Volume One, Chapter Nine: The Phantom Mirror

"She is the fake one!"

"You are the fake one!"

The two Li Weis, both real and fake, were arguing incessantly, each pointing the finger at the other. Regardless of their voices or appearances, they were completely identical.

"Boss, I checked. Neither of them has a reflection in the mirror." Wang Defa held up a compact mirror toward the pair, discovering that the mirror could not reflect their images at all.

"It is not necessarily that they lack a reflection; it is also possible that the reflection has escaped from the mirror." Chu Xinghe stroked his chin, a hypothesis forming in his mind.

According to what Wei Hongying had said earlier, the abilities of anomalies were strange and varied—there was nothing they could not do, only things one could not imagine. An individual from a mirror escaping into reality sounded absurd, but when it came to an anomaly, it was perfectly normal.

Yet, was it really as simple as it looked? If so, this second anomaly was far too harmless. The "luring the tiger to fight the wolf" strategy he had envisioned required a ferocious tiger, not a harmless kitten.

"So, are we still proceeding with the original plan?" Wang Defa felt a chill just looking at the two identical Li Weis.

"We have no choice." After saying this, Chu Xinghe looked at the two not far away. "Stop arguing, both of you. Whoever leads us to the anomaly first is the real one."

He had no time to distinguish between the real and the fake now. Even if he could tell them apart, what would it change? Whether it was the real Li Wei or the fake one, as long as they led them to the anomaly, they were a "good" Li Wei.

"Humph, I will definitely prove that I am the real one. Everyone, follow me."

"You imposter, don't you dare steal my words!"

The two Li Weis, despite their bickering, obediently led the way. They knew very well that whoever failed to cooperate would be immediately branded as the fake.

...

The silent commercial street was illuminated only by the cold glow of the LED signs at the entrances.

"It’s right here, but I don't know the exact spot. Maybe this imposter knows." Li Wei looked at the other version of herself and said with a sinister tone.

"I don't know either. Stop trying to sow discord." The second Li Wei tossed her head.

Chu Xinghe couldn't be bothered with their mutual attacks. He turned to Wang Defa and Wei Hongying and said, "From now on, keep a close eye on mirrors and similar objects. Since it is an anomaly, it will inevitably be different from an ordinary mirror. If you notice anything wrong, sound the alarm immediately."

Wei Hongying and Wang Defa nodded. Without realizing it, they had grown accustomed to following Chu Xinghe's arrangements, even though they were the ones who were veteran "reborn" individuals.

"I'll help too." The first Li Wei raised her hand eagerly. Whether she could actually find it was one thing, but she had to show the right attitude.

"Me too," the second Li Wei followed suit.

"Then I'll trouble you both." Chu Xinghe did not refuse, though he didn't expect them to be of any real help.

...

Chu Xinghe and his group searched the commercial street shop by shop, but after checking a dozen, they found nothing unusual.

"Could it not be on this street?" Seeing that they were almost at the end of the street, Chu Xinghe could not help but doubt his own judgment.

"Young Master Chu, over here, look!" The Li Wei in front suddenly called him over, as if she had discovered something.

Chu Xinghe, Wei Hongying, and Wang Defa exchanged glances and jogged over to join her. It was a women's clothing store; tall mannequins wearing the latest seasonal styles stood before an exquisite display window.

But what truly caught Chu Xinghe's attention was not the colorful clothes, but the shattered display window and the shards of glass covering the floor.

"Young Master Chu, all the shops we passed were perfectly fine. Only this clothing store was smashed. Could there be a problem?" the first Li Wei asked, as if seeking credit.

"Pfft, what does that prove? The scene is so messy, maybe someone wanted to fish in troubled waters. After all, any piece of clothing here is worth over a hundred thousand," the second Li Wei retorted defiantly.

"No, that's not it." Chu Xinghe crouched down, observing the glass shards in the dim light. "The glass is all on the exterior side, which means the display window was broken from the inside."

Once this inference was made, Wei Hongying and Wang Defa immediately became alert. Breaking a window from the outside was nothing unusual, but breaking it from the inside was quite intriguing.

Imagine who would need to break a display window from the inside. Setting aside the remote possibility of a clumsy person locking themselves in, the only other explanation was someone who had appeared in the shop out of thin air.

"If I'm not mistaken, one of you came out of here, right?" Chu Xinghe looked at the two Li Weis with an oppressive gaze, trying to force them to reveal a flaw.

"It's her, it must be her! She even tried to mislead us just now!" The first Li Wei pointed an accusatory finger at the second, relieved to have finally caught her in a trap.

"You're lying! It was clearly you. Otherwise, how could you be the first to find it? It's because you were the one who broke this window!" The second Li Wei grew anxious and immediately bit back.

Watching the two of them bicker like dogs, Chu Xinghe still couldn't tell them apart. He wasn't familiar with Li Wei to begin with; if it had been someone he actually knew, there might have been a chance.

"Forget it. Hongying, you watch them from outside. Wang Defa and I will go inside to take a look." Chu Xinghe hesitated for a moment but quickly made his decision.

