Mirror World

"Plop!" Zhang Chen surfaced, shaking water from his head. He saw Er Wa being pulled onto the small wooden bridge by Jia Xin. Er Wa could still stand, though his face was pale from swallowing so much water.

Zhang Chen swam to the shore and sincerely said to Jia Xin, "Thanks."

Jia Xin smiled and, with extreme speed, slipped a note into Zhang Chen's waterlogged pocket before leaving.

Zhang Chen quickly caught Er Wa, unsure how to approach him. He wasn't certain if Er Wa had actually seen the female fish monster.

"Cough, cough..." Er Wa coughed a couple more times.

"Second Brother, how did your gear malfunction?" Zhang Chen asked tentatively.

"Damn it, cough... Who knew there'd be a patch of water weeds? I always thought water weeds were harmless, something only seen in movies where people get tangled up. Who knew it was actually this dangerous?"

Zhang Chen breathed a sigh of relief. If Er Wa had seen the female fish monster, everyone would likely start panicking, setting off a chain reaction.

It was definitely unwise for everyone to flee the villa in their current panicked state. Not to mention the dangers of the villa and the large forest outside, even if they could get through the forest, Zhang Chen considered the village of Jiaoping outside to be extremely dangerous.

Therefore, the only viable plan was to first calm everyone down, then minimize the danger by cooperating with Jia Xin, and finally, find the source of the problem.

"Er Wa, are you alright? This water is quite clean; drinking a bit won't hurt. You should rest for a while. Dinner will be ready soon; I'll explain things to everyone."

In reality, underwater emergencies like this caused significant damage to the lungs, making rest essential. So, Zhang Chen helped Er Wa up and escorted him to his room.

After leaving, he pulled out the small note Jia Xin had slipped into his pocket. It read:

"Meet me in the dance studio at 8 PM. Be punctual."

Zhang Chen crumpled the note and threw it into the trash can. After going to the kitchen, he explained to everyone that Er Wa had gotten tangled in water weeds. Everyone's faces paled. Tan Fei immediately put down the wok he was using to stir-fry and rushed upstairs.

Wang Yizhi and Dai Xu also went up.

Before long, Er Wa, who had been resting, was brought back down. He even started helping to chop vegetables, as if the earlier incident had no effect on him at all. Truly a man from Class 3 of Grade 2007.

Though the evening meal consisted only of vegetarian dishes, it looked quite abundant. There was shredded cucumber salad, stir-fried potato shreds, eggplant with green beans, and so on. The colorful vegetarian dishes were enjoyed by everyone. All of them were students who had just graduated from junior high, and most were likely tasting home-cooked meals for the first time.

Er Wa even found a case of beer from the upstairs bar. Although it was stated that minors shouldn't drink, it wasn't a big issue for Er Wa to finish half the case by himself. The once-reserved students from No. 1 Middle School ended up drinking and bonding like brothers with Tan Fei and Er Wa.

Zhang Chen naturally claimed he couldn't drink, as he had important business to attend to that night.

After eating and drinking their fill, everyone returned to their rooms. They were all quite tired from the day's events and naturally went to bed early.

Zhang Chen sat in his room, checking the time. There were still 40 minutes until 8 PM. He began to strategize for his upcoming trip to the dance studio. Based on the description from the girl named Shen Qiutian, the problem likely stemmed from a mirror. If that was the case, the entity in the dance studio would be one that could conceal itself within objects, a type Zhang Chen particularly disliked.

"If it's truly integrated with the mirror, it depends on whether Jia Xin can find a way to force its physical form out. Once its physical form is revealed, it'll be much easier to handle," Zhang Chen thought, feeling that having a partner might actually be beneficial.

"However, that guy Jia Xin, despite always appearing to help me, still feels like he's hiding a lot. And I don't know if it's my imagination, but I feel like his true nature isn't what he portrays. To use an animal analogy, he's like a sand scorpion, capable of hiding in the desert and delivering a fatal blow to any enemy that discovers him."

"Later, if we manage to sort this out, I might be able to ask him a few questions." Zhang Chen stopped overthinking, changed into a cheap tank top and shorts for easier movement.

By 8 PM, the villa was completely dark on the first floor as everyone had retired to their rooms.

Zhang Chen cautiously opened his room door and stepped out onto the first floor. To his surprise, Jia Xin was already standing in front of a painting, appearing quite engrossed.

Zhang Chen walked over and, using the moonlight filtering into the villa, saw the image in the painting: a middle-aged woman in a white ballet costume, poised on her toes, dancing ballet. Below the picture was an English name:

"Camille Rodin."

"Hmm, this must be the wife of the villa's owner?" Zhang Chen said, noting the shared surname.

"She's who we're going to kill tonight," Jia Xin turned to Zhang Chen and said.

"How do you know?"

"Guessing."

Zhang Chen couldn't even force a laugh. In this situation, the guy was still making jokes.

"Let's go." Jia Xin turned and headed towards the dance studio, with Zhang Chen following closely behind.

"Creeeak..." A long, drawn-out door opening sound echoed through the silent hall.

The two walked directly to the center of the room before stopping. The room was slightly brighter than the first floor outside, thanks to the moonlight reflecting off the mirrors.

"Can you sense it?" Zhang Chen had activated his telekinesis from the moment he entered, carefully scanning every corner of the room, but he found nothing unusual.

"No," Jia Xin said.

"Didn't you say you had a way tonight?"

"I have a method, but it's a bit dangerous."

"Stop keeping me in suspense, tell me," Zhang Chen urged.

