Special Forces Medic

Chapter 916 888: Mirror Surface

Racing out from the path radiating blue light, Hua Qingyi could feel his entire back soaked with sweat. Lao Long didn't follow out, the eerie wind seemed to blow stronger, and he couldn't wait to return to the surface.

His chaotic mind could no longer think, with only one thought remaining: to find Xiao Lin.

Where is this place? Xiao Lin paused, continually asking himself in his heart.

Pursuing Liang Hu, he had forgotten the surrounding environment. It seemed he had entered a strange place. This should still be within the range of the northern district, but it felt unfamiliar, with the roar of machines around. Turning back, he could see Xuefu Road opposite. The fallen patches of lime and bricks made the original slum area unrecognizable.

In a blink, Liang Hu disappeared from his sight again. Xiao Lin ran a few steps forward, then turned back, only to see a wasteland; something was wrong, it felt like he had stepped into some kind of empty portal. He had read about this in Dragon Soul's library before—a formation created using mirror reflection. Finding the life door allows one to walk out, while entering the death door is dangerous. If neither door can be found, then one might spend a lifetime unable to exit this place.

The position of formations concerning the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams is quite particular. He had only discussed it hypothetically with teachers; witnessing it truly was also within the darkness internally. The first time meeting Ye Liqing, that formation wasn't for trapping people but rather for disrupting and surveillance. A formation not meant for harm is easily broken.

However, this time the other party seemed not to care for his life but rather like it was all a game of chase, using Liang Hu to lure him inside. Therefore, relative to the eye, Liang Hu should still be within this formation too.

Understanding this point, Xiao Lin stopped pursuing the figure. He lit a cigarette and could hear the sounds from outside, but couldn't see any substantial images. The creaking sounds underfoot, and Liang Hu, who had vanished for a long time, suddenly appeared before him. It was just that turning a corner, the scene before his eyes changed.

Liang Hu stood underneath a tree, the rustling leaves so real that it made people forget this was a mirror surface. The large tree spread its branches and leaves, making people standing beneath appear incredibly small.

"Liang Hu!" Xiao Lin called to the person with his back to him. "Turn around and look at me."

Liang Hu didn't move. He stood with his back to Xiao Lin, his shoulders seeming to twitch. His left hand rested on his shoulder, trembling as if trying to pull him towards himself. "Look at me, I told you to look at me."

The turned Liang Hu had rivers of blood streaming from his eyes, hollow sockets below revealing two black holes, his cheeks sunken in, some places devoid of flesh, with a long worm crawling inside.

Xiao Lin didn't scream; he suddenly stepped back. His outstretched left hand still hung suspended where it was, his heart pounding at double speed, his fluctuating chest unable to subdue the agitation. He was stunned by what he saw before his eyes.

Reality and falsehood intertwined, the person touched vanished in an instant. Xiao Lin covered his chest, desperately trying to calm himself. This was no simple mirror surface; there was undoubtedly something else within it. The person who set up this scenario must be an expert.

Xiao Lin exhaled smoke; at this moment, the cigarette became his best friend, the inhaling and exhaling allowing him to maintain peace of mind. He had to be cautious in his current predicament; what he saw might be an illusion or a shadow appearing from his subconscious. Being deceived or led could well lead to walking into the death door.

Closing his eyes, feeling the breath around, searching rashly would only lead further away, eventually unable to find the way back. Xiao Lin still remembered a saying from his master: a person can't keep a pure heart at all times, opened sight will be obscured by illusions, hearts move as thoughts arise. When entering a difficult situation, the first lesson isn't purity, but to maintain a stable heart.

The master who said this now lay peacefully in Dragon Soul's graveyard. Even the most powerful could not escape the cycle of life, aging, illness, and death, nor the demise of time.

Without the illusions of sight, one can listen with ears to various messages unseen by eyes. He was within the mirror surface, where the breath fluctuated unusually, the chaotic scent mixed with another peculiar odor, the fragrance of herbs.

Xiao Lin took steps forward, chasing the scent ahead, blocked by an object. He opened his eyes. The previous big tree was gone, replaced by a table before him with an incense burner lit on top. Reaching out, he picked up the incense container, the burning temperature feeling remarkably real, indicating the presence of another person in this space.

"Fourth Master!" Xiao Lin quickly called out the person's name. After Liang Hu's previous encounter, he wasn't so shocked by Fourth Master's revival.

A cold laugh sounded behind him, flat without emotional inflection.

"Mu Rongyun!" The incense was an illusion; it concealed the original atmosphere here. When he mentioned Fourth Master's name, a formless pressure surged menacingly from all directions.

