With her experience, Yang Yuxin immediately realized they were facing a weird space intrusion. If she were alone, she wouldn’t hesitate to open the door to look for Tu Doubi and the exit. But her mission this time was to protect Cheng Shengnan, and taking Cheng Shengnan voluntarily deeper into the weird space seemed far too risky.
Yang Yuxin pressed the communicator on her wrist, trying to contact Tu Doubi through the weird energy communicator. But not only could she not send a message, the communicator itself didn’t respond at all.
“Only fourth-tier or higher, highly corrosive weird energy can directly block weird energy signals…” Yang Yuxin frowned and said in a deep voice.
After Yang Yuxin called out to Tu Doubi several times with no response from the doorway, Cheng Shengnan also realized something was wrong. She immediately tried to activate the special device on her wrist.
“My distress device has no signal either,” Cheng Shengnan said.
Yang Yuxin nodded. “With all information completely blocked, it’s probably very difficult for a rescue team to get in. Staying put and waiting for rescue isn’t a good idea.”
As a professional paranormal investigator, Yang Yuxin naturally had more experience dealing with weird spaces than Cheng Shengnan. She knew that immediately looking for the exit of the weird space was the best option at a time like this.
Cheng Shengnan said, “Captain Yang, don’t worry about my situation. Just make your plans based on your experience, and I’ll do my best to cooperate with you.”
“But…” Yang Yuxin hesitated.
Cheng Shengnan smiled. “Although I work in administration, don’t forget that I’m probably the person in the branch, aside from the paranormal investigators themselves, who has reviewed the most case files. I know that in this situation, according to your methods, you’d be looking for an exit. But you’re worried about my safety, so you’re hesitating… Don’t worry, I’ll try my best to keep up with you.”
“I…”
Just as Yang Yuxin was about to say something, they heard two dull thuds from the door, like someone was knocking or maybe just slamming right into it.
Yang Yuxin made a hand signal, telling Cheng Shengnan to step back. She took out her weird energy pistol, held it in her hand, and slowly approached the door.
Just then, a mass of black shadow emerged from the gap under the door. It began to侵蚀 (erode) the entire door, then spread to the walls, like black blood vessels growing rapidly like vines.
Yang Yuxin immediately fired two shots at the gap under the door. The weird energy bullets hit the black shadow, causing a brief distortion of weird energy, but after a second, everything returned to normal, and even the bullets were swallowed by the shadow.
In almost an instant, the black shadow spread to all four walls of the room and then began to extend its black vein-like tendrils across the floor.
“Not good!” Yang Yuxin saw a mass of black shadow gathering behind Cheng Shengnan and immediately sensed the danger. She dashed toward her,
but she was still a step too slow. In the instant she lunged forward, the vein-like tendrils under her feet condensed into two large shadow hands that grabbed her ankles.
With her feet held fast, Yang Yuxin kept her forward-leaning posture and fell to the ground. As she fell, she pulled the knife from her belt, pressed a switch, and with a “shwipe” she slashed out a black blade of light, cutting through the two shadow hands gripping her feet.
But that one second of interference was enough. The shadow behind Cheng Shengnan finished gathering, and two black hands reached for her neck.
Just as Yang Yuxin was attacked, the “sleeping bag” lying on the couch by the window suddenly ripped open with a tearing sound. Then a figure flew back in, sweeping an arm across. Fingernails, nearly thirty centimeters long and blood-red, extended from her fingertips, slicing right through the shadow hands!
Next, a graceful figure landed beside Cheng Shengnan. “Sister Cheng, are you okay?”
Cheng Shengnan said, “I’m fine. The condition for these shadow hands to form is the vein-like patterns on the ground. Before the shadow hands appear, the energy gathers quickly, taking about one second.”
Just as Cheng Shengnan said, she could be considered the person in the Rong City branch, aside from the paranormal investigators themselves, who had handled the most weird cases. And that statement was actually modest, because she had processed more case files than even the investigators had personally experienced. After all, the weird cases she’d handled involved more than just one or two investigators.
As a result, Cheng Shengnan had exceptionally rich “theoretical experience” in dealing with the paranormal. She had identified the nature of the shadow hands after just two of their attacks.
The person beside Cheng Shengnan was none other than Yun’er, who had received the weirdo sample injection and had already become a weirdo. After several months of treatment by Jiang Peiwen’s research team, she had stabilized the activity of the weirdo cells in her body and could even control them to a certain extent.
And she was Deng Yuqi’s personal bodyguard assigned to protect Cheng Shengnan.