"My master once told me that ghosts attached to mirrors are very difficult to deal with. They spent most of their lives looking in mirrors, seeing their reflections as more beautiful than their real selves.

"At the same time, a condition must be met: they must be killed by someone else, dying in front of a mirror. With their dying image before them, their resentment overflows, causing them to abandon their physical bodies and merge their souls with the mirror."

"After a long time, even if they encounter the murderer from that day and vent their hatred, they won't want to leave the mirror."

Zhang Chen listened to the description and asked, "Then what is the danger you mentioned?"

"These beings, having abandoned their physical bodies for so long and treating the mirror as their own body, eventually become a part of the mirror. I have no way to lure it out."

"However, to deal with mirror ghosts, our sect has a technique called the Five Elements Reversal Array. We can use the array to enter the mirror, find the ghost's true form, and kill it."

"That doesn't sound too difficult," Zhang Chen exclaimed, impressed that Jia Xin, at such a young age, possessed so many magical artifacts.

"Once we enter the Mirror World, we'll be in that guy's territory, making it very tricky to deal with. Second, the world inside the mirror is inverted from reality. I've entered many inverted worlds in mirrors under my master's guidance to adapt. If you go in, I'll stall the ghost first, so you must adapt as quickly as possible."

Jia Xin spoke with great seriousness. Zhang Chen listened and understood the danger. He could only vaguely imagine what an inverted world entailed; he would only truly understand once he experienced it.

"I'm ready, I'll begin now," Jia Xin said, then grabbed a handful of crystal-like sand from a pouch at his waist and scattered it in a circle around the center. He then took out five small flags from his backpack and planted them at equal intervals around the sandy circle.

"Stand inside with me," Jia Xin instructed.

The next second, they both stepped into the formation. Instantly, the surrounding crystal sand slowly floated up and stuck to Zhang Chen and Jia Xin. Zhang Chen suddenly felt a sensation of **being peeled away, and the crystal sand on him fell to the ground.

"Success," Jia Xin muttered.

Zhang Chen could clearly feel an unsettling aura and a sense of danger. However, when he tried to turn his head to the left, it actually turned to the right. When he tried to lift his left hand, his right hand moved instead.

All commands from his brain were inverted.

Jia Xin, standing nearby, skillfully took out a small compass from his waist. Seeing Zhang Chen's state, he said, "This ghost doesn't seem to be in this room. I'll go out and deal with it first. One more thing: the mirrors inside the Mirror World cannot show us ourselves, but they can show that guy, so we can use the mirrors to find it."

With that, Jia Xin left alone, holding the compass.

Zhang Chen remained there, slowly adjusting to his body. He was gradually able to perform some basic movements, but if he encountered the ghost, he would basically be dead.

Zhang Chen slowly turned his head and looked at the mirror in front of him. Just as Jia Xin had said, he couldn't see himself in the mirror. He then looked around himself. Wasn't this the dance practice room?

"Although there's an uncomfortable aura in here, the ghost itself doesn't seem to be present," Zhang Chen slowly released his telekinesis to scan the surroundings. To Zhang Chen's relief, his telekinesis did not seem to be inverted.

"I'd better go out and take a look," Zhang Chen slowly walked out of the dance practice room step by step. He pushed open the door, and the scene outside was exactly the same as in reality. If Zhang Chen hadn't known beforehand, he wouldn't have realized this was the Mirror World.

Second Floor Corridor, Right Side, Mirror World

Jia Xin frowned, holding the spirit-guiding needle and following its direction up to the second floor. What bothered him was that the ghost in the mirror seemed to have targeted his classmate.

As soon as he reached the second floor, the spirit-guiding needle pointed directly to the right side of the second floor, which was where their class was staying. As he walked step by step down the right-side corridor, the needle accurately pointed to a room. Inside that room was Shen Qiutian, who had been dancing in the practice room that afternoon.

"A simple handling this morning doesn't seem to be enough. Why is it fixated on Shen Qiutian? Because she likes to dance?" Jia Xin couldn't wait any longer.

In an instant, he held four slender silver needles between the index and middle fingers of his left hand – the same needles that had repelled the fish monster that afternoon.

"Creak!" The door was unlocked. Jia Xin twisted it open.

The 2.5-meter bed was empty. Shen Qiutian was standing by the window, her back to Jia Xin, wearing a white nightgown, completely still. Coupled with her waist-length hair, the scene was truly terrifying.

"Qiutian," Jia Xin called out softly. He knew that Shen Qiutian would definitely turn around when she heard his voice. However, Shen Qiutian, standing there, remained motionless.

"Possessed?" Jia Xin glanced at the compass in his right hand. The needle was rigidly pointing at Shen Qiutian, who was standing by the window. The silver needles in his left hand were also ready.

Step by step, Jia Xin slowly approached Shen Qiutian, continuously calling out the woman's name. He was finally close to her, but the woman remained motionless.

Suddenly, Shen Qiutian, with her waist-length hair, turned around and hugged Jia Xin tightly before he could react. Jia Xin saw that her eyes were entirely white – she was definitely possessed.

However, "dada da," the compass in Jia Xin's right hand suddenly spun, pointing behind Jia Xin.

"Damn it, I fell for it," Jia Xin quickly flicked the compass with his right thumb. The needle transformed into a mirror.

Shen Qiutian's strength was astonishing. Jia Xin had no choice but to use the mirror to look behind him.

And in the mirror, a headless, toeless 'woman' dressed in a white ballet costume was standing at the doorway...

ps: Thanks to 'Imperial Sky Lord' for being the first supporter to reward this book, thank you!

Welcome all book lovers to read. The latest, fastest, and hottest serialized works are all available at!