Just as Jiang Luo was about to properly toy with Chi You as payback for the ghost’s over-the-top demands last time, the younger Chi You showed up.
Wearing the identity of Young Chi You’s wife, Jiang Luo looked at himself, then at the man calmly lying on the bed with his hands bound. An odd sense of guilt welled up inside him.
The ghost’s expression was filled with interest. He gazed at the silhouette outside the window, his eyes gleaming with a relaxed and even somewhat expectant look, as if waiting to be discovered by Young Chi You.
Jiang Luo thought for two seconds, then decisively climbed off the bed. He yanked the ghost by the collar and shoved him into the wardrobe. Just as he closed the wardrobe doors, the room door was pushed open.
Chi You had already bathed and changed into a fresh set of clothes.
His face was emotionless, but when his eyes fell on Jiang Luo, there was a faint warmth. “Young Master Jiang, did I scare you today?”
Jiang Luo pulled his hand back from the wardrobe and leaned casually against it, afraid the chaos-loving ghost inside would jump out. “Hahaha, not at all.”
Chi You turned to close the door, then walked over to stand in front of him.
The dim room was filled with floating dust. Chi You stared into Jiang Luo’s bright eyes, and an unknown emotion seemed to sprout like wild grass.
He said in a low voice, “Young Master Jiang, after seeing how I dealt with Chi Tian, what did you think?”
Were you scared?
Jiang Luo raised an eyebrow in surprise and countered, “You still care what I think?”
He gave a couple of chuckles. “If you really want to know, I just thought—it wasn’t harsh enough.”
Chi You froze for a second, then broke into a silent laugh. But it didn’t last long. He soon looked deeply at Jiang Luo again, the atmosphere subtly shifting. Chi You raised a hand, approaching Jiang Luo’s face, clearly wanting to finish what had been left unfinished last time.
But before he could touch him, Chi You’s expression turned cold. “It seems… there’s someone else in the room.”
He lifted his gaze slightly, letting it casually sweep across the wardrobe.
Jiang Luo feigned surprise. “Someone else? I didn’t see anyone. Young Master Chi, maybe you’re just imagining it?”
Chi You glanced at him, then at the wardrobe, narrowing his eyes. “Maybe.”
He suddenly reached out, pulled Jiang Luo over to sit at the table, then strolled over to the corner where two large red wooden boxes were stacked.
“Young Master Jiang, on the day we got married, I received quite the gift. It suits you well.”
Jiang Luo grew curious. “What kind of gift?”
Chi You didn’t answer. He leisurely rummaged through the boxes and eventually pulled out a black wooden case. He set it down in front of Jiang Luo.
“Young Master Jiang, why don’t you take a look?”
Jiang Luo opened it and found a brand-new, fully black handgun inside.
Chi You picked up the pistol, loaded it with bullets from the side. “I’m guessing you’ve never used something like this before. Let me show you how.”
As soon as he finished speaking, before Jiang Luo could react, Chi You suddenly raised the gun and fired a shot at the wardrobe.
BANG—
A deafening blast echoed through the room. A blackened hole appeared on the wardrobe.
Jiang Luo: “…”
If he remembered correctly, that was where the ghost’s arm had been.
Chi You smiled warmly at him, as if nothing had happened, but his mood had clearly improved—his tone even turned upbeat. “Still didn’t get a clear look?”
He fired three more shots. Three new smoke-trailing holes appeared on the wardrobe.
At this point, Jiang Luo couldn’t even pretend Chi You didn’t know. He took the initiative and said, “Let me try the last two rounds.”
Chi You raised a brow and handed him the pistol.
Jiang Luo held it, getting a feel for the weight and recoil. The bullets were fast—if he engraved talismans onto them and turned the gun into a weapon specifically for dealing with malicious ghosts, wouldn’t that be even better than using paper charms? The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He decided to have Kuang Zheng forge him such a weapon when he got back.
But he didn’t forget the task at hand. He raised the gun and aimed it at the wardrobe. Finding the angle a bit off, he stood up.
Now standing in front of the wardrobe, Jiang Luo hesitated, then didn’t pull the trigger. Instead, he walked right up to the doors and pressed the muzzle to where the ghost’s vital spot—his chest—would be. He turned to Chi You with a dazzling grin. “I think it’s safer this way.”
Chi You, for once, seemed at a loss for words.
