Chapter 727: Chapter 559: Removing the Heart Trouble
At that moment, Yang Xiao’s body uncontrollably stiffened; he watched in horror as the samurai and the evil ghost’s eyes turned increasingly fierce. The painting originally carved on the door eerily came to life. The samurai and the evil ghost moved simultaneously, stepping down from the door, and at this moment, Yang Xiao found himself unable to move.
His body was ice cold; both of his legs had completely lost control. The evil Qi emanating from the blade of the Demon Sword nearly split him in half, but in the next second, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, causing the evil ghosts and samurai that had come to life on the door to shatter abruptly. Yang Xiao snapped out of it as if awakening from a dream. When he turned his head, he saw the Old Clan Leader standing behind him.
"Don’t look into their eyes," the Old Clan Leader said gravely. "Now, take out your Soul-Capturing Mirror and do what you must."
Still frightened, Yang Xiao obediently complied; he had no desire to stay in this haunted place a second longer. As he took out the Soul-Capturing Mirror, he acutely sensed an indescribable strangeness; it seemed like the power of the Soul-Capturing Mirror was greatly restricted here.
No, not restricted, but rather distorted. He could only sense up to about a 10-meter radius with himself at the center. Beyond that, a terrifying force covered the area.
He was certain that if he forcibly used the Soul-Capturing Mirror’s shuttle ability to enter that unknown area, something worse than death would happen.
"After you enter the Mirror World, the Mirror Ghost you’re looking for is hidden behind this door," the Old Clan Leader instructed. "After dealing with it, don’t delay, immediately return the same way you came. Don’t try to take shortcuts using the Soul-Capturing Mirror. Follow the method I taught you, step by step. This world can’t be maintained for too long, but it will suffice for the time you need."
"I will wait for you at the entrance. If you don’t see me when you come out, don’t panic; that’s normal. What you need to do is to find this lantern in my hand. It’s the beacon that will guide you back to reality," the Old Clan Leader said, slightly lifting the lantern in his hand.
Upon closer inspection, Yang Xiao noticed the construction of the lantern; it was surrounded by a ring of iron shells, crudely made and resembling an old, abandoned street lamp.
"Once I leave, you can start moving." Before leaving, the Old Clan Leader seemed to remember something, pausing for a moment before reminding him, "If something goes wrong and you find yourself lost here, remember, don’t wander around; try to wait in one place, and I will come to find you with the lantern."
"Wait a minute." Seeing the Old Clan Leader preparing to leave, Yang Xiao finally couldn’t repress the question that had been pressing on his mind for a long time, "What... what exactly is this place?"
"Ghost Tomb," the Old Clan Leader whispered.
"Ghost Tomb..." Yang Xiao shuddered. Notable people’s burial sites were called tombs, and this place was a Ghost Tomb, a graveyard for ghosts.
Before Yang Xiao could recover from his shock, the Old Clan Leader had already walked away with the lantern. After the Old Clan Leader had covered some distance, Yang Xiao suddenly found that the Old Clan Leader’s figure had vanished, as if erased by some mysterious force; the deep and dim corridor was left with only a solitary lantern drifting.
Soon after, with the lantern’s complete disappearance, Yang Xiao suddenly felt as if the entire world had abandoned him. He knew that within this Ghost Tomb, apart from him, there was no longer any other living person, and before long, even the Mirror Ghost would be buried in this Ghost Tomb.
Delay might bring about unforeseen changes; Yang Xiao gripped the Soul-Capturing Mirror tightly, and the next second, he entered the Mirror World. He opened the door to the ghost tomb’s corresponding Mirror World.
Having learned from previous experiences, Yang Xiao did not look at the samurai and ghost paintings carved on the door. Now the door was tightly shut, and he clearly heard rustling sounds coming from behind it; it seemed that the Mirror Ghost also perceived the terror of this place and was thrown into panic.
Yang Xiao sneered. He drew out his cleaver and lightly scratched the door with the tip of the blade, producing a soft, grating noise. With this action, the rustling sound inside instantly ceased, but Yang Xiao knew that the Mirror Ghost hiding behind the door was even more panicked.
