Chapter 15:
The Ghost in the Mirror (Part 8):
Rewarding a Disobedient Ghost with a Resounding Slap
Chen Henian expertly gripped the ghost’s vital point, ensuring its escape was impossible, then bound its body tightly with red string.
He tossed it onto the floor and sat on the edge of the bed, propping his head on his hand, watching the ghost wriggle like a mudfish, denied its prize and its freedom. It glared at him, spitting out, “You little bitch.”
Without hesitation, Chen Henian slapped it across the face. His movement was swift and clean. He then examined his palm, his voice calm. “Say that again.”
“Bitch!”
Slap—!
Another crisp sound, harder than the first, almost enough to kill it. Chen Henian didn’t lower his hand, his tone unchanged. “Say that again.”
“Bitch—!”
Slap!
Chen Henian’s expression remained impassive. “Continue.”
His patience was endless, but the three slaps had the mirror ghost screaming in pain. “You—!”
“My face!” it shrieked, the sensation of pain a distant memory, its face burning as if on fire. Bound and helpless, its features were distorted by the blows, its already grotesque appearance now even more mangled.
“You still care about your face?” Chen Henian sneered, his gaze intense. “I can continue. You won’t be able to take it. So, have you thought about it?”
The ghost’s eyes and nose twitched, its face contorted in pain, its mouth a thin line. It remained silent, clearly still defiant.
Chen Henian shook his head. “My hand is tired from slapping you.” He chuckled softly. “Let’s try a different approach. You’re not afraid because your true form is the mirror. You think I can’t do anything to you, right?”
His confidence unnerved the ghost. “What are you going to do?”
Chen Henian said slowly, “You should have heard the saying, greater ghosts can devour lesser ghosts.”
The words were chilling. The mirror ghost gasped. Chen Henian continued, “How about I feed you to the greater ghost inside me? We can see if you’ll be digested and become a part of it.”
The mirror ghost gagged, its face contorting in disgust and disbelief. “You wouldn’t dare! You want to control it?”
Chen Henian replied casually, “Why wouldn’t I dare? Do you dare try it?”
He was bluffing, but the mirror ghost couldn’t risk it. It shrieked, “You’re despicable—!”
“Thank you for the compliment,” Chen Henian replied.
“Shall we begin?” He hadn’t intended to actually do it, but the ghost trembled, shrinking back, its fear genuine, not just a reaction to his words.
Chen Henian felt it too. He stood abruptly, the red string on his finger twitching. The great ghost within him reacted, black water, warm and swirling, emerging from beneath his feet, flowing towards the mirror ghost.
Both ghosts were startled. Chen Henian was surprised as well. Could the great ghost hear his thoughts? Its obedience was unsettling.
“I’ll listen to you, I surrender! I’ll treat you like my ancestor, alright?!” The mirror ghost was terrified, its pride and defiance gone.
Chen Henian seized the opportunity. “Then tell me something I want to hear.”
The mirror ghost didn’t dare open its eyes. The black water at Chen Henian’s feet paused, the threat still present, leaving the mirror ghost no room to maneuver.
As it was about to speak, Chen Henian interrupted. “My master said there’s a type of ghost even more unusual than earthbound spirits. Their methods of killing are almost impossible to unravel because they have their own rules and stories. You’re that kind of ghost, aren’t you?”
“You know quite a bit. Who’s your master?” the ghost asked.
Chen Henian’s eyes narrowed. “You’re quite curious.” The ghost, sensing his displeasure, quickly backtracked. “I won’t ask, I won’t ask anymore!”
It felt a pang of resentment, but it didn’t want another slap. “What do you want to know?”
“What are your rules for killing?”
“I don’t kill,” the ghost denied. “I only make deals.” Its voice gained confidence. “If someone makes a wish, I grant it. They come to me willingly.”
Chen Henian said, “Then why did you use those sons to kill Old Man Wang? The chandelier, the coffin, you told them to prepare those.”
“Hahaha…” The mirror ghost laughed. “Who do you think made the first wish?”
It smiled, remembering the old man’s desperate plea. “I could have killed him directly.”
