Ancient Mirror Mystery

Chapter 6

"These are all my classmates; we are all Professor Yu's students!"

Ningxia nodded amicably to the young men, sat down to one side, looked around the room, seemingly not seeing Professor Yu, and softly asked Fang Jian, "Where is Professor Yu?"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the living room fell silent, and the atmosphere became awkward. Ningxia felt a little apprehensive, wondering if she had said something wrong.

Professor Yu's wife started crying again. Fang Jian, his face grave, whispered in Ningxia's ear, "Professor Yu had an accident the night before last!"

"What happened?"

"He was found unconscious in an abandoned house in Black Town. After being taken to the hospital, he died of heart failure this morning!" Fang Jian's words were like a bomb, leaving Ningxia almost completely devastated.

Abandoned houses in Blacktown!

Ningxia was momentarily lost in thought, staring blankly at Fang Jian. "Why don't you wait for me in the study? We can discuss Professor Yu's funeral arrangements!" Seeing Ningxia's terrified and helpless state, Fang Jian assumed that death had caused the girl to act erratically. He quickly helped her into the study to sit down, gently closed the door, and went to discuss the matter with his classmate.

Ningxia slumped into a wooden chair, unable to recover for a long time. Death again! What was happening? Why did death follow her so closely, like a shadow?

Messenger from hell? The thought flashed into Ningxia's mind, and she suddenly remembered something. She immediately raised her tear-streaked face and looked around for the purplish-brown box that she had left there a few days ago!

A matching box! Yes, that's it! The matching box that brought bad luck! Ningxia stopped crying and immediately began searching for the matching box in the three huge bookshelves in Professor Yu's study. But she only looked at the glass doors of the bookshelves; she didn't touch the cabinets below the bookshelves or the wooden boxes under the desk, after all, they belonged to someone else. Since the matching box wasn't placed in a visible place, Ningxia had no choice but to give up and wait for Fang Jian.

Professor Yu's desk was cluttered with books and manuscripts. He picked up a book on the desk, "Miscellaneous History of the Ming Dynasty," and started to look at it. However, he quickly put it down because the content was obscure. He then picked up a book on "Research on Ancient Chinese Mirrors," but he couldn't read more than a few pages. At this moment, a very old thread-bound book peeked out from under "Research on Ancient Chinese Mirrors." Ningxia curiously moved aside the basic research books on top and picked up the old thread-bound book.

The book, titled "Ancient Mirror's Discourses," is written vertically in traditional clerical script. It bears no author's signature, and all the pages are yellowed, some appearing to be soaked through with dark stains. Upon opening it, a suffocating musty smell assaults the nostrils. The text itself is also written in the same vertical traditional script. Based on these characteristics, it is clearly an ancient book published many years ago.

I flipped through it casually. Although the vertical traditional characters were difficult to read, the two characters "Black Town" that suddenly appeared caught Ningxia's attention. The text inside was all in classical Chinese, which was difficult to read, but I was deeply attracted by the content. The content was roughly as follows:

In the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, a high-ranking official surnamed Wei, who had once been in Beijing, was exiled to Heizhen after offending powerful figures. Because of his substantial family wealth, he became a local tyrant in Heizhen, a place far from the emperor's reach, and even the county magistrates at the time had to treat the Wei family with great respect.

An official surnamed Wei, named Quan, built a grand mansion after arriving in Heizhen. Inside, there were pavilions, terraces, bridges, and flowing water—almost a miniature royal garden. His astonishing wealth shocked the locals. Wei Quan boldly named the mansion "Qilin Pavilion."

What puzzled the locals was that Wei Quan, nearing forty, was still unmarried. The year after his mansion was built, he began asking matchmakers throughout the town to find a wife from a good family. He didn't care about social status, as long as she was gentle and obedient. As a result, families from within a radius of several miles around the town began bribing the few matchmakers in the area, hoping to marry their adult or underage daughters into the "Qilin Pavilion."

