Shadow Ghost

"Don't move!" Lu Chen's roar exploded like a thunderclap in the deathly silent valley.

His voice carried a trace of the heavy inner force from the Ten Thousand Year Black Tortoise Art, instantly jolting the others back from the brink of panic.

"Banner Captain!" Zhao Da Niu and Sun Monkey were the first to react, instinctively drawing their blades to charge at the shadow.

"Stop!" Lu Chen barked again. "Cutting it's useless! That's a Shadow Ghost—it has no physical form!"

As he spoke, his gaze was as sharp as a hawk's, locked unwaveringly onto the shadow that was slowly straightening up. In his mind, Clerk Chen's cryptic prophecy flashed by in a blur.

"...What the mirror shows—if it's you, you die. If it's not you..."

In a flash of lightning and flint, Lu Chen instantly saw through the trick!

This Shadow Ghost was a replica of its host, draining life by mimicking them.

When it saw the host's reflection in a mirror, it mistook that for its true self, locking onto the connection and completing the fatal drain!

Conversely, if what it saw wasn't the host's form, but its own hollow, twisted, inhuman shadow shape...

"Sun Monkey!" Lu Chen's voice was urgent yet calm. "Take off the mirror hanging on your chest!"

Though Sun Monkey had no idea why, his near-blind trust in Lu Chen left no room for hesitation. He immediately unfastened the shiny Bronze Mirror.

"Follow my orders!" Lu Chen's eyes grew intensely focused, fixed on the distance and angle between the Shadow Ghost and that Warrior. "Don't aim the mirror at that brother, and don't aim it directly at the shadow! Point it at the ground three inches in front of the shadow—use the mirror's reflection to make that shadow see itself, from the bottom up!"

The instruction sounded bizarre and convoluted, but Sun Monkey didn't question it. Gripping the bronze mirror with both hands, he angled it at an extremely tricky slant toward the empty ground before the Shadow Ghost's feet.

A faint sliver of sky light, reflected by the bronze mirror, formed a small patch of brightness on the ground.

The Shadow Ghost, nearly fully upright, seemed drawn to this sudden gleam. Its hollow "head" slowly lowered.

It saw.

In the mirror's reflection, it didn't see the human it was mimicking. Instead, it saw a twisted, hollow thing with no features—a monster of pure darkness and death!

In that instant, a silent, soul-deep shriek erupted from the shadow!

As if unable to accept its true form, the entire shadow twisted and roiled violently, like ink drenched in strong acid, churning madly!

"Now!"

Lu Chen bellowed, and with his power already coiled, he shot out like a ghost!

He pushed Shadow Demon Trace Steps to their limit, his body seeming to merge into the gaps between light and shadow. In a flash, he appeared behind the Warrior, a pre-drawn talisman glowing faintly already in his hand.

It wasn't a Calming Talisman, nor a Breath Concealing Talisman. It was a Sun Flame Talisman—one he had forcibly deduced from the fragmentary text using his newly acquired Demon Devil Lifespan!

"By decree!"

Lu Chen pressed his fingers together like a sword and slapped the talisman firmly onto the Warrior's back!

Boom!

A warm, pure yang energy exploded like a miniature sun, instantly surging through the Warrior's limbs and bones!

The yin-cold force that had been coiled inside him, madly devouring his vitality, hissed and sizzled like snow under a blazing sun, evaporating and dispersing in an instant!

At the same time, the wildly twisting Shadow Ghost, as if struck a fatal blow, let out one last silent wail. It shrank back violently, plastering itself against the ground once more, reverting to an ordinary shadow that moved with its owner.

"Huff... huff..." The Warrior collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. Color quickly returned to his face, his eyes filled with the wild joy and lingering fear of a narrow escape.

The crisis was, for now, resolved.

"Don't let your guard down!" Lu Chen's voice was still icy. "This is just the beginning. Keep those mirrors protected and stay close to me!"

With this experience, the remaining four dared not be careless. They guarded the bronze mirrors on their chests and backs tightly, following Lu Chen step for step, not daring to fall behind.

The group continued deeper into the valley.

The deeper they went, the clearer the ghostly faces on the surrounding rocks became, as if they had come alive. Those hollow "eyes" seemed to silently watch them.

The yin-cold air in the valley nearly froze into ice.

"B-Banner Captain," Zhao Da Niu whispered, his voice trembling. "I feel like... these ghost faces are moving with us?"

Lu Chen didn't turn back. He only said flatly, "They're not moving. They're 'looking.'"

He pointed at the bronze mirrors on their chests. "They're looking at what's in the mirrors."

The group's hearts tightened. They instinctively glanced down at their own mirrors.

The mirror surfaces were clean, clearly reflecting their own tense, pale faces.

"No!" Sun Monkey suddenly cried out, pointing at Lu Chen's back. "Banner Captain! The mirror on your back!"

Lu Chen's heart stirred, but he didn't turn around. He only asked in a low voice, "What is it?"

"Your mirror... it's not reflecting your back!" Sun Monkey's voice was filled with terror. "It's reflecting... a ghastly white smiling face!"

At those words, everyone felt as if they had fallen into an ice pit, every hair on their bodies standing on end!

Lu Chen finally stopped walking.

Slowly, inch by inch, he turned around. His gaze was calm as he looked at Sun Monkey and the undisguised horror on his face.

"Take another look at your own mirrors. What's reflected in them... is it still you?"

Hearing this, the others froze as if struck by a paralysis spell, rooted to the spot.

They trembled, slowly lowering their heads to look at the gleaming bronze mirrors on their chests.

Reflected in the mirrors were no longer their own faces.

Instead, one by one, identical to the faces on the surrounding mountain rocks, hideous and twisted ghostly visages appeared! They laughed silently in the mirrors, their mouths split open to their ears, filled with malice and greed.

"Ah--!"

Screams of terror could no longer be suppressed, tearing through the deathly silence of the valley!

The ghosts of Ghost Face Slope were not Shadow Ghosts at all!

They were a kind of terrifying evil spirit that could dwell within reflections!

Through reflections, they established a connection with their hosts, then replaced them!