Chapter 191

Seeing Lu Mian cast a questioning look, Fu Lanka explained briefly:

"One of the core abilities of the 'Witch' pathway is closely related to mirrors and manipulating the Mirror World.

"When I suspected earlier that this place really involved the 'Witch' or 'Hunter' pathways, I thought about whether we had unknowingly walked into some part of the Mirror World, so I tried using a compact mirror to see if I could leave through it, but as you saw, it had no effect.

"Because of this, I had initially ruled out the possibility of the Mirror World and 'Witch' remnants, but now a mirror has suddenly appeared, submerged at the bottom of the water, suspected of hiding an exit..."

"So, you suspect this is a part of the Mirror World that has been specially treated, and all exits are restricted to specific mirrors?" Lu Mian tried to understand Fu Lanka's thoughts.

"Yes." Fu Lanka nodded gently. "But what I can't figure out is, we didn't encounter anything like a mirror surface, so how did we inexplicably enter this space? Perhaps my guess is wrong, or only partially correct..."

Lu Mian thought for a moment and asked sincerely:

"What is the Mirror World?"

Fu Lanka grabbed the ponytail at the back of her head:

"It's hard for me to explain it clearly to you because I don't know too much about it myself.

"Let me explain it based on my understanding. In occultism, mirror surfaces possess some unique symbolic meanings—for example, one's own reflection, or an entrance to another world. The former means we can use mirrors to create substitutes, while the latter represents the Mirror World.

"It is often associated with terror, mystery, horror, and the bizarre. As for whether it hides anything or if it's truly an alternate dimension, I have no way of guessing. I only know that the Mirror World connects different things that are mirror-like, and perhaps it points to some spaces that cannot be reached normally. Once my Sequence increases a bit more, I should be able to use the Mirror World to travel quickly to different places."

Lu Mian recalled the moment before and fully exercised his imagination:

"Could that you we saw be the reflection left in the Mirror World by the you before you became a 'Witch' because you encountered something?

"This could explain why we never encountered the past me."

"That makes some sense, but I didn't encounter anything strange..." Fu Lanka deliberated. "If that's really the case, we must go to that puddle immediately; the exit is highly likely to be there! We can no longer cautiously try and wait. As I said before, the Mirror World is full of bizarre and horrifying things. If we stay any longer, I can't imagine what we might encounter!"

"Alright." Lu Mian remained quite calm.

Fu Lanka turned and began to run, and Lu Mian followed closely by her side.

As this "Witch" ran, she seemed to use some kind of ability; patches of frost continuously appeared under her feet, causing a sudden decrease in friction, and her body seemed to become weightless, the whole person gliding through the dark quarry cavern and the deep underground tunnels with a *whoosh*.

Lu Mian, possessing the dual identities of "Hunter" and "Dancer," used all his strength to barely keep up with Fu Lanka without being left behind.

In that coldness, as if winter had descended, thin patches of ice gradually formed on the surrounding rock walls.

On the surface of those ice patches, faces covered in blood and filth stood out. They all had twisted expressions and eyes filled with malice, like vengeful ghosts crawling out from the depths of hell.

One of them was precisely the former Fu Lanka, the him when he was still a man!

After sprinting for a while, Lu Mian and Fu Lanka saw the puddle.

As the light from the carbide lamp spread over it, the deep black surface of the puddle reflected a yellowish-blue hue.

"Is this it?" Fu Lanka stopped.

Lu Mian identified it for a few seconds and said:

"Yes."

At this moment, besides the constant sensation of warmth and burning in his nasal cavity, he felt a slight stinging pain in various parts of his body, as if he might bleed at any moment.

Carrying the carbide lamp, Fu Lanka approached the puddle cautiously:

"The problem now is how to avoid the monster you saw and find that mirror.

"It's a pity that I can't jump between mirrors yet; I can only stay inside them for a few seconds...

"Shall I lure it out and tangle with it for a while, while you dive to the bottom and take out the mirror?"

Lu Mian said without embellishment:

"I don't think you are its opponent at all.

"I almost caused my body to collapse just from seeing its appearance clearly."

"..." Although Fu Lanka was a bit annoyed and discouraged, she had to admit that what Lu Mian said was the truth.

Her Sequence, combined with the magical artifacts she possessed, gave her a chance of winning even against a Beyonder of a higher Sequence, but judging by the monster's performance, it was at least more than one level higher than her in terms of status!

After a few seconds, Fu Lanka gritted her teeth and said:

"Although I'm not its opponent, my ability to escape and save my life is still very strong. I should be able to hold out for ten seconds or so in front of it. As long as you can fish out that mirror during that time, we can escape this place!"

Lu Mian laughed:

"It hasn't reached the point where we need to risk our lives yet.

"I have a way to hold that monster for ten or twenty seconds without taking too much risk. You should be able to find that mirror, right?"

"I have no problem with that; I have a special sense for mirrors." Fu Lanka looked at Lu Mian suspiciously. "Are you really sure? Is there really no risk?"

"In theory, there isn't much risk." Lu Mian responded calmly.

At the same time, he added silently in his heart:

If there really were too much risk, I would change to another method. Mr. K, Lady "Hela," Lady "Magician," that great existence, and the power of "Fate" are all backup options.

