My parents don't stay with me. I can only talk to myself in the mirror.

When I talk about happy things, he and I laugh together.

When I talk about unhappy things, he and I frown together.

I look at him, and he looks at me.

I smile, and he smiles too.

I cry, and he cries too.

That day, I dressed up in a scary mask to frighten my mom. When I passed by the mirror, he was wearing the same mask and scared me. It seemed my makeup was too realistic. I scared my mom pale. I tried to comfort her, saying I got scared by my reflection, too. My mom, however, looked at me, puzzled, and said:

"...When did you buy a mirror for your room?"

Later, my friend disappeared.

I went to the door to look for him. I went to the window to look for him.

He wasn't at the door.

He wasn't outside the window.

I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Only my own voice answered me—

Amitabha.

Amitabha.

...

Museum.

The young man’s words were gentle and calm. Subconsciously, Liu Shaoying sat down in the chair beside the desk. Wei Yuan stood up, intending to pour her some tea, but as he picked up the kettle, he suddenly remembered that the water ghost had touched it.

He paused, but without changing his expression, he turned and grabbed a drink from the refrigerator.

He pushed the drink toward the woman.

Liu Shaoying took the drink, hesitated for a moment, and then introduced herself.

"My name is Liu Shaoying. I'm a university teacher. My student, Tao Siwen, told me about this place. She said it could help me."

Liu Shaoying took out a crude talisman and gently placed it on the table.

Wei Yuan saw the talisman and recognized the patterns on it. Without a doubt, it was one of his own discarded talismans from when he first started cultivating. He also remembered Tao Siwen, whom Liu Shaoying mentioned. He remembered her as a rare guest who visited the museum twice. The second time, she had asked him for a talisman.

At the time, he had given her an ineffective one and told her that it wouldn't work.

But now, Wei Yuan could sense a faint spiritual power emanating from this talisman.

He pondered this, his gaze falling on the back of his right hand, where a crimson talisman command was hidden beneath his glove.

Zhengyi Dao talismans require an ordained identity to draw on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

It’s like an ID card, or a certified signature.

Wei Yuan hadn't been ordained before, so he relied on the blood of the Crouching Tiger to infuse his talismans with power. Without that infusion, they were naturally ineffective. But now that he had a Zhengyi Dao ordination, which was in accordance with the rules, the previously ineffective talismans possessed a certain power by virtue of his ordination. They could be recognized by the 'artificial Heavenly Court'.

Over time, this talisman would gradually accumulate spiritual power, transforming from a discarded talisman into one with a certain degree of efficacy.

Wei Yuan looked at this protective talisman and knew that the other party felt she could only get help if she was a ‘regular customer’.

He didn't say much. He retracted his gaze, his expression calm, and said in a manner that feigned experience:

"Miss Liu, what exactly did you dream about? Can you tell me about it?"

"And if it’s convenient, please tell me what you think the cause and effect of it all is."

Liu Shaoying hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

...

"It started about half a month ago." Liu Shaoying recalled, "My work keeps me busy. Besides teaching students, I also have to go to the lab. To get promoted, I need to produce research results. Although I'm still relatively young, I have to prepare in advance."

"That day, I came home early and opened the door to see a scary mask, which frightened me."

"Later, I found out it was my son."

"My mother lives with us, but she always likes to go out and play mahjong with her friends. My husband also has his own job, so my son is often home alone. We're worried about him, so even though I was startled, I didn't get angry. I was just worried that he was too lonely."

"He seemed to notice that I was frightened and comforted me by saying that he got scared by his reflection in the mirror in his room."

"But my mother's generation is a bit superstitious about feng shui. There isn't a mirror in his room."

Wei Yuan narrowed his eyes, lost in thought.

A mirror spirit?

Liu Shaoying took a slight breath, her face pale, and said, "I didn't think much of it. I thought my son had mistakenly said he saw a mirror in the bathroom. But after that, I started having nightmares. I dreamed of a mirror, and the me in the mirror looked like a ghost, staring straight at me with wide eyes."

"I often wake up in the middle of the night, terrified."

"One day, I woke up unable to sleep, so I went to the bathroom to wash my face. When I looked up, the me in the mirror was just like in my dreams, pale and staring straight at me, as if she was about to climb out of the mirror and strangle me."

Liu Shaoying's face was pale, and she looked down at the drink in her hand.

"Then I woke up."

"What I saw before was just a dream, but I'm still afraid to go to the bathroom alone."

A standard evil spirit, a type of mirror demon.

Wei Yuan subconsciously made the judgment, then suddenly realized a problem.

He looked at the intelligent and capable woman in front of him and asked, "...About a month ago?"

