Wu Mengling, the second deputy director of the Secret Adjustment Bureau, had dealt with countless taboo and disaster incidents. Having stepped into the third level of the extraordinary path as a "Saint," she sensed something was off.
Very off.
A vague feeling of crisis accompanied by a persistent premonition sparked in her mind, her spiritual senses warning her intermittently...
"Who could it be?"
Wu Mengling took a deep breath; the spiritual warnings grew more frequent, and her skin prickled with a tingling sensation.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
On the seventeenth minute, she suddenly sprang into action. A bell slipped from her sleeve, and her right hand erupted with blinding light, akin to the sun.
She gently shook the bell, and the air in the room froze. With her right hand, she struck towards the source of the spiritual warning—a hidden chamber!
The blinding light exploded, and the 47th building evaporated in an instant.
...
Wu Mengling emerged from the spiritual realm, drenched in sweat.
This time, she saw it clearly.
The evaporated building returned to its original state, everything resetting to seventeen minutes earlier, just as she had stepped out of the spiritual realm.
*Ding ding ding! Ding ding ding!!*
The bell slipped from her left hand again. No longer hesitating, she shook it with all her might, causing the space around her to solidify, like mist turning to ice!
Suddenly, she noticed tendrils of mist rising from the hidden chamber, seeping through the walls and gradually spreading across the floor of the room.
The mist wasn't thick, but it was hazy, so enigmatic that even her saintly eyes couldn't pierce through it, filling her with an eerie sense of dread...
"That is..."
In a daze, she caught a glimpse of a mirror, which cracked open, revealing an abyssal world behind the fissure.
In that world, countless wandering souls halted, turning their gazes toward her.
Fear gripped her body; the old woman's sweat flowed like rain as she let out a scream, desperately tearing through space to escape into the spiritual realm.
But just as she entered...
She saw herself.
She saw another version of herself stepping out from the spiritual realm, glancing at the door blocked by a fridge and wardrobe, and chuckling:"Interesting."
No, not just one.
Two, three, four...
Seventy-nine versions of herself emerged from the spiritual realm, each from seventy-nine split timelines!
Caught in a time loop.
The seventy-nine old women stared at Wu Mengling, some trembling, some wailing, some howling, before they all echoed in unison:"Flee! Flee! Flee!!"
"Do not mention! Do not probe! Do not gaze upon!"
"Flee! Flee! Flee!!!"
The extreme terror clutched Wu Mengling's heart. She dropped the bell and frantically plunged into the spiritual realm, running like mad, not daring to look back.
The mist surged back into the hidden chamber, retreating into the single-pane glasses;
The seventy-nine time fragments returned to the staff;
The mirror slid back into the chamber, dimming the light it had ignited in the glasses and the staff, leaning quietly against the wall, as if nothing had ever happened.
Only the bell lay quietly on the floor of the living room.
"Once again, I am the invincible Mirror King!"
The mirror reveled in its victory.
...
"Where has that silly girl been these past couple of days?"Chen Xiang shook his head as he walked down a narrow alley. Maybe he'd visit her home tomorrow.
He leaped lightly, returning home through the window, only to sense something was off.
"What's this?"
Furrowing his brow, Chen Xiang approached and picked up a palm-sized handbell from the living room floor.
The bell seemed somewhat aged, its metallic sheen dulled, yet hints of bronze shone through. Intricate patterns adorned its surface, exuding an eerie and exotic beauty.
"Someone's been here."
Chen Xiang's eyes sharpened, gripping the bell as he strode toward his sister's room. He quickly opened the hidden chamber—both the mirror and the staff leaned against the wall, and everything in the compartment remained untouched.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Welcome back!"
The mirror chirped joyfully, its tone high-spirited."Today! Something big happened!"
Chen Xiang focused, asking,"Did someone come to the house?"
"Yes! A thief, a scoundrel, a despicable person!"
"Three people came?"Chen Xiang was taken aback.
The mirror seemed choked, falling silent for a moment before indignantly retorting,"One! I'm referring to one person—she is a thief, a scoundrel, and a despicable person!"
Pausing, the mirror puffed with pride, declaring,"And I—the great invincible Mirror King—drove that scoundrel away!"
Chen Xiang's expression shifted."What exactly happened?"
"In short, I scared her away."
"I don't want a summary,"Chen Xiang said, feeling uneasy."Who was it?"
