“Help! Don’t kill me, please, I beg you—don’t kill me—”
“Ahhhh! Ghost! There’s a ghost!!”
Children wept helplessly amid the sea of flames.
“Father, Mother, I’m scared…”
“Bao Er!!!”
The cries of despair echoed through every corner of Bojiucheng.
Jiang Luo watched for a moment, then looked down again.
The young master of the Chi family staggered out from one of the buildings, eyes lifted, chasing after them with unrelenting gaze.
The cold wind cut like blades, sparks flying past Jiang Luo. He locked eyes with Chi You, whose once-handsome face was now twisted and fierce, his dark pupils laced with bloodshot madness.
Jiang Luo met his gaze quietly, separated only by the looming night.
Chi You reached out toward him. Black mist surged from his body, rising rapidly into the sky, but it failed to reach. He was already at his limit—he couldn’t ascend any further.
The youth’s arms trembled from the strain, eyes fixed on Jiang Luo. He ran across stones, ruins, blood, and corpses—refusing to give up.
Jiang Luo was too high above now. All he could see was Chi You’s lips moving stubbornly, as if repeating the same words over and over.
The wind didn’t carry his voice, but Jiang Luo understood what he was saying.
“Don’t go…”
“Stay.”
The world was collapsing. Shards of the sky fell around Jiang Luo and vanished upon hitting the ground. The malicious ghost carried him closer and closer to the black hole torn open in the heavens.
But Jiang Luo was still looking at Chi You.
Memories flashed rapidly through his mind—from the night they shared a bridal chamber, to the wonton stall, to yesterday’s false accusations and the curse’s violent backlash.
The anger and killing intent that had just arisen suddenly turned muddled—complicated and unnamable.
Clearly, the Chi You in the mirror was a fictional existence. And yet Jiang Luo sometimes found him far too real.
He and the malicious ghost were the same person. That thought surfaced again and again in Jiang Luo’s mind.
So this is what Chi You was like as a boy.
Jiang Luo didn’t like people knowing what he used to be, what he had been through. But Chi You had seen his filth—and he had seen Chi You’s. They were even. So he didn’t need to care anymore.
That so-called hypocritical and ruthless malicious ghost in the book—back when he was a youth Jiang Luo didn’t yet understand—turned out to be someone like this, with this kind of face.
It was like the malicious ghost had truly come alive.
Chi You had chased all the way from the Chi estate into the bloodstained streets, through ghostly shadows and panicked humans fleeing for their lives. His eyes never left Jiang Luo for even a second. The two figures in the sky grew farther and farther away. Chi You’s shoes were caked in dirt, his robes soaked in blood and singed by fire.
His eyes ached with the strain, but he didn’t look away for even a second.
How could this be?
How could Jiang Luo leave, when Chi You hadn’t even figured out why these strange feelings had taken root in the first place?
A burning beam collapsed in front of Chi You, knocking him to the ground.
Caught off guard, he fell to his knees.
He looked up blankly, stubbornly watching the figure in the sky.
Who could understand a boy’s heart? He had never known love or passion, yet remembered that brief spring shower.
In the dry, dull days of his life, someone fascinating had suddenly appeared—vivid and dazzling. Jiang Luo surprised him, made him take a second look, captured his attention before he realized it. He wanted to know what Jiang Luo was doing, what he was thinking.
Who was Jiang Luo, really? Had he seen Chi You’s shame? Were his cheeks warm to the touch?
In just a few days, it felt like Chi You had come alive. He noticed the scent of air, the flowers, the grass. The black-and-white, lifeless Chi estate didn’t seem quite so unbearable anymore.
But after he endured the searing backlash of the curse, someone told him—
He was fake.
Jiang Luo was real.
Jiang Luo would leave. And Chi You would be forever trapped in this mirror world.
Chi You had thought he could keep him.
More buildings collapsed. Sparks danced hotly beside him. Chi You lifted his head in a daze, his heart feeling like a piece had been gouged out.
Was his hatred for the Chi family fake too?
Were the beatings, the humiliation, the hunger he had endured all fake?
The pain of the ghost tattoos’ backlash, the torment of the curse—was his every sensation in this world fake?
Then why did Jiang Luo’s departure feel so real—so cold and desolate?
Chi You heard cries nearby. He turned his head to see a father shielding his wife and child in a dead-end alley, only to be killed by ghosts, his skin peeled away.
He had sacrificed the lives of an entire city, just to keep one person.
And he had still failed.
From the time he was small, everything he had ever tried to hold on to—had slipped through his fingers.
Everything he had done had become nothing but a joke.
Chi You lifted his head again to look toward the sky.
The flames burned around him, yet Chi You felt a chill.
He didn’t know what these emotions were, or what they represented. But as he watched Jiang Luo draw farther and farther away, he suddenly couldn’t suppress them anymore. He was on the verge of collapse.
He clenched his fists, nails digging into flesh. His eyes were dry and bloodshot, helplessness and unwillingness flooding the heart of a young man.
