Chapter 6: The shadow behind the mirror

The night descended with deep darkness, colder than usual. The wind blew softly, carrying faint whispers that echoed along the hallways of the shen residence. Inside a luxurious room filled with gilded furniture and expensive silk fabrics, a middle-aged woman with a haughty face sat with a glass of wine in her hand.

Madam shen- your shen tian's main wife. Sipping her wine with a satisfied expression. Today, she managed to get rid of a few servants that she deemed useless. Their blood and screams were mere entertainment to her.

But when she put her glass on the table....

CLINK!

the glass shattered for no known reason. The red liquid that should have been wine flowed on the surface of the table, but the color was more intense like blood.

Madam Shen's forehead wrinkled. "What is this?"

Before she could react further, the lantern lights in the room began to dim, their light flickering as if losing its power. The shadow in the corner seemed to tremble, changing shape, growing longer and blacker.

TAP. TAP. TAP.

Footsteps sounded from behind her. Slowly. Haunting.

"Back then, you enjoyed seeing people tremble in fear before you, didn't you?"

The voice was cold, heavy, but not harsh. Yet, every word pierced into Madam Shen's marrow like a thin dagger being slowly twisted.

Madam Shen turned her body quickly, but there was no one behind her. The room was still the same, only, the air felt colder.

"What kind of joke is this?!" She hissed, her hand reaching for the small dagger under her sleeve.

TAP. TAP.

that step was heard again. This time, from the direction of the large mirror that stood in the corner of the room. Madam shen stared into the mirror, and what she saw made her body freeze.

Her reflection in the mirror did not move with her.

Instead, it stared directly at her, smiling broadly with dark eyes that glittered with hatred.

"Are you ready, madam shen?"

Madam shen gasped, her heart racing. She swung her dagger at the mirror...

CRASH!

The mirror shattered into pieces, shards of glass flying in all directions. however, the image did not disappear. From the cracks of the mirror, a pair of black eyes were still staring at her, getting closer. ....

Madam shen stepped back, her body trembling violently. "W-what are you, a demon?!"

A cold wind swirled in the room, whispering voices filled the air. The screams of those who had died at her hands.

"What does it feel like... When that fear comes back to you?"

A hand emerged from the darkness, gripping her wrist. Madam shen screamed, but her voice caught in her throat. Her breath hitched, her skin felt frozen.

Right before her eyes, Bai xieye emerged from the shadows, his face only visible by inches.

"You think only you can make others suffer?" She whispered.

Madam shen tried to break free, but it was as if her entire body was paralyzed.

Bai xieye looked at her deeply, then slowly got close to her ear and whispered, "I can make death feel like hope.... Compared to what you're going through."

Suddenly, the shadows expanded, enveloping madam shen's body like a black mist. Her vision spun, her head throbbing violently. A scream echoed in her mind.

From within that darkness, she saw something....

A world full of corpses. Their faces were those of the people he had tortured and killed. They stared at him without eyes, their mouths moving without sound.

Then, one by one, they came closer.

Reach out.

Touching it.

Clawed.

"NOOOOOOO!"

in the real world, madam shen fell to the floor with widened eyes. She shivered, her body trembling violently like someone who had just come out of a nightmare she could never forget.

Bai xieye stared at her for a while, then whispered softly before disappearing into the shadows again.

"This is just the beginning."

Meanwhile, shen Tianmu and the elders were still discussing with serious faces.

"We have to find this person," one of the elders said. "Otherwise, the shen family will fall into chaos."

Shen Tianmu clenched his fists. "I'll kill him myself if necessary."

Suddenly, a hoverer ran in with a gasp. "Patriak! N-Mistress... Madam shen.... She..."

Shen Tianmu stood up quickly. "What happened to her?!"

"Madam she... she was found lying on the floor, her body trembling, her face pale... And she... She kept muttering something..."

Shen Tianmu's eyes narrowed. "What did he say?"

The servant gulped.

"Shadow.... That shadow came for me..."

The room suddenly fell silent. The elders exchanged glances, confusion and fear beginning to creep across their faces.

