Chapter 171 The Fifth Day After the God's Departure (8) "Where is the mirror? I..."
It was raining in the fog, and the rain was getting heavy. The roads were muddy, and everything was shrouded in darkness.
The girl, wearing a raincoat, held a tall oil lamp; the carving of goat horns cast a curved shadow on her lips, like a strange smile.
She finally got to see her guests for the day.
She led the way for two black goats who had come to exorcise a ghost from the Jiang family.
Recently, every night, the lights in the main house of the Jiang family are lit all the way to the front door, followed by the sound of the doorbell.
Her parents were terrified, so she was the one who came out to greet the customers.
She wasn't afraid. People's fear comes from the unknown, but she knew who came to her door every night.
Her brother, who died in the mouth of the spider monster, searches for his way home every night.
She felt only peace in her heart.
She felt no guilt or remorse. To her, in this family that chose to gravitate towards madness in exchange for power and money, emotions were both an anesthetic and a trap; only those who were temporarily safe and fools would be numbed.
If she hadn't been so utterly incapable of talent, with energy so low it was almost invisible to the eyes of both humans and ghosts in that world, she would have already died when her brother and sister deliberately tossed her into the Hundred Ghosts Road to "play around" in the Four Seasons Mountain. The sacrifice she was later used to exchange for would certainly have been her.
This is not home; it is a dangerous jungle inhabited by animals. What she is doing is not to prove herself or gain anyone's love; it is a battle for survival.
They walked through the corridor of the Jiang family's main house, where the chandeliers cast a dim yellow light. The paintings and calligraphy that originally hung on the walls were replaced by all kinds of mirrors, reflecting their figures from every angle, layer by layer.
The black goat's visitor expressed his approval, much like an emperor traveling incognito and seeing a county where decrees were being properly implemented.
The girl uttered a couple of flattering words in a crisp voice, seemingly not understanding their meaning herself. It was clearly something an adult had taught her. The two black goats smiled, not taking it to heart, and didn't pay much attention to her.
The exorcism was just a side thing; their main purpose for coming here was to "pick up the goods."
The girl turned her head back, and even though her brick-red raincoat obscured half of her face, it was still reflected in the mirror, as if all her emotions had been drained away.
She didn't like these mirrors.
There were other statues of gods and objects of worship in the house, all representing the path to wealth and prosperity that the Jiang family was trying to find. As she walked around the house, she inevitably saw these things, and each time they made her feel uneasy.
It was as if she were living in an invisible, intangible, and unfathomable creature, so even this small house could get out of control at any moment, leaving her trapped in a passive and suffocating feeling.
The righteous path has limited the Jiang family's ambitions. In the past two years, the Jiang family has been resorting to crooked and evil ways, worshipping these gods and ghosts. There is always a "price" involved, and sacrifice is a common method. In such matters, innocent children are always given priority.
Clearly, she was the first name handed out each time.
Whether it was good or bad luck, the people the Jiang family found, though wicked, all had some real skills, and they all gave the same answer—her quality, so isolated from the mysteries, was something even an evil god would reject.
Thus, they miraculously escaped disaster.
But she can't rely on the other party's skills forever. If she encounters a swindler, she might be ruined. Besides, they're all doing crooked things, what can't they do?
She had heard a master say that the Jiang family had never been able to climb the final ladder to heaven because there was an ominous object in the house that was hindering the family's fortune. As for who this jinx was, it was as if the answer was the answer to the question.
Now that she has found the smoke mirror and gotten the Jiang family to hitch a ride on the black goat, her parents don't take it to heart. But as long as they hear it, they will remember that if any member of the Jiang family has a bad day tomorrow, their brother died because of her and their sister became a commodity because of her mediocrity.
It's better to eliminate future troubles completely.
She pinched the strand of hair between her fingers.
It was given to him by a handsome boy who was older than her when she went to worship the Black Goat with her parents last time.
Because she guided the black goat to the mirror, she was also qualified to worship. She knelt down in the crowd, raised her head, and felt that the mirror was too big, as big as heaven and earth. Although it was pitch black, there seemed to be space in the mirror, endless, like a standing abyss that could swallow everyone present at any time.
I feel really bad.
Each time felt incredibly long to her, so she crouched low and tried to hide herself as much as possible.
That boy was different. He had peeked once and hadn't been caught. He was extremely excited and stared at the mirror with amazement and admiration.
