I am a swordsman in a strange city

Chapter 87 Trap
There is no one left in this room.

Pei Ju followed behind Jin Fengyue, followed by other members of the Detective Division.

However, the furnishings in Pei Ju's room suddenly reminded him of He Hong, the deacon of the Suspended Mirror Research Institute in the world of the temple, who had set up a mirror corridor there to guide Mr. Mirror and a group of people into that world.

But he eventually interrupted, and only Mr. Mirror entered.

Pei Ju didn't know what so many people were trying to do by coming in, but he knew that even just Dean Jing and Deacon He Hong were already extremely troublesome.

The beam of light emanating from the other side was a terrifying spell.

Senior Sister Yu also said that when she went out, she was unable to kill them; they escaped. Moreover, they possessed a terrifying forbidden artifact. Senior Sister Yu said that they must not let Mr. Mirror use that forbidden artifact.

When Pei Ju thought of the layout of that Mirror Hall from back then, his heart skipped a beat.

He carefully examined the layout of the room. Although the reflective objects were not mirrors, they all reflected some shadows.

Smooth glass cups, reflective appliances and kettles, fake gemstones embedded in the walls, and so on.

These things cleverly formed a long corridor, their shadows moving from one object to another. Pei Ju suddenly had a strange feeling; he felt the sounds in his ears rapidly disappearing, and the scene before his eyes remained unchanged, yet suddenly became quiet.

"Wait a minute," Pei Ju suddenly called out.

"What's wrong?" Jin Fengyue, who was in front, turned around and asked.

“There’s something wrong with this room; someone set it up,” Pei Ju said solemnly, pointing to the objects that could reflect people’s images.

Jin Fengyue's expression changed slightly. Of course, he knew that the Suspended Mirror Research Institute had developed the Mirror Corridor Passage, which could bring people into the Spirit Mirror.

Within that Suspended Mirror Research Institute, the maze-like passages they created lead to various Mirror Spirit worlds.

Therefore, the Suspended Mirror Research Institute is both precious and dangerous.

When Pei Ju pointed to the objects that reflected human figures, Jin Fengyue was reminded and quickly realized that the accident in the room was related to the mirrors, so he immediately stopped.

"Get out," Jin Fengyue shouted, but his voice sounded somewhat ethereal.

The group of people who came in together saw a scene similar to that of a train rushing by, but without a sound.

At the same time, almost everyone felt that their consciousness was being captured. Their bodies were free, yet they also felt a sense of unfreedom, as if they were being held in place by something in the dark.

The world is spinning, and the scenery is changing.

The room in his eyes spun into a vortex, and a feeling of nausea and vomiting welled up inside him. Pei Ju closed his eyes and focused his mind. He felt like an egg about to be smashed.

Suddenly, he felt as if the world had shattered.

A feeling of weightlessness washed over him, and his body swayed, but he quickly regained his balance.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in a corridor with red lanterns hanging in the air.

The corridor twisted and turned, and he couldn't see the end at a glance. He didn't know where it led, but looking back, it was the same. The rest of the place was pitch black, as if it were raining, drizzling.

He was caught between two directions, unsure which to go, but he also felt that the outcome would be the same no matter which way he went.

So he walked forward, the light from the lanterns appearing as red as blood in his eyes, and feeling cold as it shone on him.

He seemed to be walking forward, but the scenery in his eyes seemed unchanged. Pei Ju didn't even know how long he had been walking.

Finally, he closed his eyes again, focused his mind, and used his sword finger as a sword to slash at the void in front of him. The lantern corridor, which looked like a static two-dimensional picture, shattered instantly.

Everything is an illusion.

The scene before my eyes shattered.

The illusion is ever-changing; if you cannot break free from it, you will remain trapped inside, unable to escape.

After the illusion was shattered, he saw a door in front of him.

There was a "double happiness" character pasted on the door.

In that instant, he thought of the mirror spirit he had seen in the Suspended Mirror Research Institute.

