Just after nightfall, everyone gathered in the dance studio of the teaching building.
As they needed to use the mirror as an entrance, the dance studio’s mirrors were the largest and most convenient.
Zhi Xian had everything prepared and distributed to each person from his bag.
On the floor in front of the mirror, a row of candles was burning.
Tang Yuxin separated her legs, bent down, and faced the mirror between her legs, slowly combing her hair.
The surroundings gradually darkened, and the dim candlelight became brighter.
Until there were no more reflections of everyone on the mirror.
Zhi Xian stepped forward, “Alright, follow me.”
He stepped over the burning candles, passed through the mirror in front of him, as if merging into water.
Others followed, feeling like they passed through a layer of water and reappeared in the dance studio.
However, this dance studio was somewhat different; it seemed like all the furnishings had been inverted.
After confirming the number of people with a glance, Zhi Xian led them to open the door and stepped into the corridor.
There were many students in the corridor. They seemed to completely ignore Zhi Xian’s group, but unconsciously avoided them.
Gu Xuan patted Tang Yuxin’s shoulder and said, “Thank you for your hard work. Check it out.”
Tang Yuxin bent down to look between her legs and straightened up, her face turning pale, “Everyone on this corridor… they are all dead.”
Zhi Xian smiled, “Let’s start pasting. It’s okay if you miss a few, but the more, the better. We’ll split up. This building is yours; I’ll go outside. Once everything is pasted, gather on the playground.”
The idea of splitting up hit everyone like a brick.
Wu Mabo exclaimed, “Split up? Why do we have to split up? Are you trying to leave us behind?”
Wen Dong frowned, “What are you scheming?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Tong Xiaosong was startled, being alone with Zhi Xian?
He panicked, “I, I…”
Wu Mabo immediately shielded Tong Xiaosong behind him, “No, he can’t go with you alone.”
Tong Xiaosong: …
Zhi Xian didn’t object, speaking gently, “Before dawn, you can return through the mirror anytime. Even if I leave you, you can still go back. Otherwise, try going back now.”
Everyone looked at Wen Dong, and after scrutinizing Zhi Xian, Wen Dong hesitated for a moment and said, “It’s probably the best way. We trust you this time.”
Zhi Xian said, “Time is running out, so let’s get started.”
***
After Zhi Xian left, Wu Mabo was anxiously concerned, “We won’t be deceived, right?”
Wen Dong casually slapped the yellow paper on a dead person and said, “Doesn’t seem like deception. What do you think, Tong Xiaosong?”
Tong Xiaosong hesitated, “I don’t know…”
If it were Gu Xuan, he would surely claim the other person was deceptive. However, it was Zhi Xian, and he couldn’t discern it clearly.
In the past, in his dreams, if someone asked him this, he would have said, ‘Trust Zhi Xian, Zhi Xian won’t deceive him.’ But now it wasn’t a dream.
As they walked and pasted, Tang Yuxin, bending over, felt her back ache, her head pounding, her face turning red from exertion.
After pasting two floors, Tang Yuxin, leaning against the wall, supporting her dizzy head, weakly said, “This is too damn difficult. It’s so late, why aren’t the living going to sleep? Do they know that around them, more than half are ghosts!”
Wu Mabo sarcastically complained, “It’s only a little past nine. Who sleeps so early? Besides, they don’t have Yin and Yang eyes. Where can they tell?”
Tang Yuxin sighed with resentment and accepted her fate, bending over, “The two boys leaning against the wall in school uniforms, the girl next to them drinking milk tea, the one with twin ponytails over there…”
The other four took out yellow paper pieces and, following Tang Yuxin’s guidance, pasted them one by one.
***
Zhi Xian stood in Gu Xuan’s bedroom.
He gazed coldly at the window that had been broken for an unknown period.
Gu Xuan, who had been locked in the mirror by him, had escaped.
***
Tong Xiaosong and the others went floor by floor, checking each classroom.
It was already past midnight, and they were finally close to finishing.
Guided by Tang Yuxin, they attached yellow paper to every ghost they could see.
