Volume 11: The Days of Traversing Through the Mirror
The Last Mirror
What is her goal?
Shen Maomao was certain that these girls were the same group she had encountered with the Egg Spirits last time.
If nothing else, that short-haired blonde one had probably been traumatized by her into having PTSD, which was why she couldn’t help but want to run the moment she saw her.
She didn’t consider it shameful; on the contrary, she considered it an honor1. She looked at Zhan Xin, who was hiding silently under the sink, and said, “Do you all have nothing better to do all day? Just engaging in school bullying here every single day?”
A girl with a ponytail said, “She stole someone’s stuff. What’s wrong with us teaching her a lesson?”
“If she stole something, you can call the cops. Why bully someone in private?”
“What business is it of yours? She begged us not to call the cops herself. The actual victim hasn’t even said anything, so why are you being so meddlesome? Is your zodiac the licking dog?2 What’s so great about a thief like her to lick up to?”
Shen Maomao: “Ah, this…” So she really was being nosy.
Lou Jingmo, who was behind her, took out a dagger and tossed it in her hand a couple of times. “You dare curse at just anyone? You still have to consider the owner before you beat a dog.”3
Shen Maomao burst out laughing with a pfft.
She had been feeling pretty down, but Lou Jingmo’s protective jab immediately dispelled her annoyance. “Watch your mouth. I’m only the licking dog for my honey.” Saying this, she slung an arm over Lou Jingmo’s shoulder and put on an expression of extreme fragility.
The girls: “…” ARE YOU GUYS SICK IN THE HEAD?!!
After her shameless display, Shen Maomao’s expression turned serious. “Alright, break it up. She has asthma. If something really happens, you’ll all be murderers.”
“Who are you trying to scare?” a young girl mumbled.
She really wasn’t trying to scare them.
When it happened, they weren’t on the scene, so no one would come to save Zhan Xin, and that was how she died.
Shen Maomao pulled out her knife. “I’m not scaring you, I’m threatening you.” She pointed at Peng Xiaorui outside. “See that person? I cut her.”
The girls were stunned for a moment.
“Did you hear the explosion upstairs?” Shen Maomao continued. “I set it off. So can you all leave now? I’m going to blow this place up next, and you’re really in the way.”
The girls were on the verge of a breakdown. “Just who are you?”
Shen Maomao: “I’m nobody, and I don’t mean anything by it. I just wanted to help you fulfill your dream of blowing up the school. No need to thank me, my name is Lei Feng.”4
…
In the end, the girls were scared off by her, probably thinking she had some kind of mental illness.
Shen Maomao pulled Zhan Xin out from under the sink and said, “Still alive?”
Zhan Xin opened her eyes, which were filled with tears, and said weakly, “Thank you…”
Shen Maomao: “Save the thanks and go turn yourself in. If this keeps up, they’re going to get you killed.”
Zhan Xin shook her head, a look of terror in her eyes. “No… The police can’t know! Otherwise my parents will find out too…”
Shen Maomao: “Is your image more important, or is your life?”
Zhan Xin bit her lip and didn’t speak.
Shen Maomao added, “Things have blown up so much now that practically the whole school knows about you. Your parents will find out sooner or later. Whether it’s because of a mental illness or for the thrill of it, you stole something and made a mistake, but it’s not a crime punishable by death. You shouldn’t be subjected to this kind of abuse.”
For something worth a few thousand yuan, under criminal law, if she actively returned the item and apologized, she would be sentenced to six months or less of fixed-term imprisonment at most.
Tears streamed from Zhan Xin’s eyes. “You’re not me, how could you know my difficulties?! I deserve to be treated like this! Stop trying to save me. Once they’ve vented enough, they won’t come looking for me anymore.”
Shen Maomao almost laughed in anger. “Can being an ostrich solve the problem? If you hide your head in the sand, people won’t be able to see your ass? How do you know they won’t come looking for you again after they’ve ‘vented enough’? Look at the current situation—the violence against you has already escalated from one dorm room to an entire department, and the scope is still expanding. Have you been on your school’s forum? It’s filled with people cursing you and Wu Huiling. Living in an environment like this, do you think your mental state can be good? Is that helpful for your condition? Or do you think they’ll just stop after you get used to the violence?”