"One thief, one scoundrel—"
"Stop, speak seriously!"
"Alright,"the mirror replied, sounding somewhat displeased but continuing,"An old woman sneaked into the house. She discovered the hidden chamber, and I used some tricks to scare her off!"
"Tricks?"
"Yep!"
The mirror beamed with self-satisfaction."I activated the single-pane glasses and this great Staff of Time. I know you don't want to expose too much, so I used the special ability of the glasses to leave her with mental imprints of 'do not mention,' 'do not probe,' and 'do not gaze upon!'"
The mirror chuckled,"I truly am a considerate and meticulous Invincible Mirror King!"
Chen Xiang sighed in relief, impressed."Didn't expect you to be reliable at such a critical moment…"
"What do you mean?"the mirror huffed."This Invincible Mirror King has always been reliable!"
It seemed to shake off its earlier fright, becoming a bit eccentric, humming a nonsensical tune.
Chen Xiang playfully swatted it."Was that intruder strong?"
"Weak!"the mirror asserted confidently."Pathetically weak! My past servant could take her down with just a glare!"
"Your past servant?"
Chen Xiang's interest piqued."Who was it? What level? Sounds like you're recalling something?"
"Not really…"the mirror replied sheepishly."My past servant was just a limping old man, but he was decent enough."
"What level?"
"I'm not sure."
Chen Xiang rolled his eyes; the mirror was never reliable. Last time, it claimed it would run from a disabled old man.
Shaking his head, Chen Xiang's expression turned serious.
An unknown person had infiltrated his home...
While the mirror claimed the intruder was weak, Chen Xiang remained skeptical. This person had dismissed beings of considerable strength before.
What power did they really possess?
After asking the mirror for more details and failing to get clarity, Chen Xiang inspected the handbell.
He gently shook it, producing a crisp sound that caused visible ripples, making the surrounding air feel sticky...
Startled, Chen Xiang realized,"An extraordinary item? Or... a forbidden object?"
Unable to distinguish between the two, he grew more cautious. Holding an extraordinary item likely indicated the intruder had embarked on the extraordinary path!
Had he become a target?
Why? The Secret Adjustment Bureau? The wooden box? Or was it because of the Old Council?
He buried these thoughts deep, then stored the visualizations and spearhead into an urn, which he placed inside the wooden box. Setting an alarm, he went to sleep with the box in his arms.
A moment later, he woke to find the wooden box had vanished.
"Sure enough, things can be brought out from dreams and stored within them..."
Recalling the bizarre, swirling colors of the dream sky, Chen Xiang's expression grew heavy.
"Is the dream realm where the so-called banished Titans reside?"
Without further contemplation,
After meditating and absorbing hundreds of divine particles, the time approached midnight.
Chen Xiang picked up the token and glanced at the mirror, asking,"Are you sure dividing a part of my spirit into it will make me a council member?"
"Absolutely!"
The mirror chirped happily."The Invincible Mirror King never makes mistakes!"
"I'll trust you this once... How do I split my spirit?"
"Just tear off a piece!"
Chen Xiang felt helpless; this guy always gave vague instructions.
Calming his mind, he focused on his vast, almost tangible mental will, which was beginning to evolve into"aura."
Carefully, he split a small fragment from his substantial mental will and infused it into the token.
'Buzz!'
The token trembled slightly.
A strange sensation enveloped Chen Xiang; in a daze, he saw a sun, radiant and blinding.
The sun bowed to him.
As the vision faded, everything returned to normal.
"Did it work? Or not?"Chen Xiang muttered to himself, checking his phone.
23:47.
Time ticked away.
23:59.
[The Meeting Begins]
A booming voice resonated in Chen Xiang's ears!
He distinctly saw the token sway slightly, mysterious light emanating from it, forming torn seams around it, like a space-time rift...
Chen Xiang felt a strong urge; he could instantly attend this so-called"meeting"if he wished.
Pausing for a moment, he took a deep breath, grabbed the staff, donned the single-pane glasses, and let the mist envelop him.
Just as he was about to step through the portal...
"Wearing a top hat would look better!"
The mirror glowed, and a hat appeared seemingly from nowhere, floating onto Chen Xiang's head.
"Almost forgot about you."
Chen Xiang smiled, wrapping the mirror in black cloth and securing it behind him, then resolutely touched the rift-like token.
The hidden chamber suddenly became empty.