Staring into the mirror, Yang Xiao’s mind drifted into a haze, his thoughts began to uncontrollably flash through disjointed scenes—a void in which there were dozens, even hundreds of mirrors of different sizes and shapes, all positioned and oriented in completely different ways.
But in just a fraction of a second, Yang Xiao’s ntal energy was drained. He staggered unnaturally, nearly falling to the ground.
The scenes in his mind gradually faded, while at that mont, the large mirror on the bedroom wall emitted a strange glow, signaling it was ti to leave.
"Li Qingxuan, let’s go," Yang Xiao said, struggling to move. At this mont, his steps were floating, as if he were stepping on cotton.
Li Qingxuan turned around, saw that Yang Xiao was not in good shape, and hurried over to help him, exclaiming in surprise, "Teacher Yang, are you injured?"
Yang Xiao waved his hand, rely urging, "Go, let’s hurry!"
Li Qingxuan helped Yang Xiao into the mirror first, and then followed. They were not sure if there were any survivors left in the apartnt, but regardless, they had no ti to care.
Their bodies passed effortlessly through the mirror surface, and the mont they stepped inside, Yang Xiao missed his footing and uncontrollably fell downwards.
Accompanied by a strange sensation of vertigo, it seed as if ti and space had lost all aning at that mont. Soon, he knew nothing anymore.
After an indeterminate amount of ti, Yang Xiao groggily woke up, his eyelids heavy. It took him several attempts to pry them open a little. He tried hard to keep them from shutting again since if he did, he would fall back into a deep sleep.
As ti slowly passed, the situation gradually improved. His eyes lazily moved, focusing from a blur to clarity. As his vision cleared, so did Yang Xiao’s mind, which had been mushy, now began to function again.
He was in a rather old dormitory room that still bore the decoration style from decades ago. Yang Xiao lay on his side on the floor. With a slight turn of his head, he could see a black backpack hanging on the chair back, its zipper still open, stuffed with food and bottles of mineral water, along with the Underworld Robe draped along the edge of the table.
Yang Xiao’s mories gradually sharpened. He slowly sat up, feeling sore and achy—not as if he’d just slept on a hard cent floor for a night, but more like soone had beaten him up while he was unconscious.
Sitting up, Yang Xiao looked at the Underworld Robe and rembered how the Robe never seed to help when he needed it to ward off the evil ghosts that ca knocking in his nightmares. Annoyed, he complained, "Useless thing."
The next second, the Underworld Robe moved on its own without any wind, its drooping sleeves fluttering left and right, which scared Yang Xiao so much that he sprang up from the floor instantly, his face turning pale as he quickly waved his hands in apology, "Just a joke, just a joke, you’re a great entity, don’t stoop to my level, I was wrong."
The Underworld Robe stopped moving.
Yang Xiao: "..."
Once certain that the Underworld Robe was indeed fine, Yang Xiao dared to approach it. As expected, there was one less square-holed paper money on the garnt, and corresponding to it on the side of the Robe, a small copper mirror with a copper-colored casing appeared out of nowhere, embroidered onto it.
The exquisite embroidery goes without saying; most importantly, the mirror part of the copper mirror was not blank but filled in with a grey silk thread. Staring too long at the mirror surface made Yang Xiao shudder, as if there was another self inside staring back at him.
It was too weird, but Yang Xiao also knew this was definitely a good thing, or else the evil cultivators wouldn’t have paid such a high price for it.
Walking over, he drew back the curtains. The day outside was already bright. As Yang Xiao pondered how to return and write the mission report, suddenly, there was a knock on his door.
Yang Xiao’s eyes instantly beca alert. He had not heard any footsteps approaching, so he reached into his backpack, pulled out a gun, and it was only with the weapon in his hand that he slowly moved toward the door. Treading lightly and without any greeting, he grabbed the doorknob and yanked the door open.
"Captain! Don’t shoot!"
"It’s you!"
Xi nxiu and Zhuge Zhijie outside the door were startled and imdiately raised their hands, showing full cooperation.
Seeing it was his own people, Yang Xiao quickly glanced left and right down the hallway, saw no place for an ambush, and no sign of anything unusual; only then did he let them in. "What’s going on, why were you two lurking outside my door?"
Having just had the muzzle of a gun pointed at them, Xi nxiu now sipped water with trembling hands and a mournful face, "Captain, we were just worried about you, it’s already daylight and there was no sign of movent from your room, and you weren’t responding to our ssages."
"I just ca out from Nightmare World," Yang Xiao explained.
Zhuge Zhijie’s face showed admiration upon hearing this, "You truly deserve to be our captain, going in on the first night and coming out unscathed."
"How did it go, did you get the Resentful Eye?" Compared to Zhuge Zhijie, Xi nxiu was more anxious to know if Yang Xiao had obtained anything.
Yang Xiao sighed and shook his head, "This ti I encountered a few very tricky individuals, I was lucky just to save my life."
"That’s okay, you’re still safe, and that’s what matters," Xi nxiu turned and instructed Zhuge Zhijie, "Quickly send a report to the director. Rember the captain’s orders, don’t use our office’s internal lines, use the secret line you set up."
"I don’t need you to teach ," Zhuge Zhijie cast a disdainful glance at Xi nxiu and turned to head back to their dormitory to send the ssage.
The reason Yang Xiao didn’t tell them the truth wasn’t because he didn’t trust them, but for self-preservation. After all, if he ntioned that he got the Resentful Eye, the report would have to be filed once he got back to the office, and at that point, it was risky that the secret of his Underworld Robe might be revealed, and at that mont, Yang Xiao wasn’t yet powerful enough to protect himself.
The Mr. Yan Zhen who had co to the office before had made a very pertinent comnt: "A man is not guilty for carrying jade; his guilt lies in that others know he has it." Yang Xiao didn’t want to reveal his sharp edges too soon.
Yang Xiao also felt troubled; he didn’t know why every Resentful Eye he got seed to be inextricably linked with evil cultivators. Could it be that he was naturally a pri seedling for evil cultivators?
Soon, Xi nxiu received a reply from the office, indicating that a team had already been put together and would set out to retrieve them, expecting to arrive by the earliest evening.
After receiving the news, the three of them could finally feel sowhat at ease. In the anti, Yang Xiao wasn’t idle; he drew portraits of those who might have survived the mission: Li Qingxuan, Mo Daidai, Tong Han, Fu Changxue, and Cheng Ya.
Especially Li Qingxuan and Tong Han, these two had a heated argunt at the end of the mission, both questioning each other’s identity. Even though Li Qingxuan had helped him, his suspicion could not be dismissed, as his appearance was too coincidental.
In the afternoon, Yang Xiao and the others received unexpected news: Secretary ng, who was responsible for their liaison with Qingfeng Patrol Office, had gone missing.
His phone was not answering, and he was disregarding ssages, but all his personal items in the office were still in place. Now everyone from Qingfeng Patrol Office was searching for him, and the technical surveillance departnt had already been involved.
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