Xia Linyin saw the little devil suddenly take a few steps back, and the lantern fell from his hand, spinning leisurely a few times on the ground.
The dim yellow light shone on its face, making it appear obscure and further highlighting the ghostly aura of the little devil.
The little ghost didn't speak or move again, just staring blankly at Xia Linyin, who also stared at it without moving.
An eerie atmosphere silently spread between the human and the ghost, until—
"Xuanxuan!"
Xia Linyin immediately withdrew her hand from the mirror, and the little devil also turned his head to look behind him.
The female ghost floated over, picked up the lantern from the ground, squatted down in front of the little ghost, and opened and closed her mouth as if saying something.
The little ghost pointed to the mirror. The female ghost turned her head to look at the mirror, tugged at her collar, pressed down the little ghost's raised arm, and then picked him up and left.
The little devil perched on her shoulder, his eyes fixed on the mirror.
Xia Linyin placed her palm on the mirror again, and then she heard the female ghost say, "Xuanxuan, shall we throw the mirror away?"
Upon seeing Xia Linyin, the little boy's eyes lit up, but when he heard his mother say that she was going to throw away the mirror, he immediately shook his head. "No, my sister is in the mirror. We can't throw her away, or she'll be unhappy."
"Nonsense! How could my sister be in the mirror? Xuanxuan, don't say things like that again, or Mom will get angry." The female ghost's voice carried a hint of sternness.
The little devil was unhappy. "But my sister really is in the mirror..."
Xia Linyin couldn't hear what was said after that, because the little devil brought his mouth close to the female ghost's ear and whispered something behind her back.
No one knows what the little ghost whispered, but the female ghost paused, then suddenly turned her head to look at the mirror.
Xia Linyin withdrew her hand from the mirror as if she had been electrocuted, but it was too late. The female ghost had already seen Xia Linyin's figure standing in front of the mirror!
Although it was only for a brief moment, it was enough for the female ghost to recognize that the figure standing in front of the mirror was her daughter.
Has it been exposed? Xia Linyin wondered.
However, the female ghost's reaction was beyond her expectations. Instead of baring her teeth and claws and lunging at the mirror, she turned and ran with the little ghost in her arms, looking back as if some ferocious beast was chasing her.
The light emitted by the lantern swayed and flickered, and soon the female ghost and the little ghost disappeared from the mirror's reflection.
Looking at the pitch-black mirror, Xia Linyin frowned. The look in the female ghost's eyes when she saw her just now seemed to be... terror?
Yes, that's right, it seems to be terror.
But why would the female ghost be terrified when she saw her?
"Is what you're seeing really true?" Xia Linyin murmured, recalling the game's hint, she slowly raised her hand and touched her face.
Her abnormal complexion from the start, her inability to summon the ghost-fighting artifact, and the female ghost's hasty retreat upon seeing her...
Also, is what she sees in the mirror necessarily the truth?
Could it be... that she is the ghost?
Is she the ghost trapped in the mirror?
Was the person who died actually a girl?
After figuring this out, Xia Linyin felt all her hunger disappear, and the image in the mirror changed; it was no longer pitch black, but brightly lit.
It was still the same living room she had seen before, but it was no longer gloomy; it was a completely normal living room.
The sound of pages turning suddenly came from inside the room. Xia Linyin was startled and quickly turned her head to look.
The diary beside her pillow flipped through its pages automatically with a rustling sound. Xia Linyin ran to the diary and saw that it had turned to the last page with writing on it.
"October 3rd, weather: sunny. The house caught fire, and my parents and younger brother were burned to death. I escaped because I was staying at a classmate's house. The police said the fire was caused by a gas leak."
This sentence gradually disappeared, as if it had been erased by an eraser.
The bedside table suddenly opened, and a black pen flew out, landing on the diary and writing rapidly, as if an invisible hand was holding it.
"When I turned on the gas stove to leave the kitchen, I suddenly fainted. I knew my health was getting worse, but I didn't know it had deteriorated to this extent. Why, why did I have to faint at this moment?"
I floated above my own body, seeing it lying cold and lifeless on the ground. I heard them say I was dead, that I had committed suicide, that I had died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Was I dead? No, I couldn't believe it. How could this be? How could I be dead?
This can't be real! I don't believe it, ......"
The black pen was writing faster and faster until the handwriting became so illegible that the words "I don't believe it" were almost unrecognizable, and the pressure was so heavy it felt like it would pierce the paper.
When the writing filled the blank space, everything seemed to come to a stop; the power to control the black pen disappeared, and the pen fell onto the diary.
Xia Linyin picked up a black pen, turned a page in the diary, and wrote on it: "I've become a ghost."
Closing her diary, Xia Linyin leaned against the headboard. So, the girl was unable to accept the truth of her own death and was immersed in the illusions she had created.
Although the truth is that she died of carbon monoxide poisoning and became a ghost, in the girl's mind, she believes that she is still alive, while her parents and younger brother were burned to death and became vengeful ghosts.
Once the player accepts the girl's identity, they will remain in a state of illusion or self-deception, unless the player sees through this illusion themselves.
From a game perspective, this is a trap set by the game for the player. The body will feel hungry and sleepy, and the terrifying and hideous faces of the family of three in the mirror will make the player mistakenly believe that the family of three is a ghost. If the player does not realize that he is the real ghost, he will be trapped in the illusion.
Even this psychological hunger can actually cause players to starve to death. Of course, the player's identity is that of a "ghost," so they won't die, but they can dissipate.
After believing they were starving to death, they actually did starve to death.
Xia Linyin got up and walked towards the mirror. This time, instead of placing her hand on the mirror, she tentatively put her hand inside the mirror, or more accurately, put her hand outside the mirror.
A sensation like sinking into mud enveloped her fingers, and starting from the fingertips, Xia Linyin's fingers slowly extended outwards.
Before Xia Linyin could even curl her lips into a smile, her hand got stuck. Her palm had already extended, but it was blocked at her wrist and couldn't go any further.
Xia Linyin tried to squeeze out, but she couldn't get out at all; her whole body could only fit through about a hand's width.
I knew it wouldn't be so easy to get her out of the room.
So what should she do now?
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