Chapter 40: Gazing into the Mirror at Midnight (Part 3)

Xu Xin put her palms together, watching Chen Jiu leave by the same route with gratitude.

Really unwilling to leave, little Jiu?

The next day, Chen Jiu studied that mirror from every angle. She really couldn’t see anything unusual. Using spiritual vision to investigate, she could only draw a crude conclusion: that thing had once come into contact with this mirror, leaving behind a few very faint traces of aura.

Chen Jiu picked up Chen Xiaoxuan, had him sniff the scent, and said: “Son, remember this smell. If you encounter it, bite it, understand?”

Chen Xiaoxuan sniffed twice, then rolled around on the bed twice, exposing his belly to signal that mom should pet him. Chen Jiu tickled him with one hand while continuing to browse related local posts on her phone with the other.

Fang Lei’s message suddenly popped up: Sister save me!

Chen Jiu: Speak.

Fang Lei: Song Yang is so abnormal today. I don’t dare call you. Can I come find you?

Chen Jiu: Come.

Ten minutes later, Fang Lei sat in Wanshi Studio’s small reception room, still shaken from his fright, receiving VIP treatment: a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice.

Chen Jiu asked: “What was abnormal?”

Song Yang’s face was deathly pale. He seemed unable to emerge from his fear yet. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and began his account with difficulty: “After we went back last night, a roommate proposed that since this ailment definitely requires gazing into a mirror, we should try throwing away or destroying all the mirrors in our dorm. Everyone agreed.”

There weren’t many mirrors in the boys’ dormitory. They gathered a few, either hiding them in other dorms or directly throwing them in the trash. The large mirror in the bathroom was covered tightly with adhesive tape and bandages.

At midnight, everyone endured their drowsiness, observing Song Yang’s movements in the darkness.

Finally at 12 o’clock, Song Yang, who had been lying flat, suddenly opened his eyes and sat up straight with an expressionless face. His movements completely defied human logic. Without arm support, without leverage, he sat up just like that, stiff and straight. No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t seem like something a living person could do.

Seeing this scene, everyone was frightened into full alertness. Sleepiness vanished completely. They held their breath one after another, continuing to observe Song Yang’s next movements.

Song Yang felt around his pillow. That was originally where he kept his small mirror. Now all the mirrors had been moved elsewhere. He only continued the motion of feeling around for a few seconds before understanding that he couldn’t find a mirror here. So he turned around, got off the bed. His hands and feet clearly coordinated with the movements, but to the others it still seemed very strange.

If you asked how it was strange, you could only describe it with three words: sense of wrongness.

After getting off the bed, Song Yang didn’t put on shoes. Barefoot, he passed by the neighboring bed, then suddenly stopped.

He bent down, leaning forward at ninety degrees, staring at the roommate who was pretending to sleep, and abruptly asked: “Is it with you?”

At this, everyone in the dormitory felt their hair stand on end. The roommate he questioned went rigid, his bedding soaked with sweat, feeling as if his heart was about to stop from fright.

Seeing that he had no reaction, Song Yang maintained this bizarre posture and looked for quite a while, then gave up and straightened his body, beginning to walk again.

Rustling, rustling. He walked to another bed, bent down again, and asked: “Is it with you?”

…

“I originally thought I was safe sleeping on the upper bunk. But after hearing no movement for a long time, I couldn’t resist poking my head out, opening my eyes to a crack, and looking outside the blanket.” Fang Lei clutched his chest tightly, his face terrifyingly pale: “This scene I feel like I’ll never forget in my entire life.”

Song Yang was tall and straight, standing right beside his bed, his head less than fifteen centimeters away. A pair of lifeless eyes was staring at him darkly and gloomily. When Fang Lei poked his head out, the two brothers happened to have a deep emotional gaze.

Chen Jiu asked: “Then what? Did he harm you?”

Fang Lei hugged a cushion for dear life, saying in terror: “At that time I just let out a loud shout. Everyone instantly sprang into action. Luckily my brothers were reliable. They directly turned on the lights. Everyone rushed out and pinned Song Yang down. They thought Song Yang had done something to me, hehehe…”

He laughed dryly, but chills still ran up and down his spine. Clearly this glance would become a shadow he could never shake for the rest of his life.

“After Song Yang was pinned down, in no time his eyes closed and he fainted. His hands and feet were ice cold. We carried him back to bed. Once dawn broke, after he woke up, we questioned him, but he still didn’t remember anything.” Fang Lei scratched his head and sighed: “Sigh, but he also felt very guilty. I know that definitely wasn’t his own will. He must have been influenced by something unclean, right?”

Chen Jiu nodded: “Your dormmate bonds are quite good.”

“That goes without saying…” Fang Lei choked for a moment, caught between laughter and tears: “No, is that the point? Sister, please save me.”

Speaking to this point, Chen Jiu was also somewhat puzzled, and asked: “The tranquility talisman I gave you actually had no effect at all?”

“It did have a bit of effect.” Fang Lei said: “At least Song Yang himself felt that he slept very well this time, and wasn’t as sleepy during the day as before.”

Strange.

Chen Jiu stood up, went to the cabinet and took out a few books, flipping through them. Cases where the tranquility talisman didn’t work were extremely rare.