Zhan Xin broke down and shoved her. “WHO ARE YOU?! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO MAKE DECISIONS FOR ME?! YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING THIS FOR MY OWN GOOD? I ALREADY SAID I’M WILLING, SO WHY ARE YOU BEING SO DAMN NOSY?!”
Shen Maomao staggered back two steps and was caught by Lou Jingmo.
Lou Jingmo looked at her, a cold smile playing on her lips. “Are you sure you’re willing? You don’t hate them one bit? Didn’t you just steal a necklace? Her family is so rich, why is she making such a big deal over this necklace with you?”
Zhan Xin stared at her in shock, as if she had forgotten how to speak.
Lou Jingmo continued, “It’s not like you didn’t return it to her, so why is she still so relentless? What right does she have to talk about you like that online? She doesn’t know anything but spreads baseless rumors, causing the image you’ve cultivated for so many years to be undone by the lack of a final basket of earth5. She’s simply a bitch. Why would anyone still like a bitch like that?”
Shen Maomao: Is this…
Lou Jingmo: It’s what she’s thinking.
Zhan Xin’s mouth opened and closed before she finally found her voice. “I… I don’t know what nonsense you’re talking about… Are you trying to say you can read minds? That’s a little too fake.”
Lou Jingmo: “If you truly are as you say—not hateful at all, not resentful at all, feeling that you brought this all upon yourself—then why did you turn into this ghostly form?”
Zhan Xin’s eyes flew wide open.
Shen Maomao tugged on Lou Jingmo’s sleeve. “Is it okay to just tell her like this?”
Lou Jingmo stated faintly, “Without destruction, there is no establishment.”6
The statement was dripping with pretentiousness.
Shen Maomao pulled her back two steps, watching as Zhan Xin’s expression shifted from shock to confusion, and finally to a bottomless darkness. She stood up straight, and a hand emerged from behind her back, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws7 as it thrashed about in the small space.
“Thank you,” Zhan Xin’s lips curled into a smile. “If it weren’t for you two, I might have had to be bullied here forever.”
Lou Jingmo’s expression was impassive.
Peng Xiaorui, who had been watching the drama from the side, asked quizzically, “What does she mean by that?”
Zhan Xin glanced at her and smiled. “I always forget that I’m already dead. Now I don’t have to be afraid of them anymore. I admit, I’m no saint, but they’re just the same as me. I stole something, and they killed me. It seems like I got the worse end of the deal no matter how you look at it.”
Shen Maomao sighed. “You get revenge on me, I get revenge on you. This will never end.”
“That has nothing to do with you,” Zhan Xin said. “This is between us. Thank you for being willing to save me, but please don’t interfere in what comes next.”
Shen Maomao: “We wouldn’t have time to interfere even if you wanted us to. Since it’s come to this, let’s part ways here. One separation, two reliefs; may we each find peace on our own8. Don’t think of us.”
With that, she turned to walk out.
“Wait a minute.” Zhan Xin called out to them. “I have a rough idea of what you’re looking for. I can point you in the right direction. If you have any questions, you might as well go ask Zhang Xiao.”
Shen Maomao turned to look at her.
Zhan Xin smiled. “Why do you think I died? They would only teach me a lesson, but they would never lock me in the bathroom, because they were also afraid of taking responsibility if something happened to me… The one who locked me in that day was Zhang Xiao.”
Shen Maomao was utterly confused.
What was Zhang Xiao’s deal? How was it that Wu Huiling was at odds with her, and Zhan Xin’s death was also related to her? What on earth did she want?
Shen Maomao: “Thanks.”
Zhan Xin: “No need. We don’t owe each other anything now.”
“Wait…” Shen Maomao had just opened her mouth when Zhan Xin vanished into thin air, off to seek revenge on who knows who. She slammed her fist in frustration and said, “This is fucking… I forgot to tell her we’re going to blow up her home.”
This wasn’t not owing each other anything; they were about to demolish her house!
