Chapter 45 Mirror

The mirror reflected the complete room.

Everything was identical to the real room, but it exuded an ominous aura.

Wei Yuan turned the mirror to face the side.

He saw that the Buddha statue was an old monk with a hideous wound piercing his chest. His face was full of pain as he murmured scriptures with his eyes closed. He was covered in blood, his death was terrifying, making one's heart turn cold. The old man who was worshipping the Buddha in the mirror had a dark green face, with completely black eyes, no whites visible, only knowing to devoutly worship the Buddha.

Beside the old man in the mirror was a man in his early thirties, equally sinister and terrifying.

He, too, only knew how to worship Buddha, his eyes blank.

Wei Yuan frowned.

Then he saw that the child in the mirror was normal, but his little face was full of confusion, sadness, panic, and fear.

Combining this with the boy beside him, who had lost half his soul and was half human, half ghost, Wei Yuan subconsciously used the knowledge Zhang Jiao had taught him to speculate – in modern terms, the mirror represented the opposite world, and the people reflected in the mirror also represented the opposite side of people, evil spirits or the like. But generally speaking, they can only live in the mirror.

Unless they occupy a human body.

Now it seemed that the child was the first to come into contact with the mirror and had been replaced.

The real child had been lured into the mirror, and the evil spirit from the mirror was now in the body outside.

The old monk reflected by the Buddha statue was probably a monk attached to the Buddha statue. He had cultivation and was instinctively chanting scriptures, which caused the old woman and the man in the family to chant scriptures together at night, whether they were real spirits or evil spirits, at least preventing people from being replaced by evil spirits, from having their bodies occupied by evil spirits.

During the day, when the yang energy was sufficient, and the family was outside, there was not too much to worry about.

It seemed that as long as someone looked directly into the mirror, the mirror would find the darkness in their hearts, constantly amplify it, and generate corresponding evil spirits.

And the evil spirits were unwilling to be trapped in the mirror.

They would try to replace people and occupy their bodies through various means such as bewitchment, deception, and fear.

As Wei Yuan was thinking, he suddenly noticed a trace of anomaly –

Contact with the mirror would create evil spirits in the mirror.

The evil spirits would use various means to torment and suppress people's souls, creating gaps of fear in their hearts.

The remnant soul of the monk attached to the Buddha statue could simultaneously suppress people's true spirits and the evil spirits in the mirror. Whether it was the true spirit or the evil spirit, they only knew how to chant scriptures and worship the Buddha, which could prevent invasion. And during the day, the evil spirits in the mirror could not harm people.

No, Liu Shaoying…

Wei Yuan suddenly thought of the pale-faced college teacher who was unwilling to harm others.

She was the second to come into contact with the mirror and had seen a devilish version of herself in the mirror.

But later, she saw her normal self.

She didn't chant scriptures in her dreams and even had self-awareness.

Her mother and husband said she had 'problems.'

One by one, previously considered normal, overlooked details emerged.

Footsteps sounded, one after another.

Hearing the footsteps, Wei Yuan saw the shadow of the college teacher in the mirror. Liu Shaoying in the mirror was pale, incredulous, and frantically and anxiously smashing the mirror. But the Liu Shaoying who walked out, in Wei Yuan's eyes, was pale and green.

Wei Yuan's movements paused.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the talisman that Liu Shaoying had received from Tao Siwen slowly burning.

The boy ran to Liu Shaoying's side and acted spoiled: "Mom, you're finally here."

"Uncle was scaring me just now."

'Liu Shaoying' said gently: "Uncle was playing with you."

"Right, Museum Director Wei?"

She looked at Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan's expression turned cold.

At this moment, the mirror suddenly shook and actively appeared in front of Wei Yuan, reflecting in Wei Yuan's eyes. Almost instantly, Wei Yuan's appearance appeared in the mirror. He was wearing a black pan-kou top, slightly similar to practice clothes, but more refined. There were exquisite cloud patterns at the bottom of the clothes.

It was just that the originally clear eyes instantly turned black.

The mirror reflected Wei Yuan.

An evil spirit corresponding to Wei Yuan appeared in the mirror.

Whether it was the evil spirit outside that had already occupied a human body, or the two evil spirits chanting Buddhist scriptures, they all stopped at this moment, turned their heads, looked at Wei Yuan, and smiled. The dead old monk's face was full of sorrow, the blood flowed faster, and the sound of chanting Buddhist scriptures became hurried.

In this case, there was an extremely evil feeling.

Evil spirits are generated based on the darkness and unwillingness in people's hearts.

Wei Yuan instinctively activated the Taiping Essentials to protect his true spirit, and then noticed the old monk in the mirror world. He had previously obtained Buddhist beads from the monk who was tracking Yuanjue and saw the appearance of the two missing monks, so he recognized that this old monk was one of them.

Now it seemed that he was originally attached to the Buddha statue, but now he was sucked into the mirror world.

Wei Yuan pondered slightly. Although his magic power was not deep enough, he could be said to be profound in the pure understanding and application of Taoism because of his previous life experience. He activated the Crouching Tiger Formula to protect himself, and then his true spirit, wrapped in the Taiping Essentials, took the initiative to step into the mirror world.

