The matter in the corridor had been dealt with.
He put away the landline telephone called "Listener 304."
Jiang Qiao walked up to the mirror.
It was a full-length mirror mounted on an old wooden frame, with an oval shape. The paint had peeled from the wooden frame, which swayed unsteadily and looked as though it might fall apart at any moment. It seemed completely out of place in its surroundings.
He stood before the mirror.
The mirror did not reflect Jiang Qiao's shadow. It remained a hazy blur, with nothing visible.
Jiang Qiao said nothing, either.
He merely reached out and touched the mirror's surface.
Soon.
After a faint sense of resistance, his hand slowly sank into the mirror. Judging from the sensation coming back to him, it was icy cold, like immersing his hand in freezing water.
The next moment.
Jiang Qiao suddenly felt a rough hand seize his palm from inside the mirror.
Immediately.
A tremendous pulling force tried to drag him into the mirror.
"There's something in there?"
A thought flashed through his mind. He gripped that hand with his other hand and gave it a fierce yank outward.
"Plop!"
A section of blackened, rigid arm, shaped like a puppet's, was forcibly pulled out by Jiang Qiao.
But there was nothing above the arm.
The instant the hand extended from the mirror, it broke off. It seemed that after discovering it could not contend with Jiang Qiao, the evil thing on the other side had chosen to sacrifice its arm to survive.
"Hey!"
"Don't run!"
Without a word, Jiang Qiao planted one foot into the mirror and burrowed straight through.
He showed no fear whatsoever.
There was no evil thing.
Inside the mirror, Jiang Qiao now found himself in a somewhat cramped cloakroom. It was