The Final Moment

A dead end, corresponding to a live path.

If the deduction of the dead end fails, then the living will face a terrible situation of eternal damnation.

Ji Li's plans for proactive attacks both times were not wrong. Apart from Liu Zi's vague death, there was a buffer time for his being attacked and the Tall Thin Man's death.

Moreover, the Tall Thin Man's dying words gave him an illusion.

"Don't look at it," this is the living person's active observation of the Mirror Frame.

From the Tall Thin Man's perspective, the Mirror Frame's primary target at the time was Ji Li. In the chaos, as he focused his attention, the Mirror Frame's gaze shifted and swept across his face.

It was at that moment that the Tall Thin Man was illuminated, cursed, and died.

Therefore, he subconsciously believed that his own gaze had caused him to trigger the dead end.

But he overlooked the fact that the Mirror Frame rotated on its own!

It was precisely this illusory hint that pushed Ji Li's deduction into an abyss!

That's why he attributed the dead end to "direct eye contact between the living and the Mirror Frame."

But Blondie's eyes were tightly shut, and he hadn't actively looked at the Mirror Frame. Thus, a more terrifying conjecture arose!

The true dead end: as long as one's face is scanned by the Mirror Frame and depicted in a memorial portrait, death is inevitable!

After Ji Li figured everything out, he shivered violently, as if realizing something...

The video call had still not ended!

Since Blondie was using the rear camera to film the coffin, his phone naturally fell to the ground after he died...

And what Ji Li saw on his phone screen now was darkness.

This meant that the screen, displaying his face, was exposed to the air!

Ji Li's scalp was about to explode. Just as he was about to throw the phone away, he instinctively lowered his head and happened to see an empty Mirror Frame right opposite the screen!

The Mirror Frame had actually crawled out of the coffin, suspended in mid-air, aimed at Blondie's phone screen, and also at Ji Li's face!

The dead end was about to be triggered!

Ji Li threw the phone away, but the sense of unease in his heart did not disappear. On the contrary, his entire body began to be enveloped by a strange chill.

A hand reached out from the coffin again, grabbed his long hair, and dragged him towards the coffin!

Ji Li panicked, cut the strand of hair with a knife, and then scrambled forward to escape, but was immediately pulled back by the hand.

In desperation, he lifted his collar and covered his head to shield his face. Then, with his only free hand, he dug into a protruding stone on the ground, barely blocking the ghost's attack.

But it was only a delaying tactic!

Having experienced several missions, he immediately understood that this meant he was on the verge of the dead end.

Perhaps it was just a fleeting glance, and the ghost was not enough to fully capture his likeness in a memorial portrait.

Therefore, he did not die immediately like Blondie and the others, but was given a sliver of breathing room!

He used all his strength, prostrating himself on the ground, his hands gripping the stone, and his feet pushing against the coffin lid, achieving a precarious balance.

"Smash that damn Mirror Frame directly!?"

The Second Personality became frantic, shouting hysterically in Ji Li's mind.

"Absolutely not!

The Mirror Frame is the carrier of the ghost; it cannot be destroyed!" The Third Personality began to analyze calmly and proposed another solution.

"There is less than half of the mission time remaining. Can we just keep our faces covered like this, wrestle with the ghost, and stall until the mission ends?"

Ji Li was also anxious. His face, hidden by the cloth, was covered in sweat, but the chilling sensation around him had not disappeared.

He was almost certain that the empty Mirror Frame was hovering in front of him, waiting for the moment he was fully exposed or for the mission time to end!

After hearing the Third Personality's suggestion, he retorted in a deep voice:

"Impossible. Due to the injury on my left wrist, I've lost most of my strength. I won't be able to hold on for three hours.

Moreover, what you're suggesting only avoids the dead end. The mission requires finding a live path to pick up the ghost!

Otherwise, if the ghost remains after the three-hour mission ends, without the rule restrictions, I won't be able to escape this alley!"