Deng Yuqi and Jiang Peiwen’s research team had three reasons for letting Yun’er come along. First, as the most valuable “research subject” in Rong City, with Shen Ge and Deng Yuqi both heading to Dajing, leaving her in the Rong City branch would have required a significant increase in defensive resources.
Second, after several months of treatment and training, Yun’er’s combat ability was now comparable to Lin Yin’s. Although she lost most of their sparring matches, her strength was still above that of Yang Yuxin and others.
Third, after her treatment, Yun’er couldn’t be detected by weird energy scanners when she wasn’t fully transformed, that is, when she wasn’t manifesting her weirdo powers. Her appearance was also no different from an ordinary person, so there was no worry about exposure.
In short, bringing Yun’er not only increased the overall combat strength of the team attending the meeting but also didn’t weaken the defensive forces back at the Rong City branch. It was killing two birds with one stone.
And with Yun’er accompanying them, and the ordinary girl Xue’er staying behind in Rong City, there was no need to worry about Yun’er turning on them at a critical moment.
Of course, the most important point was that Shen Ge had previously sent a message to Deng Yuqi, saying that if Yun’er could successfully control her weirdo cell powers after treatment, they could consider making her Shen Ge’s “assistant,” helping him carry out some higher-difficulty weird energy missions.
Deng Yuqi thought Shen Ge only considered Yun’er’s background as a special agent combined with her weirdo strength. She didn’t know that Shen Ge actually saw Yun’er as a mobile charging pack with an “unfortunate” trait.
Yang Yuxin wasn’t aware of Yun’er’s existence, because Yun’er’s situation was “classified.” Deng Yuqi had only told her that the weird sleeping bag contained Li Xiang’s research materials.
And that wasn’t entirely wrong. Yun’er’s “job” at the Rong City branch was to assist Li Xiang and Jiang Peiwen’s team with their research. Shen Ge had even given her the nickname “Yun Wenxi.”
“You are… the Shadow?” Yang Yuxin stood up, saw Yun’er protecting Cheng Shengnan, was startled for a moment, and then guessed the other’s identity.
Although she didn’t know Yun’er’s details, Deng Yuqi had told her before departure that she had arranged a “Shadow” to protect Cheng Shengnan’s safety.
As the assistant lecturer supporting Li Xiang at the Asian Paranormal Research Conference, Cheng Shengnan’s security was naturally second only to Li Xiang’s.
“Hello, my name is Yun’er. I’m from… uh, the Quanlong Mountain base,” Yun’er said, looking at Yang Yuxin and briefly introducing herself.
Yang Yuxin had thought Yun’er looked familiar, and now hearing this, she immediately guessed her identity. Although Yun’er’s files were top secret within the Rong City branch, Yang Yuxin was a team captain after all, so she had come into contact with Jiang Wenpei’s research team to some extent.
Moreover, when Yun’er was transferred before, Yang Yuxin had been part of the escort team, but she hadn’t had much contact or interaction with her, so she didn’t remember her well.
Now with Yun’er’s help, the black vein-like tendrils in the room were becoming denser. Yang Yuxin immediately changed the plan and chose to break out with Cheng Shengnan.
After Yang Yuxin explained the plan, Cheng Shengnan immediately agreed. The three of them rushed out of the room just as the shadow hands were gathering again.
The hallway wasn’t completely dark, but the light from all the ceiling lamps seemed to be covered by a layer of cloth, providing very limited illumination.
The strange thing was that when Yang Yuxin opened their door, the door opposite opened simultaneously. Yang Yuxin instinctively raised her gun and looked across.
At the opposite doorway, another “Yang Yuxin” was also raising her gun and looking back. It was like a mirror had appeared in the middle of the hallway, showing her reflection of herself.
And when Cheng Shengnan, standing behind Yang Yuxin, leaned out to look across, “Cheng Shengnan” peeked out from behind the opposite “Yang Yuxin.”
“Is this… a mirror?” Cheng Shengnan was stunned for a moment, but then saw Yang Yuxin aim at a mass of shadow gathering on the ceiling of the opposite room and fire a shot.
If the other side was a “mirror image,” the bullet should have hit the mirror in the middle. But instead, the bullet flew through without obstruction and with a “bang” hit the shadow on the opposite ceiling.
At the same time, the opposite “Yang Yuxin” also fired simultaneously. Her bullet flew into this room and hit the shadow hand just as it was gathering on the ceiling here.
It was a mirror, but perhaps not entirely a mirror!
Just as the three women thought the “three” in the opposite room were just some kind of special image, the “Yang Yuxin” at the opposite doorway saw Yang Yuxin preparing to leave their room, raised her gun, and stopped her: “Don’t move. Stay where you are!”
