Yu Xiao leaned back, satisfied after her meal. Across from her, Zhao Lan and Zhou Xiao Zhen looked like they’d been sucker-punched, questioning every decision that led them to this surreal shitshow.
Noticing Yu Xiao’s Zen-like calm compared to their existential dread, Ye Tao leaned in and asked softly, “Do you think Qi Qi will be okay once we get out of here?”
At the mention of her name, Zhang Qi Qi’s vacant eyes flickered towards Ye Tao.
Yu Xiao’s smile slipped. Truth was, Qi Qi’s recovery had become the least of their worries. The real head-scratcher? Whether Ye Tao could even leave with the rest of them.
Ye Tao was from Seventh Hospital, a place that didn’t exist in Yu Xiao’s time. If their suspicions were correct, Ye Tao was a visitor from the future, and escaping with the rest of them might be impossible.
And even if she did manage to leave, what then? There would be no Seventh Hospital waiting for her. Where would she go?
“Honestly,” Yu Xiao shook her head, “I don’t know. We’re all in uncharted territory here.”
Ye Tao gently pulled Zhang Qi Qi closer, hugging her shoulder. Zhang Qi Qi, sniffed her. She smelled so good. Yet, she made no aggressive move and just nuzzled her face against Ye Tao’s in a gesture of quiet affection.
After a moment’s hesitation, Yu Xiao asked, “Have you ever heard of someone called the ‘Deaf Descendant’?”
Ye Tao shook her head. “The name doesn’t ring a bell. Who is she?”
“She was, uh,” Yu Xiao hesitated., “She was in the same ward as the two peeps you mentioned earlier.”
“Ah, I see,” Ye Tao nodded. “If she didn’t make it out, something must have happened. It seems like Hospitals are dangerous places, even with powerful people around.” She sighed.
Zhou Xiao Zhen, still wallowing in misery, shot Ye Tao a glare. Ye Tao, puzzled, wondered if she had said something offensive.
Yu Xiao quickly changed the subject, “You were starving earlier. Haven’t you come across a kitchen here after being here for so long?”
“Actually, I have,” Ye Tao admitted, a shiver running down her spine as she recalled the experience. “Just yesterday, I was starving and I found a kitchen. It was fully stocked, even had ingredients in the fridge. I decided to make some tomato beef stew. While it was simmering, I thought, ‘Why not open a few more doors, just to see?’ That’s how I found Qi Qi.”
Yu Xiao leaned back, her eyebrows raised. “The tomato beef stew…”
“No clue what happened to it,” Ye Tao admitted, but she didn’t regret opening that door. “Maybe someone ate it, maybe it spoiled. But hey, at least I found Qi Qi, right?”
Zhao Lan, seemingly recovered from her earlier shock, spoke up. “Should we try opening more doors?”
“Why not?” Yu Xiao agreed, figuring it couldn’t hurt. She nudged Zhou Xiao Zhen. “Come on, snap out of it. Time to get back to work.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen looked at her with watery eyes. “Smiley…”
“Don’t ‘Smiley’ me,” Yu Xiao said, walking towards the door with Zhao Lan. Together, they opened it.
The room was a bathroom, sleek and modern with all sorts of high-tech fixtures.
“Does anyone need to take a leak?”
“Yes…,” Zhou Xiao Zhen mumbled. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
“Go ahead then.”
As Zhou Xiao Zhen entered the bathroom, she felt the weight of four pairs of eyes on her. It was unnerving. “Uh, could you maybe… close the door?” she squeaked.
“Are you sure about that?” Zhao Lan asked. “Next time we see you, you might be sporting a full head of grey hair.”
“Actually…” Zhou Xiao Zhen instantly regretted speaking up, but the thought of stripping down in front of an audience was enough to make her toes curl.
“Just close your eyes then,” she suggested, desperation creeping into her voice.
“Fine,” Zhao Lan agreed.
With everyone’s eyes shut tight, Zhou Xiao Zhen awkwardly began to remove her pants.
Suddenly, she noticed something in the mirror across from the toilet. She leaned closer, peering into the reflection, but apart from her own image, there seemed to be nothing there. Had she imagined it?
No way was it her imagination. The fitness card had boosted her stamina, leaving no room for fatigue or hunger hallucinations.
She squinted at the mirror, but still saw nothing. Deciding to get a second opinion, she turned to ask Misty and Smiley for their take. But as she turned, she found herself staring into Zhang Qi Qi’s unsettling gaze. Goosebumps erupted all over her skin. Unseen by Zhou Xiao Zhen, a shadowy figure, identical to her, reached out from the mirror’s depths.
“Are you done in there?” Yu Xiao called out impatiently. “Don’t tell me you’re constipated.”
Opening her eyes, she was met with an impossible sight. “Holy Shit!”
