Chapter 51 - No Escape (1)
A grim reaper wasn't something any human would want to become. Because they committed heinous crimes in their past lives as humans, the grim reapers had no choice but to witness the deaths of everyone, regardless of their circumstances. No sane human would be able to withstand the hundred years of solitude and punishment.
Back to their problem at hand, the three stepped inside the laboratory room that seemed normal at first. However, as soon as they did, the door behind them suddenly closed with a loud bang, trapping them inside.
Slowly, the spirit orbs of the departed ones showed up one by one as the darkness of the night covered the school premises. Shen Minyao ignored the spirits and focused on the demon in the mirror. She had to figure out a way to retrieve its demon core without Li Fei'er discovering her real identity.
Li Fei'er might be Little Jiu's incarnation, but she was now part of the family that persecuted Su Daji in the past. If Li Fei'er found out that she was the nine-tailed fox that was freed by Zhao Yichen at Qingqiu Mountain, Shen Minyao was sure that the girl would be caught between two parties.
Li Fei'er moved to the closest windows towards them and noticed that she couldn't see anything outside. How come Jin Qian was able to see them yesterday from the hallway?
"We are trapped; that's why you can't see anything outside," Mu Qing explained.
He tried to slide the door open, but it was stuck and wouldn't budge no matter how much he tried to open it. He was physically stronger than normal humans, so if he couldn't open it, there's no way Li Fei'er or any other human would be able to open it from the outside.
The three of them had no chances of escaping even if they wanted to leave and free the spirits. It's impossible for them to get away without breaking the spell of the demon first.
"Well, what's the plan?" Mu Qing asked the two. Of course, he overheard what Li Fei'er said to Shen Minyao earlier, and he agreed with the demoness' opinion over the matter. If that demon was really at fault, they should get rid of it.
"There was no plan." Shen Minyao snorted. "What's that?"
Mu Qing stared at her in disbelief. So she and Li Fei'er came here without knowing how to deal with the demon? How could they be this reckless? Didn't they realize how dangerous this situation was right now?
The demon obviously knew about their presence because it purposely allowed them to enter and join the other spirits it lured from other places. The three had seen Jin Qian in her spirit form with her eyes closed, not aware of her surroundings.
Suddenly, a loud wailing could be heard as the spirits were being sucked inside the mirror one by one. Li Fei'er staggered back and hid behind Shen Minyao as they watched the demon snack on the unfortunate souls. She was very worried that Jin Qian's soul would be eaten by the demon.
"Stay away from it, especially you, Lady Li," Mu Qing said.
"What? Why?" Li Fei'er asked confusedly. She then suggested, "If we couldn't exorcise it from the mirror, should we break it instead?"
Shen Minyao already considered it. If they were to break the mirror itself, the demon inside it wouldn't be able to get out and lure more spirits here to devour, but that also meant the fox woman would also lose her chance to get its demon core to replenish her powers.
"It seems we have no other choice but to do that." She conceded, aware that the chance of her taking its demon core—without revealing her identity towards Li Fei'er—was quite slim.
As if the demon knew what they were planning, three figures came out from the mirror which perfectly resembled Shen Minyao, Li Fei'er, and Mu Qing. However, their appearances were quite different from the original as their eyes were just black, and one couldn't see anything from it.
The fox woman then realized what kind of demon it was.
"I was wrong. It isn't trapped inside. The mirror is the demon itself." She informed the two. How could she not know this kind of demon? She and Qin Zhi had encountered a demon like this in the past!
"A mirror demon?" Mu Qing asked upon glancing at Shen Minyao, "I've never known a demon like this exists. So what does it do?"
"The mirror demon has the ability to copy the image of those people caught by its reflective side," Shen Minyao explained, which left Li Fei'er confused, "That's not all. They shared our strength and powers, so dealing with them would be a headache."
"But we've never dared to look at it—much less look at our reflection in the mirror—so how come it was able to copy our appearance perfectly?" She asked Shen Minyao before pulling out the talismans she brought with her today.
Shen Minyao also had no idea how the mirror demon was able to obtain their reflections if she and Li Fei'er had never come close to it since the beginning. It was also able to catch Mu Qing's reflection.
The doppelgängers attack the three of them at once with the fake Mu Qing unsheathing his dragon sword and attacking the grim reaper first. Mu Qing was able to pull out his own sword to block its attack in time.
Shen Minyao stood unmoving in her place, while Li Fei'er chanted a spell to protect the two of them from the attacks, but it proved to be hard, especially for someone as inexperienced as her. Just as her spiritual barrier around them was about to break, Shen Minyao dragged Li Fei'er by leaping away from the fake copies of themselves.
"So what do we now?" Li Fei'er unconsciously tightened her hold on Shen Minyao's arm and looked at Mu Qing, who was struggling against his doppelgänger.
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