How impressive!

The skin exposed to the air could sense all surrounding elements stirring because of the oppressive feeling, as if narrating their distress, akin to a tearing fury in his chest, sharp clamor rising and falling beside his ears.

Xiao Lin swiftly covered his ears, preventing this sharpness from further eroding his hearing.

Is this your true power? Xiao Lin felt rage ripple through his chest due to the elements' anger, their frenzy making him restless. Even though the laughter was just behind him, only a few feet away, he couldn't make any judgment or react.

"Xiao Lin!"

Hua Qingyi had been circling the same place unknown times, the roar of machines on the ruins made him restless. After leaving Dragon Soul, he contacted Ye Liqing, who had been tailing Xiao Lin, intending to secretly protect him. The experts adept in this would likely be those specialized in such darkness.

But the result was that the last place Xiao Lin was seen was this ruin.

Hopping onto a cable equipment vehicle, the yellow police lights were pulled by him, wailing loudly to attract attention. He had achieved his purpose. Xia Xue watched Hua Qingyi's actions like a maniac with a peculiar gaze. Hadn't he just left? How did he come back and start making a mess at her construction site? It was quite infuriating.

"That's enough, Young Master Hua, you're disrupting my work." Many people were only brave enough to glare angrily and not step forward due to Hua Qingyi's status. Although he occupied the yellow equipment vehicle, it didn't interfere with their work much, but the blaring siren had seriously disrupted their work rhythm.

Hua Qingyi glanced at Xia Xue, ignoring her accusations. If the dark forces said Xiao Lin didn't leave, then he didn't leave. Since he was here, it was puzzling that there was still no trace of Xiao Lin in this hand-sized place. Could such a vast expanse of open ground really hide someone?

"Didn't you see Xiao Lin? He was just here. There should be someone else with him."

Xia Xue shook her head. "Did he come here?"

Counter-questioning, women just love to ask mystifying, non-constructive questions. Hua Qingyi grabbed the loudspeaker from the car, turned up the volume to the maximum, and called out Xiao Lin's name.

Xia Xue, unable to do anything, let the engineers temporarily return to the work vehicle. She yanked the loudspeaker from Hua Qingyi's hand without a word.

"I'm not playing around with you." Hua Qingyi's cold tone startled Xia Xue.

"What do you actually want to do? Is it because of me..." Hua Qingyi's anxiety made Xia Xue close her mouth.

Hua Qingyi's voice came again from the loudspeaker, piercing through the void into this confined space. Intuition told Xiao Lin that now was the time to act. He grabbed the incense burner on the table and hurled it towards the eerie laughter behind him.

If he remembered correctly, Fourth Master had a habit of using herbal powder as a primer. Fourth Master, who had an obsession with white, would also choose white powder, even if the natural color of the ground herbs would be further refined to pure white because of his preference. This provided Xiao Lin with a method of identification.

The incense burner shattered against a hard object, and white powder scattered everywhere. With sharp eyes, Xiao Lin quickly noticed the floating white powder in a corner.

"It's here!" Xiao Lin reached towards the floating powder.

His fingertips felt the texture of hard leather—shoes. From grasping to hooking, Xiao Lin's left hand groped upward, clamping down on the crook of a knee, his fingers exerting force.

"You are an exciting opponent."

The joint clamped did not bend as expected. Xiao Lin frowned. This simple move was meant to exploit human weaknesses to subdue someone, but evidently, this person was no ordinary individual.

"Today's game ends here. I look forward to your performance next time." As the words fell, Xiao Lin sensed a change around him. He was just so close to Mu Rongyun, close enough to feel his breath.

"Xiao Lin!"

"Brother!"

Before he had time to recall that sensation again, he was embraced head-on by someone. Hua Qingyi's long hair brushed against his neck, giving him a tingling feeling.

Blinking, still a bit unaccustomed, but Xia Xue's face was already in front of him. A responsible expression, with worry, doubt, and avoidance.

"Are you okay? Are you really okay? Nothing wrong at all?" Hua Qingyi had forgotten that Xia Xue was still beside them, having looked at Xiao Lin for a long time, earlier nearly driven to madness.

"I'm fine!" Xiao Lin was almost being suffocated by the embrace. "Let's go."

Just a few feet away, without a word, he just left. Xia Xue couldn't muster any feelings; in fact, she was completely emotionless.

"Xia Xue, she..."

"This woman has no relation to me from now on, please don't bring her up unnecessarily." (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com) with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)