This was a very basic talisman. Even a complete beginner elementary schooler like Su Xiaoyu could use it skillfully. With Taoist heritage passed down for thousands of years, there were virtually no failure cases.

“Of the cases I’ve encountered so far, there are two total. This unclean thing probably survives in a parasitic manner. When the host is dormant, they come out to move around. As for why they must gaze into a mirror when active, the reason is still unclear.” Chen Jiu drank a mouthful of water and speculated: “But it can be certain that this is a rather important link. Otherwise why would they definitely go to find the hidden mirrors? And they can harm people, they have aggression. One of the conditions should be making eye contact.”

Fang Lei curled himself up on the sofa, making a mournful face as he asked: “Can I not go back? I’m scared.”

Chen Jiu: “…Sure, you pay.”

Fang Lei said nothing and directly transferred ten thousand over.

Chen Jiu’s surface was calm and composed, but the little person in her heart had already started playing music and dancing. She cleared her throat, raised her eyebrows, and said: “You can stay for half a month, but your activity range is limited to this room and the front hall. All other services are not provided.”

Fang Lei agreed in one mouthful.

Chen Jiu: “Then what about Song Yang?”

“I don’t know what to do either.” Fang Lei said cowardly: “Although we’re good friends, he nearly killed me last night. I don’t dare gamble with my life either.”

“That makes sense.” Chen Jiu crossed her arms and asked: “Do you want to save him?”

Fang Lei pinched his fingers, saying weakly: “Yes, as long as my own safety is guaranteed, I will definitely save him.”

Quite the life cherisher.

Chen Jiu laughed inwardly, coughed, and said: “Then do you want to entrust this matter to me? But let me be clear upfront, the fee for accepting commissions is calculated separately, not cheap.”

Fang Lei stared at her blankly, looked around left and right, and said: “Sister, don’t you just look at feng shui and read palms, then sell talisman paper merchandise? Can you really solve this… this kind of thing?”

“Eh, once the money is in place, nothing is impossible.” Chen Jiu shook her finger, looked at his facial features, and said: “You lost your mother in childhood. Your father was busy with work, so your family ties are rather shallow. Fortunately your stepmother isn’t a bad person, with no intention of embezzling your family wealth. In this life you’ll probably pass by plainly and smoothly, neither extremely wealthy nor extremely noble, but never lacking money. Is it or is it not?”

Fang Lei said in shock: “Damn! Did you open my bank account?!”

“…I calculated it.” Chen Jiu nearly laughed out of anger, slapping the table: “You don’t believe me, right? Ask me another question now.”

Since it wouldn’t be free either way, Fang Lei didn’t know what he thought of, but his earlobes suddenly turned red. He faced his fingers and asked: “Can you calculate my marriage fate?”

Chen Jiu scratched her forehead: “Sure…”

She wasn’t very willing to calculate peach blossom for people, especially boys. Saying a couple extra sentences could easily trigger peach blossom calamity.

After calculating on her fingers for a while, Chen Jiu said: “Recently there is a shallow fate, but your true fate comes after age thirty. You don’t need to rush. During this period you may lose some money for the opposite sex.”

Fang Lei nodded repeatedly. He looked like he took it in, wishing he could take out a small notebook to write it down.

“I believe you!” Fang Lei lightly hammered his own chest with his fist, then pointed at Chen Jiu: “This commission! I’m entrusting it to you!”

Chen Jiu said with a straight face: “Leave it to me!”

Entering the night, Fang Lei had asked his advisor for leave and was hiding in Wanshi Studio’s small room, gaming behind closed doors.

The doorbell rang once. Chen Jiu looked up. It was actually Xu Xin bringing Zhou Danni for a visit.

Zhou Danni looked somewhat mentally exhausted, but her personality was quite lively and outgoing. As soon as she sat down she said somewhat excitedly: “It smells so good here. Boss, what incense are you using?”

“For calming the spirit, but it’s an exclusive formula, not for sale.” Chen Jiu poured tea for both of them, then looked at Xu Xin: “What did you come to me for?”

Zhou Danni waved her hand and said: “Ah, I wanted to come, so Xin Jie accompanied me. I came to buy the tranquility talisman from your shop.” As she spoke she pinched her neck, frowning: “Hiss… I don’t know what happened last night, my whole body hurts, like I was beaten. I’ve been sleeping poorly recently, it’s too much suffering. Xin Jie recommended your business card to me, saying your tranquility talismans here are very effective, very popular recently.”

Hearing the words “was beaten,” Chen Jiu and Xu Xin exchanged glances, then both somewhat guiltily averted their gazes.

Chen Jiu rubbed her nose and said: “Ah, is that so? About when did your poor sleep symptoms start?”

“About… seven or eight days ago.” Zhou Danni recalled: “I keep having a continuous dream. I want to wake up but can’t.”

Chen Jiu: “What is the content roughly?”

“Don’t remember.” Zhou Danni shook her head: “Only know it’s the same dream.”

“Then do you know what you did after falling asleep?” Chen Jiu continued asking.

Hearing this, Zhou Danni covered her mouth somewhat fearfully. She seemed to finally realize something belatedly, and looked at Xu Xin: “I, I was sleepwalking?”