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墨書 Inktalez
The fingertips of that skeletal hand were gathering a dark green liquid, and the smell of decay filled the air, just like what I had encountered in the Fourth Cafe.
The liquid dripped onto the ground, making a faint "squelch" sound, and a small dent formed in the tile, releasing wisps of white smoke.
Lin You heard the noise and looked back with her head lowered, but the hand remained in place, and Lin You's eyes were about to meet the liquid at its fingertips.
Without thinking, I reached out toward that hand. The moment I touched it, a searing pain shot through me, followed by the overwhelming scent of blood. Before I could process what was happening, I heard a scream nearby, and then that skeletal hand dissolved into a wisp of white mist and vanished.
Jun Chong wrapped his arms around me, gripping my injured hand. "Don't move."
His tone was harsh, and I bit my lip to keep still. Soon, a cool sensation began to spread from the burned area in my palm, alleviating the pain.
"That was a corpse. The dark green liquid is corrosive. Don't touch it again; you might not be so lucky next time."
"Yeah, I understand."
I had acted out of desperation at that moment. The burn on my palm was healing under Jun Chong's spiritual energy.
As he tended to my injury, he scanned our surroundings. Just as I lowered my head, I suddenly saw something red and thread-like slip into my palm. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared. I thought I must have imagined it and didn’t pay it any mind.
"Anxin, who are you talking to?" Lin You blinked. "Is Jun Chong here?"
I glanced at her and then turned to look at Jun Chong, only to realize that the Sealing Spell on his face was gone. A surge of joy filled me—had he regained his spiritual power?
Jun Chong nodded at me, so I told Lin You, "It's Jun Chong."
"That's good! That means we won't be in such trouble. Quickly let him sniff out which room Noble Lady is in."
"Sniff out?" Jun Chong scoffed. Since he hadn’t revealed himself, Lin You couldn’t see or hear what he said. "I'm not a dog."
I chuckled awkwardly and tried to placate Jun Chong before saying, "It's urgent; please help us."
Jun Chong withdrew his hand, and when I moved my injured hand again, the searing pain had subsided. He walked over to the door of Room 404 without looking back. I pulled Lin You along as we approached and asked, "Is this the one?"
"Well. The deathly aura around her is already quite thick." Jun Chong slipped inside and opened the door for us. As soon as the door creaked open, a strong wave of sinister energy rushed out, prompting me to hurry in alongside Lin You.
Jun Chong had already made his way to the Noble Lady's room, standing at the entrance and watching without moving. Inside, the Noble Lady lay quietly on the bed, still dressed, her eyes closed and her face pale.
"Why aren't you—"
Before I could finish my sentence, Jun Chong gestured for silence.
The Noble Lady's room was a mess, cluttered with game comics, posters, and CDs of her idols. Clothes and food wrappers were strewn everywhere. It took me a while to spot the yellow Leather Bag among the debris, with a photograph lying outside of it.
"That bag."
"Don't move."
Jun Chong didn't let us enter the room; his tall figure blocked my view of Lin You. I felt obstructed and leaned out from beside Jun Chong to see better, but Lin You stood still, staring straight ahead.
Suddenly, the Noble Lady's mouth opened wide, her body convulsing as if she were having a seizure. A terrified scream erupted from her lips, and a stream of black mist shot out from her gaping mouth, soaring toward the ceiling.
The black mist did not dissipate; instead, it gathered on the ceiling, resembling an entrance to another dimension. In the center of the swirling darkness was not a monster but a mirror.
The crystalline surface emitted an infinite brightness, reflecting the image of the Noble Lady within. I saw several droplet-like wisps escape from her body—her soul.
Instead of scattering in all directions, her soul was entirely absorbed by the mirror, which then reflected its brilliance onto the photograph lying outside the Leather Bag. Instantly, that photograph shimmered with the mirror's light.
"Jun—"
Just as I was about to speak again, I found myself unable to make a sound. Jun Chong shook his head at me; he was deliberately silencing me. But why? Why wasn't he saving the Noble Lady?
A multitude of questions swirled in my mind, but I held back; there had to be a reason for Jun Chong's actions.
Throughout this ordeal, Lin You remained silent, watching intently without uttering a word.
It wasn't until the Noble Lady became motionless again that the black mist surrounding the mirror on the ceiling gradually dissipated. The mirror then descended and vanished into her forehead before disappearing completely. Moments later, the Noble Lady stirred.
Jun Chong finally moved, stepping forward and placing a foot on the Noble Lady's hand. Leaning in, he embodied the demeanor of a villain demanding repayment. "Tell me, what is your purpose for coming to the human realm and possessing human bodies? What is it that chases you in the Mirror World?"
