“Open the door,” Dong Qi commanded after steadying her breath, slipping effortlessly back into the imposing posture of a young miss.
The two men hurried to obey, unfastening the lock with fumbling hands. Once the three of them stepped inside, the door slammed shut again, sealing out the dim corridor.
“Phew… what a precious thing to guard. Finally, the mission’s complete,” one of the men exhaled, tension draining from his shoulders.
“This Holy Fame Plaza gets creepier by the day. Every time I come here, my skin crawls,” the other muttered under his breath. “If they assign me another mission here, I swear I’ll refuse—even if it kills me. If we run into something unclean—”
“Touch wood, touch wood! Don’t jinx us! Keep that cursed mouth shut before you really summon something!”
“Right, right,” the man quickly tapped himself on the lips as if to ward off bad luck.
Once inside, Lu Sheng and the others crossed directly to the copper back of the stained-glass mirror. Xu Chui unfurled a sheet of yellow paper, the standard form of the three characters precisely traced upon it. Lu Sheng lifted the paper beside the mirror, studying the comparison.
He ran his fingers across the carved scratches, his gaze narrowing.
The standard characters on the paper were crisp, upright, and meticulously written. By contrast, the words etched into the mirror’s back were clearly the same characters yet appeared crooked and distorted—as if written by an unsteady hand, someone unfamiliar with the brush. It resembled the uneven scrawl of a child just beginning to learn how to write.
“Count to ten…” Lu Sheng murmured as he traced the gouges. They were deep—brutally carved. “If these were made by a child… then how could a little one carve scratches this deep with a small knife?”
His voice was low, almost a mutter, yet the question hung in the air, directed at the other two.
Xu Chui paused, thinking.
“Copper isn’t too hard. Maybe the child used a sharp blade… depending on how old they were.”
“What about a girl of seven or eight years old?” Dong Qi suddenly asked, her voice cutting through the silence.
“If it were a child of that age… she’d need every ounce of strength in her body to carve something this deep,” Xu Chui replied, shaking his head. When he glanced at Dong Qi, he noticed the beads of sweat gathering on her brow and the strained twist of her expression. Fear had already taken hold of her.
Lu Sheng stood up. It was clear they weren’t going to uncover anything more tonight. The hour was late, and Dong Qi’s condition had worsened visibly.
“That’s enough for today. Get some rest,” he said. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll visit the sect master’s remains and see if anything’s amiss. Also—if anyone from Tea Sect’s upper ranks comes to inspect the mirror tonight, Young Miss Dong Qi, make sure to inform us at once.”
“Yes! Many thanks, esteemed representative!” Dong Qi nodded quickly, almost desperately.
“Go rest. You look terrible,” Lu Sheng added, his tone flat. “If you notice anything strange tonight, come find us immediately.”
“Yes. Thank you—thank you, esteemed representative. The guest rooms are ready. I’ll have someone show you the way,” Dong Qi replied gratefully.
They parted and returned to their respective rooms. After eating a simple meal, Lu Sheng sat cross-legged and cultivated his inner force until fatigue began to seep through him in steady waves. Drowsiness tugged at his eyelids.
When he finally lay down and pulled the covers over himself, he slipped gradually into sleep.
He did not sleep like ordinary men. Even in slumber, the slightest rustle of wind or the faintest shift of a blade of grass could snap him awake in an instant. Normally, he wouldn’t sleep at all during missions—despite his hardened body and inner Qi shielding him, carelessness was still the greatest danger. Meditation was safer.
But this time, once the drowsiness hit him, it clung stubbornly. Unable to resist it, he surrendered to sleep.
…………
In the dead of night, Lu Sheng stirred awake, a vague sound rippling through his senses.
He pushed himself up slowly, eyelids heavy with lingering drowsiness. Yet beneath it, he could hear something—soft, continuous movement coming from the direction of the window.
Lu Sheng exhaled, steadying his breath as he turned his gaze toward it.
The curtains hung motionless over the window ledge, moonlight spilling through their edges in a pale wash of silver.