—Don’t go.
Jiang Luo was still watching the person on the ground.
The malicious ghost beside him was also watching. Neither of them spoke.
Jiang Luo broke the silence, muttering to himself, “So this is what you used to be like.”
The malicious ghost lowered his gaze, his profile somewhat indifferent. He neither confirmed nor denied, only giving a meaningless hum in response.
Jiang Luo didn’t mind. Even from this distance, his sharp eyes could still make out nearly every expression on Chi You’s face.
He examined every inch of Chi You’s expressions and movements. The boy’s murky, self-unknown emotions gave rise to a vague yet profound meaning.
Jiang Luo suddenly laughed.
His laughter was inexplicable, his expression slightly odd. Under the firelight, his smile looked dangerous and bewitching. The malicious ghost turned his head to study him, gaze probing.
“So that’s how it is. That’s how it is, huh,” Jiang Luo murmured, saying words the malicious ghost didn’t understand. “I see.”
The malicious ghost asked, “What is it you see?”
Jiang Luo’s grin deepened. It was clear he now understood something the malicious ghost didn’t, which inexplicably bothered him.
“Take the four people who came in with me, too, and I’ll tell you,” Jiang Luo said, retracting his smile, now sounding pleased. “That shouldn’t be hard for you.”
The malicious ghost said, with a tone that was somewhere between mockery and sighing, “So you’re actually that kind.”
“If all the people who came with me die, I’ll be in trouble,” Jiang Luo said flatly. “Hurry up.”
The malicious ghost lifted his hand, and several unconscious people suddenly floated up from the ground. Lian Bing was in the worst shape—half his body was already gone. The others looked just as pitiful, all teetering on the edge of life and death.
Jiang Luo glanced at them, then cast one final look down at Chi You.
Decisively, he said, “Let’s go.”
They flew toward the collapsed section of the sky. The cries and despair gradually faded from Jiang Luo’s ears. But just as they were about to leave the mirror world, a voice suddenly echoed beside Jiang Luo.
This voice had no discernible gender or age. It seemed to come from a dream—vague, mysterious.
“This is what the birth of evil looks like.”
The voice continued: “Even though the townspeople spoke up to protect him during the day, when it came to his own selfish desires, he could still ruthlessly use the lives of an entire city to achieve his ends.”
“Even if the malicious ghost still retains humanity, he will only create more sin.”
“Only his death will bring peace.”
It was the voice of the mastermind who had dragged him into the mirror world.
The voice was slow and calm, yet firm—carrying a tone of truth and sanctity, as if what “he” said was the unquestionable right answer.
Jiang Luo narrowed his eyes.
So this was what the mastermind truly wanted Jiang Luo to see.
The black-robed ghost was merely a piece on the surface. Even the collapsing world and Chi You’s reaction had been within his calculations. He had guessed what Chi You would do—maybe even predicted that the malicious ghost’s true body would enter the mirror world.
—Or perhaps even Jiang Luo drawing Chi You to chase him was all part of the plan.
Was the young Chi You really just an illusion?
He was so real—like a true human being. Every action, every piece of his temperament and personality—how could the mastermind predict it all without error?
How familiar must he be with Chi You?
Jiang Luo said nothing. He knew the mastermind wasn’t finished. He waited patiently for him to go on. The more the man said, the more he would reveal.
But the malicious ghost suddenly reached out and pulled at the air beside Jiang Luo’s ear.
Several fine threads reflecting light appeared in his grasp. His eyes turned cold. Tracing the threads with his gaze, he said darkly, “Trying these little tricks in front of me?”
The threads looked hard as steel wire. The malicious ghost slowly closed his hand. The threads cracked apart in his palm.
The next moment, the malicious ghost embraced Jiang Luo—and suddenly burst out of the mirror world.
***
When Jiang Luo opened his eyes, his chin throbbed with pain. The malicious ghost pressed him down against the headboard, smiling faintly, “What was it?”
The black-haired youth had just awakened but remained calm despite being pinned. He raised his brows and glanced around the room.
They were in a bedroom—seemingly still in the wooden villa. But he didn’t know how long he’d been asleep. What surprised him was that the floor was scorched, debris was piled in the corners, and the broken windows were haphazardly boarded up. Whoever patched them had terrible craftsmanship. The once elegant villa now looked like a slum.
The malicious ghost’s tone deepened, faintly annoyed. “Jiang Luo.”
Jiang Luo drew his gaze back to him.
The malicious ghost’s handsome face was grim, his oppressive presence enough to make one tremble.
But Jiang Luo slowly curled his lips into a strange smile—dangerous, full of hidden undercurrents.
He laid there at ease, not at all concerned about the dominant position the other held over him. With a teasing, ambiguous tone, he said, “Chi You, so it turns out you…”
The malicious ghost stared at him coldly.
Jiang Luo’s smile widened. He let out a low chuckle, like a beautiful ghost dripping with poison. In a deliberately lowered voice, he said:
“So it turns out you’ve fallen for me.”
