The Dead Mirror Person

The air in the room seemed to freeze.

The atmosphere was incredibly strange.

Zhuanghe said he and Wu Zhou saw a campfire, tents, and eight corpses.

My heart instantly clenched, because I thought of a possibility.

Their expedition team was eight people.

And Yin Wuyu had just pointed at Zhuanghe and Gu Song, saying, "Dead, all dead."

He had also displayed extreme fear, meaning Zhuanghe and Gu Song were likely already dead.

Then the answer to who those eight corpses were was almost self-evident.

"The ones I saw were actually the corpses of us eight people," Zhuanghe said, his voice breaking into tears.

He looked up at Gu Song, "The corpses of all of us, including me, Wu Zhou, you, and Xie Xiaotang. The corpses of our entire team were lying on the ground."

It sounded absurd, but I believed him this time.

No wonder he had been acting so strangely later; if I encountered something like this, I wouldn't be able to stay calm either.

"You're lying! How is that possible? Xiao Tang and I were perfectly fine when we returned."

Zhuanghe sneered, "Is that so? Believe it or not."

Zhuanghe didn't say anything else. I asked, "Besides Wu Zhou, who else knows about this? Have you mentioned it to anyone else?"

Zhuanghe pursed his lips, "Actually, the first person to see them wasn't us, but A'wang, the team member who got lost first. Later, I told Xie Xiaotang and Liu Fei about it."

Gu Song frowned, "Why did you only tell Xiao Tang and not me? Why didn't you let everyone know?"

Zhuanghe said dismissively, "You and she are a couple, what's the difference between telling her and telling you? Besides, she's the professional. You're just a university foreign language professor. You came along just to make up the numbers. Did you really think we were on a casual trip? Did you really think we were going to play? Would it have been useful to tell you? You said to tell everyone, and I've told everyone now! You and Xie Xiaotang are a couple, Liu Fei and Chen Guangquan are also a couple, then there's me and Wu Zhou, plus A'wang. Doesn't that mean everyone knows?"

Gu Song's eyes widened. Zhuanghe's words were hard to refute, but he probably blamed Xie Xiaotang in his heart for not telling him the truth.

"No, even with your calculation just now, that's only seven people. There's one missing!"

"That's right. Only Old Chai doesn't know about this. He's timid and has a bad heart; I was afraid he'd be scared to death."

"Where is Old Chai from?"

Hearing my question, Gu Song said, "Old Chai is from Yu City. He's a tomb raider. He claims his ancestors were Mojin School Lieutenants, and he inherited some of their skills. But he's right, Old Chai is very timid and afraid of ghosts."

I was stunned. A tomb raider who was afraid of ghosts? And a Mojin School Lieutenant, where was his pride?

Zhuanghe said, "He used to be very brave, and he was known as a ruthless person in the business. But later, something happened to him, and he was so scared that he quit the profession. Although I don't know what happened to him, I heard his heart was damaged by the fright, and he almost died. If I hadn't thought we might need his expertise this time, and promised him a hefty sum, he wouldn't have come."

Zhuanghe sighed as he said this, "We used to have a very good relationship, and we'd collaborated a few times. He even saved my life once. That's why I didn't tell him the truth; I was afraid something might happen to him."

"How is he now? Have you been in contact?"

"He's fine. There's nothing unusual about him. Honestly, I envy him; he just lives his life without knowing anything." Zhuanghe gave a bitter smile.

Gu Song didn't speak anymore, just sat there, lost in thought.

Xu Qiuyan said, "Do you have any ideas?"

I glanced at Gu Song, "Yes. Do you remember something Gu Song mentioned?"

Xu Qiuyan narrowed her eyes, as if recalling something Gu Song had said.

I didn't keep her in suspense, "Gu Song told us that Xie Xiaotang had told him that A'wang wasn't the real A'wang, but a replica, a mirror person."

Xu Qiuyan nodded, "I remember now."

I said, "If those eight corpses are indeed them, then it's likely their original bodies that died, and these ones who came out alive are mirror people."

As I said this, my eyes were fixed on Zhuanghe.

I suspected Zhuanghe hadn't told us everything he knew. The reason Xie Xiaotang told Gu Song these things was likely because they had already discovered something.

Since Zhuanghe had told Xie Xiaotang about this, and Xie Xiaotang had said this to Gu Song, then Xie Xiaotang and the others who knew should have already analyzed this matter.