Finally, after comparing several options, Wei Quan married the only daughter of the local magistrate, silencing any other suitors. The magistrate's daughter began her life in the grand, secluded courtyard of the "Qilin Pavilion" amidst everyone's envy. The magistrate received a large dowry, thinking his daughter had finally married a wealthy man and could live a good life. However, less than three months later, the magistrate's daughter lost contact with her family and disappeared without a trace. The magistrate tried several times to visit her under various pretexts, but was always turned away, leaving him extremely frustrated.

The magistrate was furious. After returning to the county office, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He felt that his daughter had fallen into the tiger's den and could not get out. However, due to the laws of the time, he could only give up.

Wei Quan then married the daughter of a local merchant in a grand ceremony. Just like before, less than three months later, the merchant's daughter also lost contact with her family and seemed to have disappeared. A few days later, Wei Quan triumphantly announced that he would take another concubine.

The merchants, equally suspicious, sought out the county magistrate to discuss their next move. They decided to secretly send someone directly to the government office to file a complaint against Wei Quan. However, that very night, both the merchant's and the magistrate's residences simultaneously caught fire, consuming both families and leaving no survivors. The people of Black Town were terrified and began to have doubts, no longer willing to marry their daughters into the Wei family, lest they suffer the same fate.

However, Wei Quan took a liking to Ji Xue, the daughter of an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor, and forcibly wanted to marry her into the Wei family. The doctor's family dared not object and agreed. The next day, after being forced into marriage into the "Qilin Pavilion," Ji Xue began her bizarre and strange life in this grand mansion...

As Ningxia read this, she was interrupted by Fang Jian, who entered from the living room. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Ningxia closed "Tales of the Ancient Mirror."

"They left first!" Fang Jian couldn't hide his sadness.

At this moment, Professor Yu's wife came in and said to Fang Jian with a sob in her voice, "Thank you so much this time! Please try to take some of the books here back with you as souvenirs. I'm going back to my hometown, so please help me with the rest of the books!" With that, she suppressed her immense grief, left the study, and went to her bedroom to rest.

Seeing Professor Yu's grieving wife, Ningxia felt deeply for her. Thinking of the relatives and friends she had lost before, she couldn't help but shed tears again.

Fang Jian was puzzled. Ningxia had only met Professor Yu once, so why was she so grief-stricken? Seeing his questioning look, Ningxia told him about losing her good friend.

"Yes! Losing your closest loved one all at once is truly painful!" Fang Jian sighed, lowered his head, and stopped talking.

"Oh, right!" he suddenly said, "I asked my teacher's wife about your box, and she's never seen it before. So I wanted to ask her to come and look for it here. I only called you over after she agreed. These are the keys to all the cabinets that my teacher's wife gave us!" He then took out a bunch of keys.

The two began opening the locked cabinets of each bookcase to search for the doujinshi (compartment box), but strangely, apart from some scattered small ornaments, there was nothing there. Fang Jian then opened several antique mahogany boxes under the table, which contained some thread-bound ancient books, but there was still no trace of the doujinshi.

Fang Jian scratched his head: "That's strange! Where did Professor Yu put the things?"

At that moment, Ningxia was thinking that if she couldn't find anything better, she could finally get rid of this thing that brought her bad luck.

"Let's go! I don't want to look anymore!" Ningxia grabbed Fang Jian and prepared to leave.

"What are you talking about? That's a priceless antique! It's very valuable for research!" Fang Jian was a little annoyed by Ningxia's nonchalance. These antiques are records used by archaeologists to understand the social development of the time. These seemingly ordinary things often inadvertently record various details of the society at that time, making them very valuable for research. Moreover, there is a line of strange, indescribable writing on the back of that ancient mirror, which might unlock some secrets that even historians have struggled to explain.

After listening to Fang Jian's lecturing explanation, Ningxia had no choice but to stay. Seeing that Fang Jian was still persistently searching for Fang Lian, she could only sit on a stool at one end of the table and wait.

Fang Jian tapped a large vase standing in the corner of the study. It was a blue-and-white porcelain vase from the Ming Dynasty, with many scrolls of calligraphy and painting hanging inside. Fang Jian took all the scrolls out of the vase and reached inside to probe further. The vase was very deep; even with his entire arm inside, he could barely reach the bottom.

