Earth Culture Publicity Bureau

"That's right." The man nodded, pointed back at the rolls of parchment on the bookshelf, and said to You Yunran and the others: "The map is there, you can take it yourself."

The conversation was almost over, and at this moment, Annie looked at You Yunran, wanting to continue the discussion of "return the mirror to me".Seeing this, You Yunran left the chess room with Annie, walked across the hall, and walked into the room where Annie was imprisoned just now, and had a one-on-one detailed talk.Behind him, there was a reminding voice that Daxiu never forgot: "Don't give the mirror to others casually! What if she is a ghost!" After finishing speaking, Annie turned back and stared angrily, Daxiu immediately refused He stared back weakly.

This discussion didn't last long. A few minutes later, You Yunran left the room first, and Annie followed behind You Yunran with a devastated look.After walking back to the chess room, facing the calm John and the impatient Daxiu, Annie said to Daxiu, "I don't trust you, and I don't want to act with you!"

Daxiu seemed to explode at one point, and shouted loudly: "I don't trust you at all, okay! When I threw the mirror out, I didn't even know what it was. If you really want to get rid of the mirror You can find a better way to throw it away or hand it over, instead of using this stupid way in front of others!"

Annie snorted, and gave him a disgusted look, as if "I'm too lazy to talk nonsense with you".Without even wanting to look at You Yunran, he passed him, and said to John: "John, let me be with you, I only trust you now."

John showed hesitation. He subconsciously glanced at Daxiu and others, a little uncomfortable with this kind of quarrel.But facing Annie's invitation, he couldn't refuse it indifferently.Anyway, with everyone, John nodded and said, "Okay."

Annie took John's hand, took the map, and left the chess room with John first. While walking, she also complained to John: "That guy You Yunran doesn't trust me at all. It's absolutely terrible to occupy two mirrors by himself. suspicious……"

John was so embarrassed that he didn't know what to say, so he could only nod silently to show that he heard it.

Therefore, a group of four people were automatically divided into two groups. Daxiu glanced at You Yunran, snorted, and said, "Okay, there is one mirror on their side, and two mirrors on our side. Anyway, in case something goes wrong , it won’t be taken by a ghost.”

You Yunran smiled and said, "Yes, this grouping is more appropriate."

……

"Boom...boom...boom..."

Relying on the faint candlelight in their hands, John and Annie raised the lantern by two points at the same time, so that the light could better shine on the clock beside the corridor.

Although the era has already entered the interstellar stage of space navigation, everyone has already abandoned the troublesome means of clock timing, as if they had given up on measuring the time by observing the angle of the stars above their heads, and turned to the digital and more convenient modern method.

But just as things such as "sundials and hourglasses" still exist on the earth today, people in the interstellar era can occasionally see nostalgic things like clocks in their lives.Either as a decoration, or as an interesting decoration, toy.But in most cases, you won't study it with much effort.

Annie is not very proficient in how to use clocks to confirm the time, just like people on earth who hold a sextant in their hands and may not be able to measure their latitude and longitude. There are not many people who will go to specialize in learning.Annie counted the time with some difficulty, and said to John, "It's twelve o'clock."

"Yes." John nodded, and said again: "And the clock rang exactly twelve times."

Annie asked suspiciously, "Have we been here for so long?"

John shook his head and said, "No. Not long after you disappeared, I heard the bell once while I was on my way to find you. Then, during the chess game, I heard it three more times, now the fifth time. But every time the clock It rang twelve times, but the interval between each time was an hour." I don't know what the time is implying.

Annie calculated backwards: "In other words, it is ten o'clock in the evening. We entered the castle after four o'clock in the afternoon. At that time, the sky was snowing heavily and there was hardly any sunlight..."

"Are you trying to say that there are ghosts among us?" John said savvyly: "To be honest, I can't see who is the ghost."

Annie curled her lips and said, "If you can see it casually, then the matter will be simple. Maybe you are yourself?"

John smiled "hehe" and said to Annie: "You said, how will 'we' know that we are a ghost? Find out our identity? Or take the initiative to contact the ghost?"

Annie is a little afraid of the dark atmosphere in front of her eyes. In fact, since she was born, she has been accustomed to maintaining a bright environment around her except for sleeping time. Facing the current situation of only relying on a lantern to illuminate three steps away The lighting method in the field of view is really awkward and uncomfortable.Therefore, she unconsciously got close to John, and she also became more talkative, answering casually after asking a question like a conditioned reflex, and seemed a little trembling.

