Chapter 230: The Red Rope Cursed King
Xiao Nanfeng's reflection in the mirror gave him a sinister smile, causing goosebumps to rise up all over his body. It was so disturbing that he had to suppress the desire of slamming his palm into the mirror.
An ordinary cultivator would already be panicking, but Xiao Nanfeng used to enjoy horror flicks in his past life. He had seen a similar situation countless times before. Even the cursed effigies all around him couldn't scare him; would he be scared of his own reflection?
The only reason he hadn't yet left was because Madam Rouge had told him to stand in front of the mirror.
Xiao Nanfeng's reflection was surprised that he could remain so calm.
It gave him a malevolent grin as it reached out with both hands, almost as though it was about to emerge from the mirror and choke Xiao Nanfeng to death.
Xiao Nanfeng shook his head. "Is this your first time playing such a role? That's not scary at all. You had better darken the surroundings. There's too much light in this hall, which ruins the atmosphere you're trying to create. You won't be able to scare me like this."
Xiao Nanfeng's reflection stiffened.
Madam Rouge was giving Xiao Nanfeng a strange look from within his mental space. She knew how frightening the monster-in-the-mirror was, but Xiao Nanfeng seemed immune to its behavior.
"Also, why would you transform into me? Who would be scared by their own reflection? You must never have scared anyone before if you don't even understand such simple logic. You should transform into an ugly monster, not someone as handsome as I am! Even if you tried to scare someone else, I'm sure they wouldn't be frightened," Xiao Nanfeng continued.
The monster-in-the-mirror twitched, as though cursing Xiao Nanfeng and decrying his assertions. It had never encountered someone so self-absorbed!
The monster-in-the-mirror roared in vexation.
Xiao Nanfeng's eyes brightened. That was precisely what he wanted. Even Madam Rouge was so scared that she had run off. There had to be something exceptional about this monster, and he had to get it to reveal more information. Otherwise, he might not be able to take it down. If it refused to come out, he would just have to continue agitating it.
"See? You couldn't even take a few words of criticism! Your mental state is far too frail. You'll have to work harder. Putting your looks aside for the moment, you at least have to improve your expression—and the atmosphere! You might not be able to control the atmosphere beyond the mirror, but you can at least control the atmosphere within it. Add more black fog to your back, then summon a few ghostly hands grasping at something before them. Yes, just like that!"
Black fog suddenly appeared in the mirror, along with ghostly figures that looked particularly threatening. It was as though malicious ghouls were emerging from hell itself.
"Exactly! Have a look for yourself. Doesn't the effect seem much better? In addition, make sure your expression isn't too exaggerated. You won't be able to scare anyone by roaring like that. That's too passe. You need to smile in a sinister fashion—but not how you were smiling before. It was too exaggerated, and it didn't look mysterious or severe. Try to make your eyes look a little more sullen," Xiao Nanfeng advised.
The monster-in-the-mirror couldn't take it any longer. It roared, "What do you mean, more sullen? Do you want to die? I don't need anyone to teach me how to scare others!"
"But you don't look scary at all," Xiao Nanfeng replied.
The monster-in-the-mirror was so angry that its spleen was aching. It was here to scare others, not to have an acting lesson!
"Aren't you going to step outside? You aren't trapped within the mirror, are you?" Xiao Nanfeng asked expectantly.
The monster-in-the-mirror scowled, affirming Xiao Nanfeng's guess.
"You can't step out? You should have told me—I was scared! Hold on. I'll drag a chair over so we can chat. It must be difficult for you to have been trapped for so long. Let me help soothe your lonely heart," Xiao Nanfeng continued.
The monster-in-the-mirror: ...
"King, he's crazy! Let me kill him!"
"He's too infuriating. King, I'll take care of him!"
"Kill him!"
A series of voices suddenly came from the mirror, causing Xiao Nanfeng to grow alarmed. Were there multiple monsters within? He had to continue agitating them so they would provide more information!
"What, were you acting out all those voices? You're not a good actor, but a surprisingly good ventriloquist! It's great that you're able to amuse yourself in this manner during your long captivity."
The monster-in-the-mirror seemed unable to bear with Xiao Nanfeng's antics any longer. Its hands suddenly passed through the mirror and grabbed ahold of Xiao Nanfeng's neck, then lifted him into the air.
Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened. "You can leave the mirror, after all? Why didn't you say anything?"
"You brat! Don't you fear me at all? Aren't you even a little afraid? You damn brat!" the monster-in-the-mirror roared.
"Please, let's talk calmly!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed. He hadn't expected that the monster-in-the-mirror really could attack him directly.
However, it was already too late. The monster suddenly pulled him into the mirror.
The interior of the mirror was pitch-black, with black fog surrounding him. There were a few figures in the fog that looked somewhat like ghosts. Before him was a mirror frame from which he could see light shining outside. He tried to rush out, but the mirror frame was a barrier that prevented any egress.
"You really are full of nonsense, aren't you?" an ice-cold voice came from the black fog to his back.