Imagining the Mirror Ghost clutching itself and shivering behind the door, Yang Xiao couldn’t help but feel a perverse sense of pleasure. He had been waiting for this day for a long time. "Heh, heh, heh... Can’t run away now, can you?" Yang Xiao’s mouth twisted into a hideous smile, "Now I’ll give you two choices, first, open the door immediately, I, Yang Xiao, swear by my parents and family, I will let bygones be bygones. Second, wait for me to break down the door and I will use all my abilities to torment you, making you wish you were dead!"
Before long, Yang Xiao heard a faint thumping sound from behind the door, as if someone was moving something heavy to block the door.
"Very good," Yang Xiao was amused, pulling out the Ghost Duster and lightly rubbing it on the door to create more noise. "Since you refuse to end this with dignity, I will help you, but remember what I just said. When I burst in, don’t regret it."
Regardless of whether the door was opened or not, the fate awaiting the Mirror Ghost was the same, the difference was merely in the method of execution. The Mirror Ghost had crossed a line with Yang Xiao; this guy had swept away all the belongings Yang Xiao had painstakingly saved up. How could this be endured?
"Don’t rush, I have all day to spend with you. If you can, never open the door," Yang Xiao said as he sat down cross-legged at the door, prepared to wait out the Mirror Ghost.
Having spent a long time in this world, Yang Xiao had noticed some patterns; the most dangerous aspects here were getting lost and the ghosts buried in each room. As long as he didn’t wander or look around, there shouldn’t be any significant problems.
Moreover, this wasn’t exactly the real Ghost Tomb; it was just the Mirror World of the Ghost Tomb that he had opened. In other words, there should only be him and the Mirror Ghost.
No, to be precise, one human and one ghost.
As time ticked by, the sounds behind the door grew increasingly clear. Clearly, the Mirror Ghost was the first to falter in this standoff. According to what the Young Master had said, the Mirror Ghost couldn’t hide in this special room for too long, or else it would be devoured.
"Already can’t hold on?" Yang Xiao excitedly stood up, a kitchen knife in his left hand and a Ghost Duster in his right, eager to try. Today he planned to avenge his previous humiliation and make the Mirror Ghost start anew.
The Mirror Ghost had lasted much shorter than Yang Xiao had expected. He originally thought it could hold on until the very last moment.
"Open the door, surrender, and you won’t be killed!" Yang Xiao chopped at the door with his kitchen knife. The sound crisp like metal striking stone reminded Yang Xiao of the past when the Daoist robe old ghost, in pursuit of him, corroded the original apartment door to reveal an ancient, bizarrely textured bronze door.
This door, along with the mysterious room behind it, seemed to have a long history—perhaps even longer than the existence of the Mirror Ghost. And all these secrets were about to be unveiled before Yang Xiao.
"Open the door!" Yang Xiao rammed into the door, "Open the door!!"
The next second, as Yang Xiao forcefully rammed the door to pressure the Mirror Ghost, an unexpected scene unfolded—the door silently swung open. Had Yang Xiao not quickly adjusted his force, he would have almost charged straight in. He stumbled a few steps but finally steadied himself.
Now the door slowly opened a crack, the gap widening enough to allow a person to slip in sideways.
Yang Xiao didn’t dare to get too close. Peering through the crack, he saw a layer of chilling, murky dimness inside, as if covered by a distinctly aged filter. Although the visibility wasn’t great, the room seemed much larger than Yang Xiao had imagined, easily a few dozen square meters, furnished with tables and chairs. Near the wall, there was a simple single bed. Beyond that, books filled the view, stuffed into several large bookshelves, while the rest were carelessly piled on the floor along the walls, stacked quite high.
This scene felt eerily familiar to Yang Xiao, and he quickly recognized it—the room looked almost identical to the Young Master’s room!
This realization sent a chill down Yang Xiao’s spine. Could it be that the Young Master had once lived here for a period?