Then he saw it—a tiny shadow, a small head rising and falling just outside the window, as if someone were jumping, trying to peer inside.
‘What’s that?’ Lu Sheng sat upright, his vision sharpening as he fixed his eyes on the silhouette.
The outline of a young girl appeared clearly on the curtain—dark, small, and unmistakably human. She kept jumping, light and quick, as though desperate to catch a glimpse into the room.
“Who’s that?” Lu Sheng called out.
Instantly, the figure froze. The little girl stood perfectly still behind the curtains, facing him in utter silence.
“If you want to come in, you can knock,” Lu Sheng said as he rose from the bed, stepping toward the window with calm, measured strides.
Outside, the child’s shadow did not budge.
Swish!
He pulled the curtains aside in one decisive motion—
And found nothing. The window frame, the courtyard beyond, the entire night outside lay empty. No guards, no watchmen—nothing but cold desolation stretching across the silent yard.
Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes. After scanning left and right, he let out a cold harrumph before drawing the curtains closed once more.
…………
Dong Qi took Lu Sheng’s instructions to heart and lay on her bed fully clothed. She intended to wake halfway through the night to check whether those people would come again—but before she realized it, sleep began to pull her under.
It struck her as strange. She had been alert just moments earlier, yet the instant her body touched the mattress, an overwhelming wave of drowsiness crashed over her. It was almost hypnotic. Within seconds, she drifted into slumber.
“I’ll count to ten~~”
“One…”
“Two…”
“Three…”
“Four…”
In a daze, Dong Qi felt someone calling softly beside her.
The voice belonged to a very young girl.
With great effort, she forced her eyes open and looked toward the edge of the bed. There, faintly illuminated in the darkness, stood a little girl in a blue dress, staring directly at her.
Her skin was pale as ivory, her eye sockets dark and hollow, and her long hair fell in jet-black strands down her shoulders.
“Five…”
“Six…”
HOO!!
Dong Qi jerked upright, shooting off the bed in sheer panic. Sweat drenched her clothes, and her breath came in ragged gasps.
She looked around wildly. Nothing—no one—stood beside the bed.
‘I… I…!’ Her heart pounded violently, her face drained of all color.
“Pa.”
A crisp sound snapped through the room.
Dong Qi instantly turned her gaze toward the window—and what she saw sent a fresh chill down her spine.
‘I clearly closed the window before I slept… so why is it—'
The window was open, moonlight spilling coldly through the curtains and casting a bleak glow into the room.
“Pa.”
Another crisp sound echoed.
Dong Qi stiffened and stared at the window.
Beyond the curtains, a small figure stood. Under the moonlight, the shadow of a little girl with long hair stretched across the fabric. She stood on the window ledge, jumping lightly—again and again—as if trying to leap high enough to look inside the room.
“Who’s that…?!” Dong Qi’s voice trembled uncontrollably.
“Pa.”
The shadow jumped once more, as if her voice had never been heard at all.
The hair on Dong Qi’s body stood rigid as terror seized her. She shrank beneath the covers, trembling uncontrollably. Behind the curtains, the shadow kept jumping—up and down, up and down.
“Pa.”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuNkyAz6BP
“Pa.”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3HwGwB3GQ
“Pa.”
With every jump, the little girl’s silhouette seemed to rise higher. At first, only the top of her forehead appeared. Soon, more of her head surfaced. Moments later, the entire outline of her head was visible on the curtain.
Dong Qi smothered her mouth with the blanket as she curled into the foot of the bed. Her face was deathly pale, her body quaking. She didn’t dare look toward the window again.
“Pa.”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGQJbSD7mF
“Pa.”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ532BXgmMaD
“Pa.”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunzgDvIqUP
“Pa…”
Suddenly, the sound stopped.
Dong Qi clenched her eyes shut, every hair on her body prickling with dread. The abrupt silence pressed down on her, heavy and suffocating. She strained to listen—but heard nothing.
Slowly, she opened her eyes and turned toward the window.
A chill swept through her.
The curtains hung wide open. The window itself had been pushed ajar. The windowsill was completely empty—as if something had slipped inside.
