Chapter 142 Mirror World

Suddenly, a feeling of earth-shattering tremors arose all around. Zhou Ze subconsciously lowered his center of gravity to prevent himself from falling.

He saw the old Daoist in the bathroom still holding onto his faucet, screaming.

Xu Qinglang, on the sofa in the living room, was still fast asleep, seemingly oblivious to the strangeness.

Zhou Ze suddenly realized that it wasn't a real earthquake; rather, the light and shadows all around were drastically distorted, creating the illusion of violent shaking.

Everything reflective around him seemed to come alive at this moment. They became very active, proactively trying to mislead and influence him.

It was an incredibly bizarre sensation, as if he was being rejected by the entire surrounding environment. They were no longer inanimate objects beside him, no longer tools for him to use and trample upon. Having gained their own consciousness, they instinctively began to reject him, to loathe him.

Zhou Ze opened his mouth, wanting to wake Xu Qinglang, but when he shouted, Xu Qinglang remained asleep on the sofa, as if he hadn't heard a thing.

Even if he was a heavy sleeper, he couldn't possibly sleep this soundly.

"Old Daoist!"

Zhou Ze shouted to the old Daoist again.

The old Daoist stood in the bathroom, still staring at his faucet and screaming. No matter how Zhou Ze called, he wouldn't turn around.

Gradually, Zhou Ze noticed the old Daoist's figure twisting. Xu Qinglang, sleeping on the sofa, was also distorting. It was as if he were in a funhouse mirror room. The light all around was being bent, creating an extremely painful visual impact.

Taking a deep breath, Zhou Ze began to close his eyes. He wasn't a greenhorn Ghost Messenger anymore. Having experienced ups and downs in the past half-year, he knew that the first thing to do in such a situation was to calm his heart.

If the heart is as pure as ice, even if the sky falls, one will not be alarmed!

However, the moment Zhou Ze closed his eyes, he felt a sudden sensation of weightlessness, as if he were about to fall into an abyss in the next moment.

This feeling often occurred when sleeping: the sudden illusion of falling, causing one to tremble involuntarily and wake up quickly, only to realize it was a false alarm.

But for Zhou Ze now, this feeling lasted for a long time and intensified.

Zhou Ze had no choice but to open his eyes. The instant he did, blinding white light erupted all around, like a car suddenly turning on its high beams at night.

After a moment of dizziness and temporary blindness, when Zhou Ze's vision cleared again, he found himself still standing in the living room.

Everything around him was unchanged, as if everything had been a meaningless illusion, a false image. But soon, Zhou Ze realized something was wrong.

The sofa was still the same sofa, but Xu Qinglang was gone.

The bathroom was still the same bathroom, but the old Daoist who was pissing blood was also gone.

The furnishings were all there, everything was unchanged, but he was alone, only him.

Zhou Ze took a deep breath. The lights were on, but their brightness was clearly insufficient, so low that everything seemed dim and heavy.

Walking into the bathroom, Zhou Ze suddenly saw the figures of the old Daoist and Xu Qinglang in the cracked mirror on the wall.

The old Daoist leaned against the wall, looking terrified, blood all around him. Xu Qinglang was beside him, helping and comforting him.

They were in the mirror?

Zhou Ze was stunned. Then, he saw Xu Qinglang supporting the old Daoist as they left the bathroom. He couldn't see them anymore.

"Hey! Can you hear me?"

Zhou Ze shouted, but there was no response. Then, Zhou Ze left the bathroom and walked into the living room. There was a huge frame on the wall, containing an oil painting of Eight骏 (jùn) Horses (a famous painting theme). In the reflection of the glass, Zhou Ze saw the old Daoist sitting on the sofa, Xu Qinglang handing him a glass of water.

Next, Xu Qinglang burned a talisman and mixed it into the water before giving it to the old Daoist.

The old Daoist frowned painfully and drank the talisman water, then kept gasping for air.

Zhou Ze couldn't hear their voices at all, only see their images and actions.

It wasn't until Zhou Ze saw himself in the reflection that his heart sank.

Things,

had truly taken an unimaginable turn.

The 'him' on the sofa was just lying there, motionless.

Xu Qinglang and the old Daoist occasionally glanced at him with concern. Xu Qinglang even wiped his face with a wet towel, but 'he' felt nothing.

Hoo...

He understood.

It wasn't that they didn't know why they had entered the mirror.

In fact,

the one who had truly entered the mirror,

was him!

Zhou Ze tried to scratch the mirror surface with his fingernails. He instinctively wanted to break the thing and get out, but his usually reliable fingernails were utterly useless against this small mirror. The mirror was like diamond, so strong that it was despairing.

After trying for a while, Zhou Ze gave up and sat down on the sofa.