Fu Lanka didn't nag anymore, pursed her lips, and said:

"Alright, I'll help you make another mirror substitute, just in case."

Lu Mian naturally wouldn't refuse anything that could effectively reduce risk.

Once Fu Lanka took out another mirror smaller than a palm and prepared the corresponding substitute, Lu Mian held the ritual silver dagger and created a Wall of Spirituality around the pond-like puddle.

During this process, he stayed four or five meters away from the water's edge, afraid of being dragged down directly by the monster.

Putting away the ritual silver dagger, Lu Mian looked at Fu Lanka and smiled frankly:

"The next part involves a bit of my secret. Could you turn your back to me?"

"Alright." Fu Lanka was quite satisfied with this frank attitude.

She sighed in her heart again:

"Does Jenna have some kind of misunderstanding about Charles?"

Seeing Fu Lanka turn her back, Lu Mian put down the carbide lamp and began to dance the "Dance of Summoning."

He wanted to summon the monster over, but without letting it attach itself to him!

Lu Mian believed that the higher the status of a weird creature, the stronger its sense of the corruption within him, and the less willing it would be to attach itself to him.

In other words, as long as he didn't use imperative language to influence the other party, it was more likely that the monster would watch the "Dance of Summoning" from the sidelines, eager to launch an attack but held back by the seal and corruption, not daring to put it into practice until the dance ended and it truly began to deal with him.

And a "Dance of Summoning" lasted twenty or thirty seconds, enough for Fu Lanka to dive to the bottom and find the mirror.

As long as Lu Mian could escape this world before the monster made a move, there would be no subsequent problems!

Of course, if he couldn't leverage the corresponding natural forces here to make the "Dance of Summoning" effective, he would just have to change to another method.

Amidst the dance, which was at times twisted and at times frantic, Lu Mian's spirituality leveraged a bit of natural power, linking with them and dissipating into the surroundings, only to be blocked by the "Wall of Spirituality."

A few breaths later, ripples spread across the surface of the puddle, and a pale human figure floated out.

It resembled a human, its whole body swollen, with a huge face that occupied a full half of its body.

This monster floated toward Lu Mian and stopped very close to him.

Lu Mian didn't dare to look at its appearance or state at all; he half-closed his eyes and shouted:

"Quick!"

Fu Lanka didn't hesitate; she dropped the carbide lamp, took two steps, and leaped into the water.

With a *splash*, waves of water splattered.

A cold, damp sensation pierced Fu Lanka's skin, and near-total darkness filled her eyes.

Relying on the light from the carbide lamp penetrating the water surface, Fu Lanka dove toward the bottom quickly.

Suddenly, dark things resembling hair or water grass reached out from all around, wrapping around Fu Lanka as if they had a life of their own.

Fu Lanka didn't tangle with them and continued to dive.

Just as those "water grasses" were about to touch her, black flames suddenly ignited.

The black flames burned quietly in the water without any sign of extinguishing, and those "water grasses" didn't turn to ash; they just no longer felt like they had self-awareness.

They floated in the water, swaying with the current.

Further away, a large amount of "water grass" continued to surge over, only to be blocked by layers of condensing frost.

Beside the puddle, Lu Mian, who was dancing the "Dance of Summoning," didn't look at the monster, but he heard a sound as fine as bursting water bubbles, smelled a fishy stench, and felt his body surrounded by waves of cold.

This caused a scene to naturally emerge in Lu Mian's mind:

The swollen monster with the huge face was less than a step away from him, almost pressed against his back, its "breathing" audible!

*Hiss... * Lu Mian instinctively gasped, not daring to let the "Dance of Summoning" falter.

In the water, Fu Lanka, having dove a bit further, finally sensed the existence of the mirror!

Her body suddenly faded and vanished from its original position.

Fu Lanka's figure quickly outlined itself on the surface of the ancient silver mirror lying quietly at the bottom of the water.

She immediately crawled out from inside the mirror, picked up the item, and swam toward the surface, her face filled with joy.

She had just confirmed that this mirror could really lead to an underground tunnel in the outside world!

Beside the puddle, seeing that the "Dance of Summoning" was nearing its end and the swollen monster was getting closer and closer to him, almost to the point of skin contact, Lu Mian looked at the water surface with a bit of anxiety.

If Fu Lanka didn't come out soon, he would have to take out Mr. K's finger!

Just then, with a *splash*, Fu Lanka swam to the shore with the mirror and jumped up.

She didn't dare to look at the monster either; she buried her head, ran a few steps to Lu Mian's side, and grabbed his wrist.

Both of them became illusory simultaneously, and the ancient mirror *clattered* to the ground.

The surface of the mirror then reflected a scene: Fu Lanka grabbed Lu Mian's hand, took him through a short, dark tunnel, arrived in front of the light-filled "cave," and leaped outward.

After the light and shadows shifted, Lu Mian found himself standing in a dim path, with a little light penetrating from afar.

Fu Lanka took out the mirror that served as his substitute and found that its surface was covered with countless cracks, on the verge of shattering.

"That was close." She sighed sincerely.

(End of Chapter)