"You want there to be a next time? No way, this was the only time!"
Wang Xiaoming irritably pulled down his sleeve, covering the ring of teeth marks.
He felt like he'd been feeding a stray cat. How heartbreaking...
"I'm leaving. Don't sleep like a little pig again. Cultivate properly and try to absorb a Soul Ring as soon as you can."
"You're the pig!"
Ning Rongrong grabbed a pillow and hurled it at him, but it passed through the gray Dimensional Wall, hit an empty wall, and rolled into the corner.
She was alone in the room, with only the faint lingering scent of Whale Rubber.
Ning Rongrong sat on the bed, staring in bewilderment as Wang Xiaoming was swept up in a gray curtain and disappeared from the room.
Had she just seen a ghost?
Or had that guy Wang Xiaoming developed some new ability again?
She retrieved the pillow from the floor and hugged it to her chest.
"Hmph, he left so fast, and he hadn't even stayed to have a proper chat with me yet... But I won't fall behind you!"
The corners of her mouth rose of their own accord, then she quickly pressed them down again. Suddenly full of motivation, she sat cross-legged on the bed and began to cultivate.
Wang Xiaoming followed the Dimensional Wall back to his room. Seeing that he had barely used any Soul Power, he smiled in satisfaction.
Sure enough, everything was fake. Only someone who wanted nothing from you truly loved you.
He had just taken off his shoes and gotten into bed, but the moment he lay down, he sensed that something was wrong.
After training his Spiritual Power that evening, it had become extraordinarily sensitive.
There was something unclean in his room...!
Wang Xiaoming slowly sat up, a sword card already pinched between his fingertips.
He held his breath and swept his Spiritual Power across the room, inch by inch.
Under the table, beneath the bed, the ceiling beams, behind the curtains... nothing had changed.
But his intuition told him the thing was close, so close it was practically right in front of him.
Suddenly, he noticed the mirror on the table.
It was an old piece, with intertwining floral patterns carved into its bronze frame. The mirror's surface had been wiped clean.
Sure enough... when he looked over, there was a face in the mirror.
It was his own face!
But he was sitting sideways to the mirror at that moment... that was what made it so strange.
He was beside the bed, facing the window, while the face of "Wang Xiaoming" in the mirror looked straight ahead, its lips curved slightly upward, as though waiting for someone to notice him.
Seeing that Wang Xiaoming had noticed something was wrong, the "Wang Xiaoming" in the mirror smiled.
Though it was the same face, that smile was completely different from his usual one.
It was a pointed smile, brimming with malice and greed.
"What the hell are you? Watch out, or I'll sue you for infringement!"
Without another word, Wang Xiaoming pulled the Final Driver from his Soul Tool, fastened it around his waist, and flipped out Ning Rongrong's card.
He chose to send NPC Rongrong ahead to scout.
[Attack Ride-Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda!]
A cluster of magenta silhouettes gathered at his side, coalescing into Ning Rongrong's outline.
When NPC Rongrong landed, she still wore that impatient expression.
She glanced at Wang Xiaoming, then at the mirror. Without a word, she raised her hand, formed a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, and hurled it at the mirror.
The instant the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda struck the mirror, it was like water melting into water.
The whole tower of light and shadow silently sank into the mirror without raising so much as a ripple.
The next instant, the tower's silhouette shot back out of the mirror at more than three times its original speed, striking NPC Rongrong squarely in the forehead!
Bang!
Without even a grunt, NPC Rongrong instantly shattered into points of light and dissipated into the air.
Wang Xiaoming's pupils contracted slightly.
Without hesitation, he stepped up to the table, instantly drew the Ride Booker Gun from his waist, and fired a volley at the mirror.
Red bullets of light poured down like a rainstorm, every shot striking the center of the mirror with precision.
But every bullet vanished the moment it touched the mirror. Like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, they seemed to be swallowed by an invisible mouth, leaving not even an echo behind.
Wang Xiaoming stopped firing and leaped to the side.
The mirror was unnaturally quiet now, and the face inside it had vanished too.
Wang Xiaoming did not lower his gun.
"Don't you want to come in and sit for a while?"
His own voice drifted lazily out of the mirror.
The voice and tone were exactly the same, but there was an indescribable sense that something was off.
Wang Xiaoming did not answer.
He closed his eyes for a moment and unfolded the map of light points in his mind.
He had originally thought the guy in the mirror might have something to do with Ryuki.
After all, even the Kabuto Zecter ran all over the place, and Ryuki, which could travel through the Mirror World, was undoubtedly even freer.
But he discovered... there were no red dots at all in the area right in front of him. So the guy in the mirror couldn't be Ryuki's power source. What the hell was he, then?
He looked down at his hand, then up at the mirror's quietly reflective surface.
Since he couldn't avoid it, he would go in and take a look.
He took two steps forward, walked up to the mirror, and reached out with his right hand without hesitation.
When his entire hand passed through, a gentle pull came from the mirror, as if someone inside had given him a light tug.
Wang Xiaoming did not resist.
The light before his eyes warped for an instant. When his vision returned, he was standing in a place identical to his room.
But everything was reversed, and even dilapidated.
The desk was on his left, the bed on his right, the dead leaves on the windowsill had switched sides, and even the flame of the lamp on the table leaned in the opposite direction.
Mirror "Wang Xiaoming" stood in the center of the room, watching him from a few steps away.
Then Mirror Wang Xiaoming's lips curved, and he smiled just as he usually did.
"What do you see?"
Wang Xiaoming replied without betraying any emotion, "Two peerlessly handsome men."
Mirror Xiaoming's expression froze for an instant.
Heh, that's you all right... good taste!
The two stared at each other in silence for about five seconds.
With a flip of his hand, Wang Xiaoming pulled a card from his Soul Tool and pushed it into the driver at his waist.
Mirror Wang Xiaoming completed the same motion almost simultaneously, flipping his palm and pushing an identical card into an identical driver.
The two said in unison, "Attack Ride!"
Two Forced Ride commands were issued at the same time, and their energy exploded into the air, hurtling toward each other.
But the next second, both drivers emitted a piercing burst of static, like two pieces of metal grinding together and jamming the gears.
Inside the drivers, the light on the Ride cards flickered twice, then abruptly shut down.
Wang Xiaoming glanced down at his driver.
Just now, he and his mirror image had activated Forced Ride at the same time, and the two skills from the same source were clashing against each other.
But because the target of Forced Ride had been forcibly ridden by the other side, its connection to the original had been severed. The two commands collided, producing an unexpected BUG.
Mirror Wang Xiaoming also glanced down at his driver and frowned.
Both of them cursed the other inwardly at the same time.
Despicable bastard, opening with Forced Ride... what a dirty move!