Chapter 51: Hard to Discern the True from the False

The mirror demon, pinned to the ground by Uncle Hu, grinned maliciously. “The fifth mirror—you’ll never find it...”

Uncle Hu panicked. “You damn thing, where did you hide the mirror?!”

Xia Wulei suddenly pulled out her phone. “Here it is.”

Both Uncle Hu and the mirror demon froze, their eyes widening in fury.

“W-What? How did you...”

“How should I know? I’m not an idiot. Do you think I just walked in like that?”

Xia Wulei rolled her eyes. When she first entered the room to find the mirror, just in case, she had checked her phone and slipped it into her pocket. Now it was finally useful.

She placed the phone on the ground and raised the hoe in her hand.

“Goodbye.”

With a single strike, the phone screen shattered instantly.

“Ah—”

Accompanied by the mirror demon’s wail, the surroundings shattered like broken glass. Xia Wulei suddenly felt the ground vanish beneath her feet and her entire body plummeted downward.

Instinctively, Xia Wulei retreated into the space pocket. Since she was here, she decided to check on her ham.

She set the time flow inside the small room to the fastest speed; the ham’s condition was excellent. Xia Wulei didn’t hesitate to invest the newly acquired 30% energy, sweeping it into the soil as seeds.

The land level immediately rose to tier three. If this energy were converted into crops, the harvest would yield over three thousand points.

She had become a small wealthy lady overnight!

Xia Wulei was very pleased. After confirming no danger outside, she returned to reality.

Awakening in her body, Xia Wulei found Cheng Cheng and Li Lianxin both concerned.

Cui Chengzhi smiled warmly. “Miss Xia, welcome back.”

Li Lianxin sighed in relief. “Luckily, nothing happened. Honestly, risking yourself for that old man wasn’t worth it.”

Li Lianxin’s words were blunt, paying no mind to Uncle Hu, who was now awake beside them.

Uncle Hu looked a little embarrassed but sincerely met Xia Wulei’s gaze.

“Miss Xia, it’s thanks to you that I was saved!”

Li Lianxin snapped, “Good that you know. Just don’t keep causing trouble—everyone just wants to live, no one’s like you!”

Uncle Hu forced a smile and lowered his head. “Miss Li is right.”

He then glanced at Xia Wulei, curiosity in his eyes. “By the way, Miss Xia, how did you recognize that ghost creature?”

Xia Wulei smiled. “It’s simple. Didn’t I ask you all questions? It was too eager to prove itself.”

“Whether it was proposing the night’s plan or revealing its true name outright, it was just trying to draw attention to itself, to show me it was a real player.”

“Of course, the most important point was that it showed no fear. Mr. Cui said ghosts feed on human fear, and that mirror demon was confident from start to finish—the more scared you are, the stronger it becomes.”

Cui Chengzhi nodded, admiration clear in his eyes.

Uncle Hu suddenly understood and felt relieved.

“It’s really good to be out...”

“Yeah, it’s good to be out, but your body belongs to an old man—you probably can’t get used to it, right?”

Uncle Hu stiffened completely.

Li Lianxin quickly reacted, shivering as she pulled Cheng Cheng away from Uncle Hu.

Yu Guang had stood by the door the whole time, occupying a strategic position for a quick escape.

Only Bako looked confused. “Huh? What?”

Cui Chengzhi was unfazed, smiling faintly. “Miss Xia, you really are impressive.”

Xia Wulei frowned. “You noticed? Why didn’t you subdue him then?”

Cui Chengzhi remained calm. “Just an ordinary person.”

Xia Wulei understood immediately.

Cui Chengzhi had always been sensitive to auras—how could he not detect that this Uncle Hu was not the real Uncle Hu?

From the start, Xia Wulei had suspected that neither the big nor small Uncle Hu in the mirror world was genuine.

Uncle Hu was greedy, selfish, and arrogant, valuing points more than his life; otherwise, he wouldn’t have risked dragging Yu Guang along to dig for clues.

He probably didn’t expect much help from Yu Guang, but rather found him easy to control—someone to use as a scapegoat if needed.

Such a man would never have stepped forward to block the mirror demon instead of taking credit when Xia Wulei shattered the mirror.

Xia Wulei didn’t know what this entity was, but it was well-informed about Uncle Hu. The real Uncle Hu was likely already dead.

This ghost had escaped the mirror world and entered Uncle Hu’s body.

Despite having countless powers, it was constrained by the body, reduced to an ordinary, harmless person.

The impostor Uncle Hu forced a smile. “W-What are you talking about? I’m the old Hu...”

“No, you’re not.”

Yu Guang interrupted sharply.

“Old Hu’s walk tilts to the right; he unconsciously bites his thumbnail every two or three minutes; when nervous, he swallows frequently. But you have shifting eyes and twitching cheek muscles.”

“You can mimic Uncle Hu’s speech and behavior, but you can’t imitate these subconscious habits.”

Everyone silently stepped back, distancing themselves from Yu Guang.

Yu Guang was puzzled.

Seeing his ruse exposed, “Uncle Hu” suddenly grabbed Bako in front of him, glaring fiercely and shouting at the group.

“I just want to survive, not fight you! Let’s finish this dungeon properly—I won’t do anything!”

Bako panicked. “Then what’s going on?! Just talk it out!”

Xia Wulei was also curious. “Who exactly are you? How did you end up in the mirror?”

“Uncle Hu”’s eyes reddened, his whole body trembling with excitement.

“Who am I? I’m just like you—I’m a player too!”

“Why did no one come to save me? I led my companions through so many dungeons; I was almost close to enough points...”

“Finally, finally I got out! I have to live, I want to be resurrected, I can’t die...”

Uncle Hu’s hands trembled, making Bako’s voice quiver as well.

“Bro, bro brother, I know, I know, let go of me...”

Xia Wulei looked at Cui Chengzhi. Was he really going to stand by and do nothing?

Cui Chengzhi, expressionless all along, now lifted his head and looked straight at “Uncle Hu.”

“In the dungeon, when someone dies, they either vanish or are absorbed by the dungeon to become a ghost. Possessing another’s body is not tolerated by the system.”

“Uncle Hu” laughed, manic and proud.

“I’m different—I have endless system powers, can preserve my soul, and even...”

Before he finished, his grip on Bako’s hand loosened, letting it fall. Suddenly his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, face ashen and shocked.

“What’s happening?! Why can’t I control my body?!”

Cui Chengzhi sighed. “Because this isn’t your body. Time’s up—the vessel can’t sustain a soul anymore; it’s lifeless.”

“It shouldn’t be like this—it shouldn’t—”

“Uncle Hu” screamed in terror and rage, his voice fading. The foreign soul inside the body seemed to be expelled.

[Warning! Energy detected from outside the dungeon, initiating purge!]

[Purge complete. Players, please continue with the dungeon.]

Two system alerts sounded in everyone’s minds, and the scene fell silent.

Xia Wulei shook her head with some regret. She had hoped to learn more, like how the other party preserved their consciousness, but the system had intervened too quickly.

At that moment, an abrupt system prompt appeared in Xia Wulei’s mind.

[Energy detected from another system. Absorb?]