Chapter 417: The Strange Mirror

Backland, inside a red three-story house in the Jowood District.

Fors lay languidly on a reclining chair, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace beside her. To her right was a small round table, on which lay a round-bellied fountain pen, several blank sheets of letter paper, and a glass of dark red red wine.

In the adjacent living room, the creaking sound of a door opening suddenly rang out, followed by the sound of hard boots treading on wooden flooring, and the clatter of a door closing.

The rustling sounds of changing shoes and clothes lasted for a while, then somewhat relaxed footsteps quickly approached the direction of the fireplace in the dining room.

Xiu, just over a meter and a half tall with somewhat baby-plump cheeks, quickly walked to the fireside.

Her gaze lingered for a moment on the small round table to Fors's right, a flash of helplessness crossing her eyes, before she spoke:

"Fors, didn't you say you had a lot of inspiration lately? It's been most of the day and you haven't written a single word yet?"

"Uh... inspiration won't suddenly run away. I'll write in a bit."

Fors was taken aback for a moment, then explained with a somewhat awkward light laugh.

"That's what you said yesterday too." Xiu reminded her with a face full of helplessness.

"It's all because this fireplace is too warm..."

Before Fors could finish speaking, her inspiration was suddenly stirred. She turned her head to look at a silver mirror Xiu held in her hand.

"What is this?" she asked, somewhat puzzled.

"That commission I took before—a few young masters and misses who dabbled in mysticism botched a ritual and attracted a wraith. This is a leftover item from that ritual. It looked like it had some spirituality to it, so I brought it back."

Xiu gave a brief explanation. She had also noticed the spiritual fluctuation that had just appeared on the mirror, and was hesitating over whether to throw it away right now.

The silver mirror surface reflected the blurry firelight of the fireplace. The crimson dancing within the mirror twisted into Runic words, floating ceaselessly:

"I am a pitiful ghost, betrayed by my husband, suspected by my children, despised by my kin. I could no longer bear such a life, so I took my own life."

"No one grieved for me, no one shed a tear for me, I didn't even have a proper funeral... I suddenly feel some regret. My whole life, I never once lived properly for myself."

"Kind person who has obtained this mirror, could you offer me a bouquet of flowers, a blessing, and one gold pound? I will transform into a stalk of Night-fragrant Herb and pray for you in the sea of flowers of the Dark Heaven."

Fors didn't know what expression to use in facing the words on the mirror for a moment. She looked at Xiu somewhat dazedly and said:

"This?... Throw it away? Or..."

Xiu frowned, her brow and eyes revealing deep confusion as she said:

"I haven't sensed any aura or influence related to evil, chaos, or madness. If it were something like a vengeful spirit or wraith, it would be impossible for me not to sense it."

"What if it's a ghost with no ill intent?"

Fors murmured thoughtfully. For some reason, she had a vague feeling that there really was a pitiful ghost inside the mirror, and she couldn't help wanting to sympathize with it.

"I'm not sure about that either."

Xiu was momentarily stunned. She suppressed the sympathy faintly rising in her heart and said rationally, "But do you really believe its words? Even if what it says is true, would the residual spirit of someone with such experiences truly be harmless after suicide?"

Fors had already automatically taken the thing in the mirror for the ghost of a pitiful lady in her mind. She couldn't help feeling some empathy toward it, and said with a hesitant voice, "But she only asked for a bouquet of flowers, a blessing, and one gold pound?"

"Uh... a gold pound? Why would a ghost want a gold pound? Is this some new kind of scam?"

Fors suddenly froze. As a not-very-wealthy novelist, the mention of a gold pound brought back some of her own wits.

Xiu shook her head and said:

"I don't know. If it were a scam, they probably wouldn't only ask for one gold pound. Of course, we can't rule out someone deliberately using a special magical item to rake in money."

"Perhaps she was simply too poor in life, so she developed this obsession after death."

Fors nodded gently, once again sinking into her own flights of imagination. She had already pictured the image of a middle-aged woman tormented by life. Xiu was taken aback, looking at Fors with some disbelief:

"You're not actually believing her, are you?"

"I think we need to take this mirror to the church and have a priest purify it."

"The church priest would purify you along with it, or lock you up beneath the cathedral, never to see sunlight again."

Fors sat up from the reclining chair and reminded Xiu with exasperation.

"Of course I wouldn't take it there myself. Don't you have means to interfere with divination and spiritual intuition now? Just find some random stranger to do it."

Xiu explained her plan.

"But what if everything she says is true?" Fors still said with some hesitation.

"Why don't you do a divination first?" Xiu reminded her.

Fors then had a moment of realization. She gave two dry laughs and said, "I was too busy discussing it with you."

As she spoke, she got up and went to her room to fetch a crystal ball about the size of a baby's fist, and began divining the silver mirror that had suddenly displayed writing.

A moment later, the resplendent galaxy that had surfaced in her eyes faded away, and the light within the crystal ball on the table also swiftly vanished.

She turned her head to look at Xiu, who had been watching her all along, and nodded gently: "I didn't divine any malice from it toward us, and I didn't find any danger either."

Xiu fell silent for a while, seemingly caught in indecision.

After hesitating for a moment, Fors suggested:

"How about we try giving her a bouquet of flowers? Just an ordinary bouquet of flowers. Even if something goes wrong, it wouldn't cause us any real impact."

Xiu exchanged a glance with Fors, then turned her head to look at the silver mirror she had placed on the small round table nearby, and fell into thought for a moment.

West Byron, Pas Valley.

Lakton led the crow Anu along the central river of Pas Valley, heading upstream on foot. His figure would blur from time to time, and when it became clear again, he had already teleported a considerable distance forward.

The crow Anu, circling in the air, beat its wings strenuously. It scrutinized the river surface below while quickening its flight speed.

When Lakton's figure disappeared and reemerged once more, it flapped its wings twice and landed directly on Lakton's shoulder: "Boss, why are we heading upstream along the river to investigate?"

"If those puppets all walk into this river, then the river water here should be tainted with something to some extent."

As he spoke, specks of starlight flickered faintly in his eyes, as if containing a galaxy. Under the gaze of the Eye of Secrets, everything around was clearly reflected in his vision.

The crow Anu's eyes were deep and dark, like a gaze from the dead. It would glance at the river surface from time to time.

"Aside from having more of various wraiths and nature spirits, there's nothing special about this river."

The crow Anu muttered in a low voice, then flapped its wings and flew back into the air.

Lakton's figure suddenly blurred, and when it became clear again, he was already over two hundred meters away.

His gaze looked leisurely into the distance, and his voice murmured with some puzzlement: "The people here have no awareness of protecting the environment. This river has already been affected by the surrounding plantations and factories, accumulating quite a lot of toxins and garbage."

"But this is all within the normal range, and the creatures in the river show no tendency toward mutation. What is that ancient alchemist's purpose in repeatedly controlling the puppet to sink into the river?"

"Perhaps the people of the Earth Church can guess—no one understands the Planter pathway better than they do."

As he spoke to himself, his figure suddenly turned transparent, becoming a humanoid form gathered from starlight. As he took a step, specks of starlight surged upward into the sky, sweeping up the crow Anu's figure as they streaked toward the upper reaches of the Pas River Valley.

(End of this chapter)