Once he sat down, Zhou Ze realized that while the furnishings in the room were indeed the same, they were actually reversed. After all, things in the mirror were opposite to reality.

Reaching out, he felt around and found that his cigarettes were still there. He took one and put it in his mouth, and he could actually light it with his lighter. The smoke even had the aroma of tobacco.

Zhou Ze didn't even know what state he was in. His body was still in the reality outside the mirror, but everything here was so real, not like an astral projection.

Zhou Ze had experienced astral projection before, which was a very weak and disoriented feeling, but he clearly didn't have that feeling now. This meant that he wasn't being sucked into the mirror.

Zhou Ze remembered that his fingernails had been useless against those "亡魂 (wáng hún)" (departed souls/spirits) in the restaurant that afternoon. Did this mean that he was now in the same state as those "亡魂 (wáng hún)" dining at the restaurant?

Not a soul,

not a body,

a... very strange and indescribable state?

This was,

the state of being in the mirror?

That night, Zhou Ze basically sat on the sofa. He was thinking about how to get out, how to leave this place. Zhou Ze also tried to open the door to go outside, but he found that the door, including the walls of the courtyard, were separated by a layer of "glass." He simply couldn't get out and could only move around in this narrow area.

So, that night, he either sat on the sofa contemplating life, or stood in front of the painting, watching how anxiously the old Daoist and Xu Qinglang tried to wake him up.

In fact, what Zhou Ze was most worried about was whether Xu Qinglang and the old Daoist would take his body back to the bookstore in the city the next day.

Although Zhou Ze's character was very determined, he really didn't want to be abandoned by his companions like this, even if his companions might not know that he was actually in the mirror.

Zhou Ze even tried to fill the hot spring pool with water and soak in it a few times, but found that even if he put his head in the pool, he still couldn't leave this area. Every possible way, Zhou Ze had tried, and all had failed.

In short, the night passed very slowly, so slowly that Zhou Ze felt suffocated.

When a faint light was revealed outside, Zhou Ze slowly raised his head.

Dawn was breaking, wasn't it?

"Crack... crack..."

There was the sound of something breaking. Zhou Ze stood up, walked to the door, reached out and opened it, and found that a piece of the glass outside had shattered, enough for a person to walk out normally.

It was like a tunnel in an amusement park for children to pass through. Zhou Ze walked in and could only walk forward along this unique route, because all around was a thin layer of glass. You could see the people outside, you could see the scenery outside, but you just couldn't get out.

Even if you used all your strength, you couldn't break this layer of glass at all.

Walking along, Zhou Ze saw a door. The door was open, and Zhou Ze walked in.

Then,

a sudden enlightenment.

After walking for more than ten minutes in the narrow glass tunnel, suddenly entering a wide-open area really gave one the feeling of a fisherman accidentally entering the Peach Blossom Spring.

However, what Zhou Ze walked into was a restaurant.

A buffet layout,

a familiar environment,

it was the restaurant in the hotel.

"Sir, please give me your room card."

A voice sounded from beside Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze turned his head and looked at her.

It was a waitress, but her mouth was above her eyes, and her entire face was upside down, giving a very terrifying feeling.

Zhou Ze didn't move.

The other party reached out and took a room card from him.

"Hello, I hope you enjoy your meal." The waitress smiled.

That smile was the most terrifying smile Zhou Ze had ever seen in his life. Even Picasso couldn't paint such an effect.

There weren't many people in the restaurant, but after Zhou Ze sat down, more and more guests began to come in for meals, exactly the same as yesterday's scene.

It's just that yesterday, Zhou Ze was an observer; this time, he had entered the game.

He didn't go to get food, but just sat back down in the same seat as yesterday. If that was the case, Zhou Ze would really like to see if Xu Qinglang and the old Daoist would also come over through the hot spring pool.

Before Xu Qinglang and the old Daoist arrived, Zhou Ze first waited for the family of three. They also sat down in the same seats as yesterday, with the little girl sitting down first, and the parents going to get food.

Then,

the headless family of three stared blankly at the dazzling array of food in front of them.

"Hi, hello, we meet again." Zhou Ze was somewhat bitterly amused.

However,

the family of three, who had previously been unable to communicate, suddenly turned their bodies collectively towards Zhou Ze.

They had no heads.

Logically speaking, they couldn't speak, since they couldn't eat,

but they made a sound, they made a sound collectively,

although it was only a simple word:

"Hi."

chun jie di xiao long wants to participate in a "network writer" grassroots charity event, going to a mountainous poor county, estimated to be for more than a week, I will try to guarantee updates;

Of course, if there are unexpected circumstances that prevent timely updates, I will post a notice in advance.

Don't panic,

hug me tight!