Free Web NovelChapter 113: Chapter 31: Journey’s End
A slap from seven or eight interconnected arms flew out, slamming into flesh and unleashing a horrifying sonic boom.
Standing before the mirror, Gao Tian and the others had a restricted view, unable to get a full picture of what was happening outside. He and Jiang Yang could only watch as blood sprayed out, coating the entire surface of the small mirror.
The bus car jolted, and the mirror tilted slightly. Now they could see that the window beside the seat the old man in the army coat had just occupied was completely shattered. A hole large enough for a person to fly through had been blown open, the surrounding glass a web of cracks, also speckled with blood.
It looked like the old man had been slapped straight out the window. His chances of survival seemed slim to none.
’Huh, that’s all?’
’And here I thought he was some hidden master, wandering around the Inner World all by himself.’
’Whatever.’
’It is what it is.’
’If he’d just come into the Mirror World with us, he would’ve been fine. Instead, he got swatted dead by that corpse mountain like a roadside bug.’
"Wait a second.
"Something’s not right."
Wang Wenbo, who had been watching the other mirrors, cried out as if he’d seen a ghost.
With a SMASH, the two mirrors in front of him shattered. The frames that had held them now contained only a pitch-black void.
"The mirrors over here, too."
Jiang Yang shouted urgently from the other end of the long, white corridor.
In the world outside, every single mirror they had placed in the bus was being found and stomped to pieces.
’Is it trying to cut off our escape route?’
Gao Tian could only see one last mirror, tucked away in a small, hidden drawer beneath the last row of seats. It was the best-hidden of them all—their last hope of returning to the bus.
The mirror lasted less than five minutes.
The last thing they saw through it was a long arm from the outside, covered in cadaver spots, slowly pulling open the drawer. Then, a man’s smiling face, covered in scars and burns, leaned down to the mirror and prodded it with his black nostrils, from which little white worms crawled in and out.
If you didn’t know what was happening, you might have thought it was just a rather unhygienic man checking his bathroom cabinet.
This mirror shattered too, the image cutting to black.
All sixteen mirrors Gao Tian had placed on the bus were destroyed.
Although he had stockpiled a large box of mirrors in the Mirror World, the problem was that they now had no way to get back to the bus.
In the Inner World, without the bus for transportation, getting anywhere was next to impossible.
Here in the Mirror World, down the long, white corridor, countless mirrors of varying heights stretched into the distance. Many of the stations and other supernatural locations also contained a large number of mirrors.
Of course, Gao Tian didn’t dare just pick any random mirror in the Inner World and exit through it. There was no telling what kind of hellholes they led to.
The top priority now was to find the perfect mirror—one that was relatively safe and led to somewhere near the Longshu Temple station.
For an ordinary person, meeting even one of those requirements would be a pipe dream. Gao Tian took out the Luck Jar, twisted the lid a little looser, and let the ghost luck inside release faster.
"Let’s be patient and check them one by one."
Gao Tian took two steps forward, then stopped in his tracks.
’The stations in the Inner World are far more dangerous than the fifth floor of the Living Human Apartment.’
’I remember when Zhao Zhenjia and I were trapped on the fifth floor. Just passing mirror after mirror, seeing the scenes in the rooms outside, made my sanity plummet. The endless procession of bloody, grotesque images was like a true Hell. Staring too long would genuinely drive a person insane.’
’These aren’t scenes that can be overcome with willpower. I have no doubt that some mirrors in the Inner World contain even more unspeakable sights. A mere glance could cause a normal person’s mind to shatter.’
’Not to mention, what if we pass by Pagoda Primary School? If we so much as glance at it from a distance, the things inside might chase us into the Mirror World to kill us.’
"Hey, Gao! Look at you, dilly-dallying. Are you going or not?"
"If you’re not going, get out of the way and let me go first."
Lan Chu couldn’t possibly imagine the things Gao Tian was worrying about; she was just annoyed that he was in her way. She squeezed past him and started walking ahead, muttering to herself.
Gao Tian watched her go, his first instinct to stop her. Then he remembered. ’Because there’s something wrong with her brain, that woman has astonishing mental resistance. Back then, even the Memory Ghost had no effect on her at all.’
’If she wants to scout ahead, let her. It’s actually a good thing.’
He gestured to Wang Wenbo and Jiang Yang behind him, signaling them to avoid looking into the mirrors as much as possible. They could leave the most dangerous job to Lan Chu.
The three of them followed Lan Chu, their eyes fixed straight ahead. Only Lan Chu dared to inspect each mirror one by one, muttering nonstop as she went:
"Why are there so many corpses in this plaza? We definitely can’t go down here.
"This place can’t be close to Longshu Temple, either. It’s a Buddhist temple, and you guys are treating human flesh like kebabs over here. The monks couldn’t stomach this.
"Hey, why are these kids’ heads so long and their mouths so big? They’re pressed right up against the mirror. What are you looking at?"
...
They walked for what felt like an eternity.
But still, they couldn’t find a single suitable mirror to exit through.
