Free Web NovelChapter 67: Chapter 67: Lan Chu is Alive
But for now, its power was purely theoretical. It was a long shot to think a single Mirror Ghost could solve the crisis of the Era of the Supernatural.
First of all, its ability could only be activated in a specific environment like Mirror Alley. Most public areas either have no mirrors or the mirrors are too far apart for the bloody hands to reach people or ghosts.
Out in the wilds, facing a powerful ghost like the Artist, how would you get it into a mirror? Were you supposed to haul a giant mirror over, inch it closer, and then let the bloody hands drag the ghost in?
You’ve got to be kidding. Gao Tian would have been diced into mincemeat long before he got close.
When pulling a ghost into a mirror, was there a size requirement for the entrance? Could a tiny shard of glass pull in a behemoth like the Ghost Mother?
Wouldn’t ghosts fight back? Were the bloody hands strong enough to overpower most of them?
Gao Tian figured the Mirror Ghost had to be paired with an extremely powerful Supernatural Artifact. Something that could forcibly immobilize a ghost, for instance. Then you could bring a mirror over, place it beside the ghost, and let the bloody hands slowly drag it in.
The Mirror Ghost’s power, on its own, was very difficult to utilize.
Regardless, this thing offered a potential path forward. Even if it wasn’t very useful right now, he absolutely had to copy its ability.
’Now I have to figure out a way to lure the Mirror Ghost out. And I absolutely can’t let it drag me into the Mirror World in the process.’
’If I die in that godforsaken place, I won’t be able to escape even if the Ghost Card brings me back to life.’
Lost in thought, Gao Tian walked toward the other end of Mirror Alley.
Mirror Alley’s winding path stretched on, seeming to have no end.
As the light from the study behind him grew more distant, the visibility around him plummeted. In the darkness, only countless reflections of "Gao Tian," all in the same pose, walked alongside him.
Gao Tian remained vigilant, watching for a blood-red hand to suddenly jut out from one of the mirrors and attack him.
When he reached a particularly narrow bend—a spot so tight he had to turn sideways to pass—he was surrounded by four mirrors: one above, one below, one to his left, and one to his right.
He couldn’t advance without going through it.
Gao Tian tightened his grip on the Terror Blade.
’Is this it?’
As he was squeezing his body through, a blood-red hand suddenly shot out from the mirror above, and another from the one to his left. They simultaneously grabbed his shoulder and the back of his head, trying to drag him into the mirror with them.
It was faster than Gao Tian had expected. He had originally planned to feint and bait it out.
The strength was immense. The hand clamped around his arm was tight enough to nearly shatter the bone.
"Get off me!"
Gao Tian had been expecting this. He drew his blade and swung it fiercely at the crimson arm.
It was like striking solid metal. The arm didn’t budge an inch, and the impact made the web of Gao Tian’s thumb go numb.
The difference in their strength was too vast. Just then, a third bloody hand shot out from the mirror to his lower right and grabbed his ankle. All three hands pulled at once, trying to forcibly stuff him into the mirror.
’This thing has three hands?’
He admitted he had underestimated the Mirror Ghost. Its terrifyingly immense strength pinned him, dragging him toward the mirror above. Gao Tian’s face was about to be pressed against the glass; as soon as he entered the Mirror World, death was certain.
’There’s no other way.’
’If I don’t use *that*, I’m going to be the second person to die here after Lan Chu.’
Without a moment’s hesitation, Gao Tian activated the Terror Blade.
Target of the sacrifice: himself.
POP! Gao Tian, who had been caught by the three bloody hands and was halfway into the mirror, suddenly exploded into a mist of blood, vanishing from where he stood. The three hands lost their target, clutching at nothing but a handful of bloody residue.
Gao Tian had actually evaded the Mirror Ghost’s attack by killing himself.
The master of the bloody hands was clearly baffled by this turn of events. It had never encountered a situation like this. How could the human it had just caught suddenly explode?
The three bloody hands retracted into the mirror. A terrifying face, skin flayed and a gory mess of flesh, slowly emerged from the mirror’s surface as if swimming.
Everyone else in Mirror Alley was dead, so the Mirror Ghost’s true body finally revealed itself. It was merely curious. It had been about to nab another living person, so why had its target vanished with a pop, like a balloon?
Its hunched, twisted frame knelt over the bloody remains on the ground, sniffing intently, trying to figure out where the living person had gone.
...
The card you have drawn is—
The King of Spades
No conflicts detected in your soul. Resurrection successful.
Enjoy your resurrection.
...
Flesh and blood coalesced, and a human form returned. It happened in an instant.
A small trick Gao Tian had learned on the bus was that he could separate the Terror Blade’s sacrifice from its attack. He could complete the sacrifice, hold on to the resulting charged attack, and then unleash it after he resurrected.
Gao Tian reappeared out of thin air behind the Mirror Ghost. The instant his hand gripped the blade, he brought it down in a powerful slash against the red old man who had crawled out of the mirror.
A loud CRASH echoed from the distance. The sharp force of the blade tore straight through the old man’s body, shattering rows upon rows of mirrors for hundreds of meters behind him. They instantly turned into countless silver shards, illuminating half of Mirror Alley.
The red old man was grievously wounded. It had taken the full force of that terrifying attack. Of its four crimson arms, the two on its back were blown to dust, one leg was severed, and its head lolled to the side; if not for its hands propping it up, it would have fallen clean off.
Realizing it had fallen for a trap, the red old man glared venomously at Gao Tian with eyes connected by bloody nerve tendrils. Without a moment’s hesitation, it scrambled toward the nearest mirror like a fish gasping for water.
First Gaze.
The red old man knew that once it was inside the Mirror World, the person on the outside would be powerless to stop it.
"Trying to run?