The boy approached her, wanting to know everything about the mirror. After spending time together, she chose him as the key to understanding the power of another world.
She asked him his name.
“I don’t have a name.” He tilted his head. “If you want to address me, you can call me ‘Seven’.”
"seven?"
This sounds like just a serial number.
The boy read her expression and said with a grin, "Can you give the sacrificial animals a proper name? There are so many demons and monsters, there will always be a time to 'test the waters,' and I am that little pebble. The black goat has prepared a lot of such 'goods,' and I just took someone else's number."
The girl stopped talking.
The boy was somewhat surprised: "Oh, you're also part of your family's 'goods'."
He laughed and said, "You'd better watch out."
She definitely made the right choice.
She got a strand of hair from him, which he had plucked from his own hair knot, and she mixed it into her sister's food to make sure it was safe.
So her sister became the sacrifice in the exchange. It is said that her parents were still hesitant, but the black goat, which was originally dispensable and was only offered as tribute by their subordinates, was specifically requested to be exchanged for her sister.
The boy was delighted and told her that her sister was not only more talented than her, but also more causally connected to the mirror than she, the one who discovered it.
But how could that be? So it's not her sister's karma, but the karma of the owner of that hair, "Seven".
So, she used the information about the god in the mirror to exchange for another strand of hair from him.
They had previously tested how much power she could generate with just a single hair of his; she liked to have control over even the smallest details.
However, she did not use it rashly. The Jiang family had found an evil mirror, the same size as a diary, which was said to be able to replicate an object within the size of the mirror three times, with one more chance.
After worshipping the Black Goat's smoke mirror, fearing to offend the new god, the Jiang family reluctantly threw away all other mirror-related items and hid this mirror.
She copied a strand of hair for testing and confirmed it was the same as before.
Everything is ready.
Tonight, the streetlights in front of the Jiang family's house only stayed on for a short while before suddenly going out along with all the lights in the main house, plunging into darkness.
The screams were muffled inside the house, not as loud as the rain; as the fog drifted away, they were no longer heard.
The next second, Xie Tan saw a new patch of fog, reporting on the "Jiang family massacre".
He looked closely at the number of people reported and realized something.
That night, apart from the missing second daughter, no one in the Jiang family escaped, including the two black goats.
...This also includes my grandmother, who was sent away long ago.
The power has gone out of control.
With blood ties, there's no need for a guiding light to return home; even ghosts can find their way to the door, and none can escape.
"Ah, I remember now, the mirror was placed on the holy water, and the patriarch also soaked the clansmen's hair in it."
"Seven," he recalled casually.
The mirror... it is the mirror's influence that amplifies the power of ghosts, and the amplified part is unique and cannot be copied.
She miscalculated at this step.
"Seven" said with great interest, "The black goat is very excited because of the massacre of your family."
Indeed, the death of two Black Goat tribesmen did not enrage the Black Goats; instead, it invigorated them.
The mirror can give them endless power, which is great news.
The boy finally sensed the girl's silence and began to wonder why she was silent.
Ah, it was because she was out of control that she almost died.
So he patted her shoulder, seemingly comforting her while sighing, "Blood ties are truly terrifying things. What's the difference between them and a curse? Luckily, your whole family is dead now."
Jiang Linji stared at his smile and thought, "Yes, it's out of control."
She didn't care about the deaths of her parents and sister; the two black goats were more worthy of her attention. Fortunately, the black goats had no intention of pursuing the matter and even regarded her as another hero.
Although there were some deviations, the result was still perfect.
Why was she having trouble breathing?
For some reason, a village song sung in the local dialect came to her mind. The old lady had lost all her teeth, and her voice was muffled in her face, swaying and unsteady, as if she couldn't hold it in. It was not pleasant to listen to, but it was the kind of song that could help her fall asleep when she was suffering from insomnia.
Everything was going according to plan... how did it all get out of control?
A new fog drifted in.
Outside the library office window, it was raining continuously.
Jiang Linji was somewhat lost in thought.
She didn't like the rain.
More precisely, she disliked the weather in Diqiu.
It's the season for snow now, but that's just how it is in Diqiu; it can still rain before deep winter. One year, it even snowed in the sweltering summer.
The weather on ordinary days is even more unpredictable. It can be sunny one minute and suddenly turn cloudy the next, without any warning. Even the animals can't react in advance. "Inaccurate weather forecasts" is not just a casual complaint in Diqiu City, but a consensus.