The mirror world was actually as complete as the real room; the mirror was just the exit.

The Zhang Daoling Dharma Sword in the sword box behind him hummed in a low voice.

But because Wei Yuan signaled, it did not erupt, but actively protected his body, vaguely provoking an unhappy tiger roar.

…………

'Liu Shaoying' saw that Wei Yuan was no longer resisting, and a look of joy appeared on her face. It seemed that because there was an extra evil spirit in the mirror world, the old monk's chanting could no longer restrain them. The two evil spirits who were originally chanting scriptures even left their original places and gathered at the mirror acting as the exit, greedily staring at the real world outside.

Liu Shaoying's true spirit was in the mirror and could only barely protect her child, her face pale and painful.

And those evil spirits stared at Wei Yuan's body, treating it as a piece of fat.

Wei Yuan took the initiative to explore the mirror world. He lowered his head and saw that there were actually talismans on the back of his hand, actually bringing the Zhengyi Order in with him, emitting red light, and merging with the Taiping Department's Taoism to protect himself. He then cast a blindfold to avoid being seen and walked to the front of the Buddhist hall.

The old monk with a sorrowful face quickly turned the Buddhist beads in his fingers and whispered Buddhist scriptures.

The speed of chanting became faster and faster, the expression on the monk's face was painful, blood kept flowing out, but his movements did not stop. Pure Buddhist light shone all around, purifying distracting thoughts, but because this was just instinctive chanting, the power of the Buddhist light was strong, and even the true spirits of mortals would be purified and become puppets who only knew how to chant Buddhist scriptures.

Because of this, both the true spirits and the evil spirits were controlled, and that was why the disaster here had not erupted in the past half month.

Wei Yuan opened his mouth and called out: "...Fellow Daoist?"

The monk had no reaction, as if he was completely unaware of what was happening outside, only knowing how to chant Buddhist scriptures.

Wei Yuan mobilized his magic power and called out a few more times, but the old monk still did not respond.

Wei Yuan's voice paused. At this moment, he saw the Buddha statue in the mirror world next to him and saw the four-character Buddhist gatha, 'Where to See Buddha,' behind the Buddha statue. According to the understanding of ordinary monks, it meant that one had to chant scriptures tens of millions of times and accumulate merit before one could see the Tathagata. It seemed that the old monk in front of him was also like this.

The old monk's voice of chanting became faster and faster. Wei Yuan thought of what Yuanjue had said, was silent for a moment, raised his hand, shook off his sword energy, and suddenly split the Buddha statue in half, even the four characters, 'Where to See Buddha,' were split open.

The old monk's voice of chanting seemed to pause.

Wei Yuan pointed at the shattered Buddha statue, his mouth containing a magic power, and said:

"There is no Buddha here!"

Then he pointed at the old monk's heart and said: "See the Buddha here!"

The old monk's voice stopped abruptly, his eyes were cloudy, and he seemed to have regained a trace of consciousness.

He noticed the Buddha statue that Wei Yuan had smashed in a daze and murmured:

"...Break the Buddha before your eyes, see the Buddha in your heart."

Wei Yuan learned from Yuanjue and replied: "Break the Buddha in your heart, then you can see the Buddha."

The old monk murmured: "...It is easy to break the Buddha before your eyes, but how difficult it is to break the Buddha in your heart."

He smiled reluctantly, but his expression was still solemn, as if he was still holding on to his composure, and said:

"Layman has good Buddhist nature."

Wei Yuan said frankly: "I only know this sentence, but I don't understand it. I'm just reciting from the book."

"Fellow Daoist is…"

The old monk replied: "I'm just a incomplete true spirit, barely living on this Buddha statue, but I was brought home by that benefactor... cough cough, I originally wanted to exorcise demons, but I can't do anything like this, I can only chant scriptures and recite Buddhist scriptures to delay time. Fortunately, the Layman has arrived and can save the lives of this family."

He said it easily, but it was definitely not a simple thing for a bit of true spirit to resist the power of heaven and earth and stay for half a month, constantly chanting Buddhist scriptures.

The old monk wanted to say more, but suddenly his face was painful, the wound on his chest became more and more severe, and blood kept flowing out. His soul and true spirit coughed violently, barely glanced around, put his hands together, looked expectant, and asked softly: "May I ask, Layman, have you ever seen a young monk's soul, about twenty years old, with a round face, looking a little simple?"

Wei Yuan knew he was talking about the monk who had disappeared with him, shook his head in silence.

The old monk opened his mouth, his face dazed, and then nodded miserably: "So that's it."

"Heaven and earth are like a millstone, the true spirit is crushed, and there is no way to stay on the ground for a long time."

"It seems that Huisheng has returned to the Western Paradise..."

When he spoke, his expression was calm, but his soul was constantly trembling and blurring, obviously his heart was extremely sad. It took a long time to stabilize, and then a look of entreaty appeared in his eyes, and he opened his mouth and said:

"Layman, have mercy, can you help this poor monk deliver a message?"