In just a few thoughts, Ji Li and his two personalities had considered several solutions in his mind, but none were sufficient to escape the predicament.

Ji Li frowned, trying to steady his mind. The live path must have appeared by now; what had he overlooked!

And just then, his face, covered by cloth, felt a hint of light...

"Light..."

"Light!"

Ji Li's mind suddenly recalled an anomaly that had remained unresolved until now!

Why, in the second round, when he was scanned by the empty Mirror Frame with no obstruction, did he not die instantly?

Instead, he found himself in a "semi-dead end" situation, wrestling with the ghost as he was now?

"Streetlight!"

When I was attacked in the second round, the first thing I saw wasn't the mirror frame, but a blinding reflection of light!

The empty mirror frame's surface was glass, and it wanted to illuminate the faces of all living people.

But precisely because I was standing under a streetlamp at the time, the ghost's reflection was blurred by the mirror's glare, and it failed to fully capture me!

That's why this bizarre 'half-dead end' situation occurred!"

The fog in Ji Li's mind was instantly cleared. All the clues converged at this moment, forming a complete path to survival!

As long as the empty mirror frame could no longer reflect his face, the dead end would be completely broken.

Thus, a path to survival would be formed!

"Your bag!

Your bag has a headlamp in it. If you put it on your head, it will completely counter the ghost's dead end!

It won't be able to capture your face anymore, only a blurry light source!"

The Second Personality had already died once with Ji Li, and it was extremely terrified of that feeling. The moment it received the path to survival, it screamed frantically in Ji Li's mind.

Without it needing to say anything, Ji Li had already taken action.

Before the ghost could make a move, he clearly remembered his backpack was open not far below him. Due to the previous struggle, it was now very close to him!

Ji Li decisively gave up struggling with the hand pulling him, and his body was immediately dragged towards the coffin.

But relying on his memory, he felt around for the backpack and pulled it into his arms!

"Quick! Only three seconds left!"

The Third Personality, having lost its composure, urgently reminded him!

Ji Li tucked the backpack under his left arm and fumbled around inside with his right hand.

"Three!"

At the same time, Ji Li finally felt something irregularly shaped. It felt a bit cool to the touch, with straps around the edges. He didn't have time to identify it.

"Two!"

The final countdown began. Ji Li threw the fabric aside and, the instant his vision returned, he abruptly lowered his head, refusing to look at the empty mirror frame suspended in the air.

"One!"

Ji Li's upper body was already completely pulled into the coffin. The hand gripping him belonged to the corpse of Blondie, who was already dead!

In half a second, he turned on the headlamp and put it on!

And the empty mirror frame, the ghost's vessel, was now facing his face!

But this time, Ji Li's eyes didn't flinch at all. A powerful 30w beam shone from above his head, turning his face into a blur of light within the mirror frame!

From another perspective, in the ghost's eyes, Ji Li currently had no facial features, making it impossible to create a death portrait.

"Thump!"

The empty mirror frame swayed in the air for a moment before falling to the ground.

Within the white background of the image, the appearance of a gaunt, sallow-faced old man suddenly emerged.

It cast a hateful glance at the living person standing in the coffin before vanishing instantly.

The corpses of Liu Zi, the Tall Thin Man, and Blondie, which Ji Li had been standing on, had disappeared without a trace.

The white-robed figures of the funeral procession had also vanished. There was no longer any supernatural power in the entire Beggars' Alley!

Ji Li lost all his strength. After holding on for so long, his left wrist, having lost so much blood, had gone numb. He collapsed powerlessly onto the ground.

As he lost consciousness, his phone vibrated, and an email arrived right on time.

"Tianhai Hotel, Shop No. 7 Acting Manager Ji Li.

Successfully received the third resident, meeting the upgrade conditions to become a One-Star Hotel.

Shop No. 7 will recruit five additional staff members to manage the hotel alongside the manager.

Note: Before reaching Two-Star, the Acting Manager can only create one reasonable rule to govern the staff. There is no significant difference in essence."