“But I was bored.”
“The Wang family had a connection to the Southern Daoists. That old Daoist trapped me in this mirror for two hundred years.” Its voice was filled with hatred. “But his disciple was incompetent, tricked into giving me to the Wang family.”
…
The Wang family had been merchants for generations. But Old Man Wang’s three sons were failures. The eldest was extravagant and incompetent, losing the family fortune. The second was useless, the third rebellious. Their father, heartbroken and enraged, was hospitalized, soon diagnosed with a terminal illness.
With no cure, he was brought home to die. He had worked his entire life, but his legacy would be lost. He lamented in his room, repenting before a Buddha statue, apologizing to his ancestors.
Thinking of his ancestors, he remembered a family heirloom, a mirror, kept in a red box wrapped in yellow paper. He heard a faint voice, leading him to the box. The mirror was special. His ancestors had warned him, but he was desperate, ignoring their rules, and took out the mirror.
It was just an old antique. The dying old man dreamt of a deity. The deity told him to enshrine the mirror. He discarded his other religious objects, hanging the mirror, lighting incense, and bowing before it.
“Great deity, grant me longevity.” This was Old Man Wang’s first wish.
His sons witnessed this, not disturbing him in his final days. But within a month, his illness vanished, his body becoming stronger than his sons’.
He didn’t explain, and they didn’t ask, but they knew the mirror’s secret.
The next day, three of them made their own wishes.
“Deity, grant me wealth!”
Wang Sr. prayed fervently, wanting to regain his lost fortune.
Wang Er held up a photograph, a picture of his college sweetheart, a woman he had driven to suicide. He had performed rituals at her funeral, proclaiming his love, his longing for her return. He knelt, his knees scraping the floor. “You saved my father, bring her back to me!”
Wang Sr.’s son also made a wish, his eyes averted from the mirror. He complained that he had been born in the wrong body. He wanted to be a woman. He pleaded with the mirror, “Please, make my parents accept me.”
The mirror ghost heard their wishes, its pain forgotten, its voice filled with pride. “I granted all their wishes.”
They all dreamt of the mirror ghost as a celestial being, enshrined in the old man’s room, growing stronger, nourished by the incense.
Chen Henian nodded. “So you told the eldest to install a chandelier, to kill his father. You told the youngest to announce his father’s death, burying him alive. And you told the second to prepare a special coffin, to preserve the body.”
“The old man wanted longevity, so you turned him into an incorruptible corpse. The eldest wanted wealth, and his father’s death brought a hefty insurance payout. The second wanted someone resurrected, so you brought back her ghost, letting it feed on his essence, possessing his nephew, forcing his parents to accept him…”
“But what about the third?” Chen Henian continued. “He must have made a wish too.”
“Yes,” the mirror ghost said. “His was even more amusing.”
“He told me he wanted his father back, to be a filial son again. I granted his wish, I brought the corpse back! But when they saw it, they were terrified! They wanted the old man gone!”
Chen Henian nodded. “They actually believed you. How foolish.”
“So? Little Master, you’re more cunning than me. You managed to capture me. You’re skilled.” The mirror ghost looked up at him. “But you understand ghost pacts. They made wishes, their souls are mine. Even the heavens can’t change that. I can devour them anytime I want!”
As a mirror spirit, bound to the mirror, it was true that Chen Henian couldn’t destroy it. But what did that have to do with him?
“So what are you going to do?” the ghost taunted. “How are you going to save them from me?”
“Save?” Chen Henian’s expression was surprised. “Why would I save them?”
“I’m here to catch ghosts, not save people.”
The mirror ghost didn’t expect this. “Then what do you want?”
“What do I want?” Chen Henian tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm… I have an idea.”
He smiled, stepping closer, crouching down, looking at the ghost with feigned kindness. The mirror ghost felt a sense of foreboding. Chen Henian’s voice was pleasant. “To make a wish. Wouldn’t that be interesting?”
The mirror ghost was stunned. “You want to make a wish?”
Chen Henian smiled, his voice cold as chains, wrapping around the ghost’s ears. “I have a wish too. Do you want to hear it?”