Lou Jingmo smiled. “It’s fine. If we run a little faster, she won’t be able to catch us.”
…
They really did run quite fast.
The group switched to a different mirror and, with sparks and lightning all the way, blew up eight floors in a row. Not a single mirror was spared.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t find Zhang Xiao, nor did they see Wu Huiling or Zhan Xin again. The three of them seemed to have vanished from the school.
The mirrors that had been blown up were basically all shattered and could no longer suck people in. As they progressed, they also discovered that the worlds within the mirrors were slowly merging.
The Egg Spirits, the giant bronze statue, and those very, very hungry monsters all began to appear in the same world. The ordinary students were already scared silly. Shen Maomao, on the other hand, felt a sense of relief. At the very least, this proved they were working in the right direction; Lou Jingmo was right. People from other worlds wouldn’t be lost in the mirrors but would instead be merged into the existing world.
But as the number of enterable mirrors dwindled, their hearts grew more and more anxious. Later, the group not only blew up the College of Humanities’ mirrors but also all the enterable mirrors in the two adjacent colleges and the library. Their explosion spheres were completely used up, yet the exit Lou Jingmo had mentioned was still nowhere to be found.
Bai Lu voiced her suspicion. “Is your method really going to work?”
Shen Maomao: “Isn’t the merging of the worlds the best proof? The fact that this is happening can only mean we missed a mirror, or maybe there’s something we haven’t considered—at the very least, we still haven’t accomplished the task Zhan Xin gave us to find Zhang Xiao.”
Lou Jingmo didn’t care what others thought. After Shen Maomao finished, she dropped a single, faint sentence: “Those unwilling to follow can find an exit on their own.”
Bai Lu pressed her lips together. Peng Xiaorui quickly tugged at her and tried to smooth things over. “Xuejie9, they’re really amazing. I think this method is viable. Don’t worry, let’s keep looking together.”
Bai Lu took a deep breath. “Sorry, I’m just not used to entrusting my life to others. But I don’t have any leads at the moment, so let’s do as you say.”
Lou Jingmo gave no indication of agreement or refusal.
Shen Maomao seized the opportunity to take command. “Alright, let’s split up and look for Zhang Xiao. If anyone finds anything, call Gan Ze, and Gan Ze will contact the rest of us. Peng Xiaorui, you stay put. Find a safe place and keep an eye on Number One. Just wait for us to contact you.”
The group all nodded in agreement and went their separate ways.
Since everyone was going solo, it was naturally impossible for Shen Maomao to go with Lou Jingmo. She had originally wanted to check out Building No. 16, but Bai Lu beat her to it, so she had no choice but to exit the school via the East Gate and wander around the snack street outside.
She felt that Zhang Xiao was either in Building No. 16 or Building No. 18. Since Bai Lu went to 16 and Gan Ze went to 18, one of them was bound to find her. So, she wasn’t in much of a hurry on her end. She ambled forward slowly, wanting to see how far she had to walk to reach the edge of the instance.
Before long, she saw a white curtain in the distance. Only when she got closer did she realize that the whiteness was purely a visual illusion created by the extreme density of willow catkins.
She had previously wondered if the world inside the instance was a parallel universe of reality. But parallel universes were real, so they had no boundaries and no end. A game world was the exact opposite; if she walked just a few more steps, she would see a “No Trespassing” sign.
She looked up at the sky.
Was that unknown creator up there, beyond the firmament, observing their group of ants struggling to survive with an expression of pity?
Was the creator correct? And what was the difference between what It was doing and what the Egg Spirits in this instance were doing?
Shen Maomao found that she couldn’t figure out what the game creator was thinking. How did it view its own actions?
She retracted her gaze, preparing to head back. As soon as she turned, she was met with a Lou Jingmo who had been waiting for who knows how long.
Lou Jingmo looked at her and asked, “What are you looking at?”
Shen Maomao: “Look at that cloud in the sky. Doesn’t it look like cotton candy?”
Lou Jingmo smiled. “You observed for so long and that’s all you discovered?”
Shen Maomao said, “Well, I’m too dumb. I don’t want to think so much, it’s too taxing on the brain. This kid isn’t smart to begin with.”