While facing a dark storage room, Tong Xiaosong was silently approached from behind by a figure.
After a few seconds of identification, the person covered Tong Xiaosong’s mouth and pulled him into the storage room.
Tong Xiaosong instinctively struggled, elbowing backward. There was a muffled groan, and the person grabbing him released his hand.
Hearing the commotion, Wu Mabo and the others followed inside.
Tong Xiaosong pushed the person down to the ground with a swift motion.
Simultaneously, the flashlight illuminated the narrow storage room.
There, Gu Xuan, looking exhausted and panicked, shielded his eyes from the glaring light.
Wen Dong frowned, “Gu Xuan? What are you doing?”
Wu Mabo couldn’t help but laugh and curse, “What the fuck, wasn’t it supposed to be separate actions? At this hour, can’t you stop bothering Tong Xiaosong?”
However, Tong Xiaosong sensed something was wrong. The person in front of him… seemed to be the real Gu Xuan. Gu Xuan anxiously got up, speaking in an agitated tone, “You’ve all been deceived! That person is not me!”
Tong Xiaosong’s heart skipped a beat. Just as he suspected.
Wu Mabo: “What’s going on? What kind of act are you playing now?”
“After we went down to the Yin last time, I was supposed to come find you, but I encountered someone who looks exactly like me…” Pausing for a moment, Gu Xuan quickly shook his head, with a somewhat deranged and trance-like expression, “No, he’s not a person! I don’t know what he is. He trapped me there. I finally escaped, only to find out he had buried my grave, and he replaced me, deceiving all of you!”
Tong Xiaosong felt as if struck by lightning. Gu Xuan and Zhi Xian weren’t working together?
He had guessed wrong?
“Tong Xiaosong!” Gu Xuan, in a frenzy, tried to grab Tong Xiaosong but was blocked by Wu Mabo. He shouted excitedly, “I left a note for you that night! He was always around you. That night, he finally wasn’t there. I seized the opportunity to give you the note! What did you do? You gave the note to him! He used the note to catch me! Trapped me inside the mirror! I’m trapped in my own home, inside the mirror! None of you can hear me, no one can hear me!”
Tong Xiaosong recalled the faint argument he vaguely heard that night, along with the shattered mirrors on the floor.
He finally understood what had happened that night.
Gu Xuan lamented, “I finally managed to break the window and escape. It’s not too late! It’s not too late! Listen to me!”
He snatched the yellow paper from Wu Mabo’s hand and raved, “We bite our fingers to draw blood, then press them onto this simple paper figure. We use a knife to pin the paper figure in this world, and then we can leave! You must know the way out! As long as you take me out, I will tell you how to survive. You’ve all participated in the ghost game now; you will all die. Only I know how to let you survive!”
“Wait, calm down first,” Wen Dong spoke up, furrowing his brows. “You said you both look exactly alike. You claim to be the real one, but how can we believe you? And if he is fake, what is he trying to achieve by doing all of this?”
“Why don’t you believe me! I am the real Gu Xuan!” Finally, Gu Xuan thought of a solution. He looked hopefully at Tang Yuxin and said, “You look at me! You can distinguish who is human and who is a ghost. Just look at me, and you’ll know!”
Tang Yuxin hesitated, bending down to take a glance. After a few seconds, she stood up, looking at Gu Xuan with a complex expression.
Wu Mabo asked, “How is it? Is he the real one or not?”
Tang Yuxin said, “What I saw… was a ghost.”
“What! How is that possible!” Gu Xuan exclaimed, “Look again! You must have seen it wrong! How could I be a ghost! Wait! I remember now, I am dead. That fake Gu Xuan buried my body in that grave. But you can use the same method to check him again! He must also be a ghost! Don’t believe him! Take me out, I don’t want to stay in this ghostly place. Please, take me out…”
What a befitting ending for gu xuan. Dead now. Body buried. Even if they take you out, how are you supposed to live amongst the living?
The horror….
Whoa, I had my suspicions after the cemetery chapters but… Kinda feels weird it’s already happened. Oh well, ding-dong, the b*tch is dead, ig. 🎉