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墨書 Inktalez
In the dead of night, do not casually look into a mirror.
Because the shadow reflected in that Copper Mirror is not you!
After a winter rain, the Yun Family Gathering remains gray and dreary. The cold wind howls fiercely, and all the shops along the street are tightly closed. The street is desolate, with only the lantern in front of Ruyi Cosmetic Shop still lit, swaying gently in the cold wind.
The Night Watchman, carrying a gong and wrapped in a heavy cotton coat, keeps his head low as he trudges through the biting cold. If it weren't for the financial struggles at home, he certainly wouldn't have chosen this job, let alone venture out at this hour. Glancing around, he shivers as he pulls his hand from his sleeve and lightly taps the gong's surface with his stick. After hearing the resonant sound, he takes a deep breath and strikes it hard. Clearing his throat, he calls out loudly, "All spirits sit in a row, all is well!"
He strikes the gong three times and repeats his call three times to remind people that it is now the third watch of the night.
With each shout, the Night Watchman feels the cold wind rushing down his throat into his stomach. By the time he finishes calling out three times, he feels as if his entire belly has turned cold and his throat is freezing painfully. When he reaches an area where houses are less densely packed, he rubs his hands together and pulls out a flask hidden in his coat, taking several hearty swigs.
Although the liquor is also cold, it has retained some warmth from being tucked away in his coat. A few sips warm not just his belly but also soothe his throat and warm up his body. Satisfied, the Night Watchman wraps himself tighter in his cotton coat and prepares to turn down another street.
However, at that moment, he hears a sound.
The noise is not loud but stands out sharply in the empty street. The Night Watchman follows the sound with his gaze and sees ahead a dark silhouette. With a bit of light from the lantern in his hand, he can barely make out some outlines of buildings.
He recognizes that place; it is the only Official Post Station at Yun Family Gathering. However, since the gathering has ended, officials usually do not choose to stop here. Except for occasional visits from the County Magistrate for work-related matters, it is mostly vacant.
The Old Wang who manages the Post Station usually has a good relationship with him. Occasionally, he would stop by to check on Old Wang and share a drink or chat. Old Wang's work is more leisurely than his own; being somewhat lazy by nature, during such cold winter days, unless on official business, he would definitely sleep until late morning.
Is there commotion at the Post Station? Perhaps an official passing through needs to stay overnight?
The Night Watchman thinks to himself as he takes a few steps forward, squinting and raising his lantern high.
In front of the Post Station stands empty; there are no shadows of people or even ghosts to be seen.
Shaking his head, he thinks to himself that he is being overly curious; even if an official were passing through on business in this bitter cold, they wouldn't be as diligent as him to come to this Post Station at such an hour. Just as he decides to turn back, he hears that sound again.
Gurgle... gurgle... A bright and somewhat dazzling object rolls to his feet.
The Night Watchman rubbed his eyes and focused his gaze, only to find a small mirror resting on the ground at his feet. The mirror was no larger than a palm, but its craftsmanship was exquisite.
"What kind of person would throw a mirror here in the middle of the night?"
The Night Watchman muttered to himself as he lifted his lantern to illuminate the surroundings. The vast street was empty, with only him present.
"Strange, not even a ghostly shadow. Where did this mirror come from?"
After confirming once more and lingering for a moment, he bent down to pick up the mirror. This Copper Mirror was gilded and finely crafted, clearly something that belonged to a wealthy household. However, it didn't look new; it was covered in considerable copper rust, and the patterns on the back were smeared with dirt. If he leaned in closer, he could even smell a foul, earthy odor.
The Night Watchman glanced at the ground and then at the nearby Post Station, pondering whether someone had checked into the Post Station that night and accidentally dropped this Copper Mirror. With the wind blowing strongly at that moment, it might have been blown to his feet. But upon further reflection, he found it odd; who would take such a rusty mirror when leaving home?
He couldn't make sense of the situation, but one thing was clear: if he pawned this Copper Mirror, it could fetch a good amount of Silver. With the year-end approaching and his family yet to tailor new clothes, this Master had delivered him this mirror as an opportunity for fortune.
Thinking of this made the Night Watchman hum a tune in excitement. He tucked the gong and his nightstick under his arm, freeing his hands to carefully wipe the mirror.
The surface of the Copper Mirror was polished so finely that even with the rust, a vigorous rub made it shine again. The back featured an embossed pattern of maidens; the figures were lifelike, but their clothing wasn't from the Golden Tang Dynasty; rather, it belonged to an earlier era.
