Chapter 16:
The Ghost in the Mirror (Conclusion):
A Win-Win Situation
This malevolent entity had existed for two hundred years. If there was anything it hadn’t obtained, it was the flesh of a Tai Yin body. The person before it seemed familiar, a youthful, untamed wild horse. How far could he gallop before he crashed and burned?
The mirror ghost stared at him, its eyes rotating eerily. It fell silent, its frantic energy replaced by a calm focus. Chen Henian’s words had ignited a burning desire within it, its eyes glowing red with anticipation. He hadn’t even stated his wish, yet he had already stirred its greed.
“This is your choice,” the mirror ghost said, its posture stiff and statue-like. “What do you want?”
“Guess,” Chen Henian replied. “What do you think I want?”
“Aren’t you afraid at all?” The ghost’s expression turned sullen, feeling underestimated. “Everyone fears death. Some pretend to be arrogant and aloof, but I can smell their regret before they die.”
“Do you think I’m the same?” Chen Henian countered. “You can read hearts, can’t you? Then tell me, what is my desire?”
The mirror ghost stared at the young man, but no matter how wide it opened its eyes, it saw only a thick fog, then a burning fire, a searing pain.
Chen Henian smiled, pointing to his chest. “Do you want to come closer and listen?”
Even from a distance, the ghost could hear his heartbeat, calm and steady, like a drumbeat, a sound it loathed.
“You’re just relying on the fact that I can’t see through you,” the ghost said. “Do you really want to make a wish? If you try to deceive me with lies, I’ll know.”
Chen Henian’s voice was sincere. “I’m desperate, that’s why I’m turning to you. I’ll tell you my true desire.”
The ghost, seeing his apparent sincerity, felt a surge of triumph. Once Chen Henian revealed his desire and made a deal, his body and soul would belong to it. It would feast.
But then it hesitated. Was this human truly so foolish? Of course not. It remained wary, its eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Don’t you dare gamble?” Chen Henian said. “It’ll just be a test of who’s more powerful. You have nothing to lose.”
The ghost was tempted. “Deal.”
Chen Henian untied the red string, freeing the ghost. It hesitated, then retreated into the mirror, only half its body visible.
Chen Henian climbed into bed without a word. The ghost waited, almost hearing snores. It grew impatient. “Aren’t you going to say it?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Chen Henian yawned. “I need to sleep first. I have a long walk home after this.”
“By the way, if I take you with me, will you have to devour those souls?”
“Of course,” the ghost replied.
It waited for Chen Henian to elaborate, but he seemed unconcerned. “Then eat them.”
He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
The mirror ghost stared at him, scratching its head in frustration. How could this human be so carefree? It wanted to attack him while he slept. It started to emerge, but the black water surrounding Chen Henian reacted.
The great ghost hadn’t retreated. It had forgotten. The mirror ghost quickly retreated back into the mirror.
Chen Henian slept soundly, his breathing even.
The black water flowed silently, extending a tendril towards Chen Henian’s hand, splitting into four smaller branches, clinging to his injured finger. He twitched slightly at the unexpected sensation.
He was a light sleeper. Even in his sleep, he felt something licking his hand, a cold, sticky sensation, like jelly, back and forth. But he couldn’t wake up. It was torture.
The tendril probed his wound, filling it completely.
“Damn tongue!” Chen Henian cursed, the sensation too familiar, the damp, lukewarm touch like a tongue lapping at his skin. He opened his eyes, startled, and sat up. He thought he had only slept for a short while, but he felt groggy, as if he had slept for hours. He saw nothing, only heard pounding on the door.
“Come out!”
“Come out! It’s no use hiding, we’re waiting outside!”
It was the Wang brothers. What time was it? He rarely slept so deeply. He examined his hand. The wound was gone, his skin smooth and unblemished.
The pounding continued, relentless. Annoyed, Chen Henian got out of bed, tapping the mirror. “Hungry?”
