HAGLTP Chapter 65

As they spoke, the portraits on the wall began to twist, the original human figures fading away, leaving only Yin Sen’s portrait intact, while the others transformed into mirrors.

Mirrors…

Xiao Lu thought of the mirror he had seen last night, facing his room. What would have happened if he hadn’t moved it?

There was no time to think further; the angles of these mirrors began to quietly shift, seemingly trying to capture the images of the two of them within.

This scene was clearly off; even a fool would know that being reflected would surely lead to something bad.

Xiao Lu and his companion immediately began to evade. Fortunately, this was a study, with desks, chairs, and sofas available for them to temporarily hide, but this was not a long-term solution.

Hiding behind the heavy desk, Xiao Lu heard a distinct dragging sound, as if some hard object was moving across the floor.

At this moment, it was almost unnecessary to guess what the approaching hard object was.

The sound drew closer, bit by bit.

Xiao Lu and his companion frowned, exchanging a glance: they couldn’t keep this up.

Xiao Lu quietly reached out, feeling around on the desk. He remembered seeing a pen holder on the surface earlier; it contained no plastic pens, only sturdy metal fountain pens.

The desk was wide, and he didn’t dare to expose himself, making the search process rather difficult.

During this time, they could still hear the rustling sounds of the mirrors drawing near.

“Hee hee…”

The maid’s laughter was sweet and cloying, not like the fresh sweetness of a normal young girl’s laughter, akin to strawberry cake, but rather affected and malicious, like a candy coated in poison.

She seemed to enjoy the process of playing with her prey. Not in a hurry to pounce directly on them, she instead approached slowly, continuously accumulating fear in her prey’s hearts.

“Hee hee…”

“Hee hee… Hee hee…”

Gradually, the sound transformed from a single voice into many overlapping ones, rising and falling, with the source of the laughter coming from multiple places; all the mirrors echoed with laughter.

The laughter gradually moved toward the desk, and the two hiding within felt as if they had become prey surrounded by a pack of wolves.

Finally, Xiao Lu found what he was looking for and handed it to the person beside him.

“Your turn to perform.”

Cui Yunjin glanced at him without saying much, skillfully pinching the fountain pen between her fingers, closing her eyes, and judging the positions of the mirrors by sound, she raised her hand and threw the pen.

In their previous world, when they were just a cheap master and apprentice, he had often used hidden weapons; now, it was merely a matter of changing the target to these slowly moving mirrors, which wasn’t a particularly difficult challenge.

“Bang—”

“Bang—”

Each time Cui Yunjin struck, it corresponded with a crisp shattering sound.

The sound of mirrors breaking continued to ring out, lifting Xiao Lu’s spirits.

Working while slacking off is quite enjoyable.

As the fountain pen in his hand was about to run out, the laughter stopped, and the sound of the hard object moving also vanished. The study fell silent once more, only the faint sound of rain outside could be heard.

It seemed they were safe.

But Xiao Lu and his companion did not rush to emerge from behind the desk; Cui Yunjin still had her eyes closed, reaching for the last fountain pen in the pen holder.

Then, decisively, she threw it in the direction of a memory.

“Bang————”

The shattering sound rang out again, louder than the previous ones.

Cui Yunjin opened her eyes: “That’s more like it.”

He clearly remembered that there were thirteen mirrors hanging on the wall.

Xiao Lu clapped enthusiastically: “Well done.”

Cui Yunjin placed the pen holder back on the desk and turned to look at Xiao Lu: “I hope next time, a certain worker doesn’t leave the job to the boss.”

“The boss is generous,” Xiao Lu replied with a smile that lacked sincerity.

The two emerged from behind the desk, the floor of the study littered with shards of mirrors; the scattered brilliance against the beautifully patterned floor and carpet gave the impression of a galaxy turned upside down.

Finally, they could properly explore the study.

Just then—

“I’ve—caught—YOU—” a voice as sweet as honey, yet laced with poison, rang out not far away.

Xiao Lu and his companion quickly turned around to look in the direction of the voice.

The sound came from the doorway.

Xiao Lu’s sharp eyes noticed that, at some point, a palm-sized mirror had appeared at the entrance; clearly, it hadn’t been there when they entered.

Where did this thing come from?

The worst part was that this small mirror had now stood up on its own, reflecting the figures of the two standing there.

“Quick!” Xiao Lu urged.

Without needing further explanation, Cui Yunjin understood his meaning, grabbing the pen holder and accurately throwing it at the mirror.

But it was already too late.

A hand clad in a white glove reached out from the mirror, easily catching the incoming pen holder.

“You bad guests, how can you mess with the master’s belongings?”

The pen holder was gently placed on the ground, and then a figure dressed in a maid’s uniform appeared within their line of sight.

It was a pale-faced girl; unlike her sweet voice, her appearance was unexpectedly ordinary. Her maid outfit was completely soaked in blood, and it was unclear how much blood she had lost at the time of her death.

Xiao Lu’s gaze fell on the girl’s neck, which was a patch of blood red, and it didn’t look like bloodstains on the skin. It resembled exposed muscle after the skin had been stripped away.

As his gaze traveled up along the edge of the girl’s gloves, he found that at the junction of the gloves and sleeves, there was indeed another patch of blood red.