"There's a paper package inside!" Fang Jian stuck his head in, and a muffled voice came from inside. Ning Xia quickly got up and went over. She saw him raise his head, his face flushed, holding a brown paper package. He put the scrolls back into the vase and hurriedly opened the package. Inside the brown paper package was another layer of white silk. Fang Jian opened the silk, and sure enough, the box was lying there unharmed.

As Ningxia held the box wrapped in white silk in her hands, her fingers, through the smooth texture of the silk, touched the exquisite carvings on the lid of the box again, and a very strange feeling welled up in her heart once more.

"Alright! It's finally back to its rightful owner," Fang Jian seemed relieved.

"Alright! Let's go!" Ningxia put the unsettling object into her backpack.

Fang Jian nodded: "You go first! I'll help Professor Yu check his books!"

Ningxia smiled, walked to the door, then suddenly remembered something and turned back: "Could I borrow that book to take a look at?" She pointed to the book "Ancient Mirror Tales" on the table.

Fang Jian immediately handed her the book: "You've already heard what your teacher's wife said. If you find it useful, you can keep it!"

Ningxia quickly said, "Then please thank your teacher's wife for me!"

Fang Jian smiled slightly: "Then I won't see you off!"

Carrying the box and the ancient book, Ning Kang returned home. The door was still tightly closed. He knocked gently, but it remained quiet inside.

Since Ning Kang returned, she didn't know what to say to him. He seemed to need comfort, but the moment Ning Xia tried to speak, he immediately left the living room and locked himself in his parents' study. So Ning Xia let him be; after all, she herself was extremely fragile, and if she said anything emotional, she might faint from crying. Returning to her room, she put the lacquer box in the drawer. Looking at the time, it wasn't even five o'clock yet. She opened the book, *Ancient Mirror Tales*, and a strong urge compelled her to continue reading from where she left off:

Ji Xue was neglected by Wei Quan on her first night of marriage. She waited all night, cold and hungry, and silently spent her first wedding night like this.

What followed was even stranger. Ji Xue was locked in the bridal chamber with a large iron lock. She only saw a middle-aged maid who brought her meals three times a day, and almost no one else. Being in the Wei mansion felt like falling into a lifeless, cold tomb, devoid of any vitality.

Finally, one day, Ji Xue couldn't resist leaving her room to wander around. She inadvertently stumbled upon a terrifying, abandoned garden belonging to the Wei family. Inside, she found a room locked with a large iron padlock, from which she could faintly hear strange, grating noises. She saw a horrifying face and fainted...

Ji Xue had learned that she, like the two previous wives, had been inexplicably imprisoned. She tried everything to escape, but was caught and brought back by the housekeeper and maids several times. Unable to escape, she spent her days staring blankly at a mirror she had brought from her family home...

"A mirror!" Upon seeing this, Ningxia suddenly had a strange feeling—another mirror! She quickly continued reading:

In this utterly desolate, hellish room, Ji Xue never saw a ray of sunlight for a long time. Apart from the maid who rarely uttered a word, she saw no other living beings. After countless days, Ji Xue discovered that she had grown white hair. Due to her prolonged confinement, she felt as if each day was an eternity, her mind was nearing madness, and she even contemplated suicide.

But her suicide attempts repeatedly failed, and eventually even the smallest object with a sharp edge was taken from her room. So she began a hunger strike. When the maid discovered that Ji Xue hadn't eaten a single grain of rice, the male butler and the maid forcibly fed her rice gruel, which kept her barely alive.

Ji Xue was on the verge of collapse. She didn't know where she was—was it hell? She couldn't live, and she couldn't die. She finally went mad. Every day, she wore the bright red dress she wore when she first married into the Wei family, sitting motionless in front of her dressing table, repeatedly combing her now completely white hair in front of the mirror!

Ningxia gasped upon seeing this. The red dress, the mirror—could this Ji Xue be the woman from the portrait she'd seen in Black Town? They bore such a strange resemblance. Ningxia dared not say for sure, and continued reading with lingering fear:

After Ji Xue went mad, a woman in white appeared, seemingly the one in control of the place.

