As the saying goes, “quicker than words can tell.” Lu Yingjiu swiftly reached out, aiming straight for the face of the person in the mirror!
In this brief half-second, he had already made up his mind. If this strike landed, the ghost’s head would either shatter or be left dazed.
However, another hand beat him to it.
Jing Xian had somehow returned to his side, casually reaching out, yet creating a gust of wind.
Bang!
The mirror was shattered by him, fragments flying, each piece reflecting a faint green fire.
Lu Yingjiu quickly stopped him, “Don’t kill it!”
Too late.
The ghost’s head was crushed by Jing Xian.
Blood mist flew around, painting the walls of the world in the mirror a bright red, but not a single drop could escape the shattered mirror. Jing Xian withdrew his hand, which was still clean, as if nothing had happened.
The room returned to silence.
Lu Yingjiu held his forehead and said, “It would have been better if we hadn’t killed it. There’s clearly another space behind this mirror.”
Jing Xian was not very happy. “I did hold back. It dared to imitate you and deliberately separated us. It deserves to die a thousand times.”
“…” Lu Yingjiu smiled, “Let’s go buy another mirror and put it here. Maybe it will happen again.”
In the middle of the night, they didn’t know where to find a fitting room mirror of the same size.
Jing Xian sent out a little ghost, and soon, they brought back a mirror from somewhere.
The size was about right, and the height was just right.
Lu Yingjiu put it back in place, aimed it at the bed, then lay back down. “Jing Xian, be more restrained this time.”
Jing Xian reluctantly agreed.
The bed was crowded, and Lu Yingjiu continued to sleep in his arms.
Tick tick tick tick…
Tick tick tick tick…
Sure enough, it didn’t take long for Lu Yingjiu to wake up again.
This time, Jing Xian didn’t disappear. He was still lying next to him, squinting his deep black eyes, looking at the mirror straight ahead.
It was a European-style round mirror, facing the bed, reflecting their two figures.
Just like before, there was no reflection of green flames in the eyes of the person in the mirror.
Lu Yingjiu got out of bed, walked barefoot to the mirror, and looked at the person in the mirror.
They were still smiling.
While smiling, their expression suddenly froze—
Jing Xian stood behind Lu Yingjiu with a murderous look on his face, giving a chilling smile.
The person in the mirror: ?!
They turned around and tried to run, but Lu Yingjiu swiftly reached out. His hand was already wrapped with a fine talisman. When it entered the mirror, it was like gently probing into the water. The mirror was still intact, but he had already grabbed the collars of the two ghosts.
The person in the mirror: “@!!hsdf*&!#!”
A bunch of gibberish, Lu Yingjiu didn’t understand, but he roughly understood that they were expressing fear. He gently tugged, and the two ghosts came out of the mirror.
Once they left the mirror, they could no longer imitate others, and in the blink of an eye, they turned into two little ghosts.
The little ghosts were about the height of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child, with one eye, a ghost horn, and a pale face. They wore talismans around their necks and were surprisingly dressed in the clothes of ancient exorcists. The large robes were painted with various runes, and on their backs were two Di Tings, one black and one white, one male and one female.
They shivered in the corner, trying to run back into the mirror.
Lu Yingjiu threw out a talisman, which landed on the mirror. No matter how the two little ghosts touched the mirror, they couldn’t go back.
Little Ghost: “oe%i!@@*seg!”
Lu Yingjiu frowned slightly. “What are you saying?” He looked at Jing Xian, “Can you translate?”
Jing Xian said, “They’re speaking in dialect, I don’t understand either.”
Lu Yingjiu: ?
Lu Yingjiu: “Ghosts have dialects?”
“Of course.” Jing Xian said, “Most of the priests and I speak the official language, but every kind of ghost can speak some dialect.” He looked at the little ghosts, “But I can find a ghost who understands.”
He snapped his fingers, and an unknown ghost appeared from the ground. Jing Xian instructed it a few times, and it nodded repeatedly.
Less than half a minute passed, and the ghost brought back a… black cat.
The black cat had crimson eyes and three tails.
Little Ghost: “shgl!? nn? *owe”
The black cat opened its mouth and spoke human language, “It’s asking, what are you doing here? Are you bad people? They don’t want to hurt people, they just want to drive you away.”
It’s strange for a ghost to ask “Are you a bad person?”
After all, ghosts generally didn’t care about so-called good or bad, and they didn’t have any moral standards.
However…
Looking at their clothes, they should be dealing with exorcists all year round, so it’s not strange to ask such a question.
Lu Yingjiu told the truth. “We came to find Zhang Shuwan.”
The little ghosts whispered for a while.
The black cat translated. “We don’t know this Zhang Shuwan you’re talking about. Please leave quickly, this is someone else’s house.”