Outside the hall, behind the darkness of the night, Bai xieye stood on the rooftop, staring at them from a distance.

"This is just the initial stage..." He thought with a faint smile.

Tonight, the seeds of fear had been planted. And soon, the flower of death would begin to bloom.

Inside the shen family meeting hall, the atmosphere was getting tense.

Madam Shen, who had just been found in a terrible condition, was now lying on the bed, her body still shivering. Her eyes were blank, her lips twitched as if she wanted to say something, but only one word came out of her mouth repeatedly.

"Shadow...."

Shen Tianmu stood beside her, his face full of anger. He clenched his hands so tightly that his knuckles were bleeding.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY WIFE?!"

he shouted, his voice echoing throughout the hall.

An old physician who was summoned immediately to examine madam shen only shook his head weakly. "Patriarch, this is not a physical injury... But it is related to her mentality and soul."

Shen Tianmu turned his head sharply. "Mental and soul injuries?"

The physician gulped before explaining, "yes... It's as if she has experienced such a deep terror that she's mentally disturbed. This isn't just an ordinary fear.... This is something far more horrifying. I've never seen anything like this before."

The shen family elders the shen family elders looked at each other, fear beginning to take hold of the brand. One of the elders with a long beard finally opened his voice, "patriarch... If this really is a wound to the soul, then this is no ordinary person's doing. There could be demonic forces at play behind all of this."

Another elder chimed in, his voice full of anxiety, "three incidents happened in very close proximity... The corpse of the guard hanging at the gate and young master shen liang and now madam shen in this condition... These are not mere coincidences."

Shen Tianmu gritted his teeth. "WHO IS THE CULPRIT?! I'LL CHOP HIM ALIVE!"

However, no one could answer.

Shen Liang who was still in the other room in a traumatized state could only mutter incoherently. The famously haughty madam shen was now lying helplessly in fear. And Bai xieye....

He was still out there.

On the rooftop of the shen family residence, Bai xieye stood with both hands crossed, staring into madam shen's room. His eyes shone coldly, a faint smile etched on his lips.

"What's it like, shen Tianmu?" She murmured softly. "When you who used to instill fear into others... Now you have to feel it yourself?"

She closed her eyes, thinking about her next move. In his mind, the techniques he had long ago created in his previous life slowly resurfaced.

[Unseen Emperor's step] - a step so subtle that even people two levels higher than him would not be able to sense its presence.

[Heaven Sundering Palm] - a palm capable of splitting the sky, destroying anything in its path.

[Eclipse Severance Blade] - a sword capable of severing everything, even the hopes of his enemies.

[Demon Slaying Sword Dance] - a sword dance capable of wiping out hundreds of enemies in the blink of an eye.

Recalling those techniques made his blood churn. He hadn't reached his peak yet, but it was only a matter of time.

Tonight, Bai xieye had planted a seed of fear within the shen family. The next step?

Cultivate terror until they themselves begged for death.

He opened his eyes and disappeared back into the darkness.

The night was still long. There was still more to visit.

IN THE SHEN FAMILY SECRET ROOM.....

Elsewhere in the shen family residence, a secret meeting was taking place.

Several people gathered in a room lit by candlelight. They were not just ordinary elders, but people involved in the shen family's dirty behind-the-scenes conspiracy.

One of them was a man with a burly build and scars on his face. He grinned. "So... Someone is trying to play games with us?"

An old man in a black robe nodded. "This is no ordinary person. Whoever did this... Has abilities beyond our understanding."

"But we can't stand idly by," the burly man grunted. "If we let this continue, we'll be the next targets."

Suddenly....

TAP. TAP. TAP.

the sound of footsteps sounded outside the room.

Everyone immediately fell silent.

They knew that no one should be able to enter this area without permission.

"Who's there?" One of them called out.

There was no answer.

Silence.

Then...

"Your God of Death..."

A voice whispered right in their ears.

The candlelight suddenly went out, and the room fell into complete darkness.

Screams were heard.

This night... Bai xieye didn't just plant fear.

He was starting to harvest the results.