Chapter 80: The Mirror of Truth

During the era of the Capital City legends, Lu Chen had heard tales of the Mirror Maze.

It was a notoriously haunted location within certain circles, with adventurers frequently venturing inside after dark, flashlights in hand. Often, their cameras would capture unsettling figures lurking in the corners of their shots.

He looked at the young woman.

“The Mirror Maze, you say. Have you ever searched it before?”

Lily of the Valley nodded.

“I have,” she confirmed, “many times, in fact. When we first established the base, Old Ge initially chose the Mirror Maze for his magical experiments. Every now and then, terrifying sounds of weeping would echo from within.”

“Whenever that happened, I would search the maze. But each time, I only found broken mirrors and walls covered in cobwebs; nothing out of the ordinary. Eventually, he found it too unsettling and moved his experiments to the Puppet Theater.”

“However…”

She turned back to her phone, the three lines of text reflected in her pupils.

“I haven’t actually searched the maze these past few months.”

“Something there must have changed.”

The Mirror Maze was situated at the very edge of the amusement park, constructed from concentric circles of plywood adorned with mirrors.

Like the other attractions, it had long fallen into disrepair. Many of the once orderly walls had collapsed, stained and defiled, losing their original appearance.

If one were to remove the entire ceiling and gaze down from above, they would surely behold a chaotic mass of fallen, conjoined mirror-walls, resembling nothing so much as an unappealing heap of ground meat.

Yet, approaching from the entrance, one would still see a clean, orderly wall, seemingly unchanged from its former glory.

Now, Lu Chen and Lily of the Valley stood before that very entrance.

The young woman stepped to the wall, pressing her fair palm against its surface. Her magic seeped into the plywood, spreading along the walls, encircling the entire maze.

She lowered her hand, stating concisely, “A peculiar magic flows within the maze, but I sense no immediate danger. There should be no monsters lying in ambush nearby.”

Lu Chen glanced up at the sky. A faint black speck was faintly visible in the clear expanse, watching the two of them like a distant eye.

As if sensing his gaze, the speck flickered and blinked, much like an old friend offering a remote greeting.

‘That’s Arrogance, spying on us.’

He instantly felt a wave of nausea and unease, lowering his head as he addressed Lily of the Valley.

“It’s best not to drop our guard. My recovery abilities are stronger, so I’ll take the lead. Please follow closely.”

Lily of the Valley nodded without further words.

“Understood.”

The two entered the maze, one after the other. Instantly, their previously open and bright view became dim and constricted.

Lu Chen switched on his phone’s flashlight, casting a pale circle of light onto the corridor floor, illuminating scattered mirror shards and dust.

The air was thick with a decaying, acrid smell, and the only sound was the dull, uninteresting echo of their footsteps.

The young man examined the path, then turned to Lily of the Valley.

“We’ll follow this corridor straight ahead, then turn right at every corner. Let’s see if we can find those specific mirrors on our way out of the maze.”

“…Alright.”

Though she replied instantly, the young woman’s expression held a hint of doubt. She illuminated her surroundings with a glowing white flower, gazing thoughtfully at one particular mirror.

The young man paused.

“Miss Lily of the Valley, have you found anything unusual?”

“I don’t know if it’s my imagination,” she began, “but I keep feeling that these mirrors are different from when I last saw them… though I can’t quite pinpoint how.”

Lu Chen moved his phone, directing the light onto the mirror the young woman was examining. Under the pale glow, he scrutinized the mirror’s surface, a faint suspicion forming in his mind.

He extended his hand, waving it before the mirror. The arm reflected in the glass twisted with an almost imperceptible curve.

“…It seems all these mirror surfaces have a slight curve, like low-grade funhouse mirrors. This maze was originally designed for aesthetic beauty; it shouldn’t have used distorting mirrors.”

“Is that the anomaly you noticed?”

Lily of the Valley nodded repeatedly.

“…It seems… the mirrors… No, that’s right! The last time I was here, the mirrors were all flat.”