The figures within the fog had stepped forward. They were all dressed in red. They looked toward him, mocking and disdainful, as though he was nothing but their prey. Without their king's command, however, they were holding back for the moment. Behind them were gigantic red rope cursed effigies that surrounded Xiao Nanfeng.
Xiao Nanfeng immediately understood what was going on. All these figures were lengths of red rope; had they been sealed within the mirror? They called Xiao Nanfeng's reflection 'king'. Could this king be the red rope cursed king?
He peered outside to see a figure standing in the realm beyond the mirror frame—his physical body.
"Am I a spirit at the moment?" Xiao Nanfeng suddenly guessed.
"Of course. Your physical body shall now be mine, haha!" his body turned and said.
Xiao Nanfeng blanched. He understood what was going on now. The red rope cursed king had pulled his spirit into the mirror as it emerged and took over his physical body. He felt very strange. He was in the form of a spiritual avatar, but his red moon and stellar lake were in his avatar's mindscape too! How could this be?
The red rope cursed king suddenly frowned. "Hold on. There's something funny about your body. Why doesn't your mindscape have any remnant spiritual power?"
It tore apart its clothes to find livor mortis settling in across its body. It quickly transformed Xiao Nanfeng's body into a length of red rope.
"This isn't your physical body. You've lied to me!" the red rope cursed king shouted from outside the mirror.
In an instant, all the cursed effigies looked toward Xiao Nanfeng. He was surrounded by killing intent, causing him to freeze up.
Just then, Madam Rouge appeared beside Xiao Nanfeng. She pulled him deeper into the black fog, knocking aside a few red ropes, and then vanished.
"Something's wrong. Capture them!" the red rope cursed king commanded from outside.
"Hold it!" Countless lengths of red rope began chasing after Xiao Nanfeng.
The red rope cursed king stood outside the mirror in vexation. However, he seemed to have something more important to do. Rather than head straight back toward the mirror, it rushed toward the Crystal Hall.
It struck the barrier in a bang. It was impossible for him to leave.
"Break!"
The red rope cursed king struck at the formation around the Crystal Hall again, but it remained immobile. Even the explosion of fifty Immortal relics was unable to do any damage to the barrier, let alone with a decaying body that Xiao Nanfeng had used.
"Damn it! There must be some other way out," the red rope cursed king gritted out.
He walked around the Crystal Hall but found no other exits.
"If I had enough time, I would be able to break through the barrier, but I don't have time right now. Damn it!" the red rope cursed king cursed. The next moment, it calmed down. "No. If that lad from before was able to enter the Crystal Hall, there must be a way out. I just have to find him."
It walked back up to the mirror.
"Someone, come swap souls with me! I want to return to the mirror," the red rope cursed king commanded.
Within the mirror,
Madam Rouge dragged Xiao Nanfeng into the black fog, then teleported into a wide-open plain.
"How large is the interior of this mirror...?"
"A world has been gestated within this mirror. Here, the real and the illusory intermingle. You are now a spiritual avatar. I helped you affix your red moon, stellar lake, and spiritual avatar together so you would enter with them all in your possession. As for your physical body, I trust you don't mind losing it. It was about to decay, anyway, and you just have to take over another cursed spiritual avatar with your red moon."
"That was the red rope cursed king, wasn't it? Why did it want to pull me in here?"
"This mirror has a certain rule associated with it: one who wishes to leave must drag in another in exchange. For his cursed spiritual avatar to leave, someone new must be dragged in."
"Oh?"
"I never expected that you would be immune to its fear. That will save us significant trouble."
"Why did it want to scare me?"
"It didn't want to bring you into the mirror. It views the mirror as its own home, and it doesn't want any accidents to occur. As a cursed king, it has the ability to skirt by some of its rules. Rather than a direct spirit-to-spirit exchange, it would be able to bring in the fear you exude rather than your spirit itself, allowing it to go free without your being able to access its realm."
"Wouldn't it have been dangerous for me if it had succeeded? Madam Rouge, you told me nothing in advance. You weren't trying to kill me, were you?"
"I simply wanted to ensure that you would cooperate. I predicted what it would do, and if it were to bring only your fear into this mirror, I would have taken advantage of the situation to enter along with your fear and your soul. That would have damaged you to some extent, however."
Xiao Nanfeng gave her a strange look. "To some extent? You didn't explain anything to me in advance, Madam Rouge. It's clear that I would have suffered major losses according to your plan!"
Madam Rouge was silent.
"Madam Rouge, I treated you like a friend. How could you be trying to scheme against me at every turn? It's lucky I watched my fair share of horror movies!"
"So what if you sustained a few injuries? You obtained the scroll of Heavenly Dao! As long as you aren't dead, you'll be able to recuperate."
Xiao Nanfeng was stunned speechless. So this was why you were willing to give me the scroll of Heavenly Dao so readily! It was payment in advance for my medical fees!
"What are these horror movies of which you speak?"
Xiao Nanfeng rolled his eyes, not telling her anything.
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