"What are you thinking so much about? Could it be that you still wish you were a ghost?" Annie asked.

"Not particularly. But if someone is destined to be a ghost, I'd rather be."

What John said surprised Annie, she looked at John subconsciously, her phoenix eyes widened, she looked a little scared and unbelievable.

She said cautiously, "You, why are you..."

John quickly comforted and explained: "I don't intend to be your enemy on purpose, but... I don't think I can do it to doubt you, and I don't have the ability to distinguish whether you are companions or enemies. I just think that if the bad guys If it's me, then I can know what the worst situation we will face is, and can ensure the safety of the entire group..."

Annie raised her willow eyebrows, frowned slightly, then turned her head angrily and said, "What kind of strange way of thinking is this..."

"..." John thought for a while, and slowly revealed a shy expression, as if he felt that this speech was very boastful and boastful, so he lowered his head and stopped talking.

He said as if changing the subject: "By the way, there are so many clocks here, almost as many as mirrors everywhere..."

Before the words fell, the candle light illuminated the mirror on the wall in front of the two of them. Two figures, one tall and one short, appeared in the mirror, and they were still moving towards the two of them, and they were walking in the darkness. Annie and the others were startled, and after a while, they let out a long breath.

The figures in the mirror were undoubtedly themselves.

"What..." Annie retorted angrily, "Scared to death—"

The voice was still stuck in the mouth and throat, and in the next second, a bloody handprint "slapped" slammed on the bodies of Annie and John, splitting the upper body of the two in the mirror into two parts, and then the blood The handprints "climbed" bit by bit, and finally found their faces that were terrified at the same time.

“啊啊啊啊！！！！”安妮儿不受控制地发出了撕心裂肺的尖叫，慌不择路躲在约翰身后，浑身上下微微发抖，显然是被这突如其来地惊吓骇得够呛。

John was naturally also afraid. It is absolutely impossible to say that he didn't feel anything after seeing this kind of scene.But before he was so scared that he took action subconsciously, Annie was already hiding behind him.At this time, hearing Annie's screams, John's self-preservation instinct was instantly overwhelmed by the sense of responsibility. He subconsciously stood where he was, blocking Annie's face, mustered up his courage, and stared at the mirror "viciously" with his eyes wide open. Confronting the invisible and intangible "ghost".

"..."

The ghost didn't know whether he just appeared and left, or he didn't have any great skills to make the next step.In short, when John recovered from the fright, his brain regained his senses and was no longer blank, he could be regarded as seeing clearly the appearance on the mirror. Although it was a bit scary to see it, in the final analysis, it was actually a mirror. Just add a little red "blood stain" to the picture.

Thinking back to what I heard in the chess room just now about "ghosts used to be humans and also experienced sad experiences", and other information, a little bit of pity popped out quietly and inappropriately like this , so that he couldn't help but look at the mirror with a very "weird" attitude at this time.

The two sides remained in a silent stalemate for a while, and then, the blood on the mirror disappeared bit by bit in a form of being "absorbed" by the mirror, revealing John's panicked face showing a little anxiety, John Turning her head slowly, she said to Annie who was hiding behind her, "Okay, I'm fine."

"..." Annie's face was still a little pale, but after a while, she was no longer as frightened as before. She slowly walked out from behind John and said to him, "Scare me..."

"Yeah... let's go." Johansson breathed a sigh of relief, lifted the lamp in his hand, and led Annie to continue walking, keeping vigilance while walking.

In order to ease Annie's tension, this man who is not good at words also tried to find topics to distract Annie.

But it is a pity that John is destined to be a clumsy and straightforward guy. Even if he is looking for a topic, he is so "speechless".

He said to Annie: "The butler has always told us to stay away from the mirrors. It seems that it is not only the four small mirrors in our hands, but also these mirrors that can be seen everywhere in the castle."

If Annie had the time to complain, she would definitely say, "What time is it, you still find these topics that will cause me psychological shadows to scare me", but she is already in a state of disorientation at this time, and she will say whatever John says. Like a conditioned reflex, but the brain's answer was something, and he said casually: "Yeah... When I walked into this castle before, I was shocked by the mirror behind the butler, and was captured by a ghost. It's also full of threatening blood..."

"Scarlet?" John caught his attention and asked, "What is written?"

