Forgotten Photo Studio

Chapter 81 Eliminating the First

The voice was like a fine needle, temporarily piercing the fog in his mind.

He immediately abandoned his distracting thoughts, stopped using his eyes to follow the flow, and instead used his mental power to "listen" to the subtle "buzzing" sounds emitted by the energy flowing through the mirrors.

"It's now!"

He pressed the shutter almost entirely out of muscle memory and a last ounce of willpower.

"Crack——!"

The crisp sound echoed in the mirror room, like a hammer striking taut nerves.

Instantly, a pure white beam of spiritual energy burst forth from the lens, like a sharp arrow, and fiercely nailed to the Mirror Ghost's hideous figure.

It had been flitting between the mirrors like a ghost, but now its movements suddenly froze, its twisted limbs were frozen in mid-air, and a sharp roar exploded from its mouth.

The image was being dragged and struggling, like a drowning person being forcibly pulled out of the water.

A moment later, the ghost's figure was suddenly pulled deep into the camera, and with a "hum" from the printer nozzle, a piece of photographic paper was slowly ejected.

But just before the image had completely frozen.

"hiss--!"

A dark red light suddenly burst forth from the depths of the Mirror Ghost's eye socket, as if flames were burning in the hollow eye cavity.

The frozen figure suddenly jerked, black energy poured back from the edge of the photographic paper, causing the entire mirror room to tremble and a piercing shriek to fill the air.

Xu Yan's heart suddenly tightened, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

He suddenly raised his hand, about to press the shutter again.

However, the exhaustion of his mental energy caused his fingertips to tremble, as if they would lose focus at any moment.

In that split second, a cold finger suddenly reached out from the side and pressed down on the illusory image on the mirror ghost's forehead.

The Iron-Faced Woman had silently approached without anyone noticing, her eyes beneath the hood icy cold.

"Don't let go."

As the deep, cold voice fell, the dagger flashed and pierced straight into the illusory head of the mirror ghost.

The instant the blade sliced ​​through the afterimage, what burst forth was not blood, but a glaring black crack.

The dark red energy, like a venomous snake severed in half, convulsed and dissipated into fragments of light before finally vanishing completely.

Xu Yan clenched his teeth and pressed down hard on the photographic paper until the last wisp of shadow was completely absorbed.

With a "buzz," the printing was complete. The faded image was frozen completely on the paper.

——Mirror ghost, seal.

The air suddenly became quiet, with only the rapid breathing of a few people echoing in the empty mirror room.

Stone Shield's shoulders heaved like bellows, his heavy armor creaking. He snorted coldly but didn't speak again.

Bai Ling pursed her red lips, the light on her earrings flashing on and off, her eyes showing both wariness and a hint of secret excitement.

The masked woman sheathed her dagger as if nothing had happened and disappeared back into the shadows.

Their eyes met briefly. There was no gratitude, no smile, only cold assessment and defensiveness.

Cooperation is merely a means to survive. The real test comes after the spiritual cleansing.

The air suddenly froze again, so tense you could almost smell gunpowder.

The atmosphere suddenly tensed the moment the notification light appeared.

Stone Shield stretched his shoulders, the heavy armor scraping against each other with a metallic clang. He grinned maliciously: "I know the rules. Only one will be left—then I'll climb over the others."

Before he finished speaking, he clenched his fist, sending stone chips flying, his imposing aura overwhelming.

However, Bai Ling did not join in. Instead, she gently fiddled with her earring and stepped aside with a smile: "Hehe, Stone Shield, you are strong, that's true, but don't forget that brute force is not the only way to win here."

Her eyes flickered, clearly waiting for Shi Dun to collide with Xu Yan first before seizing the opportunity to reap the rewards.

The woman in the iron mask was even colder. She didn't utter a sound, but with a flick of her body, she disappeared into the shadows.

Danger lurked like a tidal wave behind every mirror. — The situation suddenly became a "three-way game."

Shi Dun stared at Xu Yan like a fierce bull charging straight at him.

Xu Yan's eyes narrowed, and he dodged to the side. The shutter clicked, and the bright light captured the momentary flaw in the stone shield.

Just as he was about to press the shutter button a second time, Stone Shield suddenly roared and used the force of the earth to shake off all the shattered mirror, forcefully breaking the lock.

"Trying to trap me with a fancy setup?!" he roared.

However, just as he raised his fist to attack again, a flash of cold light suddenly appeared on the ground.

Iron Mask!
She had been lurking in Shi Dun's blind spot, and now she seized the opportunity to strike, her target not Xu Yan, but Shi Dun's throat.

Stone Shield roared, sweeping his arm across the ground, the force of which shook the earth and forced her back. But a long, narrow gash was still cut on his forearm.

— Xu Yan saw this attack clearly: the Iron-Faced Woman had no intention of dealing with him first, but rather wanted to use the Stone Shield's recklessness to eliminate a formidable enemy first.

Bai Ling, who was watching closely from the side, had a flash in her eyes and chuckled softly, "So everyone is in such a hurry."

She suddenly activated the earring, spreading out a series of illusions. Dozens of phantoms of "Xu Yan," "Shi Dun," and "Iron-Faced Woman" appeared simultaneously, plunging the entire corridor into chaos.

Stone Shield cursed, his eyes instantly losing focus—in that instant, the Iron-Faced Woman's figure merged back into the illusion, approaching like a venomous snake.

Xu Yan's heart raced, but he did not act rashly.

Instead, he quickly grasped Chen Zhiwei's previous advice: "Just like shooting a group portrait, treat them as different focal points and capture them in sequence."

He calmed down and observed through the lens, not to distinguish between real and fake illusions, but to capture "the moment that cannot be concealed by illusions".

—A faint energy fluctuation in the shadows.

"Crack!"

The shutter clicked, freezing the Iron-Faced Woman's movement for half a second.

In that half-second, Stone Shield slammed down with a punch, slamming her deep into the illusion.

A system warning sounded immediately:
Eliminated: Iron-Faced Woman

The air suddenly froze.

Bai Ling's smile deepened, her eyes darting like snakes between Shi Dun and Xu Yan: "Hehe, one less obstacle, it's much easier."

She abruptly switched illusions, trapping the stone shield in layers of illusions. In the illusions, the stone shield overlapped and twisted between walls and mirrors, with hundreds of phantoms rushing towards it.

Stone Shield's furious roar echoed, his fist pounding so hard that the space trembled, and the earthy yellow spiritual energy exploded, smashing through an entire mirror wall—yet he still failed to hit the real her.

Blood dripped from the wound on his forearm, but his eyes remained bloodshot, filled with a kind of almost insane stubbornness.

Xu Yan watched from the side, her heart pounding.

He suddenly realized that Bailing's real target was not the stone shield—but himself.

She was using illusions to wear down the stone shield's stamina before reaping the final prey.

Her cold laughter echoed in the illusion: "Photographer, weren't you always so calm? When the stone shield collapses, you'll be next."

Xu Yan's gaze suddenly darkened.

We can't let her have her way.

"Crack!"

The shutter clicked, and the beam of mental energy precisely struck the core of the illusion.

Bai Ling's face turned pale instantly, and her body stiffened abruptly.

However, she still managed to force a smile amidst her stiffness, almost desperately pushing the earring to unleash its final shockwave.

Dozens of illusions shattered simultaneously, creating a sharp mental noise that pierced Xu Yan's mind.

He felt a sudden, tearing pain in his temples and almost lost his balance.

(End of this chapter)