“What is it?” Zhao Lan opened her eyes too. “Someone taking a dump? Why can’t I smell anything… Precious?”
The bathroom stood empty before them, not a soul in sight.
Yu Xiao spun around, but Zhou Xiao Zhen was gone from the bedroom as well.
“Did she leave?” Ye Tao questioned.
“Impossible,” Zhao Lan stated firmly. “I control the exit. There’s no way she could have left.”
“Keep an eye on the door,” Yu Xiao instructed Zhao Lan, stepping into the bathroom.
It was spotless, not a speck of dust to be found. Yu Xiao checked the toilet; the water was clear, and there hadn’t been a flushing sound, meaning Precious hadn’t used it. She must have vanished the moment they closed their eyes.
Ye Tao followed, her gaze sweeping over the room. The bathtub was equally pristine.
Together, they checked every drawer and cabinet, but Zhou Xiao Zhen was nowhere to be found. There was nothing out of place; the entire bathroom seemed utterly normal.
Yu Xiao chewed on her lip, perplexed. It made no sense. There was literally nowhere to hide. And if Precious had been attacked by a ghost, wouldn’t she have put up a fight?
Stuck guarding the door, Zhao Lan couldn’t join the search. Her eyes scanned the bathroom. “Precious is still here, somewhere. She must be in danger. I’ll try calling her.”
But the call wouldn’t connect – another casualty of the strange anomaly.
Yu Xiao closed her eyes, trying to sense the densest concentration of Yin energy. It was strongest around Zhang Qi Qi.
Frowning, Yu Xiao turned to Ye Tao. “Could you please take your friend further away? Her presence is interfering with my senses.”
Ye Tao, familiar with spiritual cards herself, silently led Zhang Qi Qi deeper into the bedroom.
Focusing again, Yu Xiao finally pinpointed the source: the mirror. The Yin energy emanating from it was stronger than anywhere else in the room.
“The mirror?” Zhao Lan asked, a hint of suspicion creeping into her voice.
“Seems like it,” Yu Xiao replied, facing the large mirror. Her reflection stared back, a perfect mimic of her movements. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“Are you sure?” Zhao Lan pressed. “Maybe it’s something behind the mirror, in the cabinet?”
Yu Xiao gently touched the mirror’s surface. It was warm to the touch, preventing any condensation.
No matter how she examined it, the mirror appeared perfectly normal. She tapped it lightly, producing a hollow sound. Her reflection frowned, mirroring her concern. Then, an idea struck her. Yu Xiao swiftly pulled out a charm to ward off evil spirits and pressed it against the mirror.
The figure in the mirror recoiled, its face contorted in terror.
“Bingo!” Zhao Lan exclaimed. “There’s a ghost trapped inside!”
The ghost, mimicking Yu Xiao’s appearance, was not unfamiliar. She had encountered a similar entity in a previous instance with the nightmare. In that place, the mirror ghost could trap people within its depths, stealing their appearance. But this ghost was different; it hadn’t come out.
“Let Precious go!” Yu Xiao commanded, slapping a stack of talismans onto the mirror’s surface.
They slid off the smooth glass, falling uselessly to the floor.
The ghost continued to mimic Yu Xiao, its eyes gleaming with mischief as it watched the talismans fall. It knew they were powerless against it as long as it remained within the mirror. Emboldened, it began to play, making faces, sticking out its tongue, and twisting its features into grotesque expressions.
Zhao Lan watched the ghostly mimicry with a mixture of amusement and worry. “Smiley, I never knew your face could make such punchable expressions.”
Yu Xiao scowled, frustrated by her inability to affect the ghost within the mirror.
“It seems only ghosts can enter the mirror world,” Ye Tao observed. “What should we do? Smash it?”
“Absolutely not,” Zhao Lan vetoed immediately. “Breaking the mirror will only create countless shards, each with a piece of the ghost.”
Yu Xiao’s eyes widened as a solution dawned on her. Only ghosts could enter the mirror world?
She hurried back to the bedroom, rummaging through her backpack, leaving Zhao Lan on edge. “What are you looking for?”
Yu Xiao triumphantly held up a disposable ghost transformation card.
Zhao Lan’s face lit up. “Ah, of course!” But then a new worry surfaced. “If you become a ghost, won’t the talismans still affect you?”
Yu Xiao shrugged, emptying her pockets of all talismans, leaving only function cards and props.
Inside the mirror, the ghost turned, wiggling its backside at Yu Xiao tauntingly. Ye Tao, who also possessed a few function cards, watched in disbelief as Yu Xiao activated the ghost transformation card.
An eerie change came over her. Her face paled, her lips turned a vibrant crimson, and her eyes flickered with a sinister red light.