“?”
This time, not only Yang Yuxin but also Cheng Shengnan and Yun’er behind her were stunned. If it was a “mirror image,” it obviously couldn’t speak, let alone have its own consciousness.
“You… aren’t a mirror image?” Yang Yuxin was astonished.
The opposite “Yang Yuxin” looked equally surprised. “I should be asking you that!”
Cheng Shengnan then realized that when both sides had “fired” earlier, the other side had clearly been about a second slower. They weren’t completely “synchronized,” which showed some difference.
By now, the “three” in both rooms were standing at their doorways, staring at the other side in surprise. Finally, Yang Yuxin broke the strange silence first, saying, “9320.”
The opposite “Yang Yuxin” frowned and said, “Agent Shen’s number, 7259.”
“Tu Doubi’s number,” Yang Yuxin replied.
“Yang Yuxin” then asked, “What day did you start working in the Special Strategy Department?”
Yang Yuxin gave a precise date, even accurate to the time she woke up that morning, then asked back, “What day did I enter the military?”
The other answered just as carefully, even mentioning an embarrassing incident that happened that day.
The two Yang Yuxins asked each other several questions, and the other answered fluently. The same effect occurred when they questioned Cheng Shengnan and Yun’er.
Both sides concluded that if the other party wasn’t a “mind-reading” weird entity or a weirdo in disguise, then they definitely weren’t mirror images. They were real, living “people.”
To verify their suspicion, each side sent their Yang Yuxin forward. They touched each other, confirming their guess. They were indeed real, living people.
On the surface, both sides seemed perfectly normal, with nothing strange to see. Meanwhile, although the black vein-like tendrils were spreading in the rooms, they were only inside the rooms; the hallway walls showed no sign of them.
“Is this… a mirror?”
Suddenly, a gloomy, terrifying voice rang out in the hall. The six people who had been “facing off” were startled.
The voice sounded somewhat like Cheng Shengnan’s, but something felt off, as if she had already died once and crawled back from hell.
And just as this voice appeared, “Bang bang! Bang bang!” – gunshots rang out in pairs from all around.
Every time a pair of gunshots sounded, two doors would open a few meters down the hallway, and from each would emerge another three-person team of Yang Yuxin, Cheng Shengnan, and Yun’er.
In the blink of an eye, the hallway was crowded with people.
The key point was that all these people, who looked like mirror images, had their own consciousness and clearly knew everything related to themselves. It was impossible to tell who was real.
“This isn’t right. Get back in the room!” Yang Yuxin no longer cared about the spreading black veins inside. She believed the danger posed by these “duplicates” was far greater than the weirdness inside the room.
Cheng Shengnan and Yun’er quickly followed her back into their room. But then a ghostly, terrifying voice echoed inside the room: “How can you be so sure that the person standing next to you… is the real one?”
The voice had an indescribable horror to it: hoarse, oppressive, instantly making one’s hair stand on end. It didn’t sound like it could come from a normal person at all.
“Captain Yang…” Yun’er’s weirdo senses detected an eerie weird energy permeating the entire room. She was about to speak up, but Yang Yuxin made a shushing gesture.
Then Yang Yuxin suddenly turned and fired several shots toward the corner of the room near the bedside table. The weird energy bullets hit the wall but made a strange “thump thump” sound, as if hitting flesh. A one-meter radius vortex of distortion appeared.
Yun’er’s weirdo cells immediately sensed an extremely powerful weird energy reaction from within that vortex, and she instinctively stepped in front of Cheng Shengnan to protect her.
At the same time, Yun’er’s gaze fell on the weird sleeping bag on the couch nearby.
The weird sleeping bag had strong defensive properties. Deng Yuqi had hidden her inside it for two reasons: first, to avoid headquarters’ eyes, and second, in case Cheng Shengnan or Li Xiang found themselves in a desperate situation. In that case, rather than keeping them by her side, it would be better to hide them inside the weird sleeping bag.
Bang bang!
Bang bang!
Just then, more gunfire echoed from the hallway, seeming to come from the duplicates outside. Some were starting to fight, some had retreated back into their rooms, and others were convinced the other side were weirdos in disguise and had started shooting.
In an instant, the entire hallway was filled with gunfire. What was even more terrifying was that the hallway seemed to stretch on endlessly, with no end in sight. More and more doors kept opening, and more and more “trios” emerged from the rooms, only to freeze in shock at the chaotic scene outside.
“Is this… a mirror?”
“Is this… a mirror?”
In the hallway, Cheng Shengnan’s question echoed again and again.
