On the way back, Jiang Luo still couldn’t believe it was truly over.
It had ended with a fizzle—top-heavy and rushed. The overly simple conclusion made everything feel unreal to him.
But the Lian brothers didn’t feel that way at all—they were one step short of bursting into tears and hugging each other.
The three of them returned to the Chi family estate and hurried to find Lian Xue and Li Xiao.
Before they reached the spot, they ran into Lian Xue and Li Xiao, who had rushed over. Lian Xue’s eyes lit up when she saw them. “Senior Brother!”
Jiang Luo said, “Let’s talk at the rock garden.”
They hid inside the rock garden’s cave. When Jiang Luo told them the ghost had been slain and they could now leave, Lian Xue couldn’t contain her joy. “So in five hours, we’ll be out of here?”
Jiang Luo nodded. “Yes.”
Everyone looked delighted, finally showing some much-needed relief. But after a while, Lian Xue hesitated and looked at Jiang Luo. “Senior Brother… you don’t seem happy?”
“Of course I’m happy we’re leaving the mirror world,” Jiang Luo replied with a faint smile. “But something still feels off.”
Lian Xue asked, “What feels off?”
Jiang Luo looked at the black robe in his hand. “It was too easy.”
“But getting out of here is what matters,” Lian Xue murmured, coughing lightly. The joy faded from her face, revealing a pale, sickly complexion. “I haven’t felt at ease at all here. I caught a chill last night, and today my head’s been pounding.”
Jiang Luo looked at her with concern. “You were already running a fever back at the villa. Your constitution really isn’t great. Once we get out, you need to start working on your physical strength.”
Lian Xue smiled, her eyes crescent-shaped. “I was thinking the same thing, Senior Brother.”
“Once we leave this world,” Li Xiao asked nervously, “we won’t ever come back, right?”
Lian Qiang laughed cheerfully. “Of course not! This mirror world is falling apart—we’re never coming back to this cursed place.”
Li Xiao finally let out a long breath. “That’s great… That’s really great…”
Outside the rock garden.
In the unnoticed darkness—
Chi You stood silently, listening to the voices coming from within the cave, his expression unreadable.
Mirror world. Collapse. Escape.
Chi You was a smart man. He quickly understood what this meant.
This world, which had felt so vividly real to him, was actually… the mirror world they spoke of.
He knew what the mirror world was. And because he knew, he was even more shocked.
But Chi You calmed down quickly, astonishing even himself with how fast he accepted this earth-shaking truth.
All the inconsistencies he’d noticed before now floated up in his mind, each one confirming that this world was, in fact, false. Chi You looked up at the sky.
To his eyes, the sky was still just the same grey blur—no signs of collapse.
But a powerful wave of bitterness and fury suddenly surged in his chest.
He was a person of this false mirror world, but Jiang Luo was about to leave it.
In just five hours.
Chi You lowered his head, and behind him, black mist slowly spread, wrapping around him like an abyss.
Ghostly markings began to crawl, reaching up to his ears.
Chi You’s eyes grew darker and darker. All expression faded from his face, and the black mist wound around him from head to toe. The youth appeared like a god—handsome and aloof—yet at the same time, like a terrifying and hideous malicious ghost.
Suddenly, his eyes flickered.
It was as if someone whispered in his ear, “What do you want to do?”
“I want to…” Chi You’s voice was barely audible, “make him stay.”
To keep Jiang Luo, completely and utterly, in my world.
The light in Chi You’s eyes grew brighter. It was as if he heard an answer. He nodded slightly, then gave a chilling, bone-deep smile.
“Ah… what a good idea.”
“Then let’s do it.”
***
Jiang Luo emerged from the artificial hill. On the way back, he and Lian Xue’s group encountered Chi You standing on a bridge, gazing at the lake.
Chi You was fully focused on feeding the fish. A breeze brushed past him—everything looked peaceful and serene.
Yet in the dark, his actions seemed rather strange.
Who feeds fish at night?
Upon hearing footsteps, Chi You turned his head and gave a gentle smile to them. “Young Master Jiang, you’re back?”
In the dim light, Jiang Luo couldn’t quite see his expression clearly. But Chi You’s words sounded like he had been waiting especially for him. Jiang Luo stepped onto the bridge and raised an eyebrow, “Young Master Chi, were you waiting for me?”
Chi You nodded good-naturedly, threw the last of the fish food into the lake, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, then gently took Jiang Luo’s hand and began leading him back. “It’s already late. We should rest.”
The four left under the bridge—Lian Xue and the others—looked at each other. Though time in the mirror world flowed faster now, its collapse hadn’t sped up. There were still five hours left. They might as well rest. Who knows? Maybe when they woke up, they’d already be out.
Lian Xue said, “Let’s go. Let’s get some sleep too.”
Lian Qiang grumbled, “Feels like I just woke up, and now we’re going to sleep again? I’m not even the slightest bit tired.”
