Chapter 1931: Chapter 1931: Mirror World (8)
That voice called out a few more times, then finally quieted down.
The boy pulled off his headphones, pricked up his ears to listen for a moment, the corner of his mouth tugging into a cold sneer, then he shoved the headphones back in and continued doing problems.
Chuzheng took out a piece of paper from the drawer, wrote a sentence on it, and placed it in the very center.
The boy doing his homework kept writing, and the paper lying on the desk didn’t change at all.
Do I have to wait until after midnight?
Bored out of her mind, Chuzheng watched. The scene she thought would disappear in half an hour stayed exactly the same, not vanishing even when it was past midnight.
The boy didn’t go eat either. After brushing through a ton of problems, he hugged his phone and replied to a few messages, then just stared blankly at a book.
No one knew how much time passed before the boy finally got up, pushed back his chair, flung himself onto the bed, and with a "click" the light in the room went out, leaving only darkness.
The mirror kept showing that side; it did not disappear.
Chuzheng wasn’t sleepy, so she just sat at the desk to kill time.
Two in the morning...
The paper in front of Chuzheng vanished, and Chuzheng could see that very sheet appear inside the mirror.
-
2019.
Cheng Mu reached out and slapped the alarm clock off, then pulled the covers over his head and went back to sleep.
After about half an hour, Cheng Mu sat up and rubbed his messy hair.
He didn’t have class today because of the holiday, but he didn’t want to stay at home either. Those three were the ones who looked like a family of three—he was more like the extra.
Cheng Mu sat for a while, then climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom to wash up. When he came out, he pulled his chair back and sat down. As his gaze dropped, he saw that sheet of paper lying on his book.
—Remember to eat breakfast. I’ll be watching you.
The handwriting was neat, like a standard template printed out by a machine.
But the ink clearly showed it was handwritten.
Cheng Mu glanced left and right, then quickly checked the doors and windows.
During this period of time, his things had been disappearing for no reason and then reappearing for no reason.
Things that weren’t his at all would also appear here.
At first he’d thought someone was deliberately putting them in here, but he locked the doors and windows every time and never found any trace of anyone having come in.
The surveillance... right, he’d installed a camera last time.
Cheng Mu immediately tapped his phone and pulled up the footage.
When he saw that sheet of paper appear out of thin air, his expression froze for a split second.
Had someone tampered with the footage?
Cheng Mu watched it over and over several times and didn’t find anything unusual—time flowed continuously.
So the footage was fine?
Cheng Mu stared at the sheet of paper on his desk, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Gege, are you up yet?"
Cheng Mu snapped his head toward the door, the impatience in his eyes impossible to hide.
He didn’t like that woman, and he didn’t like the son she’d brought with her.
This home was suffocating him more and more.
"Gege, Uncle said we’re going out to eat today. He told you to get ready." The person outside kept talking.
On a normal day, Cheng Mu would have already shot them a nasty look and left.
But today he only sat there quietly, not responding and not leaving either.
After the person outside gave up and left, Cheng Mu’s gaze went back to that sheet of paper.
During that time, that rarely seen father had come up once to tell him to come out. Cheng Mu refused, and after a tense shouting match with Father Cheng, Father Cheng took them out.
What Cheng Mu didn’t expect was that that cheap little brother would come back.
"Gege."
The door was suddenly pushed open. When he saw that face he found so repulsive, Cheng Mu’s expression turned very ugly. "Who told you you could come in?!"
The cheap little brother—Qu An—walked straight into the room. "I was worried about you, ge. You haven’t come out since you came back. You’ll get hungry if you don’t eat."
Qu An didn’t look bad, but compared to Cheng Mu, he was still a bit lacking.
"Get out!"
Cheng Mu loathed this cheap little brother.
Not just because he’d suddenly appeared in this house; more importantly, the way he looked at him made him extremely uncomfortable.
Not only did Qu An not leave, he actually walked all the way in until there was only a meter between them.
"Ge, can’t we just get along?" Qu An sounded helpless as he tried to persuade him. "Uncle hopes we can become good brothers. I also hope I can get along with you, gege..."
"My mom only gave birth to one child, and that’s me." Cheng Mu pointed at the door, his tone icy. "Get out."
Qu An didn’t reply. His gaze suddenly fell on the desk behind Cheng Mu, where that sheet of paper was just lying there.
He could clearly see what was written on it.
—Remember to eat breakfast. I’ll be watching you.
Who wrote that to him?
A shadow flashed through Qu An’s eyes, gone in an instant. There was still a smile on his face. "Gege, remember to eat. Don’t starve yourself."
With that, Qu An turned and left.
Cheng Mu went over, closed the door, and locked it.
After doing all that, Cheng Mu kicked the cabinet beside him in frustration. The things on top of it fell to the floor and shattered.
Cheng Mu went back to the desk. The person in the mirror looked like a trapped beast in a cage. You couldn’t read much from his face, but his soul was feral.
Cheng Mu braced both hands on the desktop. Sooner or later... he was going to lose control.
There was this voice in the depths of his heart, constantly devouring him. But he didn’t want to lose control; he just wanted to be an ordinary person.
Cheng Mu took a deep breath, and just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw words appear on the mirror.
Cheng Mu jumped, backing away. His chair was knocked over and clattered to the floor.
—Don’t bother with that dumbass.
Cheng Mu’s breathing stalled; a chill crept up his back in waves.
Haunted?
In broad daylight?
More words continued to appear on the mirror. Cheng Mu could see they were being written stroke by stroke. The movements were very slow, but each stroke was neat and precise, just like... that sheet of paper that had inexplicably shown up.
—Don’t be scared. I’m human.
"Human?" Cheng Mu stared at the newly appeared sentence and, after the initial shock, quickly calmed down. "Who are you? What’s with the spooky act? Where are you?"
—2029
2029? What’s that supposed to mean?
The room was so quiet he could hear his own breathing, his pulse thudding...
Cheng Mu was a staunch atheist. He didn’t believe in hauntings.
Right now he was more inclined to think someone was messing with him.
And his prime suspect was exactly that cheap little brother, Qu An.
Once he’d thought it through, Cheng Mu calmed down again, staring hard at the mirror. "Didn’t you say you’re human? Why aren’t you talking?"
—I’m in the future.
—I won’t hurt you.
—You have to trust me.
The future?
Why not say you’re from outer space while you’re at it?
Cheng Mu’s eyes narrowed. "Sure. Tell me the winning numbers for the next lottery draw."
—...
Cheng Mu let out a cold laugh, grabbed something from the desk and scrubbed it against the mirror. He’d thought it would wipe the writing away, but the characters showed no sign of being erased.
Cheng Mu: "..."
Some kind of high-tech trick?
Remote projection?
Cheng Mu looked behind him; there was nothing there at all.
—I’m the one writing the words. Only I can erase them from my side. At two a.m. tonight, I’ll show you proof.
The sentence stayed on the mirror for a few seconds, then the writing was wiped away.
After that, no matter what Cheng Mu said, there was no further response.
Cheng Mu pressed a hand to his forehead. Was he hallucinating?