This obviously sounded like a lie.
Lu Yingjiu pointed to their clothes. “These are the clothes of an exorcist. Apart from the Zhang family, no one else would draw a Di Ting creature on them.”
After hearing this, the little ghosts shook their heads repeatedly, just about to continue denying, when their gaze suddenly fell on Jing Xian.
They were very sensitive to danger, shrank a bit, and their voices became a few degrees lower.
Lu Yingjiu took out a few talismans to show them, saying, “I am also an exorcist, and I have spent some time in the Green Lantern Association before. If it wasn’t absolutely necessary, we wouldn’t have broken in.”
The little ghosts took his talismans, looking at them and murmuring, trying to verify their authenticity.
Jing Xian was already impatient, and coldly said, “If we really had malicious intentions, you would have been dead long ago.”
The two little ghosts shivered.
One of the little ghosts in white swallowed, plucked up the courage and said, “We, we don’t want to treat you as bad people either, it’s just that…”
The other one in black clothes interjected, “Who in their right mind would cuddle together on someone else’s bed!”
“Exactly, one with their arm around the waist and the other with their leg hanging up. We saw your indecent behavior clearly within two seconds of coming out.”
“You’re so bad, secretly having a love affair on Zhang Daren’s bed, it’s too perverted…” (TL: Daren-adult, grown-up)
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Lu Yingjiu: “Do you think I want to sleep on someone else’s bed?!”
“No need to say more.” Jing Xian gave a chilling smile, “A beating will settle it.”
The two little ghosts shrank their heads, crying out in fear.
The black cat timely translated, “They are scolding you for being indecent, calling you gay men, and saying that they are not afraid of death and can die generously.”
Lu Yingjiu’s eyebrows twitched, “What the hell is this?”
Hairball echoed at his feet, “Awoo awoo!”
Unexpectedly, as soon as it barked, the two little ghosts stopped their cursing.
They simultaneously looked at hairball, examining its ghost horns, its silver-gray eyes, and its round body.
The little ghost in white asked, “Is this, is this a Tao Tie beast?”
“Absolutely!” The little ghost in black nodded, “Look at its short legs, just like what Zhang Daren said!”
Hairball: “…”
It was so angry that its fur exploded, looking like a dandelion puff.
“Tao Tie, also known as,” the little ghost in white looked up, carefully examining Lu Yingjiu, and cautiously asked, “Are you surnamed Lu?”
Lu Yingjiu raised his eyebrows in surprise, “Hmm. Do you know me?”
The little ghosts’ faces changed at this.
The little ghost in black answered, “We don’t know you, but Zhang Daren does. She has been waiting for you, saying that you will definitely come one day.”
“We apologize for our rudeness just now.” The little ghost in white said, holding up the green lantern and bowing deeply, “We didn’t expect it to be you. Please come with me, Zhang Daren has been waiting for a long time.”
Lu Yingjiu and Jing Xian looked at each other.
This “Zhang Daren” was most likely referring to Zhang Shuwan.
The little ghost also said that Zhang Shuwan had been waiting for him for a long time…
Could it be that, as a member of the aristocratic family, Zhang Shuwan, like others, had been secretly watching Lu Yingjiu? Waiting for the day to return him to the Heavenly Way?
Things were becoming more and more confusing.
It seemed that the only option was to go with them.
Lu Yingjiu said, “You lead the way.”
The little ghost responded, “We need to go into the mirror.”
After saying this, they lifted their lanterns and stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the mirror. The green light from the two lanterns shone, illuminating each of their faces in the mirror.
A few seconds later, the mirror began to ripple like water.
“Follow us,” the little ghost said, taking the first step, his body seeming to melt into the mirror.
Jing Xian took Lu Yingjiu’s hand and, as usual, walked in front.
They stepped through the mirror.
The room inside the mirror was still Zhang Shuwan’s bedroom, only completely inverted. The green light from the little ghost’s lantern was several times brighter.
The little ghost in white said, “Try to stay in the light of the lantern as much as possible, otherwise you might be expelled by the world in the mirror. Then, we’ll have to start all over again.”
Lu Yingjiu responded and followed them to the living room, then out the door to the corridor.
The corridor was empty and still inverted. The elevator buttons were all dark, so they had to take the long staircase down. When they finally reached the first floor and pushed open the door—
Outside was not the residential area anymore.
There was only darkness, a thick darkness.
In the world inside the mirror, you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. The sky and the earth seemed to be dyed black. Only where the two green lanterns shone could you see the ground under your feet.
“Please follow us,” said the little ghost in black.
Lu Yingjiu, led by Jing Xian, looked around. As they walked forward, the light from the lanterns flickered, illuminating some fleeting shadows. It was unclear what they were, like birds, like lost souls, bringing a cold wind that made the green lantern sway.
