Free Web NovelChapter 68: Chapter 68: The World in the Mirror
There were three slots for the Shattered Face Ghost.
One went to the Memory Ghost, one to the Mirror Ghost, leaving one final spot open.
Gao Tian was starting to understand the rules of the Mirror Ghost.
The pair of bloody hands used mirrors as a medium to pull in both people and ghosts.
The mirror’s opening had to be at least one-third the victim’s size, or they would get stuck.
At the same time, the master of this rule could freely enter the Mirror World to evade attacks in reality.
The master, however, had no size requirements for the entrance. Any mirror that could reflect their face was sufficient.
But here lay a paradox. freewebnσvel.cøm
Once inside the Mirror World, it was nearly impossible to get out.
Even the Mirror Ghost itself had difficulty letting its victims out.
A one-for-one exchange principle had to be followed.
In other words, one person or ghost had to be pulled in before another could be let out.
One in, one out. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
The Red Old Man itself also had to abide by this rule.
It had only gained the right to leave the Mirror World after pulling Lan Chu inside.
...
The good news was that even an S-Level ghost like the Artist would likely be trapped if it entered the Mirror World.
The only drawback was figuring out how to get the Artist inside.
There was a classic dad joke: How many steps does it take to put an elephant in a refrigerator?
The answer: three.
Open the refrigerator, put the elephant inside, and close the refrigerator.
The theory was simple enough for anyone, but putting it into practice was another matter entirely.
And that wasn’t even considering the Ghost Mother and her endless descendants.
Of course, this wasn’t the time to dwell on such things. Right now, Gao Tian was focused on how to get out of Mirror Alley quickly and regroup with Xia Ta and the others on the fourth floor.
Lan Chu was still fiddling with her new toy. She loosened the dog leash a little and poked at the Red Old Man, noticing the old thing had stopped struggling. It seemed like he was on the verge of death.
Gao Tian watched the carefree Lan Chu and thought, ’How am I supposed to get her out of the Mirror World?’
’Since that crazy woman isn’t dead, I have to get her out. She can’t stay in there forever.’
There was one rather awkward problem. Although he now possessed the Mirror Ghost’s abilities, pulling someone directly out of a mirror was still a tricky proposition.
One for one.
To let Lan Chu out, he had to trap another person—or ghost—inside.
The Red Old Man had crawled into the mirror on its own, so it didn’t count.
Unless Gao Tian sacrificed himself and voluntarily entered the Mirror World, Lan Chu couldn’t come out.
But then he would be the one trapped.
He was no saint, and his altruism didn’t extend that far.
Besides, it was still unclear what the world behind the mirror was like or what new dangers it might hide.
Inside the mirror, Lan Chu was still lazily toying with the nearly-strangled Mirror Ghost. She didn’t seem to be in any hurry to escape.
A little curious, Gao Tian knocked on the surface of the mirror and couldn’t help but ask,
"Hey, what’s the world on the other side of the mirror like? Is it fun?"
Hearing the knock, Lan Chu lazily lifted her head and glanced at Gao Tian outside. She pointed to her ear, indicating that she couldn’t hear him clearly.
Only after Gao Tian raised his voice an octave and repeated himself did Lan Chu, behind the mirror, barely make out his words. She pressed her small, blood-red mouth against the glass and roared back in reply,
"The world in the mirror isn’t bad!
"In the distance, there’s an endless expanse of darkness with no end in sight!
"If you follow the light forward, you’ll see rows and rows of mirrors! Each one corresponds to a mirror in the real world!
"I came in through a round mirror and walked for who knows how long. Then I ran into this Red Old Man just as he was crawling in through a rectangular, full-length mirror. I nabbed him right on the spot!
"As for the depths of the Mirror World, even I don’t dare go there. I have no idea what’s hiding in the darkness! If you shout into it, there’s not even an echo. Both sound and light are swallowed by an endless void.
"But along the path, you can peek into different rooms through the mirrors, just like looking through windows. It’s so much fun!
"This place is way more fun than the fourth floor of the apartment. I don’t want to come out just yet!"
Hearing Lan Chu’s description of the Mirror World, an idea sparked in Gao Tian’s mind.
’The depths of this place are that terrifying? Even Lan Chu sensed danger. That’s a rare thing indeed.’
’However, the shallower parts of the Mirror World seem even more useful than I imagined.’
In the real world, any room with a mirror became a "window" within the Mirror World.
While inside the Mirror World, one could observe any room in reality that had a mirror by using these "windows."
