Liu Sandao's Taoist robe was already soaked in the sticky liquid, and the talisman paper was peeling off in chunks.
"This mirror has been nurtured with human sacrifices for a hundred years! We must destroy its core patterns!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than vines suddenly sprang out from the bottom of the box, wrapped around Liu Sandao's waist, and dragged him into the sewage.
His peach wood sword was deeply embedded in the mummified corpse's throat, and the rotting flesh fell off like mud, revealing the black hair that was tangled inside.
Smash the mirror!
His voice was muffled by the sewage.
Amidst the excruciating pain of the chains digging into my flesh, I saw a scene from twenty years ago reflected in the mirror.
Two Taoist priests were shivering in the dilapidated temple, and the older priest was smearing incense ash on the younger priest's legs.
Is this Liu Sandao's master?
Liu Sandao grinned at me, revealing his bloodstained canine teeth: "Go ahead and do it! Otherwise, I'll be dragged to be used as fertilizer!"
The moment the mirror's red light surged, I shouted and swung my sword at the mirror pattern.
Amid the sound of bronze shattering, the mummified corpse's fingernails scraped against the glass, making a rattling sound.
The lotus tattoos burst open, spitting out black blood.
Liu Sandao was blasted away, and the Soul-Suppressing Tattoo faintly visible under his Taoist robe overlapped with the cracks in the mirror.
It was as if decades of time had suddenly overlapped at this moment.
As the last piece of glass landed, I saw the morning light reflected in the mirror penetrating the pipe.
I stumbled and rushed to Liu Sandao's side, sewage mixed with blood splattering onto his wrinkled face.
He coughed up two mouthfuls of black liquid, but then grinned, letting the air leak through the gap in his missing tooth.
"I'm too old, too useless. If the teacher were younger, he wouldn't be in such a sorry state."
I grasped his blood-stained wrist and felt his pulse, which was as weak as a spider's thread.
Just as I was about to speak, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he shoved me hard: "Lower your head!"
The sound of vines breaking through water was almost deafening, hitting right next to my scalp.
I stumbled and rolled into the sewage, and heard Liu Sandao groan.
Three vines covered in slime pierced his right shoulder, pinning him to the wall.
He still smiled and waved his left hand at me: "See... I told you it was just a flesh wound..."
Before the words were finished, the vines suddenly tightened.
Blood trickled from his throat, yet he still kicked my scattered lightning sword with his foot: "Don't just stand there! Look at Tiger Cub!"
Li Xiulan's screams were like rusty knives cutting into eardrums.
I turned my head and saw Tiger Cub's face contorted in a bizarre arc, his bluish-gray fingers digging into his mother's neck.
The patterns of the carved cabinet were faintly reflected in the black vortex in the pupil.
The lightning sword was incredibly hot in my palm, but when I swung it at the vines, the blade moved as slowly as if it were stuck in mud.
Liu Sandao suddenly used his peach wood sword to prop himself up and slapped the last talisman on Huwa's forehead: "Return to your place!"
As the golden light burst forth from the talisman, the blackness in Tiger Cub's pupils receded like a receding tide.
He burst into tears, while Liu Sandao slid to the ground.
The soul-suppressing tattoo beneath the Taoist robe was soaked in blood.
"Close your eyes!"
I felt the sewage beneath my feet transform into countless tiny vines, creeping up my trouser legs and into my body.
Liu Sandao staggered over and used his body to shield me from the tentacles that attacked from behind: "What are you waiting for! Give me the sword!"
The mummified corpse suddenly stood upright in the wooden box, and the mirror between its eyebrows reflected our distorted images.
Liu Sandao handed me the sword: "Aim at your own reflection in the mirror, that's its Achilles' heel!"
Before he could finish speaking, the shadowy tentacles pierced through his shoulder, but he caught them with his own hand and tore off a piece of rotten flesh.
"So you think you're the only one who can bite? I can too."
I gathered all my strength and threw the lightning sword.