The surroundings were not flat.
The light occasionally illuminated white walls, dark eaves, and a large vermilion door.
Everything was ancient architecture. In this way, they really seemed to have returned to a thousand years ago, becoming a member of the Green Lantern Pavilion, dressed in black, carrying a lantern, walking through the long night. They fought demons and monsters, not for fame, but for the dawn.
The little ghost in white said, “This world inside the mirror was originally the place where Di Ting lived. These mirrors are called ‘Green Mirrors’, which were specially made for it after the Zhang family made a pact with Di Ting. Di Ting has been traveling through the mirrors, listening to everything, sensing people’s hearts, for hundreds, even thousands of years.”
Lu Yingjiu had heard of this rumor.
But he had never been inside the mirror himself.
He asked, “Has Zhang Shuwan been in the mirror all this time?”
“Yes,” the little ghost nodded, “Zhang Daren has been here all the time. But we’re not going to find her just yet.”
The two little ghosts whistled sharply.
The illusions surged more violently, causing their clothes to rustle in the wind. The lanterns swayed violently, casting chaotic shadows on the ground in the wind.
In the distance, a door opened.
A vermilion door, its paint peeling, silently opened, and behind it was still darkness. The little ghosts led the way, leading Lu Yingjiu and Jing Xian into the door.
Woosh–
The green flames surged violently, then suddenly extinguished.
Surrounded by darkness, then came… the voice of a child?
“Grandma!” the child called, “I learned an English song at school today!”
“Ah, good–” an old voice answered, “Sing it for grandma.”
The cheerful prelude of the music sounded.
In the darkness, Jing Xian still held Lu Yingjiu’s hand and asked, “What song is this?”
“A pretty famous old English song called Lemon Tree,” Lu Yingjiu squinted slightly.
He was a little confused, not knowing what this was all about.
The childish voice, with its not-so-standard English pronunciation, began to sing:
[I’m sitting here in a boring room
It’s just another rainy Sunday afternoon
…]
Lu Yingjiu whispered, “He’s singing with a microphone, this should be some kind of karaoke place.”
Jing Xian hummed in agreement.
“You sing so well!” the old voice appeared again, “Come, let grandma give you a kiss.”
At that moment, a bright light came which made it impossible to open one’s eyes.
Lu Yingjiu squinted at the brightness in front of him, and it took several seconds to see the surroundings clearly: unknowingly, they were in a KTV private room, with melon seeds and drinks on the table, and balloons on the wall spelling out: [Happy Birthday, Xiao Fang!]
Fang.
This name sounded familiar. Lu Yingjiu’s gaze moved to the family on the sofa, and then he froze.
Chen Minlan, with her white hair, was smiling so brightly that her eyes were squinted, and her son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter Chen Yanyan, and grandson Chen Fangzhou were all smiling around the table.
This…
This was actually the day of the Chen family massacre!
Chen Fangzhou held the microphone in one hand and held Chen Minlan with the other, saying seriously, “Grandma, this song tells the story of a man who separated from his beloved and then waited day by day under the lemon tree. You are all my beloved people, you must be healthy and never separate.”
“Ah!” Chen Minlan’s smile became even brighter, she stroked Chen Fangzhou’s hair, “My grandson is so good! Grandma also hopes you are healthy and happy.”
In the midst of the peace, no one noticed that Chen Yanyan’s expression was strange.
Lu Yingjiu knew everything.
At this time, Chen Yanyan was Fan Xin wearing a human skin mask, and there was a ghost’s obsession in her school bag. In a few minutes, the ghost would burst out and tear up this beauty.
“Hey, you guys…”
Knowing it was the past, Lu Yingjiu still subconsciously wanted to speak, but found that his voice was as thin as a mosquito.
Jing Xian shook his head gently and said, “They can’t hear us. Our perspective is very strange, plus we are in the world in the mirror, I guess, we are now in a mirror on the wall.”
Lu Yingjiu was stunned for a few seconds.
That was to say, they were watching the past scene from inside the mirror.
The family was singing happily, Chen Minlan didn’t sing very well, she just clapped her hands with a smile on her face.
Until a few minutes later, her phone rang.
She looked down at it, and the smile on her face disappeared instantly. She got up and walked quickly out of the room.
The scene changed, and Lu Yingjiu’s perspective also moved to the mirror in the corridor.
Chen Minlan stood alone at the end of the corridor.
Her thin clothes were billowing in the wind.
That kind and gentle temperament was gone, replaced by seriousness…even authority. She had been the head of the Chen family for many years, and even though her hair was white and her back was hunched, this aura had not changed.