Liu Shaoying hummed in affirmation, and said softly: "After that, my mother sought help from gods and buddhas. She managed to get a Buddha statue from Yingtian Prefecture, which was said to have been blessed by a virtuous monk and could ward off evil spirits. We put it at home and worshiped it every day. Slowly, the dreams about the mirror stopped."

"But a few days ago, I was awakened at night to see my mother standing in front of the Buddha statue, kowtowing."

"She kept chanting Amitabha."

"I went over to tell her to go back to rest, since it was so late, but no matter how much I nudged her, she wouldn't pay attention to me. It was like the only thing in her eyes was that Buddha, like she was possessed. But the next day when I asked her, she didn't remember anything. My husband said that the old woman was probably thinking too much about it during the day and sleepwalking at night."

"But the next night, I was awakened again. My husband wasn't beside me. When I went out, I saw him and my mother worshiping the Buddha together. When I asked him anything, he wouldn't say anything, only kept repeating Amitabha, Amitabha. And then my son... my son..."

Liu Shaoying's face was pale, and she couldn't speak. After a long time, she finally murmured:

"Now they're like wooden puppets every night."

"They don't know anything when I ask them the next day. I went to a psychologist, but they thought I was the one with the problem. Then, when I was sleeping, I started dreaming again. They were also worshiping the Buddha in the mirror, as if they had become puppets who only knew Amitabha, Amitabha."

"Now I'm not sure if all of this is just something I'm dreaming up and imagining. Sometimes I even wonder if something's wrong with me."

She pointed to her head, her smile bitter.

"Siwen said I might get lucky here, so I came."

It wasn't a mental problem, but rather a monster or oddity appearing in her dreams and reality. From her description, even the original fierce evil spirit in the mirror had been forcibly converted into a follower who only knew how to ‘piously worship Buddha’. It was hard to tell who the real evil spirit was.

Without a doubt, there was definitely something wrong with that Buddha statue.

Half a month ago?

Wei Yuan suddenly thought of the Buddhist disciples he had captured a few days ago. He recalled that they had mentioned an old and a young monk who had come to Jiangnan Province and then immediately disappeared without a trace. Even the Buddhist relic had been stolen. The timing matched up.

Was the Buddha statue related to these two dead monks?

Was it a treasure they brought themselves, or was it that after they were killed, some of their remaining true spirit and obsession fell on this Buddha statue and were then brought back, leading to Liu Shaoying's experiences?

But in any case, he should take a look.

Yes, he should report to the action team in advance according to the procedure. That was the action team's insurance plan. Once reported, if no further news was sent back within a certain period of time, the special action team would take further action to control the extent of the harm.

But these things involving transcendent powers affecting ordinary people were becoming more and more frequent.

Popularizing cultivation methods was imperative.

Wei Yuan’s thoughts returned, and then he stood up, maintaining a serious and professional appearance, and said in a gentle tone:

"I understand the general situation."

"Well, if it's convenient, I'd like to go to your house to see the situation in person."

Liu Shaoying was stunned, her face still showing the panic and helplessness from before. She quickly got up and said:

"Okay, okay."

"By the way, how much do I owe you? I'll pay you now..."

Wei Yuan replied, "It's not necessary."

He pointed to the items displayed in the museum and smiled: "As you can see, this is just a museum, not an exorcism center. I'm very interested in that Buddha statue. If this matter can be resolved, I hope you can give me the Buddha statue."

Liu Shaoying was stunned. She felt that he was completely different from the so-called 'spiritual mediums and immortals' she had heard about and seen before. He had the feeling of a true hidden master in the city. A look of surprise and admiration appeared on her face, and she subconsciously said, "You're truly a..."

She wanted to say 'master', but she felt that it sounded a bit like an insult.

She paused and then said seriously, "A true museum owner."

Wei Yuan thought it was a little strange that she added the word ‘true’ before the title. He didn't say much, casually picked up the sword box next to him, met Liu Shaoying's gaze, and explained without changing his expression: "These are just some necessary small tools to safely and conveniently bring the Buddha statue back."

Liu Shaoying nodded, not quite understanding but feeling impressed.

She watched the young man in the dark red cloud-patterned ink robe pick up the box, his expression calm, and walk outside.

Then, the expert paused and turned back:

"Teacher Liu, did you drive?"

The image of two people riding a shared bicycle to exorcise demons seemed a bit off.

Liu Shaoying was stunned:

"Huh??"

ps: Today's update… Please allow me to take a day off from updating today…

My heart is in a daze, and I can’t write.

I was still chatting with friends this morning, wondering which trash media was spreading rumors and daring to say anything. But in the afternoon, I learned the tragic news. I was eating at the time, and suddenly felt empty, and couldn't eat anymore. Reality is far more sudden than fiction…

Eternal rest to Yuan Lao. I don’t know what to say, or what I can say.