Chapter Thirty-Two: You and Your Conspiracy
Liu Haoyu couldn’t help but chuckle at Gu Qianyang’s suspicious and uncertain demeanor.
“Are you sure you want to take a gamble?”
He asked with a smile, his gaze towards Gu Qianyang filled with a trace of provocation and mockery.
Liu Haoyu knew very well that this old guy was overly suspicious, so all it took was one sentence to make him consider retreating.
“After all, you should know that even as you are now, facing Qin Liu would be a dead end.”
Gu Qianyang stared at Liu Haoyu, as if trying to discern something from the man.
But with the gas mask in between, he had no idea what Liu Haoyu was thinking.
Therefore, for the sake of stability, the best approach was to leave. Once the Mirror Gate was created, even if he had to face Qin Liu, he wouldn’t be completely without a chance of winning.
But… after waiting for so long, why was there no reaction?
Thinking this, Gu Qianyang’s cane heavily struck the ground, and spiderweb-like cracks instantly appeared on the cement floor.
Liu Haoyu was testing him, but wasn’t he also testing Liu Haoyu?
With such a grand display, if Qin Liu really appeared, he could retract his power in time and escape.
If Qin Liu didn’t appear, then the man in front of him would surely die without a burial place.
“Boom!!”
A loud noise echoed in the escape passage. Liu Haoyu’s expression remained calm, still looking at Gu Qianyang with indifference.
But Gu Qianyang waited for a long time and detected no dangerous aura.
This made him a little bolder.
“Heh… it seems you’re just putting on a show.”
Saying this, Gu Qianyang took out a bronze mirror from his tattered Taoist robe.
The symbols carved on the bronze mirror were identical to the symbols on the Mirror Ghost’s chest.
Liu Haoyu squinted as he looked at the mirror.
If he guessed correctly, this bronze mirror was the foundation of the Mirror Gate.
“I know that girl well. If she were really here, she wouldn’t have endured for so long. She would have already…”
Gu Qianyang’s voice suddenly stopped, as if a duck had its throat squeezed, unable to utter a single word.
“She would have already what?”
Liu Haoyu, wearing the gas mask, spoke in a muffled voice. His fingers tapped on Hong Yu in his pocket, having the little fellow inside emit a faint aura to help him project false bravado.
“It’s been forty years since we last met. Do you really think she’s the same as before, that nothing has changed?”
Gu Qianyang remained silent and took a step back.
While Liu Haoyu was speaking, that familiar, nightmare-like aura suddenly appeared in the air.
There was no doubt… this aura was emitted by Qin Liu!
Where was she?!
The nightmares of the past resurfaced in Gu Qianyang’s mind, and he tightly gripped the bronze mirror.
Although the Mirror Gate had not been fully activated, there was still a chance of success if forced open.
Should he take the gamble?
The older people become, the more stubborn their thinking. Gu Qianyang dared not gamble, and slowly raised the bronze mirror, facing Liu Haoyu’s direction.
The aura in the air grew stronger. Under Gu Qianyang’s gaze, the shadow behind Liu Haoyu suddenly twisted and deformed, gradually turning into that terrifying and blurred red ghostly shadow.
It’s Qin Liu!!
Seeing this, Gu Qianyang, like a startled beast, immediately activated the not-yet-fully-formed Mirror Gate and shone it towards Liu Haoyu.
A dazzling beam of light hit the opponent, as if it were melting him.
The moment he saw the light beam, Liu Haoyu instinctively dodged, but found that the light beam had locked onto him, rendering any attempt to dodge futile.
However, the problem was…
The white light beam had no effect on him.
And at this moment, the Black Book extended a hand from the backpack and wrote on Liu Haoyu’s back.
“I understand…”
“The place this Mirror Gate connects to is the Uncontrolled Zone under the Reincarnation Department.”
“That’s the rift formed after Qin Liu destroyed the Reincarnation Department back then.”
“I investigated that place before and found it to be more like a space where the laws of reincarnation had gone out of control.”
“Later, King Yama also considered it a hell subordinate to beyond the Eighteen Levels of Hell, also called the Hell of Reincarnation.”
“Some severely guilty individuals, like the Nekomata from before, would be banished to that place.”
“However, apart from those banished serious offenders, no one has ever entered there. One thing is certain: because the laws of reincarnation are completely out of control, that place is far more dangerous than Hell.”
“But fortunately, that place does not drag living people into it.”
“No wonder Gu Qianyang has been trying to ensure Qin Liu’s complete demise…”
After the Black Book finished speaking, the white light from the Mirror Gate had completely disappeared.
But just as the Black Book said, Liu Haoyu was unharmed. On the contrary, Gu Qianyang’s eyes widened, staring at the “possessed” Liu Haoyu who was completely fine, in disbelief.
“You’re lying, Qin Liu isn’t even here!”
Seeing Liu Haoyu safe and sound, Gu Qianyang was almost infuriated.
In the understanding of ghost exorcists, only completely dead ghosts could possess people.
As for someone like Qin Liu, whose soul had left their body but whose body was still alive, they could only be called a spirit.
“Who said… I’m not here?”
Before the words even fell, the air around Gu Qianyang began to distort. Qin Liu’s calm voice pierced Gu Qianyang’s eardrums like an ice pick.
Upon sensing that desperate and terrifying aura, Gu Qianyang’s remaining pupils contracted sharply, and his withered, branch-like hand began to tremble uncontrollably.
The torment he suffered before his death, like a nightmare, surged into his mind. At this moment, he was like a frog stared at by a venomous snake, almost unable to move.
“No… impossible…”
“With your remaining lifespan, continuing to use the abilities of a Guide… no, you’re definitely dead! You’re definitely dead!”
Saying this, Gu Qianyang attempted to aim the bronze mirror at Qin Liu, but a hand landed on his shoulder.
That blurred red shadow slowly emerged from the distorted air, appearing semi-transparent. She floated above the ground, and coupled with that chilling aura, she exuded an overwhelming sense of oppression.
“Old man,” Qin Liu looked at him, her expressionless face devoid of any emotion. Her icy hand released his shoulder and placed itself on Gu Qianyang’s head: “You and your conspiracy make me laugh.”
Unable to escape, unable to break free…
The world began to change, and consciousness began to sink…
Countless hands reached out from the darkness, firmly grasping his body.
Maws opened wide and began to tear at him incessantly, flesh and blood being stripped away bit by bit, until only bones remained.
But he did not die then, instead, it all repeated over and over again…
