"She... she looked like she'd stepped out of an oil painting—or, no, one of those black-and-white illustrations in old books. She wore a long gray dress... I only saw her when she squeezed out of the mirror. At first, all I could see was one eye." The Thin Man described her.
"Maybe it was because the mirror was too small." Wu Ling picked up the mirror.
"Right. After that, she seemed to back away. Once she did, I could see her whole face. Um... how do I put it... She had really heavy, exaggerated makeup. You could barely make out her features." The Thin Man went on. "Her eyes and lips were bright red." He shuddered.
"Did she make you an offer?" Chen Xiao Qiu asked.
"No. She just stared at me without blinking. I followed the plan and undid the seals. I noticed that after I undid them, she smiled. Those things seemed scared stiff. They didn't move at all. I thought they'd broken. But when I undid another seal, I realized the witch must have absorbed them. She was squeezing her way out of the mirror little by little. Once all twelve seals were undone, she shattered the mirror and came out completely."
"She shattered the mirror?" Chen Xiao Qiu looked at Wu Ling.
Wu Ling held the small mirror in her hand. Its surface was completely intact.
"Yeah. I saw her shatter it. Maybe it was some kind of illusion?" The Thin Man hesitated.
"And then you made a deal? She agreed to grant your wish?" Wu Ling asked.
The Thin Man nodded. "She smiled at me and nodded. I felt something too... I don't know how to describe it."
Nangong Yao suddenly said, "I saw the contract she formed with you."
"Huh?" The Thin Man instinctively