The bride, dressed in her wedding gown, with blood at the corner of her mouth.

The door was open then, but it's closed now.

He found himself in this Mirror Spirit Space, unsure whether he had been dragged in or for some other reason.

However, he quickly thought of a sentence.

Mirror spirits are difficult to deal with. Once you encounter one, it will remember you forever, and it may appear whenever you look in the mirror.

Pei Ju didn't look in the mirror, but he entered the Mirror Spirit Space, and was likely sensed by the Mirror Spirit, so he was pulled here.

He could sense the gloomy, eerie atmosphere in the room, and within that atmosphere was a strange, resentful aura.

He reached out and pushed open the door. A woman in a wedding dress appeared and sat at the table, her head covered with a red veil. There was a fruit plate on the table, but upon closer inspection, it was not fruit, but hearts.

On the fruit platter was a heart that she had already half-eaten.

Pei Ju stood there, watching without moving, without going in. After only a short while, the bride inside said, "Husband, why don't you come in?"

Pei Ju remained silent.

"Husband, come in! Today is our joyous day. Do you think I'll eat you up?"

At this point, Pei Ju suddenly felt like laughing and said, "I'm afraid."

"Husband, don't be afraid, it doesn't hurt at all." The bride's veil was still on, but her words could still be heard.

"You've never had your heart eaten, how would you know it doesn't hurt?" Pei Ju said with a hint of mockery.

He suddenly discovered that he felt a strange sense of ease when talking to these strange mirror spirits.

At this moment, the bride lifted her veil herself, revealing a face that looked stunningly beautiful yet cold.

Her lips seemed to be smiling, but her eyes were filled with greed, as if she had seen something delicious, as if she hadn't eaten for many days.

"What sword technique did you use that day?" the bride suddenly asked. She was curious, and also wanted to know if it was something she knew. After all, over the years, few of those she had captured had managed to escape, and Pei Ju was the kind that had left a deep impression on her.

"The sword technique is nameless. That particular sword technique is called the Ghost-Slaying Sword Drawing Style. It involves calming the mind and focusing the spirit, letting the intention arise from the heart, using the body and mind as the sheath, and naming it the Ghost-Slaying Style. It cuts down both the inner ghost and the external evil."

"My husband has excellent swordsmanship," the bride said with a smile from inside the house, but it was a forced smile, a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Pei Ju felt that the gloomy and cold aura emanating from her had intensified.

“I have a better sword technique,” ​​Pei Ju said. “But if you can answer one question for me, I will let you go.”

"Really? Whatever my husband wants to know, I will tell you everything I know without reservation," the bride replied.

"Do you know Mr. Mirror?" Pei Ju asked.

"What Mr. Mirror? I don't know anything about him," the bride said, somewhat bewildered.

"Then do you know why you exist here?" Pei Ju asked.

"My lord, what are you saying? Haven't I been waiting here for you to come back? I've been waiting for you ever since we got married. Don't you want me anymore?"

"How many human hearts have you eaten?" Pei Ju asked.

The bride then said aggrievedly, "I have been waiting for my husband to return for so long, and I am very hungry. I had no choice but to eat a few lecherous men's hearts to fill my stomach. But now that you have returned, my husband, we should naturally consummate our marriage."

"My lord, do you want to be with me?" the bride asked Pei Ju expectantly from inside the house.

Pei Ju did not answer the 'bride's' question. Although he had not studied the secret arts with Teacher Han for a long time, he knew that he had to be careful when talking to these strange creatures, especially when faced with unexpected questions.

These problems are often traps.

Or perhaps it contains some taboo words. When these are violated, something akin to breaking a rule will occur. This power is the fundamental force that allows these monsters to exist, and only those who are strong enough can withstand it.

"I have another sword technique; would you like to see it?" Pei Ju asked in return.

"Oh, what other sword technique do you have?"

"A celestial being descended from the heavens," Pei Ju said slowly.

"Oh, what a beautiful name! But I wonder if your swordsmanship is worthy of it. Husband, please come in and show me. I want to see it."

