Eldritch Horror Theatre

Of course, that was a scream only Fu Qian could hear.

Really? Was it that bad?

Fu Qian, who was currently shooting the breeze with the bald boss, was caught slightly off guard.

He hadn't expected this girl to be the first one to crack.

And she still thought she could scheme against him with this kind of nerve?

The terror in her voice, however, was undeniable. This girl was supposed to be one of the more fiercely resilient ones in the group. Just what could have frightened her like this?

With this question in mind, Fu Qian quickly located the ball of light belonging to Tan Ying.

Upon making contact, a scene quickly surfaced in his mind.

In the dim light, he could tell she was inside an enclosed room.

Uh!

A moment later, Fu Qian realized she was looking in a mirror.

It was a dark red, antique-style floor mirror, almost as tall as a person.

Under the faint light, the reflection was even dimmer, filled with shifting, indistinct shadows.

Mirrors were common props in horror scenes. Fortunately, the haunted house boss hadn't been tacky enough to smear red paint all over it.

From the reflection, he could make out a small classroom. The overall decor was old and dilapidated, looking as though it had been abandoned for years.

The design was fairly decent, but at a glance, nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary.

So what exactly had terrified Eldest Miss Tan so badly?

Fu Qian wondered silently.

Tan Ying was terrified; there was no doubt about that.

Although she hadn't screamed out loud, her heart was clearly racing, her limbs were stiff, and she was biting her lip hard.

Following her gaze, Fu Qian realized she was looking at a photograph through the mirror—it was clearly an old, black-and-white photo taped to the wall behind her.

It appeared to be a class graduation photo. There weren't many people in it, just a dozen or so innocent-looking elementary school students.

More than half the girls even had ear-length bob cuts.

It didn't seem like anything special.

After a quick scan, Fu Qian still couldn't find anything amiss.

"What's wrong?"

Someone else had noticed Tan Ying's abnormal state.

Despite still being shaken herself, Pei Yanqing tugged on Tan Ying's hand and asked with a trace of concern.

"...It's nothing."

Tan Ying dragged her gaze away from the mirror with difficulty, her smile somewhat forced.

"It's just this photo..."

"The one on the wall? There's nothing special about it, right? Since when did you become so timid?"

Qin Mingze looked at Tan Ying strangely.

However, the usually high-spirited Tan Ying didn't rush to refute him; instead, she stared straight at the photo on the wall.

"There's nothing wrong... How could that be?"

She shook her head subconsciously, looking as if her entire worldview had been shaken.

"What's going on? Don't scare yourself."

Tan Ying's reaction had even made Young Master Qin nervous.

"Just now, in the mirror's reflection..."

Tan Ying swallowed hard.

"I saw that one of them had my face."

...

At these words, the entire group drew a collective breath of cold air.

"Your eyes must be playing tricks on you. Why didn't I notice anything?"

Recovering his wits, Qin Mingze reflexively retorted.

"Stand here."

Tan Ying stepped aside, motioning for him to take her spot.

"Alright."

Qin Mingze shrugged. Under the dim, yellow light, he looked through the mirror at the old photo on the wall behind him.

The next moment, his body suddenly jerked.

In that yellowed photograph, the student at the very edge of the back row had shockingly taken on his face.

Not only that, but with blood-amber pupils and a ghastly pale face, it didn't look human at all.

"You see it?"

A moment later, Tan Ying patted his shoulder.

...

The shocked Young Master Qin stammered for a moment.

"I see it..."

Before he could say anything more, however, Pei Yanqing spoke up blankly from the side.

"And it doesn't seem to be just me..."

"Yeah, I think I see a few of us in there."

Beside her, He Xian's voice was also trembling.

All of them?

Tan Ying subconsciously looked again.

Sure enough, in the dim light, she quickly found more than one familiar face.

The eerie feeling was as if the six of them had once been classmates at this dilapidated school, returning to the classroom after many years.

"Why don't we head out first?"

Young Master Qin suggested reflexively, even patting Jiang Yuanliang beside him.

"Let's not scare Xiao Qian's guests."

Ah!

Unexpectedly, at his pat, the latter violently shuddered and cried out.

"Is it really that serious?"

Young Master Qin asked, forcing a facade of calm.

"N-no..."

Being stared at by several beautiful women, Jiang Yuanliang looked quite ashamed.

"I was just thinking... isn't it a bit too coincidental that all of us gathered together and showed up here today?"

...

As the saying goes, some things don't bear close scrutiny. As soon as Jiang Yuanliang said this, the other five felt a wave of horror wash over them.

It truly was a case where bystanders see clearly!

Although they each had their own reasons, the fact that their group had all gathered here today really was a bit... and then there was this photo.

This was just a place similar to an amusement park; how could something so eerie happen here?

"It's just a coincidence. It doesn't mean anything."

By now, even Young Master Qin's face had gone pale.

"As for the photo, there has to be some explanation."

"Like what?"

"Like... there's a hidden camera that secretly took pictures of us, and then photoshopped them into the image using technical means."

"That's not entirely impossible."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Yuanliang couldn't help but agree. At this moment, he truly needed an explanation.

"The prerequisite being that the mirror is actually a screen."

Pei Yanqing was relatively calm at this moment, reaching out to press her hand directly against the wall behind her.

Hmm?

Seeing her cover the photo, Tan Ying immediately understood her intent.

Turning to look at the mirror, in the reflected scene, the photo was similarly covered up.

"It really is a reflection, not some special screen."

Pei Yanqing's voice was already shaking slightly as she spoke.

"Let's just leave."

Young Master Qin subconsciously went to pull open the back door.

From their previous observations, this should have been the exit.

However, as he violently yanked on it, the door surprisingly didn't budge an inch.

"We seem to be tra—"

For a moment, Young Master Qin felt his tongue stiffen.

"Trapped?"

Just then, the door was pulled open from the outside.

This sudden movement made all six people in the room jump in fright, their hearts pounding.

However, Tan Ying quickly recognized whose voice it was, and she inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why are you here?"

"I thought I heard someone scream."

Fu Qian said as he walked up to the six of them, raising his head to look into the mirror.

Everything was normal.

He had heard their entire conversation just now, but unfortunately, at this very moment, the photo reflected in the mirror appeared completely normal to him.

Was it really because his Rank was too high?

Fu Qian shook his head.

The reason this was happening was actually quite simple—this Mirror was the same type of object as Tan Ying's Bracelet; it was an existence akin to transcendent items.

And just now, all six people in the room had been mentally affected.

As for why he hadn't reacted, the reason was likely quite simple—as a Demigod, he exceeded the limits of that thing's abilities and was completely immune.

"Let's go."

Actually, it wasn't just Tan Ying. After Fu Qian entered the room, the group had almost simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief and began calling out to leave.

"Wait a minute!"

Unfortunately, in the next moment, all the color drained from Tan Ying's face. She whipped her head around to look at Fu Qian, the hand she was using to point at the mirror trembling.

"You... you... why isn't your face in there?"

Heh heh!

Fu Qian gave a sinister chuckle, looking at her meaningfully.

"What do you think?"

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