“Is this one of those ‘out of place’ mirrors?”

Lu Chen offered no comment. He swept the light across a side wall, observing how the beam subtly distorted in every mirror.

He told the young woman, “It appears every mirror has been replaced with a funhouse mirror; this one isn’t special. The deeper we go, the more curved the mirrors become… Let’s press on.”

“Alright.”

Lu Chen raised his phone, and as he advanced with the young woman through the dim corridor, he sifted through his magical knowledge, pondering briefly.

‘No one would be bored enough to replace mirrors for fun. This must be some kind of ritual.’

‘In the context of magic, mirrors hold numerous meanings.’

‘They can be windows to the spirit world, shields for defense and reflection, gateways to other dimensions… and, most commonly, tools that reveal an object’s true form.’

‘What, then, do distorted mirrors represent?’

As he pondered, the light in the corridor grew progressively dimmer, the musty smell heavier, and the mirrors on either side became increasingly warped.

The Lu Chen in the mirrors had lost all human form, his head swollen and distorted like a balloon, his features melted and dripping down to his chest.

The young man inexplicably felt as though a distorted version of himself might step out of the mirror at any moment, causing him to involuntarily hold his breath.

“Mr. Lu, wait a moment. That mirror seems off.”

After countless turns, and having delved to an unknown depth, Lily of the Valley suddenly spoke, casting her light upon a particular mirror.

Lu Chen followed the beam of light.

Like the other mirrors on either side, this one was covered in dust, its once smooth surface subtly warped and etched with intricate, haphazard scratches.

However, the Lu Chen reflected in this mirror was entirely free of distortion. His face and body appeared as normal and upright as always.

He wasn’t wearing the jacket Lu Chen had on; instead, he wore a pale blue shirt saturated with dark red bloodstains.

Furthermore, all the other mirrors reflected within this particular mirror appeared to be perfectly flat and utterly spotless.

Lu Chen took small steps to the mirror, increasing his phone’s brightness as he mused, “This must be it. But why the bloodied clothes…?”

Hearing the young man’s whisper, Lily of the Valley tilted her head in surprise.

“Bloodied clothes?”

“Yes. The me in the mirror is wearing bloodied clothes.”

Lily of the Valley examined the mirror again, shaking her head in confusion.

“No, that’s not right. The you in the mirror isn’t… different from the outside at all…”

“…Then why did you say it was off?”

“Because in the mirror, only my right arm is in place; my left arm is lying on the ground. It looks a bit like how I was after a previous fight with a monster.”

Lu Chen met his own gaze in the mirror, an idea sparking in his mind.

‘They were seeing different reflections, both depicting their past selves. Given this, he could largely conclude that this mirror’s meaning was to ‘reflect truth’.’

‘According to Gu Pan, the Heart of Silvermoon could only be obtained by shattering the mirror.’

‘But if he shattered his true self, what exactly would happen…?’

As Lu Chen pondered, a verdant glow ignited in Lily of the Valley’s eyes. She condensed her magic, summoning vines that, in a blink, wove themselves into a massive, hammer-like weapon.

“Mr. Lu, please step back. I’ll shatter it.”

“No, wait a moment. Please let me try first.”

Lu Chen was brimming with confidence in Silvermoon’s abilities. Moreover, even if some accident truly befell him and he died here, he didn’t consider it a bad outcome.

He walked directly up to the mirror, standing before his own reflection. He bent his index finger, tentatively tapping the mirror with his knuckle.

His knuckle struck the hard mirror surface, yet instead of the expected crisp sound, it simply sank in as if plunging into water.

Lu Chen withdrew his wrist in surprise, pulling his finger back with minimal effort.

“…So that’s how it is. Lily of the Valley, I’m going in to have a look.”

“Please wait.”

Lily of the Valley said, extending a vine to wrap around the young man’s waist as a makeshift lifeline. She looked at him, her expression grave.

“You absolutely must be careful.”

“Of course.”

The young man nodded with a light chuckle, then fully submerged himself into the mirror.