Jiang Luo didn’t need a response. He cheerfully turned back to the wardrobe, eyes wicked, and without hesitation pulled the trigger. Another gunshot rang out. The recoil made his palm throb. Smoke curled from the point of impact.
The black-haired youth raised his arm again and moved the gun to where the ghost’s head would be. “Young Master Chi, this wardrobe’s already wrecked. Might as well finish using up the bullets. Just one left.”
Thinking about how the malicious ghost was going to get played, Jiang Luo couldn’t hide the amusement in his tone. He noticed it himself and cleared his throat. Without waiting for Chi You’s reaction, he neatly and decisively sent another bullet into the wardrobe.
Jiang Luo couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore, though he also felt a bit of regret.
His hand slowly slid down, landing on the man’s most vital part. He lightly pulled the trigger—click. Just an empty click. No more bullets.
Tch, if only there was one more left.
Behind him, Chi You’s gaze on Jiang Luo slowly turned odd.
So Jiang Luo hated the future him that much?
No… it didn’t seem like hatred.
It was more like a mix of schadenfreude, deceit, and a sense of danger all rolled together.
Jiang Luo seemed to enjoy that feeling.
Chi You lowered his eyes, concealing his deep thoughts.
Jiang Luo… seemed to know the future him.
“Master, bad news!” The butler rushed in anxiously. “A large number of townspeople have gathered outside. They’re in an uproar, saying they want the malicious ghost hiding in the Chi residence! The clan elders have already gone out to handle it and sent me to bring you along!”
Chi You frowned, and almost instantly realized what the clan elders were planning. Earlier, when the adjutant sent Chi Tian to the police, the looks those collateral relatives gave him were growing more and more sinister—clearly harboring resentment and just waiting for a chance to teach him a lesson.
He just didn’t expect that lesson to come so quickly. It had barely been an hour.
But right as that thought crossed his mind, he looked up and paused slightly. “It’s already dark?”
“Yes,” the butler, not understanding the strange question, still answered, “Young Master, it’s already 6 p.m.”
There was a Western-style clock in the room. Chi You turned to look—it was indeed six o’clock.
Something felt off, but in the next moment, he accepted the fact that it was already evening. Chi You nodded. “Understood.”
Jiang Luo also noticed how the sky had suddenly gone dark. As expected, the flow of time in the mirror world was accelerating. And the source… his eyes flicked toward the wardrobe. It seemed to have started ever since the malicious ghost entered the mirror world.
He put down the pistol and quickly walked over. “I’ll go with you.”
The two of them headed for the door, but before they reached it, they heard a noisy clamor outside.
Hundreds of voices tangled together, making one’s head ache. Jiang Luo listened carefully and realized all the shouting came from the townspeople crowding outside the estate gates, yelling for the Chi family to hand over the malicious ghost.
The scene outside was in chaos. One voice, full of righteous anger, shouted, “The malicious ghost must be one of you Chi family people! In all of Bojiucheng, only you have this kind of power! We’ve figured it out—if exorcists want to make money, there has to be an malicious ghost causing trouble first. So you deliberately unleash malicious ghosts on people just to profit from it, don’t you?!”
“That’s right, isn’t that the truth?!”
“Hand over the malicious ghost that’s been harming people!”
“Give them up! If you don’t, we’ll just assume the whole Chi family are malicious ghosts!”
The Chi clan elders had forced smiles plastered on their faces, trying their best to soothe the crowd. “The malicious ghost isn’t one of us. We’re human too—how could we be malicious ghosts? But we have found the culprit. Those recent murders were all because our young master’s powers were insufficient, and he accidentally released a spirit that went on a rampage. We’ve already sent someone to bring him here. He’ll apologize to you all and take care of the malicious ghost. If there’s anything you’re unhappy about, just say the word—we’ll see that he’s properly disciplined. As long as it doesn’t cost him his life, he’ll compensate all of you.”
Hearing that, Jiang Luo almost gagged.
One of the clan elders turned at the sound of footsteps. When he saw them, his eyes turned vicious and cold. He sneered, “Chi You, get over here!”
These Chi family members in the mirror world—each one more like a villain than the last.
Chi You stepped forward and exposed himself to the townspeople’s view.
He could practically see what would happen next. Though his interest was lacking, his face wore an appropriately guilty and remorseful look.
Chi You had raised many ghosts. Those ghosts had indeed killed people to grow stronger. But the one that murdered the maids, servants, beggars, and night watchmen wasn’t one of his.