One evening, Ji Xue, dressed in her faded red dress, was quietly combing her long white hair in her room with the window open when a white figure appeared in her mirror. She turned sharply, only to find nothing there; outside the window, only a few crabapple trees swayed in the wind. A sudden, overwhelming fear flashed in her eyes. She hadn't truly gone mad; she had only been trying to lower the white-clad woman's guard so she could escape this hellish situation.

Several more days passed, and almost every night Ji Xue saw the white figure in the mirror. On the fifth night, when the white figure appeared in the mirror, she screamed in extreme terror. The maid rushed over, but didn't believe Ji Xue's madness until Ji Xue was forced to admit she was faking it. At that moment, the woman in white appeared coldly behind her.

After a silent dinner, he went back to his room without a word. Once tidying up, Ningxia returned to her room, turned on her computer, and went online. She found several emails in her inbox. Looking at the sender's name, she frowned. These were all from that "Avenger" who had once maliciously demanded to buy the ancient mirror!

First letter:

What? You want to raise the price? I'm not adding a single penny!

Perhaps because Ningxia hadn't replied for several days, a second email arrived:

Don't refuse a polite toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!

Third letter:

You little brat! Don't mess with me!

Fourth letter:

You'll see!!

The fifth letter contained no words, only a picture of a skull.

Ningxia gave a cold laugh, glanced at the last email, dated five days ago. Just as she was about to click "delete," a thought suddenly struck her, and she opened the third email:

You little brat! Don't mess with me!

"Girl?" Ningxia was taken aback. How did this "Avenger" know her gender?

Ningxia thought for a moment and immediately called Fang Jian, but his phone was out of service and she couldn't get through. She immediately forwarded several emails from the Avengers to Fang Jian. As the emails were forwarded to "Millennial Ghost's" mailbox, a strange thought suddenly came to her mind.

Ningxia looked at the two online names, "Millennial Ghost" and "Avenger," with a complicated expression, then shook her head and shut down her computer.

As night deepened, Ningxia remained wide awake. So much had happened in the past few days that her mind was in a state of heightened agitation. She couldn't quite explain why; it might be fear, or it might be sadness. In short, these emotions were like a jumbled mess, leaving Ningxia's mind in complete chaos.

Ningxia opened Su Yun's white hardcover diary and continued reading from the previous entry:

March 11, 2006, sunny

Today, he took me to a breathtakingly luxurious palace – the 'Gutan Club' – and spent nearly 40,000 yuan to get me a membership card. I had mixed feelings. I didn't want him to spend so much money on me, but he said he felt too guilty for not giving me a proper title all this time, and he couldn't keep coming in and out of my place like a thief, so he chose a place that ordinary people couldn't possibly enter.

My membership card covers six months of stay at 'Youlanzhai'. It cost nearly 100,000 yuan, but here I can rest quietly without being disturbed and participate in all sorts of games and sports that only the wealthy can afford.

But we simply sat quietly in the courtyard of 'Youlanzhai', enjoying the sunshine, drinking tea, and chatting! Everything was so perfect, as if only the two of us remained in the world, and all the troubles could be left behind, and all the joyful moments were frozen in 'Youlanzhai'.

Yes, everything belongs to 'Youlanzhai'. Once I leave 'Youlanzhai', the whole world turns gray in an instant, and I have to start all those annoying jobs and social engagements again, including pretending not to know him!

Ningxia felt a sudden pang of sadness upon seeing this, as Su Yun's love life had always been shrouded in an inescapable shadow.

April 22, 2006, light rain

I waited for him at 'Youlanzhai' all day today, but he didn't show up. I kept calling him. He answered my calls in the morning, but later, probably because his wife was with him, he lied and said I was an annoying salesperson, hanging up on me repeatedly until evening, when he finally turned off his phone. I was so angry that I smashed my phone.

At dinner time, the waiter brought several delicate side dishes, but I had no appetite. I filled a large tub with hot water in the bathroom and soaked myself in it like a sponge. When my whole body warmed up, I realized my face was covered in tears, and I cried again. I've always been a strong woman; even my parents rarely see me cry. But for him, I cried until I was almost completely drained.

