?

  Things have developed to this point, completely beyond Xiuxiu's imagination. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't figure out what was going on in front of her. Had she run into a ghost?

  Thinking of this, Xiuxiu couldn't help but shiver. She stopped looking at the crying Germans and instead patted Xiaohua's cheek, urging her: "Xiaohua... what's wrong with you? Wake up quickly!" However, Xiaohua remained as expressionless as a dead person, and the skin that Xiuxiu touched was stiff and icy cold. Xiuxiu couldn't help but panic - what was going on?

  Could it be... a ghost?

  Thinking of this, Xiu Xiu felt that everything in front of her had become unnatural. Although there was no wind, the snow was drifting diagonally to the east. Although it was so cold, her legs were sunk into the snowy ground, but her pant legs didn't get wet at all.

  What if it really is that kind of thing? Xiuxiu bit her lip, if she encountered zongzi, she knew how to deal with it, black donkey hoof, glutinous rice, thousand money rope, how to use, where to use, she all knew, after all, the Ho family was in the zongzi business, but if it's a ghost this kind of thing, she really didn't know how to deal with it.

  But at this moment, Xiuxiu thought that she could only make the best of a bad situation. She remembered the legend of the ghost mirror that Old Lady Huo had told her before she passed away.

  Mrs. Huo's education was very strict, and apart from the orthodox training of her children and grandchildren, she also paid attention to their behavior and speech during leisure time, all of which had profound implications. Xiuxiu remembered that when she was in her youth, she was quite self-conscious about her appearance, and as a young girl with a newly matured sense of romance, she couldn't help but gaze at herself in the mirror, admiring her braids and facial features.

  One day, Xiuxiu was admiring herself in the mirror when Huo Lao Tai approached and asked, "Xiuxiu, do you know the origin of mirrors?" The people from the Old Ninth Gate were not ordinary thieves or bandits; they could be said to rival historians and archaeologists in their knowledge of historical artifacts and legends. Xiuxiu nodded and gave a concise answer that covered everything from human evolution to historical development. She said, "The invention of mirrors originated from nature, stemming from humanity's curiosity about itself. The earliest mirrors were stone mirrors, also known as primal mirrors. Stone mirrors were made of obsidian, a type of stone that naturally reflects light and images. The term 'primal mirror' refers to humanity's initial understanding of mirrors. Reflections in water and the pupil of the eye are both examples of primal mirrors. The evolution of mirrors went from stone mirrors to copper mirrors, and eventually to modern Western glass mirrors."

  Xiuxiu thought her answer was perfect, starting from the perspective of human evolution, then talking about the types and branches of mirrors, although concise, but very systematic, she explained one by one, clear and straightforward. Xiuxiu felt a bit proud in her heart, but she knew Old Lady Huo's temper, so she remained calm on the surface.

  Old Mrs. Huo nodded in satisfaction, stroking Xiuxiu's hair as she sat down, and then told Xiuxiu other things about mirrors.

  What Old Lady Huo spoke of was not a dry history, but a mysterious and colorful mirror that left a deep impression on Xiuxiu.

  The true origin of the mirror is unknown, and its original name was not "mirror" but "jian". In ancient times, people who wanted to see their own reflections mostly found a calm water surface to reflect their shadows, which was called "shadow reflection on water". In ancient legends, there are two widely spread explanations for the origin of jian, one of which is the legend of obsidian.

  It is said that Nüwa refined the stone to repair the sky, and collected a piece of black jade, which was then polished into a round and smooth shape, making it the first mirror in the world. Later generations have had many discussions about whether the Black Jade Mirror really existed, and this has also added a layer of mystery to this legendary world's first mirror. It is said that this Black Jade Mirror can reflect the origin of the world, connect with the underworld below, and verify yin and yang above. Later, it was thrown into the sky by Nüwa and became the bright moon.

  Of course, this legend is too mythical and therefore not enough to enter the historical records, but it has been widely circulated among the people.

  But the second legend about Jian is much more reliable.

  This legend is related to the Yellow Emperor. Xiuxiu found that when it comes to Chinese things, tracing back often leads to the Three Sovereigns era. Just like when she was in elementary school, she became friends with someone named Zhang something, but the specific name has been forgotten for too long. Later, when she introduced him to her family, Old Lady Huo told her about the origin of the Zhang surname, which also led back to the emperor.

  The original text is translated to English as follows:

  Originally, the Yellow Emperor had a son who invented the bow and arrow, making contributions to the tribe's hunting, so he was granted the surname Zhang. Xiu Xiu suddenly realized that people with the surname Zhang were direct descendants of the Yellow Emperor. Not long after, Xiu Xiu met someone with the surname Wang, but was dragged away by Old Lady Huo again, and it turned out they also had a relationship with the Yellow Emperor, which nearly suffocated Xiu Xiu to death.

  As soon as Old Lady Huo mentioned the Yellow Emperor, Xiuxiu stuck out her tongue and almost rolled her eyes.

  It is said that the Yellow Emperor married a famous ugly woman, Nümu. Although Nümu was ugly, she was gentle and virtuous, and shared joys and sorrows with the Yellow Emperor. One day, Nümu followed other women in the tribe to open up mountains and dig stones. When they had dug halfway, they suddenly discovered a piece of stone that shone brightly. On the surface of the stone, it reflected her own ugly face. Nümu was shocked and thought it strange, so she took it back home to study. She found that the surface of the stone was uneven, which made her reflection appear distorted and ugly. So Nümu took the stone to a grinding disc to grind it smooth, and then looked at it again. It still showed her as ugly. Nümu sighed and said: "It seems that I cannot blame the stone for my ugliness."

