kurosawa Shizuki suppressed the urge to rip out Theresa's skull right now and interrogate her about what she was up to.

"Kurosawa-kun, I suppose I'm being nosy, but I still want to give you a piece of advice: even sisters should have some private space. Pressuring them too much might backfire. That girl is a very opinionated person; she seems to have the ability to make independent decisions and bear the consequences. You don't need to worry too much," Akagi snapped her fingers nonchalantly. While Ando Chinatsu wasn't paying attention, behind her, it was as if an invisible beast had opened its blood-red maw.

With a series of sharp, grating cuts, the sound of teeth slicing into flesh was chilling. Kurosawa Shizuki could see with absolute clarity that the mutilated corpse behind Akagi, which appeared to be a Purge agent, was disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Even though Akagi hadn't moved his mouth at all, it vanished into the void as if it had never existed.

"Of course, your worries are useless. Just like me and my dear brother, you and your sister are both wandering souls deeply bound by the chains of fate. We can't escape it. No one can escape the arrangement of the cards of fate." Akagi chuckled. She produced exquisite tarot cards from somewhere and held them between her fingers. The tarot cards danced between her filthy hands as if they were alive, but not a single tarot card was stained with blood.

P.S. I've been gone for so long that I can't remember a lot of the earlier plot points. It's really giving me a headache.

P.S., thank you all for your support. I will definitely continue writing. If I don't continue writing this book, there's no point in starting a new one after abandoning it.

Chapter 157, Section 160: Tarot Cards

"Oh my, this is such a wonderful dream," Akagi Kana slowly wiped the bloodstains from the corner of her mouth with a tissue, her slightly curly, reddish hair flowing with a delicate luster. "For someone as humble as me to be able to participate in such an interesting ghost-hunting activity with three such outstanding seniors is simply the greatest happiness for me."

"I always felt there was something behind your words. We're all students from the same school, and we're only a year older than you. There's no question of who's more noble or more humble... I brought everyone together to establish this club simply so that we could all enjoy our fleeting youth more happily. If you don't feel a sense of belonging to the club, I won't stop you from leaving." Ando Chinatsu seemed unusually sensitive to certain things, and gave a cold snort. Kurosawa Shizuki felt that she didn't seem to have a very good impression of Akagi Kana.

Kurosawa Shizuki followed behind Ando and Akagi, looking down and tapping on her phone.

[Where are you? Did you see Teresa too? Why did you run away from home without a word? Heijing is dangerous right now, you should know that better than I do.] This message was sent via social media on the phone screen. The recipient was Ai Kurosawa, and the profile picture was a zombie-like monokuma (black and white bear).

The message was marked as "read" almost instantly after being sent.

[I'm sorry I left in such a hurry, but I had things I had to do. Our time is running out, and I must be useful to my sister from now on.] What reassured Kurosawa Shizuki a little was that Kurosawa Ai replied to the message instantly; at least the worst thing hadn't happened to Kurosawa Ai.

Sister Theresa is very kind to me. I'm going with her on a training journey to master my own power. Sister, you go and attend to your own affairs; I'll be back soon.

[Did you kill the Purifier's agents?] Kurosawa Shizuki could hardly imagine how the seemingly harmless Kurosawa Ai could have defeated those powerful enemies from the Purifier and ultimately created such a horrific scene.

[This isn't me, at least not the normal me, sister. You should understand, there's a monster hidden inside me too. If I can't tame that monster, I might destroy myself before even facing my enemy.]

Kurosawa Shizuki thought of that mysterious shadow girl again. Sometimes she seemed to be guiding her onto the right path, but at other times she carried an unfathomable malice. Was she also the "monster" that Kurosawa Ai was talking about?

Kurosawa Shizuki put away her phone, having confirmed for the time being that Kurosawa Ai was not in danger. She had only chosen to follow Ms. Theresa for some special training in order to tame the "monster" within her. Kurosawa Shizuki had no reason to stop Kurosawa Ai, because Kurosawa Shizuki herself was already in dire straits, let alone using her power to protect Kurosawa Ai.

If Ai Kurosawa can find her own path and possess her own strength to face enemies alongside Shizuki Kurosawa in the future, it might open up entirely new possibilities for Shizuki Kurosawa.

"Alright, although everyone talks about freedom, equality, youth, and happiness, there are still different classes in this world. Only someone like you, who was born into the highest class, has the right to say things like 'enjoy youth'," Akagi Kana's smile carried a meaning that made Kurosawa Shizuki uncomfortable, especially when she was covered in unsettling bloodstains. "Someone like me, hiding in the shadows, can only look up enviously at the 'light' shining on you, Ando-senpai. Who deserves that light? I'm really looking forward to the true ending of this little story that we've all written together."

"Aren't you a medium? You should have already divined the ending, right? With those tarot cards you never let go of." Ando said casually. Akagi's words seemed to be true. Ando looked at Akagi as if he were looking at some kind of disgusting "filth." Just talking to Akagi was a huge favor to Ando.