The name of the caller was: “Chen Zheng”
Lu Yingjiu knew that Chen Zheng had been studying under Chen Minlan since he was a child and regarded her as his mentor.
“Hello,” Chen Minlan answered the phone, “I’m celebrating Fangzhou’s birthday.”
“…You continue to follow up,” she lowered her voice a bit, “Last time we destroyed a large batch of goods in the warehouse at the dock, the other party can’t hold back anymore, once they get anxious, there will be more flaws. You tell Rongrong and Xiao Feng to take those people from the outer family and focus on investigating the slaughterhouse and the port.”
She gave a few more instructions, saying, “We must pull out this underground industrial chain, not only for the Chen family, but also for everyone’s safety. Human skin masks, should have completely disappeared.”
Sure enough, as Lu Yingjiu thought, Chen Minlan and Chen Zheng had been investigating the mask issue all along.
Chen Zheng seemed to have said something.
Chen Minlan laughed, “As long as I’m alive, human skin masks will never see the light of day. It’s best for these things to be lost, the Chen family doesn’t rely on these things to stand.”
However, before hanging up the phone, a look of hesitation appeared on her face.
She slowly said, “Chen Zheng, there’s something you need to pay attention to, you keep an eye on Chen Qi, he’s suspicious.”
“I know he’s your own brother. From my standpoint, I hope you brothers can support and take care of each other. But even brothers won’t completely understand each other. When it’s time to doubt, I hope you can be firm in your decision.”
“Chen Zheng, you have to be a brave and kind person.”
Chen Zheng responded lowly.
Chen Minlan hung up the phone.
The evening wind outside the window blew her white hair and brushed her wrinkled face. It was unknown what she was thinking about, and it took a long time before she turned around and went back to the room.
–At this time, no one knew that Chen Qi had already sensed this suspicion.
Fan Xin was his arranged time bomb, about to explode.
Chen Minlan, who returned to the room, put away all her emotions.
She was again that kind and harmless old grandma, who would squint her eyes happily when she heard her grandson singing, and laugh with her silver hair shaking.
Everyone let down their guard.
A thick shadow slithered out from the girl’s schoolbag and coiled under the sofa.
After that, it was everything Lu Yingjiu knew.
The ghost appeared, blood flew, and splashed all over the wall.
The jukebox was playing a cheerful song.
[I’m stepping around in the desert of joy
Baby anyhow I’ll get another toy
And everything will happen and you’ll wonder]
Chen Minlan reached out and held Chen Fangzhou in her arms. The past her was a brave warrior, capable of fighting a hundred ghosts, but this skill had aged with time, and the only thing she could do was to resist with her flesh and blood.
Splat–
The sharp claws of the fierce ghost scraped across her back, exposing her bones, a mix of crimson and stark white.
[Yesterday you told me about the beautiful weather.
But all I can see now.
Is just a yellow lemon tree.]
The room quieted down.
The only survivor was the culprit, Fan Xin.
She huddled in the corner, shivering, watching the fierce ghost lick its claws satisfactorily, mockingly smiled at her, and disappeared into the shadows.
What awaited Fan Xin was a life of pain, struggle, and guilt for more than a decade.
In the pool of blood, Chen Minlan’s hand moved slightly.
Very slowly, she reached for the flip phone not far away.
Lu Yingjiu knew what Chen Minlan was going to do.
The old woman opened the phone with her bloody hand, trembling, but not calling the police.
Blood stained the screen.
She dialed a string of numbers and struggled to type, “Lu Yingjiu, your time has come.”
After pressing the send button, Chen Minlan’s hand fell weakly.
Her chest rose and fell slightly, and she took a long, sticky breath, as if she had finally completed a major task.
—She didn’t know that Lu Yingjiu no longer used this phone number.
It wasn’t until more than a decade later when he investigated the case again that this message reappeared like a sudden reef in the tide of time.
At this moment, she slowly closed her eyes.
Lu Yingjiu’s breath paused involuntarily.
Even though the aristocratic families had been watching him, trying to take his life, seeing the tragedy of a whole family still inevitably made people sigh with emotion.
Chen Minlan was about to die.
The loss of blood brought a sense of wet cold, and life quickly peeled away from this old body. The rise and fall of her chest slowed down, and she slowly exhaled her last breath—
Suddenly, she opened her eyes again!
Her unfocused eyes were staring hard in the direction of Lu Yingjiu. Through the mirror, through more than a decade of time, they made eye contact!
Chen Minlan hoarsely said, “…Lu Yingjiu, Lu Yingjiu, you’re there, aren’t you?”
Lu Yingjiu was horrified.
She said, “I know you’re there, go find the Zhang family’s people, no matter what you have to…”
Her voice abruptly stopped, she was dead.