The mirror ghost’s face appeared, a wide smile on its lips.
The Wang brothers, after much arguing, had decided to retrieve the mirror from Chen Henian. Wang Sr., initially terrified by his father’s corpse, had calmed down. He hadn’t been harmed. But since Chen Henian’s arrival, everything had gone wrong. His wife had left. He was furious.
He pounded on the door the hardest, yelling until his throat was hoarse. The door suddenly creaked open, surprising him.
The door was open, but they saw nothing, only darkness, an unnatural blackness filling the doorway.
“What do you want?”
Wang Sr. heard an ethereal voice, the same voice from his dreams. The deity!
“Deity? Is that you?” Wang San spoke first.
“Yes,” a voice replied.
Wang San sighed in relief. “Deity, you misunderstood my wish. I wanted my father alive, not his corpse! Please, help me again!”
Wang Er also knelt, his eyes sunken, his appearance more ghostly than the ghost itself. “Deity, save me! I don’t want to die! I don’t want anything anymore, just take it back!”
“Second Brother, Third Brother, did… did you make wishes?” Wang Sr. watched them, understanding dawning on him.
“Third Brother, what did you just say? You wished for Father to return? You brought his corpse back?”
Wang San’s voice was sullen. “Do you think I’m like you, only caring about money?”
“Hah! Bullshit!” Wang Sr. exploded. “Don’t act like a filial son now! You didn’t care when things were bad! If it weren’t for you, none of this would have happened!”
“Are you saying Father’s death has nothing to do with you?” Wang San retorted.
Wang Sr. paused, then yelled, “Bullshit!” He punched Wang San in the face.
Wang San retaliated, the two brothers grappling, fists flying.
“What are you doing?!” Wang Er cried weakly.
“Shut up!” Wang Sr. roared. “You’re an animal! Look at you, almost sucked dry by a ghost!”
Wang Er yelled back, “That was your son I slept with!”
“Animal! You animal!” Wang Sr. lunged at him, ready to tear him apart.
“Father! Uncle, stop fighting!” Wang Jr., hearing the commotion, ran over to intervene, but was shoved aside.
The three brothers, blinded by rage, tumbled on the floor, a chaotic brawl.
Wang Jr. cowered in fear, watching them.
The “deity” laughed.
The brothers, breathless, finally stopped fighting. They looked up and saw a figure in white emerging from the darkness.
“I heard your wishes. But you have to trade for them.”
“What do you want?”
“Your lives! All of your lives!”
Its voice was sharp as a knife. The mirror ghost’s true form was revealed. There was no deity, only a monstrous ghost!
Wang Sr. screamed in terror, scrambling backward. The ghost reached out, and the brothers’ faces twisted in agony, their eyes rolling back, their bodies collapsing.
Footsteps echoed through the empty villa. Chen Henian walked through the house, carrying the mirror. Inside the mirror, underworld currency piled into a mountain, burying Wang Sr. up to his neck, his swollen face exposed, drool dripping from his chin as he stuffed his mouth with ghost money.
Wang Er lay in a coffin, a rotting, maggot-infested female corpse beside him, its arms wrapped around him, gnawing at his flesh. He couldn’t lift the coffin lid, his screams trapped inside.
Wang Jr. sat before a mirror, combing his hair, his appearance grotesque and unsettling. Wang San, terrified, didn’t know where to run, hearing his father’s cries.
He finally understood why his father had cried in his dreams.
Old Man Wang had seen the mirror ghost’s true form. He knew the Wang family was doomed. He had cried, trying to warn them, but they hadn’t listened.
“I didn’t expect you to be this kind of person,” the mirror ghost said, watching Chen Henian sitting calmly in the dining room, eating the meal Wang’s wife had prepared.
Chen Henian ate, savoring the food, his appetite unaffected by the gruesome scenes in the mirror. He finished his meal, wiping his mouth, and said to the ghost, “You’re full, and I’m full.”
“This is a win-win situation.”