An elder pointed at him. “This is our family’s eldest young master. All of this happened because of him—!”
Before he could finish, the crowd cut him off: “You think we’re idiots?! How could Young Master Chi do something like that?!”
“Exactly! There’s no way it was him. You’re just trying to pin the blame on him to cover for the real killer!”
“We don’t believe it’s Chi You! Hand over the malicious ghost now, or else!”
The clan elder was stunned. “It is him—”
But the townspeople got even more furious. “Even now this old man refuses to tell the truth! Everyone, grab your tools—let’s storm in and find the malicious ghost ourselves!”
“Don’t be afraid, Young Master Chi! We believe you. The killer definitely isn’t you!”
Not just the collateral Chi family members were dumbfounded—even Chi You furrowed his brows. The townsfolk of Bojiucheng were waving their arms, all utterly convinced he couldn’t possibly be a murderer.
It should have been a good thing, but Chi You felt it was incredibly strange.
The crowd was about to break into the Chi estate. The clan elders hurried to block them, a bunch of old men getting jostled left and right—some were even knocked unconscious.
Forced into a corner, and seeing the townspeople grow more and more agitated, the elders had no choice but to change their tune, saying it had all been a misunderstanding and that the real culprit was someone else. They promised to find and capture the true criminal, finally calming the masses.
This entire farce had gone so off-script that even Jiang Luo couldn’t believe how easily it had resolved.
Just then, a scream rose from the crowd— “There’s a ghost behind us!”
Let me know if you want to keep going or revise for flow or tone.
Jiang Luo suddenly looked toward the back of the crowd—at some point, a figure in a black robe holding a cold blade had silently appeared, standing ghost-like at the edge of the gathering.
Once it noticed it had been discovered, it said nothing and turned to flee in another direction.
The humans, who had fallen silent upon its appearance, were still somewhat fearful—but seeing it run away sparked a rush of courage in them. Hundreds of people chased after it, shouting, “Don’t run!”
Jiang Luo took the lead in pursuit.
Lian Bing and Lian Qiang followed closely behind.
The ghost was fast, but Jiang Luo’s speed kept increasing, gradually leaving the crowd behind. Gritting their teeth, the Lian brothers kept up, until Lian Bing glanced at a side path and suddenly veered right. “Senior Brother, let’s take a shortcut!”
The ghost ran into a deserted alley and was about to keep going when two panting figures appeared in front of it—Lian Bing and Lian Qiang, hunched over, catching their breath with sweat pouring down their faces. “You’re not getting away!”
The ghost took two steps back and turned around—only to see Jiang Luo already behind it. Jiang Luo formed a hand seal and quickly intoned, “Li position, fire.”
A surge of fire instantly encircled the black-robed ghost.
The flames tightened the space more and more, and the ghost shrank back, trembling, clearly terrified of the fire. The fire condensed into a single mass and leapt fiercely toward it—the black-robed ghost let out a piercing shriek and vanished on the spot without even putting up a fight, leaving behind only the black robe on the ground.
Jiang Luo frowned, dispelled the Li Fire, stepped forward, and picked up the robe—only to find it was thoroughly soaked. Not just the fabric, but there was a wet patch beneath the robe as well.
Jiang Luo fell into thought.
The black-robed ghost turned into water after meeting fire?
The Lian brothers ran up, just about to ask how it went—when they suddenly froze, pointing toward the sky in shock, stammering, “S-senior brother, look!”
Jiang Luo turned—and the sky had collapsed.
The sky looked like a shattered mirror, with shards of transparent glass-like fragments falling down, vanishing midair as they fell. At this rate, the mirror world would completely collapse in five hours, and they’d be able to leave.
The one behind all this had said, “Kill the ghost and you’ll be able to return.” So was this black-robed ghost the one they were meant to eliminate?
Jiang Luo tightened his grip on the robe and stood up, looking at the cracking mirror world. But instead of feeling happy, he was deeply disappointed.
It was over just like that?
A ghost this weak had killed three of their group?
Was this the “birth of evil” the mastermind wanted Jiang Luo to witness—a ghost that couldn’t even take a single hit?
Jiang Luo felt it was laughable, but reality was what it was. He turned and said, “Let’s go back and find Lian Xue and the others. We’ll wait to leave the mirror world.”
Author’s note:
Jiang Luo: That’s it???