But...how could that be? This was the Mirror World, a room exclusive to the Mirror Ghost, and the Soul-Capturing Mirror was a Magic Artifact of the Yu Yuan Sect, coveted by the Head of the Wounded Door for many years without success. What could it possibly have to do with the Young Master?
However, Yang Xiao soon brushed these thoughts aside. His primary concern now was dealing with the Mirror Ghost. The rest could wait until he got out.
His gaze slowly swept the room, but bizarrely, he couldn’t spot the Mirror Ghost—highly suspicious.
From the moment the opponent opened the door, Yang Xiao guessed it was a trick. The Mirror Ghost was like another version of himself, its personality and habits similar. There was no way it would just let itself be captured; it had surely set a trap.
Analyzing from his own perspective, Yang Xiao didn’t rashly barge in. Instead, he pondered for a moment, put away his kitchen knife, and reached back to fetch the Ghost Lantern. As the Ghost Lantern illuminated, the scene before him made Yang Xiao burst out laughing. As expected, a bloated figure leaking foul-smelling corpse water and oozing oil blocked the doorway—its hefty body fit tightly in the doorframe, only a thin hemp rope remaining around its chest, which Yang Xiao knew had once held a key.
It was the Door-blocking Ghost—its function not only to lure people into the room to kill them but also to obstruct the view, distorting outsiders’ perception of the room.
Whether using the kitchen knife or the Ghost Duster would work against this creature, but Yang Xiao was disgusted, so he stepped back a few paces, swung the Human Bone Staff, and sent several swings through the air. The Door-blocking Ghost’s body grew increasingly frail until "poof" it vanished.
As the Door-blocking Ghost disappeared, the room became clearer yet still no sign of the Mirror Ghost. Yang Xiao tried using the power of the Soul-Capturing Mirror to examine the room’s interior, but unfortunately, there wasn’t any mirror or similar object inside.
However...Yang Xiao hesitated momentarily; the scene he now saw seemed slightly different than before. Quickly, he pinpointed the issue—a wooden stool that had been in the corner was now gone, and the books stacked there were tossed aside.
Putting himself in the Mirror Ghost’s shoes—if he were the Mirror Ghost, faced with an enemy he could not defeat head-on, the best strategy would be a surprise attack, aiming for a one-hit kill. The choice of ambush spot was crucial.
Thinking in reverse, Yang Xiao slowly raised his head and scrutinized the wall above the door. The building had a high ceiling, and the wall behind the door was enough to conceal a person. Yang Xiao guessed the hiding spot of the Mirror Ghost. Right then, it would be clinging like a gecko directly above the doorframe, holding a wooden stool, ready to strike the moment he entered. Whether successful or not, it would have a chance to escape.
Following this line of thought, Yang Xiao methodically pieced together the next steps. He needed to evade this strike by sidestepping first, then grab the stool, pull the Mirror Ghost from the wall, and fiercely whack its head with his staff before escalating to General Admonishments...
After about half a minute, Yang Xiao, with a confident smile, slowly stretched his body and loosened his joints. He calmly stepped inside. The next moment, a burst of wind struck from above, which Yang Xiao, as if rehearsed, dodged with precision. His left hand snatched the stool and pulled a shadow from the wall.
Simultaneously, his right hand swung the staff, smashing it brutally on the head of the figure before it even hit the floor, dazing it. Without looking, Yang Xiao turned his back to the door and lightly flicked it shut with his foot. He then grabbed the Mirror Ghost by the neck, positioned himself side-on, and loaded up power before delivering a forceful Top Heart Elbow to the Mirror Ghost’s chest, slamming it hard onto the ground. Before the Mirror Ghost could rise, Yang Xiao rushed over, delivered a knee strike right to its face.
The next second, Yang Xiao mounted the unconscious Mirror Ghost, swung the Human Bone Staff fiercely, striking the ghost’s head repeatedly until its gaze was thoroughly scattered. Then he took out the Ghost Duster, gripped it tightly with both hands, and smashed it down, shattering the Mirror Ghost’s head with one blow.