Even so, he turned around and started heading back. Li Xiao walked between them. She was the most timid of the group. Even though there were people in front and behind her, she couldn’t shake the eerie feeling—as if countless eyes were watching them from the darkness.
Li Xiao clutched her hands to her chest, hunched her shoulders, and kept glancing around. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she caught something in the lake. “Wh-what is that?”
The other three turned and followed her gaze. On the cold, shimmering lake surface, pale objects seemed to float, one after another.
Lian Bing, at the back, was curious. He walked over to the water’s edge and immediately gagged at the stench, clutching his nose. “Ugh—those are dead fish!”
“Dead fish?” Lian Xue quickly stepped closer, and sure enough, saw the lake covered in fish floating belly-up.
The fish’s eyes were milky white. Lian Xue’s expression turned grim. She recalled the fish food Chi You had just scattered and covered her nose and mouth. “Let’s get out of here.”
Just as she said that, both she and Lian Bing heard gurgling sounds—“glug, glug”—from the water. They looked toward the source of the sound, but the lake remained calm and undisturbed.
Where was the sound coming from?
“Glug… glug…” The sound drew nearer.
Lian Bing looked down at the water by his feet, unease creeping in. He stepped back twice. “Senior Sister, we—”
Before he could finish, a tongue suddenly shot out of the water and wrapped tightly around his leg, yanking him down.
Lian Bing screamed, “Senior Sister! Help me!”
“Junior Brother!” Lian Xue immediately grabbed his hands, but whatever had caught him was incredibly strong—so strong it almost pulled her in as well. She leaned over, trying to see what was dragging him.
But all she saw was pitch-black water.
No—wait. Should water be that dark?
Gritting her teeth, she clung to Lian Bing with one hand and cautiously scraped the water’s surface with the tip of her shoe. A thick mass of black hair was dragged ashore.
Only then did Lian Xue realize: the water looked so dark because the entire surface was covered with hair.
So much hair—it made her feel like her stomach was stuffed with it. Nausea rose up from her throat. But in the next second, under the strands of hair, she met a pair of venomous, sinister eyes.
Lian Xue’s heart skipped a beat. In the next instant, heads began bursting from the water.
Their faces were pale and blue-tinged, their hair impossibly long, and their eyes stared at her hungrily.
Not good. Lian Xue’s face turned white. She shouted, “Lian Qiang! Li Xiao! Help me!”
But what she heard instead was Li Xiao’s scream.
Lian Xue whipped her head around—only to see corpses hanging from every tree. They were suspended by the neck, faces frozen in grotesque smiles, swaying in the wind. The bodies had completely surrounded Lian Qiang and Li Xiao.
Further in the distance, a thin mist had begun to spread. Within it, countless human shapes were slowly approaching.
Lian Xue knew—they were ghosts.
A massive terror enveloped her.
What the h*ll was happening to this world?
***
In the police station holding cell.
Chi Tian woke up from sharp pain. He tried to open his mouth, but all he tasted was blood. That’s when he remembered—he’d bitten off his own tongue.
Terrified, he touched his mouth. His left arm still throbbed. Thinking of that b*stard Chi You, Chi Tian’s face twisted with hatred.
“Mm! Mm-mm!” He let out muffled roars: I’ll kill him! I swear I’ll kill him!
A police officer walked to the door. He wore a cap, his face hidden in shadow, and stood stiffly. In a flat voice, he said, “Chi Tian, your mother has brought someone to visit you.”
Chi Tian’s heart leapt with joy. He looked up and saw two people walking in from outside.
His mother looked at him with tears in her eyes. Beside her was a veiled woman in a qipao, her figure elegant and shapely.
The officer opened the door and let the two women in. Then he left, leaving the three alone.
Chi Tian felt the officer was quite sensible. He quickly grabbed his mother, mumbling “mm-mm” desperately, urging her to bail him out fast!
His mother nodded repeatedly, seemingly understanding what he meant. Chi Tian finally felt at ease and turned to look at the woman beside her.
The woman’s skin was pale as a corpse, icy and cold-looking. She stood silently, very obedient. Her long legs, exposed from under the qipao, were slender and straight, making Chi Tian’s eyes go wide.
His mother said, “Tian, this is the wife I found for you. Let her serve you well. I’ll wait outside.”
With that, Chi Tian’s mother left the cell.
Chi Tian felt his mom really knew him well. He broke into a wide grin, and even the pain in his body seemed to fade. He wanted to talk to the woman and flirt a little, but since he couldn’t speak now, he just made a few “ah ah” sounds. The woman remained completely unresponsive.
Chi Tian decided not to waste effort and pulled her straight to the bed, pouncing on her.
The woman was very cold, making Chi Tian shiver. He trembled, feverishly tugging at her clothes. The woman didn’t react at all, like a lifeless doll.