Lou Jingmo: “No, Shen Maomao, you’re smarter than anyone.”
Shen Maomao pursed her lips into a smile, an exceptionally shy one. “Smarter than you, too?”
Lou Jingmo nodded. “Smarter than me. That’s why you could tell at a glance that I’m a fake.”
Shen Maomao feigned surprise. “What are you talking about? What fake?”
Lou Jingmo voluntarily took two steps back. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”
Shen Maomao looked at her and said nothing.
The fake Lou Jingmo added, “I know you won’t trust me, but you all should be leaving soon, so we couldn’t resist coming out to see you.”
Shen Maomao seized on the key word. “We?”
Fake Lou Jingmo: “Yes, we.”
“The worlds in the mirrors are merging, and the ‘yous’ from the other mirrors have all come out. Although we are all replicas, we all have the same memories and personalities as the originals. And our emotions are even more intense than the original’s.”
Shen Maomao was lost in thought.
So this meant she was about to face countless Lou Jingmos who were fanatically in love with her?
The thought of it was actually pretty exciting.
The fake Lou Jingmo continued, “I was closest to you, so I found you first. You’re just as cute as I remember.”
Shen Maomao never would have thought that an old pro like herself would blush over a sweet nothing from an imposter.
If the real Lou Jingmo were this straightforward, their kids would be in kindergarten by now, okay?!
The fake Lou Jingmo really did seem to have just come to see her, so she chatted with her aimlessly. After they had talked about completely meaningless topics for a while, the imposter suddenly asked, “What do you think is the essence of this game?”
Shen Maomao: “Zeros and ones, I guess.”
“Then to you, isn’t the game creator just a programmer?”
“Maybe?”
“The program has already been written. Unfortunately, the programmer has Their own ideas, so They always want to make changes to the program. This makes the program very distressed, you know.”
Shen Maomao narrowed her eyes, a habitual action for when she started thinking about important things.
The imposter didn’t stop, but continued, “Maomao, if only you were a programmer too.”
Shen Maomao: “What do you mean?”
The imposter smiled, a look of innocence on her face. “I don’t mean anything. It’s not your major, so you can’t be a programmer. You should just be good and let the original take care of you.”
Shen Maomao wanted to press for more, but her phone suddenly rang. She had to put the imposter aside for a moment and answer the call.
On the phone, Gan Ze said, “It seems like Bai Lu found something. She wants us to hurry to Building No. 16, room 5043.”
“Okay, I’m on my way. You notify the others.” She hung up and looked at the imposter behind her. “Can you leave with me?”
The imposter shook her head. “Regrettably, I can’t. Otherwise… I would definitely go fight the original in a you-die-I-live struggle.”10
“What?” The last part was too quiet for Shen Maomao to hear clearly, but for some reason, she felt that the imposter’s smile looked a little dangerous.
The imposter said, “It’s nothing. Don’t trust me too much, you little fool. Do you know why the other Lous haven’t appeared?”
Shen Maomao played along. “Why?”
The imposter: “Because I killed them all.”
Shen Maomao sucked in a breath of cold air.
So this Lou Jingmo was a bingjiao11 version. How thrilling!
As she walked back, Shen Maomao consoled her, “There are still a lot of ‘me’s’ in the mirrors. You killed all the Sister Lous. Are you planning to enjoy the bliss of having me all to yourself?”
“Tsk.” The fake Lou Jingmo scoffed. “What’s so interesting about that bunch of imposters.”
Shen Maomao thought to herself, Aren’t you an imposter too? But she didn’t dare say it out loud. She just flashed a sweet smile and said to the imposter, “Well, I’m going to go meet up with my teammates now, okay? You be careful here on your own.”
The imposter smiled again. “You too. Live to the end, okay?”
Shen Maomao didn’t look back, just waved a couple of times with her back to her, then ran all the way to Building No. 16.
She ran into Peng Xiaorui, who was carrying Number One on her back, in the lobby of Building 16.
