601, deathly silent.
Mu Anqi sat on the bed, completely unable to sleep. She couldn't see the expressions on the woman, man, and child when they spoke, but from the way the woman supported her into the room, and then that "Ah Hong" suddenly appeared inside to "play a prank" on her, Mu Anqi felt this was terrifying.
The woman was wearing slippers at first, but later when she heard the boy's scream, why did the sound become barefoot? The door had indeed been closed, but was there surveillance in the room? Did the man come back from work? If so, why did the woman say "in the middle of the night" at the beginning? If not, then what kind of job would make the man come home in the middle of the night, and why would the little boy still be awake at such an hour? Why was there now not a single sound outside? The man had clearly just returned.
Everywhere there were suspicious points, and once she thought deeper about them…
Mu Anqi only felt her whole body uncomfortable. She even felt as if those three people were lurking in the dark, watching her every moment, deliberately making no sound to drive her imagination wild. That "prank" of Ah Hong's was also very interesting—playing a prank on the "victim" he had blinded himself?
Disgusting.
Even without mentioning that, a boy hiding in a young girl's room to play tricks on her—that in itself was very abnormal.
Mu Anqi's thoughts grew more and more tangled. The environment was too quiet, so quiet that she couldn't control her mind from wandering. She suspected that the girl's parents' deaths might have been suspicious, then suspected that the parents had left behind a large inheritance, then suspected that this uncle and aunt's family harbored malicious intent, and further believed that brat Ah Hong had deliberately blinded the little girl—he might not even have intended just to blind her at first, but to kill her!
Sleep? In the games of the Shattered Mirror Continent she might sleep or bathe, but in a Black Mirror Vortex? And within an illusion? Mu Anqi didn't even dare to think about it. She thought about her current skills and items, and after sitting silently by the bed for a while, she turned her head toward the position of the door. In her mind she fixed firmly on the woman, the child, and the man who had just returned, and spoke three blessing words with utmost sincerity.
If those three were at the door, her ability would take effect. If they weren't…
A loud thud rang out, just like a fist smashing against the wall. The sound of bare feet stomping forcefully on the floor followed clearly. At that instant Mu Anqi also heard a few short cries of surprise. She instantly locked onto the direction the sounds came from, pulled out three smoke grenades, and without hesitation hurled them over!
She couldn't see—no matter. As long as those things couldn't see either!
The choking smoke spread out. Although Mu Anqi couldn't see the smoke, she could smell its acrid stench. The crudely made smoke grenades never let her down. Mu Anqi drew her handgun, aimed toward the direction of the coughing sounds, and steadily pulled the trigger. She could only estimate these three people's "figures" and rough positions, so Mu Anqi would never be stingy with bullets. While firing rapidly, she pulled out the "Anti-Ghost Bullet" card and affixed it to the gun. This was the advantage of handguns produced in Nirvana Space—not only did they have no recoil, but reloading was also convenient. Once the bullets were attached, Mu Anqi quickly pulled out more crudely made grenades and kept throwing them outward. She listened with extreme sharpness to the sound of the grenades hitting the ground—if there was a certain kind of rebound sound, that meant it hadn't gone out, and she would have to use a paper substitute doll to block once.
But Mu Anqi's throwing talent was pretty good. She threw six grenades in succession. While keeping track of the explosions and the directions of the three people's screams, Mu Anqi worked hard to adjust her emotions, forcing herself to maintain a state of gratitude and sincerity, so as to continuously activate her "Blessing Curse" ability.
Unfortunately, she couldn't see what those three were actually doing. She could only guess their positions through sound, following up with bullets and grenades. Throwing out another smoke grenade to confuse their vision, Mu Anqi attached more bullets and continued firing blindly. Leaning on her cane, she carefully probed her way toward the door.
If only… there were some kind of massive item that wouldn't harm her…
A flash of inspiration struck Mu Anqi. She bit her lip, as if making some firm decision. Raising her hand toward the sky, aiming at the spot where the screams had just come from, she gathered her courage and shouted loudly:
"Money, come!"
"Money, come!"
"Money, come!"
Three enormous gold ingots fell in succession. Mu Anqi didn't know exactly how large the ingots were, but she heard the sound of furniture being crushed, and she heard miserable wails. More importantly… she felt the trembling of the floor.
"Money, come!"
"Money, come!"
The first two ingots disappeared in turn, and new ones crashed down heavily. Two more obvious tremors followed, as Mu Anqi exhausted the skill completely. And just then, the pitch-blackness before her eyes gradually blurred—fuzzy golden patches of color slowly emerged in her vision. As though she was adapting bit by bit, Mu Anqi blinked, and her sight returned.
As soon as her vision returned, the pain in her legs also vanished. Mu Anqi saw the enormous gold ingots. At a rough glance, each was about a meter wide and seventy centimeters tall. Two ingots had fallen directly on the three people, while the third landed on top of the other two.