‘It came in. It came in… that thing came in!’
All color drained from her face. A crushing weight settled on her chest, squeezing the breath from her lungs. She tried to scream, but her throat felt clogged, no sound escaping.
Then she saw it—a sliver of blue fabric peeking from behind the bed canopy.
“Hel… help…!” she forced out in a frail whisper.
“SHOW YOURSELF!!!”
A thunderous roar erupted.
BOOM!!!
The door exploded inward, splintering into countless fragments. A streak of red energy surged into the room—Lu Sheng.
He barreled through the shattered doorway, saber in hand, waves of scorching inner Qi pouring from his body.
With one decisive motion, he struck at the side of the bed.
HOO!!
The saber sliced through the air in a brilliant arc—only to meet nothing. It cut through empty space, the force of its swing sending a sharp gust howling through the room.
Lu Sheng’s eyes gleamed like sharpened blades as he halted his saber. Pale red and black veins crawled across his bare torso like sinister tattoos, twisted and alive beneath his skin.
After the little girl disappeared from his room, he had immediately leapt after her—only to be led straight to Dong Qi’s quarters. The moment he saw the child’s silhouette slip into the room, he smashed the door down without hesitation.
The ghosts on this mission were cunning—far more elusive than any he had encountered before. Had he not stayed in close pursuit, he would have lost her completely.
“Didn’t you want to play a game? Come then, let big bro play with you,” Lu Sheng said with a warm smile, though the aura he exuded was anything but comforting.
Stepping through the broken doorway, he swept his gaze across the room in search of the little girl.
Nothing. The space beside the bed was empty—not even a shadow remained. He showed no surprise. He didn’t spare Dong Qi, still gasping desperately after her fright, even a glance. Instead, after one swift sweep of the room, he spun on his heel and charged toward the study where the stained-glass mirror was kept.
With a heavy thud, he kicked the study door open.
The tall stained-glass mirror loomed in the pitch-black room. Inside its surface shimmered the faint outline of a pale-blue humanoid figure.
Lu Sheng strode directly toward it.
“Plop.”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGY2hcS6gnz
“Plop.”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTw6r693AAc
“Plop.”
His steps quickened, echoing sharply in the stillness. In moments, he stood before the mirror.
“Take one blow from my saber, and I’ll play whatever shit game you want!!!”
HOO!
With a guttural growl, he gripped the saber in both hands. In an instant, a brilliant arc of silver-white light flared to life—the saber’s radiance tearing through the darkness like a falling meteor, bright as moonlight and swift as wind.
The massive cleaver swept downward, whipping up a vicious whirlwind inside the study.
BAM!!!
Suddenly, a hand burst forth from within the mirror, seizing the colossal blade in its grasp and stopping it cold.
Lu Sheng’s eyes widened. In an instant, a blood-red line surged from his abdomen all the way to his forehead. Within a single breath, his body swelled, muscles bulging grotesquely beneath his skin like living tumors. His frame expanded until he towered over two meters tall, a hulking titan of raw force.
Gripping his saber with both hands, Lu Sheng poured all his strength into the strike. The once-massive cleaver now seemed like a mere dagger in his enlarged grip—but when he swung it, it bore the crushing weight of a colossal hammer.
Wind pressure and surging Qi erupted through the study, sending books and papers spiraling through the air in violent chaos.
“Changing the Heavens in Seven Days—Spirit Massacre!!!”
KABOOM!!!
The saber crashed against the arm inside the mirror, unleashing a thunderous impact. A sharp ‘KA-CHA!’ rang out as the arm snapped clean apart, and the mirror’s surface fractured into countless shards. The entire copper-backed mirror—over a hundred catties in weight—was blasted into the air and hurled against the rear wall with tremendous force.
A torrent of scorching inner Qi surged into the shattered mirror. A pale blue shadow burst free from its surface, releasing a piercing, mournful shriek as it tried to flee.
But before it could reach the ground, Lu Sheng’s saber was already upon it.
SPLAT!
The silhouette burst apart instantly, scattering into nothingness—leaving not a trace behind.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RXd93U532
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