Unpredictable, without any pattern, living here is like opening a blind box every day, with every second being a random event.
Chaos, disorder...unpredictability.
If Jiang Linji were to comment on this city, this is what she would say.
How terrible?
Isn't it only natural to keep heading towards the end of the world?
"It's been a pleasure working with you." She said calmly, as if she knew someone was watching. "Take a rest. When you wake up, the world will return to order and usher in a new life."
The fog dissipated, and Xie Tan suddenly awoke.
His mind was in complete chaos, and he was just mechanically looking at things, but in that instant, he suddenly understood something.
His reaction was so quick and clear that it seemed unlike anything he had deduced step by step; it was more like a survival instinct that suddenly erupted in the face of the most terrifying crisis.
Whether it was the Black Goat or the cult leader, Jiang Linji eliminated them not for revenge, but to maintain order.
Therefore, her ultimate goal is not the black goat under the curse of immortality, nor the cult leader who recklessly wants to become a god.
That's the source.
Smoke mirror.
now!
She's going to use that knife to kill Lu Jinzhao!
Xie Tan suddenly began to struggle frantically, searching for an exit, nearly falling into the black mist: "Where is the mirror? I need to get out!"
The black mist was startled and hugged him tightly. Xie Tan wanted to push it away, but then remembered that the black mist was Lu Jinzhao's energy, so his hand froze. He tried to reason with the black mist to get it to let him go.
But at this time, the black mist was still unconscious and could not communicate at all. Sensing his intense unease, it held him even more stubbornly, as if afraid that he would do something dangerous, and refused to let him go.
The fog stopped changing its appearance, believing it was all the fault of these appearances that Xie Tan was startled. The surrounding scenery returned to complete darkness, and Xie Tan could hear his own chaotic heartbeat, slowly dissipating into the distance in the endless space.
He forced himself to calm down.
Putting aside the last ominous day that was trapped outside the mirror, Jiang Linji did this so that Lu Jinzhao couldn't find him.
He recalled the speculations on the forum.
There's another reason why the "trap" that led him up the mountain happened at this particular time: when he went up the mountain, the ritual had reached this point, and the future smoke mirror was broken, so he was able to fall into it.
Now that the ritual is complete, he's still inside the intact smoke mirror... how could he possibly get out?
Unless we wait until the smoke mirror shatters.
But the pointer has been forged back into the Eye of Observation, and as the tongues and knives move toward a new day, he is trapped here again, unable to jump to the shattered point in time in the future.
What other options are there...?
What other options are there?
Xie Tan lowered his head and suddenly said, "Number 7."
The cat appeared, jumped into his arms, and purred, "Meow, I'm here!"
"You can have any wish, including your source of power... including God?"
"Yes, meow." When the topic turned to professional matters, Cat Number 7 became much more serious. "This wish can override everything, so make it boldly, meow!"
Xie Tan was momentarily dazed.
Why does that sound so familiar?
"Host, have you thought of your wish, meow?"
"Yes." Xie Tan forced himself to come back to his senses.
"Okay, I'll get ready, meow!"
Xie Tan followed No. 7's instructions and opened the comic app. The screen was filled with fireworks that dazzled his eyes. They were congratulating him on completing the task and becoming the most popular character in the comic, and they were displaying an electronic banner for him.
The other two functions are locked and cannot be opened; the interface is stuck on the cover of the "Strange Tales" comic, with the author, Bi Dao Ke, hanging above the cover.
A cold, black fountain pen with a black, sharp blade at the nib.
The pore on the pen tip is an upright eye, standing out with a strange gold color amidst the falling colorful fireworks.
The pen moved twice, and the eye of the air hole stared straight at him through the screen, as if waiting for his wish to be expressed, so that it could be engraved on the comic and set a new rule for this comic world.
It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck Xie Tan's chaotic mind, bringing up all the buried traces.
He remembered the conversation between Lu Jinzhao and Xiao Liu on the mountaintop in the comic.
[Since you don't like it, then I'll grant you special privileges. Your wishes can supersede everything else, and you can write them down yourself, with a contract as proof.]
[Above everything, including you?]
[Can. ]
He transcends all, including the gods, and writes it himself.
Pen and Knife Master.
Use the pen as a "sword".
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