Clerk Chen's words rang in Lu Chen's mind again.
"If the one reflected in the mirror is you, then you're dead..."
Because that meant you'd been completely replaced!
"Don't panic!" Lu Chen's voice rang out like a pillar anchoring the sea, steadying everyone's fraying nerves once more. "Turn the mirrors around! Use the backs!"
As if waking from a dream, the others hurriedly flipped the bronze mirrors hanging against their chests and backs, turning the rough, nonreflective sides outward.
In an instant, the chill of countless malicious eyes spying on them vanished!
It was as if they had become invisible in this eerie world.
"W-what's going on?" Zhao Da Niu asked, still shaken.
"These things have no physical bodies. They can only exist by attaching themselves to images." Lu Chen explained as he warily scanned their surroundings. "The fronts of the mirrors give them a perfect place to dwell. But the backs have no reflection, so they have nowhere to cling."
Only then did the others understand. They looked at Lu Chen as if he were a god.
Yet Lu Chen felt not the slightest relief.
He knew this was only temporary.
They couldn't hold up their mirrors forever.
And what Ghost Face Slope had in endless supply were things that could produce reflections.
Like... puddles.
Like... smooth stone walls.
And then...
Lu Chen's gaze snapped into focus. He fixed it on a pair of hollow, pitch-black...
eyeballs just ahead!
The eyeballs were embedded in a massive rock that resembled a weeping ghost's face.
They had no whites or pupils, only two bottomless, pure black holes, as if they could suck a person's soul inside.
They didn't move, yet seemed to watch everything.
A chill more primal, colder, and more malicious than the Shadow Ghost's earlier gaze swept over the entire group like an invisible tide!
"W-what... what is that..." Zhao Da Niu's voice quavered. He felt as if an ice pick were churning through his brain. The world spun, and he could barely stand.
The other strongmen were in even worse shape. Some clutched their heads and groaned incoherently; others stared blankly and spun in place, as if they had completely lost their bearings.
"Wuu..."
A faint murmur, as if from the depths of hell, rang directly inside everyone's minds.
It wasn't a sound, but pure mental corruption!
It lured, twisted, and magnified the deepest fears in each person's heart.
Before Zhao Da Niu's eyes appeared the horrifying sight of Willow Creek Town, piled with corpses and engulfed in flames.
Sun Monkey saw his companions from Black Wind Gully torn to pieces.
The other three newcomers were swallowed by bloody, horrific visions, their minds teetering wildly on the brink of collapse.
Yet the mental assault, enough to drive an ordinary martial artist mad in an instant, washed over Lu Chen's mind like water into mud.
His perfected Ten Thousand Year Black Tortoise Art had long since tempered his mind into an ancient, icy pool—still as a dry well, deep and unshakable.
The instant the corruption touched his consciousness, his dense Profound Black Internal Energy engulfed it, crushed it, and assimilated it. It failed to stir even the slightest ripple.
Lu Chen's expression remained calm, but his gaze had never been more grave.
At last, he understood.
The Shadow Ghosts were merely creatures born alongside this valley.
The real ghost was the rock!
Or rather, the eerie eyes embedded in the rock!
They were the heart of this bewitched death trap!
"Squad Leader... I... I can't walk anymore... I'm so sleepy..." Sun Monkey mumbled, his gaze unfocused. He slowly began walking toward a ghost-faced rock studded with blade-sharp stones, as if it were a warm bed.
"Wake up!"
Lu Chen's tongue cracked like spring thunder. His furious shout, infused with the weighty internal energy of the Ten Thousand Year Black Tortoise Art, slammed into the minds of the five like a heavy hammer!
The five shuddered. The confusion and illusions in their eyes faded by a third, only for the insidious murmurs to drag them under again.
"Bite your tongue! Guard your mind! Follow my voice. Don't miss a single step!"
Lu Chen's voice was so calm it held no trace of feeling. He didn't try to deal with the eerie eyes. Instead, he led the others toward what looked like an ordinary rock face to their rear.
His pace wasn't fast, but every step landed in a place of uncanny precision, as if he were following some hidden pattern.
The black eyeballs embedded in the rock seemed "confused" by his unaffected behavior. They slowly turned.
That was all it took!
Rumble!
The valley's appearance changed beyond recognition before their eyes!
The path beneath their feet vanished, replaced by an unfathomably deep cliff.
The rocks around them became snarling demons, reaching for them with their claws.
The sky turned into a blood-red sea, threatening to crash down at any moment!
"Ah—!"
The three newcomers couldn't take it anymore. They broke down completely, clutching their heads and screaming at the edge of the "cliff."
Even Zhao Da Niu and Sun Monkey, whose wills were the strongest, had faces ashen with despair, their eyes filled with nothing but hopelessness.
"A phantasm formation! It's a phantasm formation!" Lu Chen realized, his mind crystal clear.
Ghost Face Slope itself was a natural phantasm formation controlled by those eerie eyeballs!
The Shadow Ghosts had only been an appetizer. This was the real killing blow!
With the group on the verge of collapse, Lu Chen knew he couldn't wait any longer.
Instead of retreating, he spun around to face the eerie eyeballs. Killing intent flashed in his equally deep gaze!
"You two, protect the other three and retreat behind that boulder. No matter what happens, don't come out!"
Lu Chen gave his final order to Zhao Da Niu and Sun Monkey, who were still somewhat lucid. Before they could respond, he was already moving!
Shadow Demon Trace Steps!
His figure blurred in an instant, wavering like a wisp of smoke caught between light and shadow.
He didn't take a straight path. Following the enormous shadows cast by the demonic rock figures in the phantasm formation, he raced forward along a zigzag path that defied reason!
Roar!
The black eyeballs seemed enraged by Lu Chen's provocation.
The ghost-faced rock they were embedded in let out a muffled roar. Its entire surface flaked away, piece by piece, like parched earth.
A humanoid monster, over a zhang tall and made entirely of gray-black stone, emerged from the rock. Dozens of black eyeballs of different sizes were embedded in its body!
The Stone-Skinned Soul-Peering Demon!
At last, the true form of this ranked demon appeared!
It had no mouth, yet the roar seemed to issue from every eyeball on its body at once, making the entire valley ring.
It strode forward heavily. Though it seemed slow, each step carried it several zhang, and it charged straight at Lu Chen!
Dozens of eyeballs turned at once, fixing on Lu Chen's figure. Terrifying mental assaults crashed into his mind wave after wave, like solid siege hammers!
But Lu Chen's mind had long since become ice formed over ten thousand years. Let the wind blow and the waves pound; he remained unmoved.
There was only one thing he had to do: get close!