Hanako appeared, the surrounding compartments mysteriously vanished. Hanako's jet-black eyes stared intently at Lin Ze. She wanted to get closer, but a powerful spiritual force emanating from him was preventing her.
The resentment intensified, blood tears streamed from Hanako's eyes. In Lin Ze's bedroom, the talismans began to heat up, and the magical artifacts emitted a red glow.
Seeing Hanako's determination to charge forward despite the danger, Lin Ze quickly called out to stop her, "Wait, you don't have to do this. We can think of other ways!" Lin Ze wasn't sure how long the talismans and artifacts could hold out, but he knew that if Hanako persisted in this reckless approach, he would be the one to break first. Qin Zi wasn't privy to the full details, and she wouldn't have imagined that Hanako would charge at Lin Ze without hesitation, even in the face of talismans and artifacts.
Hanako completely ignored Lin Ze's words. She could have possessed her previous life, freed from the rules! That was her obsession, her instinct! But this guy right here had destroyed it all. Hiraki Hanako was born because of her spirit, they were closely connected, and now there was no chance! This was a critical juncture, once it passed, all her efforts would be in vain.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up! You don't understand anything!" Hanako's cries grew louder, her voice, once soft and eerie, became shrill and frantic! Her body started to disintegrate, countless wounds appearing all over her.
Lin Ze retreated to the corner, with nowhere left to go. Facing Hanako, who was steadily advancing towards him, Lin Ze took a deep breath, "Kayako!!!"
A sudden, jarring "咯咯咯…" sound echoed. Hanako's body froze, while Lin Ze's face lit up with joy. He had only made this attempt out of desperation. Combining what he knew about the old woman and his own deductions, Kayako was indeed by his side, in his dreams!
Hair fell from above, Lin Ze slowly raised his head. A half-body emerged from the top corner of the wall, Kayako hanging upside down, her twisted and eerie form slowly crawling down. Her writhing hair completely obscured Lin Ze's face. Kayako's upside-down face was level with Lin Ze's, her face covered in dried blood, her empty eyes staring intently at him.
Recalling the Kayako who was constantly cautious and full of love for him, Lin Ze suddenly felt short of breath. From those empty eyes, he actually saw pain, resentment, and…longing.
"Kayako…" Lin Ze murmured, his voice trembling. But this wasn't out of fear. His eyes were red-rimmed as he raised his right hand, just like he had done when he first escorted Kayako home, and brushed the writhing hair away from her face, "How did you end up like this…"
Kayako's voice suddenly stopped, her eyes regained their life. For the first time, her rough, hoarse voice uttered words, "Lin…Ze…" Kayako instantly crawled off the wall, her twisted, eerie body making cracking sounds as her joints contorted and twisted. Kayako slowly stood up from the ground, standing between Lin Ze and Hanako. Then, she suddenly raised her head and looked at Hanako.
"Why? Why are you stopping me!!!" Hanako couldn't move. She wasn't Hiraki Hanako, and she didn't know about the feelings between Kayako and Lin Ze. She hadn't paid any attention to them. As a horror entity, she needed to appear everywhere to spread her existence.
Kayako suddenly disappeared from her sight. From Lin Ze's perspective, two pale hands suddenly emerged from Hanako's shoulders, reaching towards her back. Kayako's face protruded from behind, a bizarre scene unfolding. Hanako was enveloped in Kayako's grotesque embrace, then gradually melted into her body.
After completing this, Kayako looked at Lin Ze, but didn't speak. Black threads seeped out of the walls and enveloped her, she was about to leave.
That glance made Lin Ze's heart skip a beat. It wasn't the curse! It was Kayako! Lin Ze stepped forward and grabbed her, "Kayako!"
Seemingly taken aback by Lin Ze's audacity in grabbing her, Kayako's dark pupils widened slightly, her body began to tremble, and her lips quivered, "Wh…why…don’t…you…fear…me?" Her hoarse voice rasped.
"Why would I be afraid of Kayako?" With a gentle pull, Lin Ze pulled Kayako's body back. This was also because Kayako didn't resist him at all. Kayako turned her head away, seemingly unwilling to look at Lin Ze, even more unwilling to let him see her like this.
Lin Ze reached out and gently touched her face, guiding it back to face him. Kayako's entire body began to shake violently. Lin Ze felt something damp on his hand, two streams of blood tears slid down his fingers, "Why are you not afraid of me? I need you to fear me so I can hate you! Why did you treat me that way? Why?"
Lin Ze's previous guess was correct, she was a Kayako from a future timeline, also a part of the curse, "I will never be afraid of Kayako. In my eyes, Kayako has always been that slightly shy, beautiful girl." Kayako stared directly into Lin Ze's eyes, there were no lies there, only sincerity, guilt, and heartache, just like on that rainy day.
She threw herself into Lin Ze's arms, her hoarse voice breaking into a loud cry, "Lin Ze, how could you do that to me, I just wanted to silently love you, even if you had someone else, as long as you could give me a little bit of your attention, that would be enough for me. But why did you kill me for Fūka-san?"
It all started the day Lin Ze bumped into Fūka. He became madly infatuated with her, and she gradually became an eyesore in his eyes, eventually being slashed by a blade. Her heart died, and she went to other timeframes to find different Lin Ze, but there was none! There were no Lin Ze in other parallel timeframes.
She could only search for Lin Ze along different time branches in her own timeline. She found a few. She wanted to ask why he had treated her that way, but the first Lin Ze she saw ran away, taking Hanako with him... The second one had a girl beside him, she seemed to be called Sadako? She was very powerful, they couldn't completely kill each other in their dreams. Seeing Lin Ze’s fear... she left. The third one died... The fourth one was imprisoned, the one who imprisoned him was herself... That world was silent, that Kayako was even crazier, she told herself in her dream that this was the only way to keep Lin Ze from leaving her forever.
She searched aimlessly, gradually becoming lost. Resentment and curses were about to consume her true self, until she accidentally arrived here. It was before Lin Ze met Fūka, she used the last vestige of her will to refrain from questioning him, she also resisted the urge to kill him, she just wanted to see him again in her dreams. She thought... maybe the Lin Ze of that time would be disgusted and frightened by her at first glance. If that happened, she would surely lose control and kill him. But he was only startled for a moment, then his gaze shifted from shock to pity and sympathy, and he spoke softly, "Kayako".
In that moment, a glimmer of hope emerged from her despairing heart. She had a sliver of hope, wanting to see him again. If he abandoned "her" again! Then she would kill him later, she thought this way until now.
"I don't know what Kayako has been through, but I will never hurt Kayako, and I will never let anyone hurt Kayako! I… know Kayako likes me, to have a girl like that like me, how could I be cruel? How could I bear to do that?" Lin Ze held Kayako tightly in his arms, he was afraid of the curse, but he wasn't afraid of Kayako.