Mysterious mirror hanging high

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Jing Yu looked at the water under the water corridor and saw that he was still the maid in the light yellow dress. He turned his head and looked around. The layout and furnishings in the dream were indeed exactly the same as the previous times.

He knew that time was running out and he could no longer follow the established process of the dream. He had to find Mingyutai's true self directly and find a way to awaken it.

Jing Yu then grabbed a maid who was about to walk away and asked urgently, "Sister, do you know where the young master is right now?"

The maid was taken aback by his question and subconsciously replied, "Young master? At this hour, he should be in the Tingtao Pavilion in the East Courtyard practicing Taoist arts with the master... Hey, Xiao Huan, why are you asking this? We need to hurry to the madam's place..."

Jing Yu said no more, thanked him, and turned to run wildly towards the east courtyard of the Ming Mansion!

Completely disregarding the constraints of his status as a maid, and ignoring the astonished gazes and reprimands of the other servants in the dream, he unleashed the faint divine dream power within him with all his might, all for the sake of going faster.

"stop!"

"How dare you! Where did this crazy girl come from!"

Guards tried to stop her along the way, but Jing Yu moved like a fish, managing to allocate her limited divine dream power effectively. She narrowly avoided several interceptions and finally rushed to the outside of an elegant pavilion in the East Courtyard.

He suddenly pushed open the half-closed bamboo door, and the scene inside the pavilion came into view: the young Ming Yutai sat upright, and opposite him was Ming Xiao, whose face was dignified and whose cultivation level was only at the Mahayana stage.

Between the two was a chessboard, the game of chess profound and mysterious, as if they were using chess to expound the Dao. The air was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood, and the atmosphere was quiet and solemn.

This sudden intrusion shattered the tranquility of the pavilion.

Mingxiao's brows furrowed suddenly, a hint of displeasure and coldness flashing in his eyes. He rebuked, "How dare you, you trespass into forbidden territory without permission! What kind of behavior is this! Guards, drag her away!"

"Ming Yutai!" Jing Yu ignored Ming Xiao's rebuke, her gaze fixed on the young Ming Yutai, and shouted with all her might, "Look at me! Everything here is fake! This is your dream! You are trapped by your inner demons! Wake up!"

The young Ming Yutai raised his head and looked at Jing Yu with a look of confusion and bewilderment. He seemed not to understand what she was saying, and he also seemed to find the maid's behavior very strange.

He opened his mouth, but in the end he only whispered, "Father, this maid... is probably hysterical."

"Nonsense, disturbing my son's peaceful cultivation! You cannot be allowed to live!" Mingxiao's face darkened, and without further ado, he swept his sleeves across the room!

An overwhelming force descended instantly, and Jing Yu felt as if the space around her had been frozen. Not to mention resisting, even her thoughts almost stopped.

The next moment, his vision was swallowed by endless darkness, and his consciousness instantly dissipated.

Inside the private room of Zuixianlou, Jing Yu's true form suddenly opened her eyes, her forehead beaded with cold sweat, and her breathing became slightly rapid.

"How is it?" Ling Qishuang asked hurriedly. She had just tried to stimulate Mingyutai's acupoints with her true energy as Jing Yu had instructed, but the effect was minimal.

Jing Yu did not answer immediately. He took a few deep breaths to calm the shock in his mind, but his eyes grew brighter and brighter. His previous confusion and tension were replaced by a calmness that revealed the truth.

"I understand……"

He muttered to himself, his gaze fixed on the unconscious Ming Yutai's face: "I originally thought that the [Mingxiao] in the dream was the manifestation of Ming Yutai's inner demons, but quite the opposite... [Mingxiao] is not an inner demon, but a [guardian] protecting Ming Yutai."

"What do you mean?" Ling Qishuang was completely confused.

Jing Yu said in a deep voice, "That was the last line of defense of Ming Yutai's conscious mind, the most solid protective shell built by his subconscious."

"That's why when I pointed out that this was a dream and tried to wake him up, this [Mingxiao] reacted so violently that it 'killed' me directly."

"If [Mingxiao] is a demon within me... he can't hurt me at all..."

"So that's how it is... In other words, Madam Ming is actually his inner demon!" Jing Yu suddenly realized. He finally understood why Madam Ming, whose cultivation level was far superior to his own, was ineffective against his attacks in the dream!

Ling Qishuang looked bewildered: "Although I don't understand what you're saying... it seems things are moving in a positive direction?"

Jing Yu was too lazy to waste words with Ling Qishuang, so she once again separated a part of her consciousness and entered Mingyutai's dream.

This time, he did not go looking for Ming Yutai and Ming Xiao. Instead, he bypassed the group of maids and entered the small courtyard where Madam Ming was.

Jing Yu took a deep breath, no longer concealing her aura, and a faint ripple of the unique Divine Dream Law flowed around her.

He ignored the mess on the ground, his gaze piercing straight at the woman in palace attire—Madam Ming, or rather, Ming Yutai's inner demon.

"Mrs. Ming? Or should I address you something else..."

Jing Yu spoke, her voice calm: "I know what you are. These layers of illusions, this endless sorrow and rage, are nothing but a cage you have woven to trap his little bit of true self-awareness."

The violent aura emanating from the woman in palace attire momentarily faltered, her scarlet pupils constricted sharply as she stared at Jing Yu… Her stunningly beautiful face twisted into an extremely eerie smile, her voice becoming shrill and repetitive, as if countless vengeful spirits were simultaneously howling:

"Where did you come from? Don't you know the rules?"

"I claimed this land first, so naturally it's mine... Do I have to explain the principle of first come, first served?"

Jing Yu was slightly taken aback. The [Inner Demon] in front of him seemed to regard him as a fellow practitioner.

"Get out! He's mine! His fear, his guilt, all his resentful obsessions... they are all nourishment for me!"

Before she finished speaking, she formed her five fingers into a claw and reached out to grab Jing Yu from a distance!

Dark demonic energy surged from his fingertips, transforming into a gigantic ghostly claw, carrying a bone-chilling coldness and venomous resentment, instantly enveloping the space around Jing Yu.

This attack far surpassed the casualness he displayed when dealing with the maids; it contained the power of his inner demons, enough to easily tear apart Jing Yu, whose cultivation was currently low.

However, facing this deadly blow, Jing Yu didn't even move a step.

When the pitch-black ghost claw touched the ground three feet in front of him, it silently began to melt and disintegrate, turning into wisps of green smoke, and finally vanished completely, without even lifting a corner of his clothes.

Madam Ming's sinister smile froze instantly, replaced by an incredulous look of horror.

"Impossible! You... what are you? How can you ignore my power?"

【Long life and good health】

Jing Yu silently thought to himself that he had no obligation to tell the inner demon in front of him. Instead, he gathered a seven-colored light at his fingertips and used the power of the Divine Dream to construct a beam of light, which was about to pierce through the inner demon in front of him!

whoosh-

The light pierced through the transparent lady's body, burning a hole in the wall behind her.

Jing Yu's attack failed, and he was stunned. He suddenly realized something—

The [Madam Ming] before them is Ming Yutai's own inner demon, and it can almost be said that she and Ming Yutai's true self originated from the same source.

The only one who can slay the inner demons before him... is Mingyutai himself!