As he held onto the edge of the clothing and meticulously cleaned off the dirt from the back of the Copper Mirror, he froze in confusion when the entire image became visible. The back of this Copper Mirror depicted multiple designs. At the top was Xiangyun Palace, below it was carved a Crane and a Longevity Tortoise. To the left was a Young Woman dressed in luxurious attire, while to the right stood a Daoist priest in robes holding a floating dust whisk. The more he looked at this image, the stranger it seemed; gradually, the Night Watchman developed an unsettling feeling that this mirror might not be intended for living people but rather as an item for burial used by some wealthy family.
Remembering what "burial" implied sent chills down his spine. However, poor families would rather die for wealth than fear ghosts. Gritting his teeth, he decided to tuck this Copper Mirror into his bosom.
Just as he reached back to stuff the Copper Mirror away, a flash of light suddenly glimmered across its surface. The Night Watchman instinctively glanced at it and saw that a woman's shadow had appeared in the mirror without him noticing. The figure was graceful yet clad entirely in black clothing. When he attempted to take a closer look at her features in the mirror, she vanished.
The Night Watchman rubbed his eyes vigorously and wiped at the surface of the Copper Mirror again. Seeing only his own face reflected back at him—his features tightly covered—he finally sighed in relief and tucked the mirror into his bosom before continuing on.
Perhaps due to carrying this mirror with him, he felt that this latter half of the night was much quieter than before. He could no longer hear even an occasional chirp from insects or faint sounds of snoring from male heads or children mumbling in their dreams when passing by houses; all sounds had vanished completely. The entire area had become eerily silent, and this excessive quietude made him uneasy, as if something ominous were about to happen.
Holding his breath, he finally endured until dawn broke. He hurriedly gathered his belongings and returned home. Upon closing the door behind him and seeing his wife and children sleeping peacefully, that unsettling feeling gradually dissipated from his heart.
Night Watchman let out a sigh of relief, sitting in the chair and reaching into his pocket for the wine, but his fingers brushed against the Copper Mirror, and he pulled it out along with the wine. The wine jug was warm, while the Copper Mirror felt cool to the touch. After taking a sip of the wine and hesitating for a moment, he picked up the Copper Mirror.
The surface of the mirror seemed to shine even brighter than when he first found it, and much of the dirt from the intricate patterns on its back had been rubbed off onto his clothes, softening the carved lines. After turning the Copper Mirror over in his hands several times, Night Watchman's gaze fell once again on the woman's face.
The woman had a beautiful oval face, with long willow-like eyebrows that curved gracefully, resembling the crescent moon seen during summer nights. Her nose was delicate, appearing charming from both the front and side views. Her lips were alluring; from the front, she seemed to be feigning anger, but from the side, it appeared she was subtly smiling.
Night Watchman stared at her lips, finding them increasingly captivating. Unable to resist, he licked his own lips and gently brushed his fingertip against her cheek. Strangely, the sensation felt as if he were touching real Human Skin.
"Could this be a magical mirror?" Night Watchman wondered to himself, his gaze on the Copper Mirror growing more intense.
He had heard many stories from his teacher about fairies and fox spirits, which often shared a common theme: these beings would transform into gentle and charming women to approach their benefactors and offer themselves in gratitude. Night Watchman thought about how he had found this Copper Mirror in the middle of the night and carefully cleaned it before bringing it home; surely that counted as an act of kindness?
While Night Watchman was lost in thought, he heard the woman's laughter—a soft, shy sound that seemed partially concealed by her sleeve. The laughter emanated from the Copper Mirror, seeping into every pore of his body and causing him to shiver involuntarily.
Suddenly jolted back to reality, Night Watchman panicked and dropped the Copper Mirror onto the floor. The laughter in his ears changed into a chilling, sinister sound that seemed not to come from the mirror but rather seeped in from outside through the door.
Holding his breath, Night Watchman cautiously turned his gaze toward his door, which was slowly being pushed open by the wind...
His thoughts seemed frozen by the cold breeze; he could not imagine what he would see when that door opened. Would it be a beautiful woman who looked as if she had just stepped out of the Copper Mirror, or a disheveled ghost with blood-red eyes? He began to breathe heavily, desperately wanting to escape this house but found that his legs felt as heavy as lead, unable to move even an inch.
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