Wei Yuan said: "...Please speak."

A little bit of streamer appeared on the palm of the old monk who had been supporting for half a month, and sent it towards Wei Yuan, and said:

"This poor monk's soul was broken, and I should have died long ago, but there is one thing that must be passed on, so I have lingered on."

When Wei Yuan's palm touched the streamer, a picture appeared in front of him. It was a young man wearing a Taoist robe, with a cold expression and light yellow pupils. He said a few words, all of which were disdainful of Buddhism, and raised his hand to directly pierce the heart of a monk, then took the relic, and finally killed the old monk, domineering.

This was the obsession left by the remaining true spirit, and the appearance of the young man who took the relic was extremely clear.

Even the temperament was extremely real.

The old monk coughed and said:

"I trouble the Layman to tell the true face of this beast to the major sects of my Divine Land, and also to the officials."

He said: "Although this beast mentions Divine Land in his mouth, his methods are ruthless, extremely self-centered, and he kills as he pleases. He is a great demon, not a kind person. The Divine Land in his mouth is probably ruled by demons. He must not be allowed to grow up, otherwise, the creatures of my Divine Land will inevitably suffer from him."

"At that time, I am afraid that tens of thousands of innocent people will be killed, no, no."

The old monk, whose heart was constantly bleeding, trembled and bowed down, choked with sobs:

"Please, everyone, kill the demons."

"Exorcise demons and protect the common people…"

Wei Yuan was silent for a moment, then said: "Definitely, delivered."

Hearing Wei Yuan's promise, the old monk exhaled, his expression finally relaxed.

He was motionless.

Wei Yuan reached out to help the monk up, but when he touched him, the old monk's body shattered inch by inch. With the dissipation of his mind, the true spirit, which had been struggling for half a month, could no longer be maintained and was completely destroyed. Wei Yuan was silent for a long time, put his hands together in front of him, and said softly: "Amitabha."

"Master, may you rest in peace."

…………………

At this moment, the many evil spirits surrounding Wei Yuan were all rejoicing.

It seemed that because the new prey was a cultivator, the newly born evil spirit was extremely powerful.

Wei Yuan returned to his body.

He opened his eyes, felt the thoughts in his heart surge, and the evil spirit that was absorbing his negative emotions was growing rapidly.

This ancient mirror was sparkling, as if it was going to reflect his darkest things.

When Wei Yuan's true spirit returned to his body, affected by this aura, he was dazed and once again saw a scene that he absolutely did not want to recall. The shouts of killing shook the sky. He saw the extremely elite Han army rushing into the city, and saw familiar faces disappear one by one.

He saw the famous Han general Huangfu Song.

Finally, he saw the Yellow Turbans fluttering like fire.

Boundless despair, boundless unwillingness, was the pain of having to struggle to survive even like this.

Wei Yuan's eyes lost their focus for a moment, and then immediately regained clarity.

Always clear and always quiet, should always be clear and quiet.

The Wei Yuan evil spirit that was forming in the mirror suddenly froze. The vast, magnificent, cruel, and desperate scene that he had just seen made even the evil spirit tremble in its heart - this was the most resentful and powerless thing in the young man's heart, and also the darkest thing in his heart, clearly transmitted to it.

This was his personal experience.

But, but…

How is that possible?

In any case, these were absolutely dark and negative emotions, and the evil spirit felt itself growing rapidly.

It grew to the point where it was almost bursting.

A look of fear and pain appeared on its face, but the other evil spirits who benefited from its strengthening did not notice, but were even more joyful. Wei Yuan knew the state of this evil spirit and exhaled.

Absorbing people's regrets and pain, and then becoming stronger…

There was no doubt that this had a limit.

And now it was about to reach the limit.

Wei Yuan no longer resisted and actively began to recall according to the influence of the ancient mirror.

The powerlessness and anger during the Three Kingdoms period, the confusion of living alone.

Sharing a great wish with Ancestral Dragon, and then clearly knowing that Ancestral Dragon had died.

Countless negative emotions surged and were absorbed by the evil spirit.

The evil spirit was in extreme pain.

It looked forward and suddenly saw Wei Yuan with a calm expression, and met those deep eyes.

Wei Yuan's thoughts moved slightly, and the ancient years reappeared, the flood ravaged the earth, strange beasts flew over the mountains and seas, the vastness and powerlessness of the era when humans and gods lived together, actively transmitting this emotion.

This time, the evil spirit's face completely froze.

Then, the evil spirit, which lived by absorbing darkness, suddenly screamed miserably.

It dissipated directly.

The two evil spirits outside froze, and the mother and son in the mirror were also stunned, unable to believe it. They saw that the young museum curator in black seemed to just examine the strange ancient mirror for a while, then put the mirror down, and then said calmly:

"The mirror is not bad."

"It's a pity that the quality is a bit poor, and it is not qualified to enter my museum."

The mirror was placed on the table.

Crack, crack…

Cracks appeared on the ancient mirror with a history of at least five hundred years.

There was silence inside and outside the mirror.