Chapter 20: Phantom in the Mirror

  Sanbao shoved Wang Suifeng aside, her eyes fixed warily on Tang Mingli, brimming with suspicion.

  But the murderous gleam on Tang Mingli's face vanished in a fsh. His expression softened as he stepped forward and caught Sanbao gently. “Are you alright? What just happened?”

  Wang Suifeng had already picked himself up and quickly joined her side, brows furrowed, worry evident in his gaze. “Are you hurt?”

  “Did I see wrong…?” Sanbao took a deep breath and shook her head. “Give me some space. Let me steady myself.”

  She brushed Tang Mingli’s hand away and stood up on her own, rubbing her temples. “I should be asking you two—what happened while I was out?”

  Wang and Tang exchanged a gnce, both slightly puzzled.

  “You peeked through the door crack and fainted right after,” Wang said solemnly. “Scared the hell out of us.”

  Sanbao’s heart clenched. “Then what?”

  “I held you, trying to wake you up,” Wang expined. “He stood behind, guarding against any surprise attacks.”

  “How long was I unconscious?” she asked, her brows tightening.

  “Just a few moments. Several *shana* at most,” Wang replied.

  (*Shana*—a unit of time in this world, roughly a few seconds in her previous life.)

  Only a few seconds?

  But in that crystal cave of the interdimensional realm, she had talked for what felt like ages, learned part of the Divine Illumination Sutra, and even obtained the Seven-Treasure Bracelet!

  Suddenly, Sanbao recalled what the higher-dimensional being had said: *“Time flows differently here. In your world, time stops while you're here.”*

  “So that’s it...” she murmured. Feigning confusion, she added, “I saw a bronze mirror through the door crack... a female ghost was inside it. She looked at me—and then I bcked out.”

  Wang Suifeng and Tang Mingli exchanged a grave look.

  Without a word, they suddenly spun around and kicked open the door to Huang Room No. 4, rushing inside!

  Tang Mingli drew his Longyuan Sword, and the moment he crossed the threshold, its bde swept out in a bright arc.

  *Crash!*

  The bronze mirror and the vanity table shattered into pieces under the strike.

  Sanbao followed closely behind. The mirror y broken in halves on the ground. Within the shards—nothing. Just emptiness.

  The air turned deathly still.

  Then, the haunting melody echoed again, this time from the adjacent room:

  > *“I wait for your return... I wait for your return…”*

  It seeped through the walls, filled with sorrow and resentment—like a soul whispering a final, unfulfilled obsession.

  Their expressions changed. In sync, the trio turned and ran toward the next room.

  But when they turned to face the doorway—

  It was gone.

  “What the hell?” Wang Suifeng muttered under his breath.

  Only then did they realize: the room they stood in had been stripped from reality. The furniture, the shattered mirror—vanished. The doors and windows had become walls. Around them, only pitch-bck nothingness.

  And yet, the song continued—its source shifting, now seeping through the opposite wall:

  > *“Why haven’t you returned? Why haven’t you returned?”*

  The three stood frozen. Wang Suifeng’s voice was low and cold. “Looks like we’re trapped.”

  Sanbao’s gaze sharpened. “Then break the wall.”

  Tang and Wang hesitated. She snapped, “What are you waiting for? You want a girl to smash it herself?”

  Wang blinked, then spped his storage pouch. Two rge iron hammers appeared in his hands.

  He tossed one to Tang Mingli, and the two swung in unison, smming the wall with crushing force.

  *Boom! Boom!*

  The wall trembled under the strikes, dirt and wood chips flying with every hit.

  *CRACK!*

  The wall colpsed.

  They stepped over the rubble and entered the next room.

  On the floor y a man—someone unmistakably familiar.

  Sanbao rushed over and turned him over—her breath caught in her throat.

  It was Tang Mingli.

  Then… who had been with them just now?

  A chilling ugh echoed behind them.

  The "Tang Mingli" standing at their side suddenly transformed—into a long-haired female ghost.

  She wore a Rest Inn attendant's uniform, her body curvaceous, her features stunning beneath heavy makeup.

  “Watch out!”

  Sanbao shouted, shattering her water pouch. The water gathered in her palm, forming a rge orb.

  “Break!”

  She hurled the water sphere straight at the imposter!

  Wang Suifeng followed up with a flurry of sword strikes, each aimed at the ghost's vitals—yet every ssh missed by a hair. Not one bde touched her.

  The ghost knocked Wang flying with a single palm and lunged at Sanbao, gripping her throat with one hand.

  With the other, she raised a noose into the air.

  As she slipped the rope around her own neck, her once-beautiful face twisted into horror. Her eyes bulged, blood vessels bursting across them, her skin turned deathly pale, her tongue lolled grotesquely from her mouth—like she was witnessing the most terrifying thing imaginable.

  “AAHHH!” A shrill scream erupted, piercing Sanbao and Wang's skulls with excruciating pain.

  “A high-tier wrath ghost!” Wang yelled. He spped his pouch—out flew a talisman. He bit his finger and smeared his blood across it.

  The talisman fred red, glowing brighter and brighter.

  The ghost let out a wail before vanishing into thin air.

  Silence returned.

  “Quick, wake Tang up!” Sanbao cried.

  Wang pulled a wooden bucket from his pouch. “Make me more water!”

  *Iron hammers and now buckets? What *doesn’t* he carry in there?* Sanbao thought dryly.

  She formed a hand seal, gathering the st water from her pouch and condensing moisture from the air into a rge water ball. It spshed neatly into the bucket.

  Without hesitation, Wang lifted the bucket—and dumped it squarely onto Tang Mingli’s head.

  Tang convulsed and gasped awake.

  Soaked, dazed, blinking water from his eyes—Sanbao couldn’t help but ugh.

  After catching his breath, Tang began to expin.

  He had returned to his room earlier, and upon entering, noticed a bronze mirror on the table. The moment he looked into it and saw a woman’s eyes, he bcked out. Everything after that was a blur.

  *Another bronze mirror?* Sanbao thought. *But I escaped thanks to that higher-dimensional being. How did water bring him back?* *Didn’t that being say that once the soul is trapped too long in the mirror, the body dies forever?*

  Her gaze turned sharp.

  She slowly stepped back, signaling to Wang with a subtle gesture. “Prove you're the real Tang Mingli.”

  As if hearing her thoughts, Tang calmly turned to Wang. “Brother Wang, may I borrow a spirit-banishing talisman?”

  Wang nodded and handed him one, already blood-activated.

  Tang pressed it in his hand.

  This time, the talisman flickered once—then dimmed and crumbled into ash.

  Tang shrugged. “Satisfied?”

  Only then did Sanbao and Wang finally rex.

  “Alright,” Wang said gravely. “Let’s talk about how to deal with that high-tier wrath ghost. She won’t be gone for long.”