"Of course I did a tarot reading, and the result was quite interesting, Ando-senpai. Your tarot card is the reversed Sun—a fading sun that still radiates unparalleled light and heat. How long can you keep burning? And who will ultimately inherit your light?" Akagi Kana tossed Ando Chinatsu a Sun card that was fading away and its light was dimming. Ando Chinatsu looked down at the card, her expression uncertain.

"Kurosawa-senpai, you must be really looking forward to it, right? I have a card for you here too~" Akagi turned around, grinned, and pulled out another dark blue card from his sleeve, tossing it to Kurosawa Shizuki. Kurosawa Shizuki instinctively caught the card.

On the playing card, a beautiful woman wearing a crown and a long robe, with a melancholy face, stands on a crescent moon, surrounded by two opposing stone pillars.

"A priestess? What's the story behind this?" Kurosawa Shizuki had never played with tarot cards before.

"Senior, you are caught between two opposing worlds, but you have enough wisdom and intellect to balance them. As long as you can gain true wisdom, you will be able to control everything around you. However, if what you suppress in your heart is released and the balance is destroyed, you will be swallowed up by both worlds at the same time."

"Balancing two opposing worlds?" Kurosawa Shizuki muttered to herself. Perhaps Akagi Kana's seemingly unreliable tarot card readings had actually touched upon the essence of certain things.

At the end of the alley, a long black sedan had stopped at the intersection sometime earlier. The door was wide open, and a frail-looking girl stood beside the car, holding a pale yellow umbrella. It seemed that any sunlight would scorch her pale skin, which was so pale that no blood could be seen. She stared at the three people with eyes devoid of warmth.

However, that cold look in his eyes was fleeting, seemingly just Kurosawa Shizuki's illusion. The next moment, it transformed into the gentle, warm smile that Kurosawa Shizuki knew so well.

"Gentlemen, I apologize for keeping you waiting. Today's situation is a bit special, so I had to temporarily arrange this vehicle. Please bear with me." Suzuki Machiko's voice was soft yet surprisingly penetrating, as if she were a completely different person from the girl Kurosawa Shizuki had seen in the woods yesterday who had displayed seven wounds and shot down the Lady of the Forest.

"Oh, not at all. I'm so touched that everyone was willing to come all the way for club activities in this terrible weather," Ando Chinatsu's smile held a hint of uncertainty. Kurosawa Shizuki felt that Ando Chinatsu didn't seem as happy as she appeared. Did Ando not really want everyone to come? "If anyone doesn't want to continue participating in this ghost hunt, you can withdraw now. I won't be responsible if anything goes wrong."

The weather was not only bad, but even though the authorities had announced a typhoon today, everyone in the Ghostly Department still decided to go to the so-called Cursed Paradise to carry out some kind of ghost-hunting activity. It was so absurd that it was as if everyone in the Ghostly Department had mental problems. What was even more absurd was that everyone in the Ghostly Department seemed to be used to this situation, and no one had any objections.

In the sudden awkward atmosphere, it was only natural that no one would choose to back out. Ando's brooding gaze swept across everyone's faces, as if he were deep in thought.

Perhaps everyone except Chinatsu Ando already understood the unexpectedly heavy true meaning behind what seemed to be just a teenage girl's unreasonable ghost-hunting activity.

"Ando-kun is joking. We all met in this club because of our shared interests. This is the first official club activity. How could anyone want to back out at the last minute? No matter what happens, we will stick together until the end."

Today, Suzuki Machiko's body was wrapped in bandages again, even more than yesterday, at least nearly a hundred. Could it be that she has more "scars" now? Kurosawa Shizuki is gradually realizing that scars contain hidden power for someone like Suzuki who is so skilled in the Path of Enlightenment. What kind of preparations has Suzuki made for the upcoming journey to the Cursed Paradise?

“What Suzuki-senpai said is so true. Being able to make it to the end with such a brilliant group of people is the greatest happiness for someone as insignificant as me. Without Suzuki-senpai’s help, this ghost-hunting activity would not have had any chance of going smoothly. Suzuki-senpai is the real hero of the Ghost Club,” Akagi Kana casually tossed Suzuki Machiko a tarot card. “Suzuki-senpai, this is a reward for you. I also did a divination just for you.”

"Thank you." Suzuki glanced at the tarot cards in his hand without a second thought before putting them into his handbag. "The Hermit," an old man carrying a lantern, walking alone in endless darkness. The old man was weathered and scarred all over. In the darkness around him, countless insects crawled and lurked.

"Suzuki-senpai, aren't you even a little curious about the meaning of this card?" Suzuki Machiko's reaction seemed to disappoint Akagi Kana.

“Akagi-senpai, I appreciate your kindness, but I have absolutely no interest in interpreting fate. Because a long, long time ago, I already knew my destined ending. It’s an answer that’s already been determined, so there’s really no need to explore it again.” Suzuki Machiko’s gentle and beautiful smile carried an undisguised sadness.

P.S., I'm in a really bad state, extremely bad. I have absolutely no enthusiasm for writing. It's always like this; I get overwhelmed by sudden negative emotions and self-doubt.

PS2, I can't go home for Chinese New Year again this year, sigh, it's even more heartbreaking.

PS3, I've been secretly writing short stories lately when I have nothing to do. Maybe I'm just not suited to writing long stories.

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