Mu Anqi let out a long breath. Finding that her handgun was out of bullets again, she quickly applied another card, then executed the three one by one with shots to the head.
The ingots seemed… not ordinary at all. They appeared to have a certain restraining power over such ghosts. Otherwise, it shouldn't have been this easy, right? Mu Anqi looked around the room and noticed the girl's bedroom was pitifully small, and the bedroom door didn't even have a lock. Sure, opening and closing the door would make noise, but if someone wanted to keep the girl from noticing… it could easily be made almost soundless.
The house itself hadn't been destroyed, so Mu Anqi began to search for clues. She found that the bathroom door also had no lock, and the shower glass was completely transparent. In the kitchen cabinet, she discovered a bag of aluminum powder. Aside from that, she saw surveillance cameras installed in the living room and the girl's bedroom.
This family had clearly intended to slowly kill the girl. And judging from the Black Mirror Vortex, they had clearly succeeded. The killing wasn't ordinary—it was making the girl live blind, in fear and helplessness, constantly monitored. As for her death… Mu Anqi didn't know whether the girl had died from chronic aluminum poisoning or from being tortured to death by this family.
Thinking of how General Ji was still waiting outside, Mu Anqi didn't linger any longer and quickly walked out the door.
As soon as she stepped out, Mu Anqi saw General Ji back in her previous casual attire. "Sorry to have kept you waiting."
"Not at all." Ji Huaichu, seeing Mu Anqi unharmed, asked, "This is the last one. Do you want to rest for a while?"
"I hardly did anything, how could I need rest? It's the general who has worked so hard all this time… If only I were stronger." Mu Anqi sighed helplessly. She did indeed feel somewhat tired, hungry, and thirsty, but she hadn't really exerted much effort—most of the time she had only assisted from the side, speaking a few blessing words.
Mu Anqi walked to the door of Room 602. After knocking, the door opened just a crack. The one who opened it was a "nun."
The nun-like woman's face was gaunt, practically a skull covered with a thin layer of skin. In her hand she held a sharp knife, still stained with blood.
"May wealth flow in from all directions, may everything go smoothly!" Almost the instant she saw that figure, Mu Anqi instinctively blurted out two blessing phrases. Almost without thinking, she raised her gun to the woman's forehead and pulled the trigger.
Bang! The woman collapsed to the ground. No blood flowed from her wound—on that gaunt skin, black spots suddenly began to surface. The spots grew denser and denser, and in barely a second they spread across her entire body. Mu Anqi's scalp prickled, her whole body uncomfortable. She fired two more shots into the corpse, but it did nothing to stop the dense black spots from spreading. The skin where they appeared began to bulge slightly, as if some creatures were hiding beneath the surface, now about to burst out with their host's death.
The scene… Mu Anqi could hardly bear it. The candy cane enlarged in her grip, and a rush of hot syrup burst out, drenching the corpse completely.
Pfft
A faint sound.
One black spot swelled and suddenly grew larger—turning into a black bat?!
As the bat swooped at her, countless ghostly shadows surged forward, tangling and tearing at the bats bursting out. They devoured one another—until in the next instant, Ji Huaichu's erupting yin energy swept through and eroded them all away, leaving nothing.
The corpse on the ground turned into a pile of white bones.
Mu Anqi stepped into the room and saw that inside, images of a "god" were hung as decorations, placed just above an offering cup brimming with fresh blood.
"Take the heart's blood of ten boys and ten girls, mix it into the divine cup, and the god shall descend to bestow blessings. Drink the holy water, and one may gain eternal life." Beneath that blood-filled cup, a sheet of paper bore these words.
The cries and laughter of children rang out simultaneously—shrill and piercing. Mu Anqi saw countless streams of blood spilling from the bedroom, the thick crimson spreading rapidly. One after another, black figures crawled out from beneath the crack of the door, tiny footprints appearing in the blood, while sharp laughter and wailing grew more and more frenzied. A deep chill surged up from her feet. Mu Anqi tightened her grip on the candy cane in her hand. "General?"
"Mm." A red cloak swept down, covering Mu Anqi completely. She could feel the powerful yin energy brushing past her side. In the next instant, the shrill laughter vanished, the cries turned into wails, and finally everything fell silent.
Mu Anqi stood in place with her head lowered, not lifting the cloak that shielded her. She saw the blood that had spread to her feet vanish without a trace, and then…
"We're back." With those words, the red cloak was lifted away by Ji Huaichu and withdrawn, vanishing from her hand. Ji Huaichu looked at Mu Anqi, her smile still incomparably gentle. In a soft voice, she asked, "Your rating is probably low again. Even so… do you still wish to clear the Black Mirror Vortex together with me?"
"…I do." Mu Anqi nodded once. "I'll become stronger."
"Good." Ji Huaichu smiled, her halberd striking heavily against the ground. In that instant, web-like yin energy spread outward, enveloping the entire building.
——Everything dissolved.