This girl seemed to have no skin anywhere on her body except for her head.

The girl revealed a sweet smile: “What are the guests looking at? The master’s work?”

She extended her hand, admiring her wrist where the muscle was exposed, her eyes filled with a kind of frenzied intoxication: “This is a gift from the master to Xiao An; isn’t it wonderful?”

She actually referred to her own fatal injury as a gift.

Xiao Lu wanted to tell her that, girl, it would be better to go to the hospital sooner rather than later if you were sick.

However, given the style of mental hospitals in her era, going or not going made little difference; it might just be a different way to die.

Xiao An, having admired her master’s masterpiece enough, turned her gaze back to Xiao Lu and his companion: “Xiao An likes the master’s work, but has always been unable to achieve the same perfection as the master.”

“Why don’t the two guests practice with Xiao An?”

Before her words fell, the smile on Xiao An’s face suddenly turned ferocious, and she lunged toward the two.

How fast is a ghost?

Xiao An’s path was not a straight line; she floated and darted left and right in the air, but in the blink of an eye, her figure had already moved from the doorway to the center of the room.

In that brief moment, Xiao Lu’s mind raced, many thoughts flashing through his head.

The blood-stained room of the sea dog assistant, the cruel struggle marks, the inexplicable mirror aimed at him, the female ghost emerging from the mirror…

He knew very well that he was not a medium and had no power to exorcise ghosts. In that era, the death of an insignificant maid was not worth reporting.

There was no time for him to discuss with Cui Yunjin.

Xiao Lu tried to connect these chaotic clues, searching for a glimmer of hope for survival.

Xiao An’s smile grew wider, her white teeth and crimson gums exposed, making her look like a beast stimulated by blood.

She enjoyed watching her prey struggle in terror until they died.

She also liked beautiful prey.

The prey before her satisfied her greatly.

This time, she would patiently play with them, not letting them die easily.

The female ghost was only a few steps away from the two.

Xiao Lu’s gaze suddenly dropped, fixating on the scattered shards of mirrors on the ground. Though the time was brief, he noticed that Xiao An seemed to deliberately avoid the mirror shards as she advanced.

And, after he had shattered the mirror last night, he had spent a peaceful night.

“Mirror shards”

This term flashed quickly into his mind.

Almost instinctively, Xiao Lu leaped to the side, grabbing the nearest shard.

In his haste, the sharp fragment cut into his palm.

Pain surged, but Xiao Lu had no time to care.

He swiftly turned around, gripping the shard tightly and thrusting it toward the pursuing maid.

He didn’t know how Xiao An had died, nor was he sure if this shard would truly be effective, but at this moment, he was willing to take a gamble, even if only the slightest clue supported his guess.

“Ah——————————”

The ghost let out a piercing scream.

Countless images from the past surged forth, making her feel as if she had returned to the happiest yet most painful day.

“Master, I know you are still here.”

“This is your territory; you won’t leave, right?”

“I am willing to be your first work after death; I will be very obedient and make you very satisfied.”

“Please come out and take a look at me…”

Pain and struggle began to appear on Xiao An’s face; even if she was killed by the one she had long admired, the pain of death was real, and the fear of dying was also.

The deliberately forgotten pain surged back, tearing at her soul, crushing her reason.

At this moment, she was no longer the cunning hunter hidden within the mirror. She had reverted to that humble, tiny ant, as insignificant as dust, who dared only to exchange her life for a moment of the master’s focused gaze.

Xiao An’s body began to show cracks, like a shattered mirror.

The mirror surface suddenly shattered, and the girl’s figure ceased to exist.

The study was in disarray, finally falling truly silent.

Xiao Lu let out a long breath, finally feeling his heart pounding fiercely.

He had bet right.

He didn’t know whether Yin Sen had killed Xiao An with the mirror shards at her request or if it was the master’s original preference. However, the relationship between the master and servant was already abnormal, so it was understandable whose idea it was.

A warmth spread from his right hand; Cui Yunjin grasped his bloodied hand. Neither of them had brought any medical supplies, so Cui Yunjin could only remove her tie to bandage him a bit.

After the bandaging was done, Cui Yunjin’s brow did not relax: “The tie has been exposed, so it isn’t clean; it needs to be re-bandaged when we get back.”

Xiao Lu didn’t mind: “As long as it doesn’t affect movement, it’s fine.”

He moved his palm, feeling it was still usable: “Teacher Cui’s skills are quite good.”

Cui Yunjin looked at him for a moment, as if wanting to say something, but ultimately remained silent. What would it matter if she spoke? It wouldn’t change the current situation anyway.

“This is…” Xiao Lu picked up the suddenly appeared mirror.

The mirror was simply styled, seemingly the kind commonly used by girls for touch-ups. The most suspicious part was that this mirror was engraved with a familiar logo he had seen in Yueyue’s cosmetics.

“This is a popular cosmetic brand in recent years, founded by an internationally renowned female star; this was included in this year’s gift box,” Cui Yunjin glanced at it and explained.

“By the way, the brand was established—five years ago.”

Five years ago, which meant this item could not possibly belong to this ancient room but had been deliberately placed there by someone.

Xiao Lu looked toward the closed door; someone wanted them dead.