The moment the mirror shattered, time and space seemed to freeze.
Liu Sandao was thrown away by the shockwave, and fragments of his Taoist robe fluttered down like butterflies.
The tiger cub in Li Xiulan's arms regained its senses and began to cry loudly.
The screams of the mummified corpse were so loud they made my eardrums ache. As it turned to ashes, countless wronged souls drifted out of the black mist and gradually dissipated in the morning light.
When we crawled out of the pipes, soaking wet, the sky was already tinged with the dawn.
Liu Sandao slumped to the ground, laughing as he made a "two" gesture with his bloodied hand: "Same as always... two jin of Erguotou..."
His voice grew weaker and weaker until it was finally drowned out by Li Xiulan's sobs.
Tiger Cub clutched the hem of his blood-stained Taoist robe, finally revealing a smile of relief at surviving a calamity.
Meanwhile, at the far end of the west alley, the first rays of sunlight pierced through the morning mist, illuminating the newly sprouted buds on the wall.
...
At the hospital.
The smell of disinfectant made my nose hurt.
Liu Sandao lay on the hospital bed, his left hand receiving an IV drip, while his right hand was also busy, scratching and touching here and there.
I placed the thermos on the bedside table, and when I unscrewed the lid, he didn't even lift his eyelids.
"Just leave it there. I can't swallow porridge with little oil and salt."
"Brother Liu, why don't you tell us?"
I pulled up a plastic chair and sat down: "I remember you went to western Hunan to collect Nuo opera masks from Laosicheng, right? How come you suddenly came back from western Hunan?"
He finally looked up, then suddenly grinned, revealing the tobacco stains on his back teeth.
"You think I traveled all the way back to learn from Lei Feng? The ghosts from the west alley are practically floating up to the City God Temple. The local earth god has been cursing me in my dreams until my ears are calloused."
Suddenly, she reached out and poked my shoulder: "It's you! You didn't even bother to find out before taking the job. This evil spirit has been harboring resentment for three dynasties. Even my master only dared to seal it up back then, not destroy it!"
I held down his flailing hands.
He suddenly lowered his voice, gesturing for me to take out the bronze fragments I had retrieved from the sewer.
"See this pattern? In 1948, the fire at Old Zhou's woodworking shop killed seventeen people, and this mirror was buried under the fire."
"Later, the neighborhood committee filled in the ruins and built residential buildings. Do you think nothing bad could have happened?"
"What about Li Xiulan and the others..."
"It's alright for now."
He yawned: "The red mark on Tiger Cub's wrist was a ley line mark. I replaced it with a talisman, which is the birthmark on the back of his neck..."
He suddenly fell silent and turned to look out the window.
The leaves of the sycamore tree rustled in the autumn wind.
I followed his gaze and suddenly remembered the reflection I had seen in the pipe.
A young girl from the Republican era, a modern white-collar worker, a missing child—all the vengeful spirits transform into lotus roots within the bronze mirror.
Liu Sandao suddenly pounded the bed railing with his non-IV-drip hand: "That's right! Bring the compass from my Taoist robe. That string of Buddhist beads is definitely still under Li Xiulan's bed!"
"Okay, get well first."
I stood up and tucked the blanket around him, but touched something hard under the pillow.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a small wooden figure wrapped in red cloth, with the character "Liu" written in cinnabar on its back and a thin silver needle inserted into its chest.
He suddenly coughed and laughed so hard he was shaking: "I bought this weapon in northern Hubei last year and forgot to throw it away."
Seeing my unpleasant expression, he waved his hand again: "Just kidding! It's just a talisman, it can ward off bad people."
The ward door was pushed open, and a nurse came in to change the IV drip.
Liu Sandao immediately closed his eyes and pretended to be fast asleep.
"Let's go eat hot dry noodles after I'm discharged from the hospital," I said softly.
His eyelashes fluttered, but he didn't open his eyes. Instead, he tapped the bedside table with his finger: "Add more chili, and more vinegar."
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