"No problem." Wang Defa patted his chest and prepared to follow Chu Xinghe into the store.

"Wait, I'm going in with you." Wei Hongying intercepted Wang Defa. She knew Chu Xinghe too well; even a momentary hesitation was enough for her to know what he intended to do.

"Sister-in-law, let me go with the boss instead." Wang Defa knew it would be dangerous inside, but he wasn't so cowardly as to let a woman take the lead.

"Specialist Wang Defa, that is an order." Wei Hongying's tone was firm.

Wang Defa scratched his head and looked helplessly at Chu Xinghe. It wasn't that he didn't want to go, but he couldn't afford to offend the sister-in-law either.

"Sigh..." Chu Xinghe sighed. "Then come with me, but you must do exactly as I say."

"I have always listened to you, haven't I?" A gentle expression appeared on Wei Hongying's face, as if the person with the firm tone just a moment ago wasn't her.

And so, Wang Defa remained outside to keep watch and guard the two Li Weis, while Chu Xinghe and Wei Hongying stepped over the shards of glass and into the dark store.

In such a prime commercial district, the clothing store was small, and one could basically see from one end to the other at a glance.

Accompanied by the harsh beam of the flashlight, pale figures looked at them with expressionless faces—the store's mannequins. But no one could guarantee that something strange hadn't mingled among them.

Even as bold as Chu Xinghe was, a chill couldn't help but crawl down his spine, and his palms were sweating uncontrollably. At that moment, Wei Hongying's warm palm pressed against his, and she gave him a faint smile.

"Thank you." Feeling the warmth from her palm, the chill in his heart dissipated significantly. The two walked a bit further inside.

"There is something reflecting light over there." Wei Hongying waved the military flashlight in her hand and quickly found what they were looking for—a full-length mirror as tall as a person.

It was a mirror standing perpendicular to them. From their angle, Chu Xinghe could see that the base was made of antique, hollowed-out rosewood. The patina on the wood looked quite aged, clashing with the trendy clothing store.

Wei Hongying wanted to step forward to investigate, but Chu Xinghe was faster. He grabbed a long dress from a nearby rack and threw it over the mirror, covering its surface.

"This must be the mirror. The angle faces the end of the street perfectly. If we had walked any further earlier, we would have been caught by its reflection too." Chu Xinghe arrived at the mirror first and draped another layer of clothing over it.

If his deduction was correct, the trigger condition for this mirror was for a person to appear within its field of vision. It was highly likely that Li Wei had been caught by the mirror when she ran past the end of the street.

"Have you ever considered that it might just be an ordinary mirror?" Wei Hongying walked slowly to Chu Xinghe's side, staring at him intensely.

"It won't be. Based on Li Wei's account and the glass shards in front of the window, all evidence points to this mirror being the second anomaly we are looking for," Chu Xinghe said, pretending to be calm. Whether it was or not, it *had* to be.

"Answer my question! What if it's just an ordinary mirror!" Wei Hongying's eyes were red, and her voice was trembling.

"..."

Chu Xinghe could not answer that. What else could he say? The bald man had already tested it with his life; if it wasn't an anomaly, then death was the only outcome.

"Where in this world is there a hundred-percent guarantee? We don't have time to verify it slowly." Chu Xinghe avoided Wei Hongying's gaze as he spoke.

"There is a way, isn't there?" Wei Hongying placed her hand on the fabric covering the mirror. The verification method was simple: she only needed to look into the mirror to know.

Chu Xinghe grabbed her hand, his mouth filled with bitterness. This was exactly why he hadn't wanted Wei Hongying to come along.

"It's too dangerous. No one knows what hidden dangers exist if the person from the mirror escapes. Anomalies only bring misfortune; that is what you taught me." Chu Xinghe did not believe there was such a thing as a harmless anomaly. Just look at the two Li Weis outside—one of them had been lying the whole time, and the purpose was self-evident.

"Alright then. Since you won't let me verify it, I will be the one to use this mirror to contain that severed ghost finger later." Wei Hongying wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes, her expression turning resolute.

"That... that won't work either." Chu Xinghe's tone was full of helplessness. Just as Wei Hongying had said, what if it *was* just an ordinary mirror? He could not let her gamble with her life.

"Then you can do it?" Wei Hongying could no longer hold back her tears. She hugged Chu Xinghe tightly and sobbed, "You are always like this, carrying everything on your own shoulders. I want to help you too, even if it's just this once..."

It had been the same in her previous life. She could only watch as Chu Xinghe boarded a rocket to the moon to confront that world-ending anomaly, unable to do anything else.

Chu Xinghe opened his mouth but could not find words of comfort; his heart was a mixture of complex emotions. It was during this moment of distraction that the full-length mirror vanished into thin air.

"No!"

By the time he realized what had happened, it was too late. Wei Hongying had pushed him away with force, and the sleek surface of the mirror clearly reflected her beautiful, smiling face.

*In this life, I have finally been able to help you.*