“Someone's looking for me, excuse me.”
Chi Shen ended the call, bent down, and offered the little girl a kindly smile. “Is there something I can assist you with?”
“Are you heading to the restroom?” The little girl blinked her hauntingly large eyes, an eerie blend of innocence.
“Yes,” replied Chi Shen, locking eyes with her.
“There's someone in the restroom mirror. He's so scary. Every time my uncle goes in, he wants to devour me and take my place,” the little girl reached out, clutching the hem of Chi Shen's attire. If one overlooked her gruesomely torn lower body, she appeared rather pitiable. In a pleading voice, she added, “Can you help me get rid of him?”
Chi Shen's smile deepened, radiating even more warmth. Taking the little girl's hand, he whispered, “Of course.”
Moving through the eerily quiet office space, Chi Shen, hand in hand with the little girl, approached the restroom door.
“Wait here for a moment.”
Heeding Chi Shen's words, the girl released his hand, waving cheerily, “Good luck!”
Chi Shen didn't rush in immediately.
The hallway light spilled in, casting his elongated shadow. In the little girl's slightly widened eyes, a bespectacled man emerged from within Chi Shen's shadow, silently stepping aside. He murmured, “Alright.”
Only then did Chi Shen step into the restroom.
He scanned the interior. Likely due to recent renovations and infrequent usage, the restroom was immaculate and odor-free, with no hidden surprises.
It was the mirror.
Chi Shen approached the washbasin and gazed into the mirror.
Both the little girl and the post he'd seen earlier had mentioned the mirror as a significant clue. The girl even explicitly stated there was someone living inside it.
Chi Shen reached out, gently touching the mirror's surface. The cool pane felt ordinary, and his reflection remained unchanged.
Having been through death games, Chi Shen recognized that a mirror could act as a boundary, separating the world inside it from the outside. It was quite normal that he couldn't sense any malicious presence if the spirit within the mirror didn't make a move.
What would prompt this spirit to emerge?
Standing before the mirror, Chi Shen locked eyes with his reflection. The restroom light was off, only illuminated slightly by the lights from neighboring buildings. Although it was dim, he could still see clearly.
According to his colleagues, encounters with ghosts were frequent during restroom visits. So, with him staring into the mirror, the odds of meeting one should be high.
Chi Shen stood silently, waiting for the ghostly presence in the mirror to reveal itself.
Outside the restroom, the little girl curiously observed Ji Xingchen. After a while, she couldn't help but ask, “Big brother, why are you following him?”
Ji Xingchen pondered for a moment before replying, “Because he's a good person.”
“Just because he's good, you follow him?” The girl's voice was innocent, “All the dead people I meet usually follow the ones who killed them.”
Ji Xingchen thought for a bit, then answered in a way she might understand better, “He notices when I’m hurt and would offer me candy.”
This seemed unfathomable to the little girl. Living people, when encountering ghosts, usually felt fear or wanted to get rid of them. After a long pause, the girl smiled sweetly, “He really must be a good person then.”
Just as she finished speaking, they noticed Chi Shen emerging from the restroom.
The girl tilted her head and asked, “Did you do it, brother?”
Chi Shen replied with a stern face, “He didn’t take the bait.”
Confused, the girl inquired, “What?”
Chi Shen: “I need to get some tools.”
Ji Xingchen quickly followed, “What do you need?”
Chi Shen toured the office, grabbing an apple distributed earlier in the day and a fruit knife. Ji Xingchen handed him some leftover birthday candles. Feeling it wasn't enough, Chi Shen rummaged through a trash bin and retrieved a comb left behind by a former colleague.
"All out effort." Chi Shen, holding these tools, brought a chair into the restroom, "I refuse to believe it won't show itself now."
Watching Chi Shen enter the bathroom with a collection of items and a stern face, the little girl asked in curiosity, "What's big brother planning to do?"
His appearance looked less like someone about to tackle a supernatural bathroom incident, and more like a customer returning from a general store, even being gifted an apple.
Ji Xingchen adjusted his glasses and picked up the little girl. "Let's wait in the office."
Setting the chair before the mirror, Chi Shen lit a candle and placed it on the washbasin. After cleaning the comb, he sat down and began to comb his hair.
In certain horror tales involving mirrors, combing one's hair in front of a mirror at night allegedly reveals one's alternate self. Chi Shen believed it would be an excellent method to attract the entity.
The candle flickered, casting an unsettling darkness. The outside light, which was previously shining through the window, seemed to have vanished, leaving only the lone candle to illuminate the room.
The reflection in the mirror appeared unchanged, identical to Chi Shen, but with an added hint of malevolence.
Suddenly, Chi Shen paused. He realized that combing wasn't quite effective for him due to his short hair. The act seemed less horrifying and more comical. Regardless of what the ghost might think, Chi Shen felt somewhat ridiculous.
At this moment, he found himself reminiscing about the ghost in red. Her silky long hair would surely be enticing for the spirits, he thought.
Chi Shen stuck the comb in his hair, then took out the fruit knife and apple, and began to peel the apple while looking into the mirror.
An urban legend says that peeling an apple in front of a mirror at night without breaking the peel can be deadly: break the peel, and lose your head.
Though the fruit knife wasn't particularly sharp, Chi Shen handled it with ease, creating a continuous, thin peel, all while maintaining eye contact with his reflection.
His mirror image, still an exact replica, showed no signs of strangeness.
As Chi Shen was about to break the apple peel, the candle wavered despite the absence of wind, dimming briefly before flaring back up.
Under the candle's glow, the corner of Chi Shen's mouth curled into a slight smirk. With a deft twist of his knife, the apple peel remained unbroken, even though it was notably thin in spots.
It was then that he noticed the "Chi Shen" in the mirror had drawn slightly closer. While the reflection mirrored his smirk, its eyes were intently fixed on the apple, seemingly anticipating something.
Meanwhile, the real Chi Shen continued staring into the mirror.
The apple peel Chi Shen carved became thinner and more delicate. As he kept his gaze fixed on the mirror, the reflection grew increasingly eager, its smile widening to reveal a hint of wickedness.
Just as the mirrored figure approached the edge of the mirror, Chi Shen's apple peeling motion ceased. He produced a perfectly intact peel, which he then placed alongside the peeled apple on the washbasin.
The mirrored "Chi Shen" seemed somewhat disappointed, gazing regretfully at the intact apple peel for a moment. As it looked up, its face froze in surprise—
The depth of the pond reflected on the outside of the mirror was also cast onto the mirror's surface, bringing that handsome face so close it seemed reachable. The man inside the mirror couldn't tear his eyes away. A look of greed, one that Pond had never shown before, crept onto his face. He desired... desired this face...
The candle was abruptly snuffed out. The mirror rippled like water, and Pond reached out, thrusting his hand through the glass to grasp the throat of the mirror's occupant. The corners of his mouth curled into a smile, greeting cheekily, "Hi, how are you?"