’Running around in the Mirror World to scout out the situation in every room on the fourth floor would be much safer than being outside.’
’Even if I stumbled upon a room with a ghost, as long as I stayed inside the mirror, the ghost outside would be powerless against me.’
’I could even try a sneak attack, test my luck, and see if I can pull a few ghosts inside.’
Just as Gao Tian looked up, about to ask Lan Chu to run around more in the Mirror World and see if she could find Xia Ta and the others in another room,
Lan Chu had clearly grown impatient. A whim struck her, and without even a word to Gao Tian, she dragged the already breathless-looking Red Old Man and strode off into the depths of the mirror.
The desiccated corpse she’d picked up in Room 413 was nowhere to be seen.
After all, the corpse didn’t move, whereas the Red Old Man would still struggle a bit. As a toy, the latter was far more entertaining than the former.
"Hey, hey, don’t go!
"Lady Lan Chu, go look in the other mirrors! See if you can find Xia Ta and Jiang Yang! Don’t just walk off like that!"
Gao Tian hammered on the mirror’s surface, desperately trying to get Lan Chu’s attention.
But her figure receded into the distance, heading for the mirror’s depths, and soon vanished into a tiny dot.
Unbelievable.
Gao Tian watched her disappear, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
He didn’t dare enter the Mirror World himself for the time being. It was easy to get in, but hard to get out.
’Forget it, I’ll worry about Lan Chu later. I need to find a way out of Mirror Alley,’ he thought.
He wondered if there were any other ghosts left in Mirror Alley now that the Red Old Man was dealt with.
As for the mysterious study, as long as he didn’t actively look at it, it didn’t seem to trigger any of its rules.
Gao Tian walked slowly into the dark depths of Mirror Alley, remaining vigilant for any unknown dangers.
...
...
Jiang Yang watched as the blood-red numbers above his head hit zero, and his surroundings began to spin. The scene of Room 413 shrank away as the furniture and layout of another room materialized around him.
’So "Ghost Prohibition" wasn’t enough to stop the television’s curse?’
Despite being teleported to an unknown room, Jiang Yang maintained his composure and began to think.
’Those strange hosts on the TV... they called Xia Ta their "good daughter"?’
’Do they know each other?’
’I’ve worked with Xia Ta in this apartment building for a long time, but come to think of it, I’ve never heard her mention her family, nor have I ever seen her contact any relatives.’
’If Xia Ta’s parents really died in this apartment and became two of the ghostly residents on the fourth floor, then her failure to disclose such critical information would be a major oversight for a manager.’
Of course, Jiang Yang was more inclined to believe the ghosts on the TV were lying. They were trying to corrupt Xia Ta’s memories.
Regardless, this wasn’t the time to worry about Xia Ta. He needed to be more concerned with his own situation.
Once the teleportation was complete, Jiang Yang surveyed his surroundings, taking stock of the situation.
He had been randomly teleported to a study. A pale yellow chandelier cast a faintly warm glow. On the left wall was a window looking out into an endless darkness. Across the void was what looked like a small alley, its entrance lined with several mirrors.
Two walls were lined with wide bookshelves crammed with books on a variety of subjects: physics, psychology, biology, medicine, folklore, history, and even supernatural fiction. This spoke to the owner’s erudition and broad interests.
Next to the desk, there was a wardrobe.
Jiang Yang’s gaze slowly shifted. Seated at the desk was the lanky corpse of a man in a turquoise shirt. Even in death, he faced the desk, a pen clutched in his hand, frozen in the act of writing.
It seemed the owner of the study was a true scholar, maintaining the posture of writing even at the moment of death.
Jiang Yang shifted his position, trying to get a better view of what was on the owner’s desk.
It was a large, leather-bound hardcover notebook, filled line by line with neat, elegant script. Even at the moment of his death, he had maintained the dignity of a scholar; not a single stroke was out of place.
From this distance, he could only make out fragments of words, unable to read the notebook’s full content.
Jiang Yang was curious about the study owner’s identity in life and what he had written in the notebook. However, he didn’t dare approach rashly, fearing the corpse was a vengeful ghost in disguise and that moving closer would trigger its killing rule.
’Maybe I should first check if I can just leave the study?’
Jiang Yang turned his head and saw the study’s main door. It was across from the desk, shut tight.
Just then, countless black particles rapidly gathered in front of him, solidifying into a black hole. A large, muscular man slowly emerged from it, his face still etched with confusion and bewilderment upon arrival.
It was Zhao Zhenjia. He had been teleported to this room as well.