Annie said casually: "'iseeyou', and 'eyesonme' and the like...the taste is really bad..." Who would dare to stare at the line of blood when they see "watch me" After a long time, maybe looking at it, the blood covered both retinas from the mirror, and from then on, the naked eye could only see the bright red color.

"'I support you'?" John wondered.

I'm with you, I'm on your side, I'm protecting you, I'm watching over you.

This is all the interpretation of "iseeyou".

Annie rolled her eyes angrily, and said angrily, "No matter what you think, you're scaring me, tell me 'I'm staring at you'!"

John nodded after hearing this, put himself in the shoes and thought about it, and said to Annie: "It's a bit penetrating to think about it this way."

Walk around the castle well.Suddenly, the ghost here wrote a line of "I am watching you" with a blood book on the mirror reflecting his own appearance...

It can definitely scare people into nightmares at night...

"Beep, beep, beep, beep..."

As if responding to John's words, the moment the words landed, the sound of dripping water rang in John's ears.The sound came out from the deep corridor in front of the two of them, continuously and coldly echoing.

Annie didn't have John's excellent sense of hearing. She walked forward with a lantern in her hand without noticing it. John quickly stopped her and said to Annie with a solemn expression, "Stop!"

Annie was slightly startled by John's voice, so she hurriedly stopped, and stood there nervously for a few seconds, holding her breath and observing her surroundings.

Then, he turned his head slowly, looked at John, and whispered, "What's wrong?"

John said, "There is the sound of water dripping ahead."

"..." Annie thought for a moment, then said to John, "What's wrong with the water?"

John's uneasy expression became more and more serious. After listening carefully for a few seconds, he quickly said to Annie: "No! That voice is moving!"

Annier suddenly showed a look of fainting, pale face looking at the darkness in the distance, the dark environment induced endless fantasies in her mind, Annier broke down and said: "What, what?"

"It's getting closer...Run!!!" The moment the word "near" was said, John's eyes saw the approaching ghost figure roaring rapidly in the darkness ahead.The other party has long golden hair, the head is suspended in the air, the wound on the broken neck is hideous, and there is a long white spine at the end, which seems to be pulled out of the body with great force, and the bone is stuck to the pink. The blood-colored lumps, with scarlet blood still dripping from the bottom, spread along the carpet in the corridor from far to near, pointing at the two of John.

After seeing the face of the other party clearly, John immediately pulled Annie back and ran away without saying a word. The moment Annie was caught by John, she saw the female ghost who was almost approaching in the blink of an eye out of the corner of her eye. Let out a heart-piercing scream, desperately followed John and ran back, shouting while running: "Don't follow me!!!!"

"Giggle..." The female ghost let out a strange laugh similar to the collision of teeth, as if she thought the chase game was fun, lost the speed of teleporting in the dark just now, and used a method that seemed to be able to catch up in the next second. The distance was over, forcing the two guests to run forward in a panic, forcing them to play a chase game that made people laugh.

Soon, Annie was defeated in her screaming running style, and the frequency of her steps slowed down significantly, and the hand held by John began to show a tendency to "drag", panting and almost unable to hold on up.Annie noticed this, turned from screaming to crying, and said to John for help: "I can't run..."

After hearing this, John turned his head and glanced at the female ghost who was close to Annie, pulled Annie closer with his backhand, bent down and hugged her, and placed her in a very protective princess hug. On his arm, he said to her, "Hold tight."

Annie didn't even have time to react. In the next moment, John quickened his pace, and in a posture that was obviously released to accommodate Annie just now, he hugged Annie and rushed forward like an arrow from the string.The female ghost even froze for a moment because of this, unexpectedly, the duck with its mouth spread its wings and flew away, flicked its "tail" angrily, and "one head" flew forward quickly.

Annie lay in John's arms with lingering fear, sighing and enjoying the safety of being cared for.He raised his head and glanced at John's steady and reliable appearance, then ventured to look at the female ghost behind him, and said to John, "She seems to be unable to outrun us..."

John's tone didn't have much meaning for the rest of his life, he said nervously to Annie: "Oops..."

Annie was taken aback, then turned around and said, "What..."

The word "what" was left unuttered, and Annie immediately understood the meaning of John's words.She felt John's pace gradually slowing down, but she didn't utter any questioning words, because the surrounding scenes were obviously not right.

Annie tensed her nerves, grabbed John's sleeve and said, "Where is this place?!"