"Don't move!" Lu Chen's furious shout exploded through the silent valley like a thunderclap!
His voice carried a trace of the heavy inner force of the Ten Thousand Year Black Tortoise Art, jolting the others out of their panic just as they teetered on the brink of collapse.
"Sir Squad Leader!" Zhao Da Niu and Sun Monkey were the first to react. They instinctively drew their blades and prepared to charge the shadow and hack at it.
"Stop!" Lu Chen shouted again. "Cutting it won't work! That's a Shadow Ghost. It has no physical form!"
As he spoke, his gaze was as sharp as an eagle's, fixed on the shadow as it slowly straightened. In his mind, Clerk Chen's cryptic prophecy flashed by.
...If the one reflected in the mirror is you, then you die. If it isn't you...
In the blink of an eye, Lu Chen unraveled the mystery!
The Shadow Ghost was a copy of its host. It drew life by imitating them.
When it saw the host's reflection in a mirror, it mistook it for its own true form, completely locking onto its connection with the host and completing its deadly theft!
But if what it saw wasn't the host's appearance, but its own formless, twisted, inhuman shadow...
"Sun Monkey!" Lu Chen's voice was urgent but calm. "Take the mirror off your chest!"
Sun Monkey didn't understand why, but he trusted Lu Chen almost blindly. Without a moment's hesitation, he removed the gleaming Bronze Mirror.
"Wait for my signal!" Lu Chen's gaze grew utterly focused as he watched the distance and angle between the Shadow Ghost and the strongman. "Don't use the mirror to reflect that brother, and don't shine it directly at the shadow! Aim at the ground three inches in front of it. Use the mirror's reflection to make the shadow see itself from below!"
The instruction sounded bizarre and convoluted, but Sun Monkey didn't question it for a moment. Gripping the Bronze Mirror in both hands, he followed Lu Chen's directions and angled it at the patch of empty ground in front of the Shadow Ghost's feet.
A faint sliver of daylight bounced off the mirror, forming a small patch of light on the ground.
The Shadow Ghost, nearly fully upright, seemed drawn to the sudden brightness. Its hollow "head" slowly dipped down.
It saw.
In the mirror's reflection, it didn't see the human it was imitating. Instead, it saw a twisted, formless thing with no features, made of nothing but pure darkness and deathly silence... a monster!
In an instant, a soundless shriek that seemed to come from the soul itself erupted from the shadow!
As if unable to accept its true form, the entire shadow twisted and seethed violently, churning like ink doused in strong acid!
"Now!"
Lu Chen let out a furious shout and sprang into action, his body flashing forward like a phantom!
He drove the Shadow Demon Trace Steps to their limit, seeming to slip into the gaps between light and shadow. In an instant, he appeared behind the strongman, a faintly glowing talisman already in his hand.
It wasn't a Calming Talisman or a Breath Concealing Talisman, but a Sun Flame Talisman—one Lu Chen had painstakingly deduced from the incomplete text, using his newly acquired Demon Devil Lifespan to force out a partially understood technique!
"By decree!"
Lu Chen joined his fingers like a sword and slammed the talisman against the strongman's back!
Boom!
A warm, pure force of yang burst forth like a miniature sun, instantly flowing through the strongman's limbs and organs!
The cold, sinister force entrenched within him and ravenously devouring his life force met this supreme yang power like melting snow beneath the blazing sun. It sizzled and evaporated in an instant, driven away!
At the same time, the Shadow Ghost, still twisting madly, seemed to suffer a fatal blow. It gave one last soundless wail, shrank backward, and flattened itself against the ground again, returning to an ordinary shadow that moved with its owner.
"Hah... hah..." The strongman collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Color quickly returned to his face, and his eyes shone with the joy and lingering fear of someone who had just escaped death.
The crisis had been averted—for now.
"Don't let your guard down!" Lu Chen's voice remained cold. "This is only the beginning. Keep your mirrors protected and stay close to me!"
With this experience behind them, the remaining four didn't dare be careless again. They guarded the Bronze Mirrors on their chests and backs with everything they had and followed close behind Lu Chen, not daring to fall even one step behind.
The group continued deeper into the valley.
The farther they went, the clearer the ghost faces carved into the surrounding rocks became, as if they had come alive. Their hollow "eyes" seemed to watch the group in silence.
The chill in the air was almost cold enough to freeze.
"S-Sir Squad Leader," Zhao Da Niu whispered, his voice trembling. "Why do I feel like... those ghost faces are moving along with us?"
Lu Chen didn't turn around. "They aren't moving. They're 'watching.'"
He pointed at the Bronze Mirrors on their chests. "They're watching what's in the mirrors."
At his words, everyone's hearts clenched. They instinctively glanced down at the Bronze Mirrors on their chests.
The mirror surfaces were clear and bright, reflecting their own tense, pale faces.
"Wait!" Sun Monkey suddenly cried out, pointing at Lu Chen's back. "Sir Squad Leader! The mirror on your back!"
Lu Chen's heart stirred, but he didn't turn around. He simply asked in a low voice, "What is it?"
"What's in your mirror... isn't the reflection of your back!" Sun Monkey's voice was full of terror. "It's a... a pale, grinning face!"
At those words, everyone felt as if they'd plunged into an icy pit. Every hair on their bodies stood on end!
Lu Chen finally stopped walking.
Slowly, inch by inch, he turned around and looked calmly at Sun Monkey and the horror he could no longer hide.
"Take another look. What's reflected in your mirrors... is it still you?"
At his words, everyone froze in place as if under a spell.
Trembling, they slowly lowered their heads and looked at the gleaming Bronze Mirrors on their chests.
The faces reflected in them were no longer their own.
Instead, they were identical to the hideous, twisted ghost faces on the rocks around them! They grinned soundlessly in the mirrors, their mouths stretched to their ears, their expressions full of malice and greed.
"Ah—!"
The terrified screams could no longer be held back. They tore through the valley's silence!
The ghosts of Ghost Face Slope weren't Shadow Ghosts at all!
They were some kind of terrifying evil spirits that could dwell inside reflections!
Through those reflections, they forged a connection with the original—and then took its place!