  Later, Xi Wangmu told the Yellow Emperor about her discovery, and the Yellow Emperor vigorously excavated this stone, grinding it into a mirror. According to legend, during the battle between the Yellow Emperor and Chi You, Chi You summoned countless evil spirits, causing the Yellow Emperor's troops to become lost in the Bundragon Gorge. The emperor's troops felt surrounded by dark winds, and although they saw an exit ahead, it suddenly turned into a cliff.

  The emperor pondered for a long time, then said: "Take the mirror, shine the way." At that time, when fighting wars, both men and women had to go to the battlefield. Most of the women wore mirrors of various sizes on their bodies. The emperor gathered these together and made two mirrors: one was the sun and moon mirror, which could reflect the living, see through skin and bones, and clearly see the hair, blood, and skeleton inside the body; the other was the mirror for the dead, which could shock and frighten away evil spirits and make them disappear without a trace. Suddenly, those ghosts summoned by Chi You had nowhere to hide, and they cried out as they drilled into the ground, making a mournful sound of ghosts wailing like wolves. In the end, the emperor led his troops to find a way out.

  The sun and moon mirror that reflects the flesh and blood of the living, and the yin soul of the dead, is said to have been buried with the Yellow Emperor, and lost in the land of China.

  It is unknown whether these legends are true or not, but since ancient times, mirrors have been used for the living to see their reflections and for the dead to ward off evil spirits. Therefore, in history, there was also a kind of mirror specifically used for the dead, called a "镇墓鉴" (zhēn mù jiàn).

  The tomb mirror is an unknown thing. Generally, when a grave buries extremely evil and malevolent people, after death, a tomb mirror will be placed in the grave, pressed on top of the coffin, shining on the spirit platform, meaning to capture ghosts, making it impossible for the ghost of the evil person to wreak havoc.

  At that time, Old Lady Huo finished this section and Xiuxiu listened with a daze, hurriedly asking: "Is there more? Is there more?" Old Lady Huo smiled and said meaningfully: "So, Ah Xiuxiu, looking in the mirror too much is not a good thing. When it's extremely sunny, it must be followed by shade, when it's extremely shady, it must be followed by sunshine. Looking in the mirror for too long will invite ghosts." From then on, Xiuxiu's youth was ruined. While other girls were admiring themselves in the mirror, changing hairstyles three times a day, she would hastily tie her hair into a ponytail and head to school.

  Xiu Xiu looked at the strange scene in front of her, and she couldn't help but think crookedly. At this moment, she happened to have an ancient bronze mirror on her body, which had been hidden close to her all along. The ancient mirror could capture ghosts, and this piece of bronze mirror was particularly good at reflecting light, shining brightly under the sunlight. It was the same one that Wu Xie used to take notes with earlier.

  Xiu Xiu took out the small copper mirror from her clothes, the mirror was only as big as a palm, and the back of the mirror was inlaid with a horse-and-rider pattern, carved very skillfully. Five horses surrounded the mirror, chasing each other, five heads and five bodies, but when combined, they formed exactly ten horses, similar to the design of the ancient "Five Sons and Ten Boys" picture.

  In such an environment, Xiuxiu didn't dare to look at the mirror's front side, fearing that she would see a devil's face in one glance. But now she had no choice but to look, so she took a deep breath and looked towards the front side, only to be stunned for a moment - the mirror was a bright yellow color, with nothing inside.

  But Xiuxiu felt a chill run down her spine, and the white hair on her forehead was sweating. It was now in broad daylight, although it was surrounded by a snowy plain, but the terrain was undulating and extremely uneven. Where Xiuxiu stood, behind her back was a low snow hill, so in this copper mirror, there should also be that snow hill, but now there was nothing.

  The copper mirror is empty, with nothing in it.

  Xiu Xiu's wrist trembled slightly, her heart skipped a beat and accelerated suddenly, but she quickly calmed down because she understood that she had found the root of the problem.

  They were circling around the Nima Snow Mountain, if there was such a large crack, they would have found it. Even if they didn't find it, Samba along the way would remind them. Because Samba thought we were tourists all along, so he introduced the surroundings along the way. If there really was such a big canyon in the snow mountain, Samba must have said something, but he didn't.

  At first, I and Xiaohua entered the cave, descended at least thirty meters, then continued forward, the road surface slanted upwards, walked out over a hundred meters. The possibility of walking out of the mountain cave is not impossible, but in any case, we should not have walked into this large rift valley.

  Xiu Xiu looked at the mirror again, and for some reason, she felt that the yellowish copper surface of the mirror seemed to be covered with a layer of grayness, gloomy and somber, like a thick fog that couldn't be dispersed.

  In a daze, she seemed to see a pair of bright red eyes flashing in the thick fog.

  In the blink of an eye.

  Xiu Xiu shuddered all over, and a more mournful sound suddenly echoed in her ears. She subconsciously turned her head to look, only to find that the group of people who had been crying earlier were now frantically beating themselves. They seemed to be tormented by their conscience and moral principles for having eaten human flesh, weak and suffering. The young man who had made the first cut was fiercely slapping his own face, muttering in German. Xiu Xiu couldn't understand what he was saying, but she vaguely felt that his voice was filled with madness and despair.

  Xiu Xiu thought, if this group of people can't get out, they will go crazy sooner or later.

  No... They can't get out, they're already dead. Just as Xiuxiu's gaze turned to them, Xiuxiu discovered that something was off, this team was missing one person.

  At first, when they were discovered, there was a team of 9 people. Minus the one who was dissected, there should have been 8 left, but now there are only 7 people.

  Suddenly, Xiuxiu felt a chill in her heart. She thought of Xiaohua and remembered Xiaohua's behavior among this group of people... If Xiaohua was added, it would be exactly 8 people, not one more or one less.

  So... where did that person who disappeared go?