Before dinner, he called again to explain that he would be coming later and that I should eat alone first. I hung up the phone and sat alone on the bench in the yard, watching the sun set behind the roof. A sense of loneliness welled up in my heart. No wonder ancient poets would feel endless sorrow and worry when they saw the sunset.

At dinner time, the waiter brought over the dishes I had ordered earlier on a trolley. They were all his favorites, but I only picked at them with my chopsticks and lost my appetite. So I took the room key and went out for a walk.

As dusk fell, the clubhouse systematically turned on the streetlights along every path, the glow of the setting sun making the antique-style lights appear somewhat dim. I randomly followed one of the paths, walking deeper into the clubhouse.

There were very few pedestrians along the way, only two or three middle-aged men with Northeastern accents wearing golf uniforms, noisily walking towards the restaurant. I changed to a side path, avoiding the hustle and bustle in the direction of the restaurant.

I looked around and saw that there were about a hundred Ming-style villas like "Youlanzhai". To the south of the clubhouse, there was a huge sports field, which included a golf course, a racecourse, and a hunting ground, in addition to the usual sports facilities. I wasn't interested in any of those. What made me feel comfortable and happy was the beautiful environment. More importantly, this was our world.

The streetlights gradually thinned out towards the back of the mountain to the north, until they stopped extending forward along the path and streetlights at the foot of the mountain. I looked back and realized I seemed to have strayed too far from the main buildings. The three-story Ming-style buildings looked like motionless monsters, and the occasional light shining from the side rooms was like the blinking eyes of these monsters.

The twilight deepened, and the streetlights along the path seemed insignificant against the vast expanse of the mountainside. A chilly wind blew down from the mountain. I coughed violently again. Strange, why have I been catching colds so often lately? It's already late April, why is the temperature so low?

I was only wearing a thin short skirt, and the chill made me shiver instantly. I prepared to return the way I came. As I turned to walk towards "Youlanzhai", a faint glimmer of light suddenly flashed in the corner of my right eye.

I turned my head, and the light seemed to have gone out again. I waited a moment, then continued walking forward. But the glimmer of light in the corner of my eye brightened again, and I looked to my right once more. Yes, it was that glimmer of light, flickering faintly not far to my right. I stopped, and the glimmer of light gradually grew larger, turning into a white ball of light. Strangely, a strange red hue was faintly visible around the white light. As the ball of light drew closer, I finally saw it clearly: it was a white paper lantern, just like the kind of lanterns carried by night watchmen in period films!

A sudden chill ran through me. What kind of person would carry such a white lantern! My body seemed to freeze instantly. It wasn't until the lantern's owner walked up to me that I could see who it was.

She was an extremely beautiful woman, but it was clear she wasn't young anymore, probably around forty. This strange and beautiful woman wore a heavy wig with a gold hairpin in the center. The wig looked so real that even the strands of hair close to her skin at her temples had a translucent quality. Her clothing was even more bizarre. She wore a bright red Ming-style outfit, like the clothes worn by brides in period dramas, with floral and bird patterns embroidered on a red background. Over this, she wore a vest trimmed with animal fur. Strangely, it was almost summer, yet her attire resembled winter. Her lower body was clad in a red pleated skirt embroidered with butterfly patterns, tied at the waist with a long red sash.

The woman's entire attire resembled that of an actress just offstage. Her blood-red dress, illuminated by the white lantern light, formed an eerie, crimson halo—the very red I'd seen from afar emanating from her clothing! I assumed she was a manager at the club, but unlike the beautiful female supervisors, this woman wore no badge bearing the words "Gu Tan." Despite her classically elegant features, her skin appeared as white as paper under the white light, devoid of any color. And the cold gaze she gave me was the kind of ethereal, otherworldly look one possesses, unlike most women in modern society.

My short skirt was instantly soaked with cold sweat, and I began to tremble, unsure whether it was fear or the chilling aura emanating from her. She stared at me intently, as if trying to glean something from my eyes, and then said—or rather, sang—"Are you waiting for someone?"

"I...I'm not waiting for anyone?" I didn't want to answer her, but I protested under her aggressive gaze.

"Hmph! I know who you're waiting for? You're waiting for someone else's husband!" She looked at me with disdain, as if she could see right through me, and sang coldly.