The sensation of becoming a ghost was strange, a feeling of weightlessness and power unlike anything she’d ever experienced. Yu Xiao sniffed the air, catching a whiff of something sweet and alluring. Turning her head, she realised the scent was coming from Zhao Lan and Ye Tao.
Zhao Lan, puzzled by Yu Xiao’s intense gaze, asked, “What is it?”
“Nothing,” Yu Xiao replied, her voice taking on a spectral quality as she floated towards the mirror. Inside, the ghost mimicking her was now playfully farting.
Without hesitation, Yu Xiao reached through the mirror, her hand passing through the glass as if it weren’t even there. She grabbed the ghost’s foot.
The ghost was stunned, momentarily frozen in shock. Then, it began to thrash wildly.
Gripping the ghost’s leg, Yu Xiao dove headfirst into the mirror’s cool surface. A ripple distorted her reflection for a moment, then vanished.
The world inside was disorienting. Mirrors lined the vast space, each one a portal to a different reality. Before Yu Xiao could get her bearings, the ghost she was holding suddenly morphed into a toilet.
“…”
Yu Xiao stared at the toilet, still wriggling in her hand. This mirror world was truly bizarre.
Unable to find Zhou Xiao Zhen, panic welled up inside her. She slammed the toilet to the ground, stomping on it furiously. “Where’s Precious? Tell me!” she demanded.
The toilet, nearing its breaking point, remained silent. Toilets, after all, don’t have mouths.
Taking a deep breath, Yu Xiao reluctantly approached one of the shimmering mirrors. It reflected a bedroom, the scene grim and unsettling. On the bed lay a corpse, a bloodstained knife still clutched in its hand. Clearly a suicide. Zhou Xiao Zhen was nowhere to be seen.
Moving on to another mirror, Yu Xiao found herself looking into a living room. A man with a buzz cut, built like a tank, was rummaging through drawers.
“Hey!” Yu Xiao called out, her voice echoing from the glass.
The man jumped, startled. “Bloody hell! Who’s talking?”
“It’s me,” Yu Xiao replied. “I’m in the mirror!”
He spun around, his eyes widening as he saw a ghostly woman holding a toilet seat in the living room’s full-length mirror.
“Bloody hell!” he shouted again, lunging towards the mirror and delivering a powerful punch.
The mirror shattered, but Yu Xiao remained unharmed. She simply fractured along with the glass. Selecting a shard, she continued to shout, “I’m not a ghost! I’m human!”
The man stared, dumbfounded. He’d just punched a mirror, and now a ghostly woman was talking to him from a tiny shard, claiming to be human.
Yu Xiao found herself facing the man, not the expected toilet. The toilet in her hand instantly transformed into a miniature version of the burly man.
“Bloody hell!” he exclaimed. “Still saying you’re not a ghost?”
“No, no! I’m human, it’s him that’s the ghost!” The miniature man struggled, forcing Yu Xiao to hold him down and deliver a few swift punches to keep him in line.
The real man watched, bewildered, as his reflection became a chaotic mess. Anger flashed in his eyes. “Are you messing with me?”
“I really am human,” Yu Xiao insisted, pulling out her phone and access card as proof. “I used this card to become a ghost and find someone.”
Seeing the prop cards, the man finally believed her. What ghost would carry such things? His demeanour changed instantly. “Bloody hell, you’re human! Boss, can you get me out of here? How do I escape this instance?”
Yu Xiao, desperate to find Zhou Xiao Zhen, brushed him off. “I need to find someone. Is there a girl here?”
“No.”
“Alright, I’ll find my friend first. Wait here, I’ll come back for you.” With that, Yu Xiao moved on to another mirror.
She finally found Zhou Xiao Zhen, standing in a bedroom, furiously cursing at the mirror.
“Smiley!” Zhou Xiao Zhen cried out, her face lighting up as she saw Yu Xiao appear in the mirror, a beaten burly man clutched in her hand.
Yu Xiao reached towards her friend, but Zhou Xiao Zhen stopped her. “Smiley, doesn’t this bedroom look familiar?”
Yu Xiao took a closer look. It was the same bedroom where they had found the inscription hidden behind the cabinet.
Stepping back from the mirror, Yu Xiao scanned the room. Zhou Xiao Zhen stared at her, awestruck. “You used the Ghost Transformation Card? I feel so stupid! I never even thought of that.”
As Yu Xiao circled the bedroom, taking in the basketball lying on the floor and the rest of the decor, a realisation struck her. The high-tech bathroom, the encounter with the burly man in the living room, and this bedroom – they were all part of the same apartment.
Previously, when they opened doors, they were only seeing fragments of the house, isolated rooms. Now Yu Xiao understood. These rooms weren’t separate at all, but interconnected. And the mirrors served as portals, linking them all together.