Chen Xiang fled—he fled as fast as he could.
"Are you sure we can contain these ghosts in the Wu Family Manor?"
As he escaped frantically, Chen Xiang double-checked his doubts.
"Of course!"
The mirror replied with pride,
"Though your body is a bit weak, who am I? I'm the invincible Mirror King!"
After a pause, it became more serious:
"Don't worry; although I can't control the ghost at the level of a Celestial Envoy, keeping it restrained in the manor is not a problem."
Chen Xiang felt somewhat reassured.
As he dashed through the night, he casually asked,
"How strong is a Celestial Envoy?"
"Not that strong," the mirror answered honestly.
"Just a minor Karami."
"Really?"
"Really!"
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely!"
"Can you defeat it?"
"What kind of question is that!" The mirror coughed, defending itself:
"I'm a tool, not a living being. Whether I can win depends on who is using me!"
Chen Xiang found it a bit speechless.
"Just relax,"
the mirror comforted him for once:
"Celestial Envoys aren't really strong; it's just that way. Think about it; the extraordinary secret path isn't the end, after all—there's the divine ladder ahead!"
Chen Xiang pondered:
"After the three trials of the Mystic Arts comes the four steps of the extraordinary secret path, and then the divine ladder? The pinnacle of the extraordinary secret path is the angels; what's the divine ladder?"
"Gods!" the mirror said cheerfully.
"And just pseudo-gods, very weak ones!"
Chen Xiang suddenly didn't want to talk to the mirror anymore.
He fell silent, carefully avoiding surveillance, darting into alleys, and leaping lightly back home.
"Alright, stop chattering and stay put!"
Covering the noisy mirror with a black cloth, Chen Xiang exhaled heavily, standing by the window to gaze at the two bright moons overhead.
"Wu Jinlu's death... a ghost at the level of a Celestial Envoy..."
He quickly organized his thoughts, his brow furrowing slightly.
According to the mirror, powerful beings were headed to the Wu Family Manor, which would definitely trigger a similar investigation process. Had he left any traces?
He couldn't be careless... Not to mention, the wooden box was still in the secret room!
The secret room wasn't very safe.
An idea sparked in his mind, and he lifted the black cloth again:
"Mirror, by the way, do you have any other functions? Can you only awaken souls?"
The mirror was silent for a moment before speaking slowly:
"Seems like I might."
"What do you mean 'seems like'?"
"I forgot, I can't remember. Those who used me before just did, so how would I know!" It maintained its assertiveness.
"Can't you really remember?"
"Can't remember!"
"Really?"
"Really!"
Seeing he couldn't get a clear answer, Chen Xiang took the mirror back to the secret room, closed his eyes, and fell asleep with a push of his legs.
The mirror came from that strange dream.
Perhaps there would be answers in the dream?
......
"A giant ghost at the level of a Celestial Envoy has already sealed the manor in the void. Deputy Director Wu, what should we do now?"
Wu Mengling, the second deputy director of the Great City's Secret Investigation Division, squinted slightly,
exhaling deeply:
"With such a large-scale ghost tide, we should first cover it up and wait for the director to return to handle it."
"All holographic projections and interference arrays have been set up, and besides..."
the young investigator adjusted his glasses:
"We also caught the one who fled from the manor, named Lin Yulang, a formal lecturer from the Giant Academy."
"Bring him back for interrogation, and classify this incident as a Level 1 disaster. Initiate the corresponding Level 1 investigation, and interrogate all related personnel... I'll handle it personally!"
"Yes, Deputy Director Wu!"
......
"O great Emperor Titan..."
The prayer resounded as always, layered and thick.
This time, Chen Xiang effortlessly opened his eyes, greeted by seven little dwarfs named 'Foolish, Silly, Dull, Stupid, Simple, Clumsy, and Dumb' cheering in unison.
"Daddy!"
"Mommy!"
They swarmed over to Chen Xiang, running, jumping, staring blankly, and excitedly doing push-ups, while the Simple dwarf was the least noticeable, grinning foolishly, and as for the Dumb...
He picked up the small horn hanging around his neck.
'Toot toot~ Toot toot toot~ Toot!'
"Stop!!"
The horn made Chen Xiang's head ache a bit.
With one hand holding the mirror and the other pressing down, he gestured for all the dwarfs to quiet down and cleared his throat:
"Let's have a quiz."
The little dwarfs listened attentively.
"This mirror... who knows what it can do?"
"I do! Me, me, me!!"
The mirror flattered loudly:
"I know, I know everything!"
"What? You're not crazy anymore? Remembered?"
In the mirror's view, the greatest being, composed of countless shards of reality, lowered its head to ask, its gaze deep as an ocean, as if a whole universe was silently watching.
"I'm not crazy."
The mirror nearly cried out, feeling like it was about to shatter.
'Crack!'
"Huh?"
The greatest being was puzzled:
"Mirror, why are you cracked?"
The mirror didn't respond, silently crying out inside.
Oh heavens!
The seven ancient rulers, along with the one above the ancient ones and this "greatest being," were all staring at it!
How could it not shatter?
Heavenly Lord, please, don't look, don't look...
In its trembling, it suddenly realized.
Oh, it was in the hands of the Heavenly Lord.
It wanted to speak, but couldn't say a word; the foolish gaze plunged it into an infinite world, the silly look brought it closer to annihilation, and the dazed stare, filled with boundless knowledge, almost made it explode...
It felt like it was going crazy.
Can a madman go crazier?
This was the mirror's last thought... before it fainted.
Meanwhile...
"Why isn't it reacting?"
Chen Xiang was puzzled, weighing the mirror in his hand, noticing the cracks that spanned the entire surface with some anxiety. What happened to this thing?
Although the mirror was disheveled, talkative, and crazy...
It was a good mirror.
Beside him, the one wearing empty frames, Da, swayed over and carefully inspected the mirror for a moment with a wise expression, saying dully:
"Mommy, this mirror has something to do with traitors... um, it can awaken the dead, it can replicate the mirror realm, and there's a world inside the mirror. Its potential is quite impressive."
Chen Xiang's heart stirred:
"Awaken the dead... replicate? There's a world inside the mirror? What do you mean by something to do with traitors?"
Dum-dum shook his head and said dully:
"Mommy, I don't know either. I just read up on this thing, but as for the traitors..."
Chun jumped out, blowing the horn vigorously.
'Toot toot toot!!'
He began to sing:
"A long time ago, three dogs plotted something sinister—an hourglass, a book, and a loom..."
Chen Xiang felt a headache coming on again, but he endured it and listened closely.
"The hourglass brought three fools, the book brought three fools, and the loom also brought three fools. They started a rebellion, igniting the flames of war..."
'Toot! Toot!!'
Chun blew the horn again:
"It was a great war, ah~ a great war, ah ah~ a great war, ah ah ah~"
Chen Xiang couldn't take it anymore, urgently calling for a stop, feeling like his head was about to explode, the long sword in his skull churning and churning...
He covered his head, helplessly saying:
"Enough, please stop singing!"
Chun begrudgingly put down the horn.
Chen Xiang took a breath, surveying the nine tiny holes, where the prayer voices were still layered like waves.
According to the little dwarfs, inside the holes was an ant world...
He suppressed his curiosity and walked to the front of the wooden house, which the little dwarfs referred to as the storage room, piled with things sent from the ant world.
After a moment of contemplation, Chen Xiang took the mirror and pushed open the wooden door.