Just as they were starting to lose hope, a mirror not far ahead suddenly began to vibrate faintly, as if someone on the other side was knocking on it.
’Not good. Did we trigger the activation condition for some vengeful spirit? Is it going to charge into the Mirror World to kill us?’
Gao Tian halted, readying for a fight, but to his surprise, Lan Chu, who was at the very front, saw what was outside the mirror and her face lit up with delight. She even bent down and tried to talk to it:
"Well, I’ll be damned, it’s you, you old geezer. You gave me a scare. How are you not dead yet?
"Back on the bus, we all thought you were dead.
"I didn’t think you’d still be alive and kicking."
A muffled, grumpy voice came through from the other side of the mirror:
"You little tykes, why are you walking so slow? Your legs aren’t even as spry as this old man’s.
"Do you have any idea how long I’ve been sitting here waiting for you?
"Any longer and I would’ve just hailed a cab and headed back. Who’d be happy to wait around for you lot?"
That voice... It was the old man in the army coat from the bus.
’What’s going on? Not only was the old man not dead, but he was waiting for them up ahead.’
It was as if that slap from the corpse mountain had been nothing more than a tickle to him.
’It merely sent him flying, which actually saved him the trouble of walking.’
Gao Tian moved up behind Lan Chu and looked at the old man smoking a pipe on the other side of the mirror. He studied him for a long time but could see no sign that the old man had turned into a ghost.
The old man glared at Gao Tian through the mirror, huffing indignantly:
"What are you looking at? Stop staring.
"I heard you were going to Longshu Temple, so I came all this way just to put down a mirror for you.
"Now that you’re done looking, get the hell out here."
Jiang Yang, who had caught up, was much more cautious. He wasn’t about to trust a stranger and leave the Mirror World so easily.
His tone was blunt:
"Sir.
"Could you please hold up the mirror and show us the surroundings?"
The old man in the army coat slammed his pipe down and muttered a curse. Still, he did as Jiang Yang asked, lifting the mirror and panning it across the surroundings.
Though it angered the grumpy old man, this was the Inner World; you couldn’t afford to be careless.
The old man was in a barren wasteland. The ground was pitted and uneven, but in front of him, a small, man-made path led off into the distance.
The place was utterly desolate. Forget ghosts, there wasn’t another soul in sight, not even a single building.
"I’ll go out first to scout. If it’s clear, I’ll knock on the mirror three times to signal you to come out.
"If there’s a problem, I’ll knock four times. You guys hide in the Mirror World."
Jiang Yang fully loaded his revolver and volunteered to be the first one out.
Gao Tian knew that once Jiang Yang made up his mind, there was no point in arguing. He first summoned a Wind Attendant Buddha on the other side of the mirror, pulled it inside, and then pushed Jiang Yang out.
The remaining three waited quietly behind the mirror.
「About five minutes later.」
A knocking sound came from the mirror’s surface.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
A fourth knock never came.
On the other side of the mirror, Jiang Yang looked relaxed, signaling to them that there were no problems.
Gao Tian conjured another Wind Attendant Buddha and had it pull him out second.
One by one, the four-person group from the Living Human Apartment returned to the Inner World.
...
This mysterious old man in the army coat was a truly enigmatic figure of unknown power.
He couldn’t be bothered to answer any of Gao Tian’s questions, merely squinting and blowing the accumulated ash from his pipe.
"Longshu Temple... that place is damn strange. If you kids insist on going, then I can only wish you good luck.
"After all, from here on out, you’re on your own to solve your own problems.
"Go straight, then turn right. About five hundred meters ahead is the Longshu Temple you’re looking for."
He slowly extinguished the embers in his pipe and rose from his squatting position.
"I’m starving. I’m off."
In truth, Gao Tian already had a good idea of who the old man was.
He just had a tacit understanding and didn’t voice it for confirmation.
In the direction the old man had pointed, they could faintly make out the silhouette of an ancient Buddhist temple on the horizon.
"Take care, Senior."
"May I ask where you’re headed next?"
The old man impatiently pointed his pipe in the opposite direction of Longshu Temple.
"You kid, can’t you understand a word I’m saying?
"I said I’m going to eat. And where does one go to eat? A restaurant, of course! You think I’m going to an outhouse?"
In the direction his pipe was pointing, Jiang Yang and the others were stunned to see an unbelievable sight—
About three hundred meters ahead, next to the bumpy country road, a McDonald’s had appeared out of nowhere.
"Th-That’s impossible."
’How could a McDonald’s just appear in the Inner World? Who were the employees? And were the customers even human?’
When they had first emerged from the mirror, they were certain there hadn’t been any other buildings for miles around, aside from Longshu Temple.
Let alone a modern fast-food chain.
Under the astonished gazes of Gao Tian and the others, the old man shot them a look of disdain, as if they were just a bunch of country bumpkins. With a limp, he started walking toward the McDonald’s.
Soon, his figure grew smaller in the distance as he pushed open the door and walked into the McDonald’s.