Before the two could even meet up, Peng Xiaorui touched the back of her own head and then showed her the bloody hole on Number One’s finger. She could be said to be extremely self-aware.
Shen Maomao had no other way to verify, so she grimaced and cut a small opening less than a centimeter long on her own hand, then squeezed out a drop of blood for Peng Xiaorui to see.
Peng Xiaorui passed the verification and joined the team without a hint of suspicion. She ran upstairs with her, asking as they went, “Did you find anything?”
Shen Maomao: “I saw my girlfriend’s imposter. She said that whenever we enter a mirror world, a corresponding version of us is created in that world. Now all the worlds have merged, so… you get it.”
“Fuck.” Peng Xiaorui cursed. “I hate these ‘real or fake’ games the most!”
Shen Maomao: “Actually, the imposters seem pretty…”
“Pretty what?” Lou Jingmo took a step forward, emerging from the shadows, her expression inscrutable as she looked at her.
Shen Maomao swallowed. “I mean… the imitations are pretty good, but I still recognized the real one from the fake one at a glance, because Qingqing is unique and one-of-a-kind in my heart.”
Peng Xiaorui spat. “No backbone!”
Lou Jingmo smiled faintly. “Wasn’t it because we were coming from two different directions?”
Shen Maomao said, “That was part of the reason, but it’s not a big deal. Alright, let’s stop dwelling on such meaningless issues! Let’s get inside, quickly!” Saying this, she pushed Lou Jingmo’s back and urged her forward.
The door to Zhang Xiao’s dorm room was wide open. Inside stood only Gan Ze; there was no sign of Bai Lu or Zhang Xiao.
Peng Xiaorui placed Number One on the bed and asked strangely, “Where’s Xuejie? Where’d she go?”
Gan Ze shook her head. “I don’t know. The door was open when I got here, and no one was inside. I called Bai Lu, but she didn’t answer. But look over here.”
The group followed the direction she was pointing and only then noticed the person-high mirror on the side of the cabinet.
“I was afraid I’d lose contact with you all, so I didn’t touch it,” Gan Ze said.
Shen Maomao reached out her hand. “I’ll try. Peng Xiaorui, don’t forget Number One.”
“Got it,” Peng Xiaorui replied, hoisting up Number One, whom she had just put down, only to have Gan Ze tug on the hem of her clothes.
Shen Maomao placed her hand on the mirror’s surface and pushed hard. As expected, the mirror became soft and a huge suction force emanated from within.
In the blink of an eye, the group was sucked into the mirror and landed on solid ground.
They were now in a dormitory hallway. Shen Maomao looked up and saw a doorplate that read 3046.
This was their dorm room.
The hushed whispers of several girls came from the crack in the door. “Do we really have to do this?”
“Isn’t it a bit too much?”
“What’s too much about it? When she was hitting Zhang Xiao, she didn’t think she was being too much, did she? Right, Zhang Xiao?”
Zhang Xiao’s voice sounded. “I’m not that angry, really… but I heard from someone that she seems to have AIDS… You know how AIDS is. Usually, there’s nothing wrong, and the school definitely won’t make her move out of the dorm. I’m moving out soon, so it’s not a big deal for me, but you guys will have to live in fear.”
“What? AIDS?!”
“Oh my god, I knew a slut like her would get sick sooner or later.”
“With her thick skin, she definitely won’t move out. Let’s just do it Zhang Xiao’s way. We’ll scare her away and make her go to the Counselor12 to move out herself.”
Zhang Xiao said, “Then let’s stick to the plan. I’ll… first, and then you guys…”
What followed was their discussion on how to scare Wu Huiling. The dorm room filled with the girls’ sly laughter.
The current timeline should be before Wu Huiling’s death.
Shen Maomao had always thought Wu Huiling was scared to death by a ghost. She never expected that she was scared to death by her own roommates, nor that the mastermind behind it all was the sunny-smiled Zhang Xiao.
Why did Zhang Xiao do this? What is her goal? This was the one thing she couldn’t figure out.
Peng Xiaorui said, “Forget about them. Can we look for Xuejie first?”
Bai Lu’s voice came from the stairwell. “No need to look, I’m here!”
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