Xie Xiaotang must have also told Zhuanghe her suspicions, but Zhuanghe hadn't mentioned the mirror people.

Had he forgotten, or was he deliberately concealing it?

"You're right. Xie Xiaotang suspects we are all mirror people, and that someone deliberately created us and then killed our original bodies."

"Do mirror people have souls after they die?" Gu Song asked me.

"Didn't you see it yourself?"

I knew what he was doubting; he was doubting whether the soul of Xie Xiaotang he saw was real.

But I was puzzled. I had interacted with Xie Xiaotang's soul. To have reached this point, why hadn't she told us the truth? Why was she doing this?

More and more doubts filled my mind.

"I know why they want to kill us," Zhuanghe suddenly exclaimed.

All our eyes turned to him.

He said, "Because we discovered this secret!" He then looked at Gu Song, "They only killed Xie Xiaotang, and didn't kill you because Xie Xiaotang saved you. Before, she didn't tell you about discovering the corpses, otherwise, you probably wouldn't have escaped the fate of death. Now, you know too. Hahahaha, you're going to die too!"

"Do you wish for my death that much?" Gu Song's face was filled with anger.

Zhuanghe replied, "That's right, I wish you were dead."

Gu Song asked, "Why?"

Zhuanghe didn't speak, pulling the covers tighter, his eyes starting to cloud over again.

I sighed, "He likes your wife. In his eyes, you're not worthy of her at all."

From the very beginning, I sensed Zhuanghe's hostility towards Gu Song. I couldn't understand, after spending so much time together in Lop Nur, how could Gu Song not have noticed it at all? Of course, I believe in the relationship between Xie Xiaotang and Gu Song, and Zhuanghe's feelings were just one-sided wishful thinking. But Zhuanghe genuinely liked Xie Xiaotang.

Gu Song was stunned, finding it hard to accept.

Zhuanghe sneered, "You're not even as perceptive as an outsider. Do you know why Xie Xiaotang always dragged you along on every trip? She was rejecting me in her own way, protecting your marriage and your so-called love. I just don't get it, what's so great about you?"

I didn't want to get involved in their melodramatic drama. What concerned me were the bizarre events happening to them.

"Did you bury those bodies?"

Zhuanghe nodded. "Yes. No matter what, we couldn't let our own corpses be exposed in the wilderness, right? So, Wu Zhou and I buried all the bodies. You have no idea how we forced ourselves to suppress our fear. You can never know what it's like to bury your own body with your own hands."

His emotional state was normal. If it were me, I'd be the same.

Perhaps I wouldn't have done as well as he did.

Gu Song hesitated. "Did you bury my body too?"

Zhuanghe said indifferently, "Are you looking down on me, Zhuanghe? Even though I dislike you, I would still treat you well for Xie Xiaotang's sake."

Gu Song lowered his head. It seemed Zhuanghe was right. Because of Xie Xiaotang, Zhuanghe had probably always treated him quite well, even taking good care of him within the expedition team.

For a love rival to act like Zhuanghe did was quite rare, a true case of "loving the house and its crow."

But now Xie Xiaotang was gone, and Zhuanghe was plagued by misfortune. He harbored resentment and anger, so how could he still show Gu Song a friendly face?

"I've told you everything you wanted to know. I hope you can truly help me."

Zhuanghe seemed to see a glimmer of hope in us.

I said, "Don't worry, we'll do our best."

After leaving Zhuanghe's house, Xu Qiuyan asked me what we should do next.

I felt the most important thing was to find that Island Nation's Onmyoji, Abe Ichinan. She should know the whole story, or perhaps, they concocted the entire thing. They were conducting some kind of experiment, trying to use Mirror People to replace the originals to see if the Mirror People possessed the same knowledge, abilities, intelligence, and thoughts as their originals.

But what method did they use to create the Mirror People? Legend has it that the Twin Fish Jade Pendant has such a function, but the Twin Fish Jade Pendant has always been in Ninth Bureau's Old Shu's possession. Could this matter be related to Old Shu?

However, I quickly dismissed this thought. After all, Old Shu was the head of the Ninth Bureau. If he was involved, things would be a huge mess. Moreover, both Xie Yi and that Fatty Buddha Lord trusted Old Shu very much.