Chapter 69: The True Form in the Mirror

The tongue was cut off.

Ms. Goldfish didn’t react for a moment.

“Go!”

Wu Xian turned around and delivered a left front kick, sending her bulky body flying two or three meters away.

Then he curled his fingers toward her, the final flying blade incantation poised to strike!

Ms. Goldfish recognized the gesture and immediately waved at Wu Xian: “Wait, you can’t kill me!”

As she spoke,

Expansion Method: Expand the range of the next incantation; if its effect radius is under five meters, increase it to five meters; if over five meters, increase it by five meters.

The Chen family of Huainan planted beans in the field. Suddenly, two beautiful women appeared, dressed in purple brocade jackets and green skirts, yet their clothes stayed dry despite the rain. A bronze mirror hung on the wall; in it, two deer were visible. They cut them down with a knife and preserved them as dried meat.

Soul-Replenishing Method: Fully restore the spiritual essence of any identical-tier artifact.

……

Before leaving, he saw a row of tiny footprints on the ground where ashes had been scattered, between two operating tables—these footprints must have been left by his spiritual form.

A flash of light passed over the Mirror of True Form; Wu Xian’s real appearance appeared upon its surface.

【If the Favored One insists on his own path, the consequences are his to bear.】

Mirror of True Form: “Supplement to the Search for Spirits,” Volume Nine, “Deer Girl Jerky.”

But at that time, the curse was still rooted within Wu Xian, and he feared that a sudden attack might trigger adverse consequences, so he abandoned his intent to kill.

Wu Xian stowed the Copying Method, gazing regretfully at the Skin-Removal Razor—this blade was truly effective, but after severing five demonic limbs and one tongue, rust had already begun to form on its surface; it might only be good for one more cut.

This is too deliberate.

Coming to this clinic was no different—the reason Wu Xian no longer stayed far from the city was the tearing pain in his body and the real threat from the Investigation Bureau, not the words of the Favored One’s credential.

If Wu Xian had truly followed the Favored One’s credential, his mind would already be stuffed with a giant tongue.

He thought the Favored One’s credential was pure nonsense.

Something’s wrong!

Only one row—and single-footed, unnaturally narrow, as if even the single foot wasn’t complete!

His remaining eye had lost nearly half its bulk; a round paper coin with a square hole was plainly pressed over it!

What truly confirmed the credential was flawed was when he tried to kill He Ya, Xu Xiaoyan, and the other three demons.

Two pieces of information also appeared in Wu Xian’s eyes.

To complete the loop, the plot had already abandoned logic—Wu Xian had just gained a new identity, his phone number was brand new, yet he was instantly labeled a doctor.

Wu Xian hung up the phone and shook his head with a smile.

Soon, inside the bloated corpse’s abdomen, he dug out a statue—blind, deaf, draped in a green robe: the statue of Tian Guan, the God of Destiny and Prosperity!

【Warning: Ms. Goldfish is a critical clue in this Blessed Land. If killed, you will lose all chance of completing this Blessed Land.】

He had only half a face!

No—not even half. Only the left third remained; his neck and body below were also reduced to only the left third!

“No second chances.”

His mind was chaotic; part of his earlier reasoning needed to be torn down and rebuilt. He needed time to think, but Wu Xian knew clearly: the mystery of this Blessed Land had only one layer of paper left between him and the truth.

So the only incantation that might still work was the Soul-Replenishing Method.

But this time,

Wu Xian first smiled knowingly, then his smile slowly faded.

“You say, why can’t I kill you?”

“For now, I’ll follow his path—I still need to try more things…”

“Dr. Xu, remember to come to the hospital early today. There’s an appointment from the Investigation Bureau this morning.”

Wu Xian snorted.

Before he’d taken a few steps, the phone rang. Wu Xian answered it; a nurse’s voice came through.

The “Law” class incantations usually require other artifacts or incantations to function effectively, but this Blessed Land granted Wu Xian too few chances to worship. He possessed only one artifact: the Mirror of True Form.

Swish!

An invisible blade flashed—Ms. Goldfish split cleanly in two.

“Alright, don’t worry, I’ll be there on time.”

These footprints suddenly reminded him: when he left Xianwei City, the tearing pain in his body—the pain in his feet—matched exactly the missing parts of these footprints!

Also, when he used the Mirror of True Form on Ms. Goldfish, he’d found only half a face—and that half was indeed his own. But the eyes on that half looked strange; he hadn’t had time to examine them closely then.

Wu Xian searched the entire clinic.

But Wu Xian stood frozen in place for a long time.

The problem was, Wu Xian didn’t need the Mirror of True Form to activate many times—its rules were already clear to him. One or two more activations would be enough.

Wu Xian inserted the Demon Incense; three incantations appeared before him.

“But… not yet. This isn’t breaking the loop.”

Wu Xian took a deep breath.

Wu Xian studied the three incantations and sighed.

Unlike Perfect Hair Salon, Ms. Goldfish only performed a possession ritual, and her victims were only Xu Ming, Jia, and Wei. There were no many bloody cases here; there shouldn’t be any usable weapons.

After worship ended,

Even if he didn’t die, his memories would be stripped away—everything he’d discovered and gathered so far would reset to zero…

When Wu Xian stepped outside,

This is too forced.

It was already morning.

Wu Xian changed clothes and found a new phone. He was now a man without identity, free to explore the city as he pleased.

So he ignored the credential’s warning and smiled at Ms. Goldfish.

He picked up the Mirror of True Form and rubbed it again.

After Ms. Goldfish died, Wu Xian waited a while—until her corpse turned into a Demon Incense—no bad event occurred as the credential had foretold.

The grass and flowers by the roadside swayed in the breeze; a few magpies hopped along the path.

Ever since the Favored One’s credential repeatedly demanded Wu Xian play his role, Wu Xian had gradually suspected the credential might be flawed—though at the time, he knew too little about this Blessed Land, so he still followed its instructions.

So Wu Xian did a quick search and prepared to leave.

From this moment on,

The activation condition for both incantations was that Wu Xian must still be able to obtain incantations.

But the Expansion Method only affected incantations, while the Copying Method could affect all types of incantations—so the Copying Method had a higher chance of working.

“Something changed.”

When would the Favored One’s credential interfere this deeply?

The image in the mirror vanished.

Add to that, when his soul left his body, his physical form had been grotesquely impaired, movement restricted, and he could only receive fragmented information. Wu Xian had assumed all soul departures were like this—but now, it seemed there might be other tricks involved.

Wu Xian narrowed his eyes.

Copying Method: Can copy one non-copying incantation that Wu Xian currently holds.

If Wu Xian guessed correctly, something else would soon happen, forcing him to go to the hospital.

Not a single word of the Favored One’s credential was trustworthy anymore.

Ms. Goldfish swallowed hard: “In all of Xianwei City, only I can help you complete possession. If you kill me and the curse brings you back here, you’ll be dead—next time, I’ll help you properly…”

Wu Xian hesitated among the remaining two incantations, then chose the Copying Method.

“I won’t come back here again!”

These footprints…

——————

To be fair, this story is a bit bizarre: the Chen family saw beautiful deer-girl spirits through a bronze mirror, then cut them down and turned them into jerky…

(End of Chapter)