Chapter 38: Gazing into the Mirror at Midnight (Part 1)

When Chen Jiu heard this, she knew this matter could no longer be dismissed as mere coincidence.

That afternoon, after winning a small match, Fang Lei mentioned the matter again during casual conversation: “It’s too exaggerated. My roommate took sleeping pills and they didn’t even work. The rest of us couldn’t sleep well either. He’s planning to move out for a while today.”

Chen Jiu: “If science doesn’t work, why not try metaphysics? I happen to sell tranquility talismans here, for aiding sleep.”

Fang Lei was drinking water at that moment. Upon hearing this, he sprayed it all over the table with a “pfft.”

Chen Jiu: “?”

Fang Lei spoke excitedly into the microphone: “Sis, could it be that you’re working at that Wanshi Studio that’s been crazily selling tranquility talismans recently? Are you in sales?!”

“…” Chen Jiu rubbed her chin, puzzled: “Are we that famous now?”

Fang Lei acted as if he had encountered something extraordinary, squeaking and squawking. Chen Jiu listened to half and discarded half, finally sifting out a tiny bit of useful information — Wanshi Studio had indeed become famous recently.

“You guessed half right. I am indeed at Wanshi Studio.” Chen Jiu rested her chin on her hand and said: “But I’m not some employee. I’m the boss. Wanshi Studio is my shop. Understand?”

Fang Lei was shocked: “Damn!”

Chen Jiu: “Bro, can you stop being so jumpy all the time?”

“Can I come visit your shop? Please please please. Oh oh oh, also, can I bring my roommate along?” Fang Lei didn’t care that they were still separated by a network cable, that Chen Jiu couldn’t see him at all. He put his palms together and started bowing right away.

Chen Jiu said politely: “Sure, a guest is a guest. Of course you’re welcome.”

Heh heh, an unsocialized university student, huh? Watch me fleece you good.

Chen Jiu popped a lollipop into her mouth and smiled wickedly.

Recently, Su Xiaoyu had been quite busy as the writer of the child sized tranquility talismans. She scratched her ears and racked her brains, rushing to finish her homework and complete her Taoist studies. Her remaining time was spent frantically drawing talismans.

She had already used the money accumulated from talisman processing to successfully buy her grandmother a massage chair. She was currently still in the phase of feeling the most accomplished.

The next afternoon, Fang Lei brought his roommate Song Yang as promised. The two sat ill at ease on the sofa. Su Xiaoyu brought over two cups of hot water.

Fang Lei, though usually noisy and boisterous in games, was unexpectedly quite delicate and refined in reality. Song Yang looked even more frail than him. It was probably due to the strange dream ailment that had been tormenting him recently. There was a faint dark circle under his eyes.

After brief introductions, Fang Lei looked around, put his hands on his knees, somewhat embarrassed to look at Chen Jiu. He nudged Song Yang with his elbow and said: “You tell her yourself.”

Song Yang’s lips were a bit pale. He held that cup of hot water blankly, his voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz: “I keep having the same dream… continuous ones.”

His condition was even more severe than Chen Jiu had imagined. So she interrupted: “No rush. Sleep here first. That thing won’t dare come find you here.”

The moment these words came out, both of them stared at her with wide eyes.

Fang Lei had only vaguely known before that Song Yang had probably encountered something unclean. But with Chen Jiu’s pointed remark, he suddenly felt his hair stand on end.

He hugged his own arm and asked: “Th… that thing, what thing is it?”

“If you’re very scared, it’s better not to ask.” Chen Jiu gave sincere advice.

“…” Fang Lei straightened up slightly, cleared his throat, and said: “I’m not scared. I’m just a bit curious.”

This dead duck with a hard mouth finally somewhat resembled his in game self. Chen Jiu snorted with laughter and ignored him.

Song Yang said softly: “Thank you, sister. With you mentioning that, I also feel safer here, like there’s no… no feeling of being watched by something.”

“Alright, sleep quickly. If you don’t catch up on sleep, you’re going to pass away.” Chen Jiu stood up and led Song Yang to a small partitioned space blocked off by a curtain. Inside was a simple folding bed, looking like a secondhand item scavenged from hospital bedside care.

Under the gazes of the others, Song Yang quickly fell asleep, emitting light snoring sounds.

Fang Lei was dumbstruck. Then he exited the partition. Su Xiaoyu tugged at his sleeve, held up a tranquility talisman, and asked in a small voice: “Brother, want this? Sixty six yuan per sheet.”

“Yes!” Fang Lei decisively scanned the code and transferred money. “Give me ten sheets. Consider it my treat for my brother.”

Chen Jiu listened to the notification sound of 6600 yuan arriving and was momentarily dazed.

Fang Lei: “Holy crap! I pressed an extra zero. Sorry!”

Okay, she didn’t even need to wait to fleece him. The rich second generation would voluntarily stretch his neck out for the slaughter.

Chen Jiu took out her phone intending to transfer the money back, but Fang Lei scratched his head and said: “Well, just treat it as me opening a membership card here. No need to give it back.”

“Oh? Sure, then I shall gladly accept without false modesty.” Chen Jiu smoothly put her phone back in her pocket without any pretense of politeness.

Fang Lei took the tranquility talisman, looked at it repeatedly several times, and muttered: “Is it really this miraculous?”

Seeing that he didn’t mind at all, Chen Jiu rubbed her nose, her conscience quite pricked. So she decided to proactively learn about the cause and effect of the matter.

Recently, most visitors came to buy tranquility talismans. The duo of Su Xiaoyu and Chen Xiaoxuan was sufficient to handle them. Chen Jiu had Fang Lei sit with her in a somewhat corner position and began chatting about the details of Song Yang gazing into the mirror at midnight.

