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"Clang..."
A sound, and an object fell before her knees. Gu Shiyi stretched out her hand, picked up the item, and cradled it in her palm. Bathed in the moonlight, which seemed like silk unraveled across her palm, it revealed itself to be a small bronze mirror. The tiny mirror, just the right size to fit in the palm, had on its backside a few sparse etchings—a palace standing tall in the misty clouds far away, with a beautiful woman in a long, flowing palace dress dancing gracefully in the foreground. The dancer's figure was slender and graceful, but her face was intentionally left blank, as if the carver meant to leave that space vacant.
Gu Shiyi flipped the mirror over. One glance at the craftsmanship told of its antiquity; the back was simple and vigorous, while the front was a dull gray, as if it was veiled by a sheer white cloth. Gu Shiyi leaned forward to look more closely, but the mirror did not reflect anything at all.
Gu Shiyi looked up at the moon and adjusted the angle of the mirror in her hands. As her palm reached a certain angle, suddenly, a white light swept across the mirror's surface. The veil-like covering seemed to be slowly lifted, with the mirror gradually becoming clear. When Gu Shiyi looked down again, a face appeared in the mirror—a very ordinary round face, with round eyes. If her looks were placed in Landlord Wang's estate in town, she would be just a maid serving the young ladies,
"Shiyi!"
the person in the mirror called out, and Gu Shiyi grinned back at her,
"Yanyan, it's finally the right time. I've gotten the old fellow drunk. Just wait... I'll proceed with the ritual and get you out of there!"
"Shiyi..."
The person in the mirror looked excited,
"Will this really work?"
Gu Shiyi nodded,
"The old fellow told me before that this mirror is a treasured artifact of the Taoist sect, capable of connecting yin and yang and knowing the past and future. Naturally, I don't have the mana to know the past and future, but I can definitely connect yin and yang. I've also calculated that today, the power of Taiyin is at its peak for the year. I'm sure I can pull you from that realm to this one!"
The person in the mirror's eyes brightened but then dimmed again as she replied,
"Shiyi, though I am not from your world, having known you for so many years, I understand some things. You and I are from two different worlds. To pull me into your world will surely not be easy. If because of me, your cultivation is damaged, let's just forget it. After all, I am already dead in this world. If our world has the Underworld, think of a way to let me be reincarnated!"
Gu Shiyi glared upon hearing this,
"I can't stand your defeatist attitude. Also, how can you talk about reincarnation? You've been submerged in that pond for three years now. With your resentment sky-high at your death, you have become a fierce ghost. If you go to the Underworld now, the Underworld Messenger would first throw you into the eighteenth level of hell to endure cruel punishments. Being reincarnated as a human would no longer be possible; you're more likely to become a chicken or a dog or something. Although people from your realm love to keep cute pets, who knows what kind of creature you'll reincarnate into. If you become an animal, one wrong step and you might not live more than a year before someone slits your throat, drains your blood, and skins you for meat!"
The person in the mirror's expression tightened, and after a long pause, she nodded,
"Alright! Let's try it then. If it really doesn't work, then... let's just forget it."
Gu Shiyi waved her hand,
"We're not just trying; it will definitely work. I've been preparing for this for several months now; it has to work!"
With that, she set the small mirror facing the sky down and got up to enter the main hall of the temple. Soon, she moved all sorts of magic artifacts hidden within the hall outside. The altar table from the hall was also moved out. Gu Shiyi donned the old Taoist priest's bright yellow Taoist robe, and at her waist, she hung his thousand-year Peach Wood Sword, which he never left behind. On the table, she arranged items like the tripod, lantern, plaques, fishes, ruler, seals, ruyi, and so on. Positioning the small mirror in the center and holding the old Taoist priest's White Jade Ruler in hand, she first offered incense and prayers to the Grand Master, chanting words to seek the blessing of the Heavenly Dao and the Grand Master,
"As your disciple, I boldly execute this ritual today, breaking the barrier in the name of sisterly loyalty, to seek a glimmer of hope for my dear friend. If this goes against Heavenly Dao and disrupts the cycle of reincarnation, let me bear the punishment alone!"
Having finished the respectful kowtows, she rose to her feet, put down the ruler, and with her right hand, grabbed the Peach Wood Sword. She slit open her left index finger and let the fresh blood drip into a bowl. She then added a bowl of Extreme Yin Water she had prepared earlier from the shadows of the mountain, followed by a mixture of river mud dug exactly three feet and three inches from the bottom of a mountain stream. Once the bowl turned into a soft mass, she added a handful of Coffin Soil from a century-old grave and three strands of Fetal Hair from a deceased infant. All these bizarre, somewhat terrifying substances were incorporated into the mix.
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