"I’ll give my life to keep you here!"
He hadn’t expected the ghost to be so decisive in its escape. Gao Tian started to panic. The Mirror Ghost’s abilities were certainly restrictive, but its theoretical potential was just too high. With the right combo, it could potentially end the Era of the Supernatural. There was no way he was letting this ghost escape.
He’d already used the Ghost Card once today. If he couldn’t capture the red old man, it would be like throwing a life away for nothing.
In a rush of blood to the head, Gao Tian threw all caution to the wind. He dove forward, grabbed one of the Mirror Ghost’s mangled, withered legs, and used his full body weight to pin it down, forcing it to meet his gaze.
"I’ll fight you to the death."
It was just about to touch the mirror and return to the Mirror World, like a fish returning to the sea. But suddenly, it was caught in Gao Tian’s death grip. Even a cornered rabbit will bite, to say nothing of a bona fide murderous ghost. The two instantly started wrestling on the ground.
Second Gaze.
In its panic, the red old man swung a fist into Gao Tian’s chest.
BOOM—
The punch was so powerful that Gao Tian felt his entire skeleton hum from the vibration. Blood rushed to his head, and his brain simply crashed for half a second.
’What kind of power is this?’
And this was a punch thrown in its weakened, partially dismembered state.
Gao Tian knew his ribs were definitely shattered and he was bleeding internally. A normal person would have been killed instantly.
A strange GRINDING sound came from within his body. Under the power of the Blood Shroud, Gao Tian’s broken bones began to knit back together at an astonishing rate.
He recovered a sliver of strength and punched the red old man back, pinning its head down hard.
Third Gaze.
They grappled again, crashing heavily against a large mirror on the wall.
The large mirror fell right on top of Gao Tian, shattering all over the floor. Excruciating pain, both physical and mental, wracked him. Gao Tian finally snapped. Adrenaline surged through him, numbing the pain, and he latched onto the red old man like a rabid dog, refusing to let go.
BOOM—
Freeing a leg, the red old man kicked Gao Tian in the chest again.
After that kick, Gao Tian lost all feeling in half his body. His cerebellum, which controlled his balance, seemed to be malfunctioning. The world spun around him. A person’s will can only push the body so far. Gao Tian’s limbs went weak, and he couldn’t get back up, forced to watch as the red old man slowly slipped from his grasp.
Beneath the Blood Shroud, his broken body began to mend. But the red old man had already sauntered over to a mirror. It turned back one last time, glaring at him with pure fury and venom.
Fourth Gaze.
It sank into the surface of the mirror and disappeared.
As if sinking into a pool of stagnant water.
Gao Tian lay on the ground. Though the Blood Shroud was slowly healing his physical wounds, the memory of the pain still clung to him.
’It still got away, didn’t it?’
’I was just one gaze away.’
’What a shame.’
’Dammit.’
Once feeling returned to his limbs, Gao Tian slowly pushed himself up and slammed a fist into the cold ground, his regret too deep for words.
’After taking a hit like that, the Mirror Ghost probably won’t show its face again.’
’In the Inner World, I lost the inverted cross. And now, here, I’ve let the Mirror Ghost escape.’
’I even died once, which means I got absolutely nothing out of this. A complete waste.’ frёewebnoѵēl.com
Gao Tian sat up and gave himself two hard slaps across the face.
He didn’t hold back. Half his face immediately swelled up, red as a steamed bun.
’Wait.’
Suddenly, the contents of a nearby mirror caught his eye. Forgetting his pain, he quickly leaned in, trying to see what was hidden inside it.
Even though Mirror Alley had tens of thousands of mirrors, this one seemed... different.
In the mirror, besides his own stupid, swollen face, he was shocked to see a familiar figure slowly materializing.
A person whose appearance was both unexpected and perfectly logical. freewebnøvel.com
Lan Chu.
’That woman was dragged into the Mirror World, but she’s not dead?’
At first, he couldn’t see clearly because of the glare. Gao Tian stepped back a little, and only then did he realize—Lan Chu was absolutely defying belief.
She was standing inside the mirror, still clutching that dog collar. Except this time, the collar wasn’t looped around the desiccated corpse from Room 413. It had a new toy.
The red old man had the leash wrapped tightly around its neck. Gao Tian had no idea what kind of Supernatural Artifact that leash was, but once it was on, the red old man lost all of its monstrous strength. It trembled and struggled like a helpless child, completely unable to escape Lan Chu’s clutches.
’Hold on, this plot twist is insane. I need to get this straight.’
’The Mirror Ghost tried to drag Lan Chu into the mirror. Lan Chu went in willingly. Lan Chu caught the Mirror Ghost. And Lan Chu tied it up with the dog leash.’
’The tables have completely turned. It’s not the Mirror Ghost who captured Lan Chu; it’s Lan Chu who captured the Mirror Ghost.’
She dragged the weakly struggling red old man to the mirror’s surface. She seemed to be shouting something at Gao Tian, but the glass was surprisingly soundproof. He couldn’t quite make out what the crazy woman was yelling.
But it didn’t matter anymore.
’Crazy woman? That’s Lady Lan Chu to you.’
Because as Lan Chu forcefully dragged it, the red old man’s face was pressed hard against the surface of the mirror, facilitating the final gaze between Gao Tian and the Mirror Ghost.
The Shattered-Face Ghost’s effect was triggered.
’I’ve obtained the Mirror Ghost’s power.’
"This Mirror World is so much fun!
"I have no idea where this old geezer came from, but I caught him. Take a look, Gao Tian, he’s still kicking!"
Lan Chu was clearly excited, her muffled voice echoing from behind the mirror. She held up her prize, showing off the ghost to Gao Tian as if she’d just reeled in a prize-winning fish.