“Okay.” Pei Ju actually agreed. As soon as he finished speaking, the bridal chamber had somehow enveloped him, and he had appeared in the room without even realizing it.

At that moment, he suddenly felt an all-encompassing, invisible suppression, as if he were bound by an invisible force, from his body to his soul.

The bride, however, wore a genuine smile, the kind of joy that comes from prey caught in a trap.

She stood up, removed the red veil from her head, and walked towards Pei Ju, as if to place the veil on his head.

However, at that moment, she suddenly felt a sharp sword intent surging from Pei Ju's body. She saw Pei Ju's right hand, fingers pointing like a sword, insert into his left hand, turn sideways, land on the ground, pull out, the sword finger was pulled out, and a wisp of sword intent broke through the void in front of her.

The originally impenetrable void was actually torn open by this sword intent, as if there was an invisible crack in the void that was broken by this sword intent.

When she sensed this scene, she saw Pei Ju suddenly leap up. Although he was right in front of her, it was as if he was leaping into the sky along the invisible crack in the void, into the high and distant nothingness.

Then, she seemed to see a brilliant sword light piercing down, everything seemed like an illusion, and the void seemed to make way for this sword light, and cracks appeared in the void, with the sword light flowing down along the cracks.

The sword light was majestic and grand, brilliant yet exuding a boundless loneliness, as if it were untouched by any other emotions.

For a fleeting moment, she was actually a little infatuated.

But the sense of danger that pierced her heart jolted her awake. She was about to throw the veil in her hand when the sword light fell, and suddenly she lost all strength in her hands.

The originally beautiful, bizarre, and unreal bride turned into a cloud of black mist in that instant.

She was scattering, and a gloomy aura wrapped around Pei Ju.

Pei Ju moved swiftly, his sword fingers constantly slashing at the black energy that was entangling him. The waves of black energy broke apart as his sword fingers passed by, but they still continued to entwine towards Pei Ju, who continued to slash his sword fingers.

Finally, the black mist seemed to lose its vitality and dissipated here.

When a person kills a spirit, that spirit will haunt that person, bringing with it both its power and its negative energy.

In their brief encounter, he learned that this spirit possessed an ability called soul-capturing, but it also brought a negative curse that caused it to crave hearts. Even if it didn't eat hearts, it would still need to eat raw meat, but raw meat could only provide temporary relief. Ultimately, it was still the heart that could truly bring it joy.

Therefore, although soul-stealing is a very powerful ability, if one can maintain focus and concentration, one can resist its power.

The scene before Pei Ju's eyes slowly dissipated, and he found himself still standing there.

Jin Fengyue and the others stood there, stunned.

In this situation, he couldn't help, so he could only call the people outside in to perform a spirit communication ritual and enter the spirit realm where they were.

The outside was in complete chaos. They were all stunned, and the people outside saw it too, but dared not move and could only ask for help. After Pei Ju escaped from the spiritual realm, everyone was very surprised.

While waiting for rescuers, Jin Fengyue suddenly woke up.

He immediately said, "This is Mr. Mirror's trap."

"Did you see Mr. Jing?" Pei Ju asked urgently.

“I didn’t see him, but I saw the Mirror Spirit he was raising,” Jin Fengyue said.

Pei Ju didn't know what kind of spirit Mr. Mirror had raised, but since Jin Fengyue said it did, it must exist.

"Why is he doing all this?" Pei Ju asked.

Jin Fengyue pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "He told us through his mirror spirit that he wanted us to drop the warrant for his arrest and to stop interfering with these 'mirror-viewing' incidents. He said that things would calm down after a while, otherwise the others would never be able to come back."

Pei Ju was very surprised that this Mr. Jing was so bold as to threaten officials.

However, upon further reflection, he had entered the Temple World under the very noses of officials back then, so in terms of boldness, he was absolutely daring.

Moreover, at this time he didn't know where he was, so he couldn't be caught at all.

(End of this chapter)