“According to what you said, his activity route is very singular. The only recent variable is that he got a girlfriend.” Chen Jiu crossed her fingers and raised one leg over the other: “What do you know about his girlfriend’s information?”

Fang Lei said: “Just an ordinary girl from the same department. Nothing special. We ate together once. She seemed quite normal too.”

Chen Jiu: “Then has his girlfriend shown the same symptoms as him?”

“How would I know that!” Fang Lei’s face flushed red instantly.

Chen Jiu showed an expression of sudden realization. Right, matters in the girls’ dormitory would only be known by her roommates. As her boyfriend, Song Yang probably wouldn’t easily reveal his girlfriend’s information to Fang Lei either.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Jiu said: “As the only variable, I think it’s necessary to understand this aspect of information. Let’s talk again after Song Yang wakes up.”

Fang Lei nodded, put his hands back on his knees, resumed his shy appearance, and looked at her with quite some anticipation.

“?” Chen Jiu saw his hesitation: “Do you have something you want to say? Just say it.”

Fang Lei took out his phone, his eyes sparkling: “Since we’re idle anyway, shall we start another match?”

Chen Jiu: “…Sure.”

In a certain sense, the two of them were also like kindred spirits meeting in low mountains and foul waters, both quite addicted to gaming.

Once gaming started, Fang Lei was a completely different person online versus offline. Sitting face to face with Chen Jiu, he shouted more softly, didn’t curse, wasn’t irritable, and even his trash talking with the opposing side became gentle and refined.

After enduring two matches, Chen Jiu really wanted to ask him if pretending was tiring. But now he was her paying customer, so she couldn’t speak without thinking.

When the sky was darkening, Song Yang finally woke up. A few short hours of deep sleep made him feel refreshed and clear headed. Without nightmares disturbing him, he found it quite miraculous.

Chen Jiu generously ordered takeout for the two of them as well. Everyone sat together eating.

Su Xiaoyu ate while giving Chen Xiaoxuan a chopstickful to taste. Chen Jiu didn’t stop her anyway. Chen Xiaoxuan had quite high intelligence and wouldn’t be so foolish as to eat something he shouldn’t and poison himself.

“I didn’t go anywhere strange with Baobao either…” Song Yang swallowed a mouthful of rice, recalled, and said slowly: “Our date routine is quite fixed too. Eating, watching movies, taking photos.”

Chen Jiu asked: “Did your girlfriend mention having any abnormal symptoms herself?”

Song Yang shook his head and said: “But I also feel like she hasn’t been very energetic. These two days we haven’t met.”

“Mm, then it’s even more likely. It’s because you went somewhere together, or saw something together.” Chen Jiu briefly analyzed, then took another look at Song Yang’s facial features.

Originally there had been flickering double shadows on his body. After being bathed in afternoon tranquility incense at Wanshi Studio, he was much calmer now.

Su Xiaoyu’s cheeks were puffed up as she chewed for a while, then said: “Brother, you should get more sun.”

Song Yang was startled, but he didn’t ignore this little girl. He cooperatively nodded.

Chen Jiu looked at her junior sister with satisfaction. In the past, this was what Master said to them. Later she often said it to guests. Now she finally had a little assistant to say it for her. If she grew a beard, she would also stroke it with satisfaction like Yun Shan.

When seeing the two out, Chen Jiu once again instructed them on the usage of the tranquility talisman, then told them to bring Song Yang’s girlfriend along when they had time these next few days.

Entering the night, Chen Jiu hung upside down at the bedside browsing the local feng shui forum.

These past two days, quite a few fellow practitioners had already spread some half true, half false rumors on it. All were related to the recent large scale incidents of groups sitting up at midnight and smiling at mirrors. The rumors grew more and more sinister. The main thing being spread was what these people saw in the mirrors.

Some said they saw a female ghost in red clothes. Some said they saw their past life. Some said they saw a skeleton. Some said they saw yin peach blossom. Some said they saw an identical version of themselves, only with completely different expressions and movements. There were even wild rumors that if you kept gazing night after night, the person in the mirror would crawl out and replace the original person.

Someone joked: Hurry up and replace me, I really don’t want to go to work anymore. Come out and help me work.

After browsing over a hundred miscellaneous rumors like this without obtaining any useful information, Chen Jiu clicked her tongue impatiently, inwardly cursing what the hell was all this, then prepared to lock her screen and sleep.

Just at this moment, her phone suddenly started vibrating. Xu Xin sent a string of messages: Chen Jiu, are you asleep!

Save me!

Xu Xin: I’m about to be scared to death by my roommate!

Chen Jiu: No, what’s wrong? Tell me, do you need me to come find you?

Xu Xin: I’m covering my mouth with a knife while silently shedding tears! Wuwuwu, hurry and come. She’s sitting in the living room gazing into the mirror right now, smiling while gazing into the mirror. Have I run into something unclean again?

Someone just delivered a pillow right after she woke up. If she didn’t go now, when would she go?

Chen Jiu immediately sat up and replied: Lock your bedroom door. Wait for me.

 

Translators Note:

[TN: “低山臭水遇知音” is a play on the idiom “高山流水遇知音” (high mountains and flowing water meeting a kindred spirit), which describes finding a true friend who understands you. Here it’s humorously downgraded to “low mountains and foul waters,” suggesting they’re both low quality gamers who found each other.]

[TN: “阴桃花” (yin peach blossom) refers to a supernatural romantic encounter with a ghost or spirit, often fatal. “Peach blossom” (桃花) is a common metaphor for romance in Chinese culture.]

[TN: “六十六” (66 yuan) is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture, as the number 6 sounds like “smooth” or “flowing” (顺).]