The Noble Lady opened her eyes, not with confusion but with a panic that suggested impending doom, as if she had barely escaped one hell only to find herself plunged into another.
Trapped beneath Jun Chong's foot, she could not struggle. Her face was as pale as paper, and her chaotic breath reflected her extreme unease. Her voice trembled as she pleaded, "Please, please let me go."
Typically, when faced with an enemy, most would not immediately beg for mercy; everyone hopes for victory. In battle, aside from skillful techniques, the most crucial element is a terrifying presence.
Some can intimidate their opponents with a mere glance; others can halt their foes with a unique aura. This phenomenon is known as authority—a commanding presence that can compel submission, much like a king's might.
When Jun Chong stepped on the Noble Lady, he exuded this very aura.
"Speak the truth if you want me to spare you; otherwise—" Jun Chong narrowed his eyes, amplifying his overwhelming malice to the point where even I felt a shiver run through me. "I will show no mercy."
"I—I will tell you," she stammered in fear, trembling beneath Jun Chong's foot. Her words came out shaky. "There’s a monster that wants to eat us, so we sought a way to come to the human realm. Please, please let us go; we are forced into this situation. The Mirror Demon has already been nearly consumed by it; we had no other choice but to survive this way."
Both Jun Chong and Taotie had mentioned that while the Mirror Demon was weak, it was quite powerful within the Mirror World and typically would not be driven away or forced to flee from its own territory.
However, her demeanor did not suggest deceit, and we had sensed the presence of beasts during our shoot at the Photography Studio.
"What kind of monster is it?"
"I don’t know," the Noble Lady shook her head.
"It looks like a cow, with fur like a porcupine—fiery red all over—and its voice resembles that of a dog. We Mirror Demons lived peacefully in the mirrors; although we occasionally captured souls, it was merely for sustenance. One soul could sustain us for quite some time. That monster appeared in the mirror long ago but remained dormant until one day when a flash of red light struck it. From that day on, Mirror Demons began to mysteriously disappear—at first just one or two, but soon several each day. We started investigating and discovered that the monster had awakened."
"It has an enormous appetite; we simply couldn't cope. One Mirror Demon couldn't resist escaping and soon told us about a method he learned from someone—a way to exchange souls with humans to live in the human realm and evade death. We had no choice but to do this for survival. I swear everything I say is true; we don’t know what that monster is—it’s incredibly powerful. There are hardly any Mirror Demons left; please let me go! I promise I won't cause any trouble; we just want to live."
"Who is that person?"
The Noble Lady froze momentarily, an unusual flicker crossing her eyes before her eyelids fluttered open again in panic.
"I don’t know who he is, but he chooses each of us for this purpose. All I know is that he carries an overwhelming aura of death."
"Could it be that man?"
I mumbled to myself, recalling the man from the Photography Studio. When I first met him in the Crystal Shop, he had no trace of death energy, but when he turned around in the Photography Studio, I saw a thick aura of death surrounding him. Even until just before parting with the Noble Lady, that death energy was still present, but afterward, it vanished.
"Let me see what that monster looks like." Jun Chong released his grip on the Noble Lady and yanked her up by her clothes without a hint of gentleness, threateningly stating, "You should be able to do this, right?"
She shivered all over and nodded vigorously. Jun Chong let go of her, and she quickly scrambled off the bed. With her hands clasped together, she began muttering something under her breath. A light started to glow from her forehead; it was the mirror that had just embedded itself there. The mirror slowly rose, growing larger as it approached the ceiling, casting a beam of light that formed a projection.
The projection displayed a pitch-black scene. Before long, we heard the roar of a beast. Earlier, I had only caught a faint sound, but now the roars were thunderous and close at hand. The sound resembled that of a dog but was not entirely so.
Suddenly, a massive red figure approached, and an overwhelming taste of blood filled the air.
"The Classic of Mountains and Seas states: 'Two hundred sixty miles westward lies Mount Gui, where there is a beast resembling an ox with coarse hair; it is called Qiongqi, its voice like that of a dog, and it eats humans.'"
Lin You, who had been silent for quite some time, suddenly spoke up with this surprising statement.
Lin You smiled calmly. "I've recently become fascinated with the Classic of Mountains and Seas. I happened to see this today; doesn't that monster look quite like Qiongqi?"
After she said that, I indeed felt there was some resemblance. Lin You smiled slightly and said nothing more. Instead, Jun Chong furrowed his brow and moved his lips before finally saying, "It truly is Qiongqi."
At that moment, Qiongqi let out an enraged roar. We heard the sound of glass shattering, and in the next second, the monster that had only existed within the mirror stepped into our world.
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