High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1338: Chapter 85: Between True and False

”Mirrors are magical objects.”

”They reflect the beauty and ugliness of the human world, spread the radiance of the sun and moon, and twist the gap between reality and illusion, building bridges between life and the world of death.”

”Each mirror reflects a corner of the world.”

”Countless mirrors, countless corners, when these corners are glued together, they form the shadow of a complete world. This is what the wizards often refer to as the ’World in the Mirror’.”

”We are now standing in this world that is both real and illusory.”

The teacher stood next to Zheng Qing, his voice as soft as a whisper, as if he was observing a clump of fine dust, where speaking louder would scatter the dust and lose the opportunity to observe it.

Compared to the teacher, Zheng Qing spoke much louder.

”Is this the World in the Mirror?” The Warlock approached another door, peering through its glass into a narrow bedroom where several girls were seated in a circle with talismans, incense candles, and other items placed in the middle, murmuring words.

The boys faintly heard something that sounded like ’Bloody Mary’.

”...I originally thought the world in the mirror would be glamorous.” The young cost student glanced over the second door and looked toward the third, the fourth, and even to the end of the long corridor, eventually shaking his head: ”...I didn’t expect it to be so plain. Is every door here a mirror?”

”Technically, these are mirrors that have undergone magic,” the teacher gently corrected: ”Not just any mirror can form its own door in the mirror. Only mirrors that have been through the magic track and have communicated with the Elves in the mirror have their own doors.”

”Elves? This world has elves too?”

”Every world has its own elves. Just like every flower has its bees.”

”Where are these elves then? Why can’t I see them?”

”That’s for you to discover.” The teacher paused for a moment, his tone revealing a hint of distress: ”You felt that this world was ’plain’ because you are with me. My presence amplifies ’Order’, which deprives this world of the room to act on its own... this was slightly beyond my anticipation.”

”Order.” The boy pondered, observing the deep long corridor, the torches, and the doors on both sides. Thinking about it, this place indeed seems very orderly.

”Since you can’t feel the charm of this world while with me, you will have to continue the journey on your own from here.” The teacher patted the boy’s shoulder, asking, ”Do you know how to avoid getting lost?”

”Direction and belief.” Zheng Qing replied: ”And ’Fixed In The Middle’.”

The former he had learned at the library of Jiuyou Academy. The library was filled with vast knowledge, and students lacking belief and direction could easily lose themselves.

The latter was a spell, a directional spell commonly used by Hunters at night.

”Very good.” The teacher smiled with satisfaction: ”Then, before you depart, let me tell you one last thing... Plato once made an interesting analogy; if a prisoner in a cave could only see the shadows on the cave walls from childhood, and believed those shadows to be the only reality, then when he returns to the real world, his self-consciousness would be shattered by the reality of the world.”

”So, the last and most important point, you should not lose yourself in the World in the Mirror for too long. Otherwise, even if you return to reality, your worldview would be severely damaged by the stimuli of falsehood and reality.”

The Young Wizard nodded solemnly, silently envisioning his Charm Gun.

Then, he felt the teacher push him firmly, causing him to fall forward involuntarily. When he got up, he was no longer in that deep, narrow corridor but in a dense white mist.

It was like the mist they had passed through when the teacher had brought him here.

Zheng Qing’s Colt Python promptly materialized in the mist, swaying its barrel, alert for any slight movements. Soon, as the mist cleared, the Warlock immediately noticed a dark figure flash by not far in front of him.

”Don’t move!” he shouted.

The mist cleared even faster.

Several seconds later.

Zheng Qing looked at the huge mirror in front of him, and at the young wizard in the mirror who was also holding a charm gun, his face full of caution, as he let out a sigh of relief.

”I was scared to death,” he switched the gun to his other hand, wiping the sweat from his palms on his robe, and muttered, ”I thought it was the Elves in the mirror that Sir mentioned.”

While talking, he stepped forward, wanting to get a clearer look at the mirror.

This mirror looked very similar to the one in the gazebo, with a marble base and Roman relief columns on both sides, and similarly, there was a line of text carved on the lintel above the mirror.

But just like the mirror in the gazebo, Zheng Qing could not make out the writing on the lintel. It seemed as if a layer of mist was covering it.

He thought about getting closer to see it.

But he hesitated.

Zheng Qing didn’t know why an anxious expression appeared on his face. This was unusual. He thought about it and decided to put away his charm gun and hang several talismans of Tranquility and Exorcism on himself.

The charm gun in his hand collapsed into a cluster of cyan light points.

The boy’s expression froze.

Because the ’him’ in the mirror did the same—the only difference was that ’he’ put the charm gun back into a grey cloth bag.

Realizing the inconsistency in their actions, the ’Zheng Qing’ in the mirror also stiffened for a moment.

Then he looked up and apologetically smiled at the outside.

”I knew you were a fake!” The ’Zheng Qing’ in the mirror reacted quickly, shouting out loud, and in a blink of an eye, he pulled out the charm gun from the grey cloth bag and aimed it at the Zheng Qing outside the mirror.

But obviously, the speed of ’thinking’ was much faster than the speed of ’acting’.

The ’Zheng Qing’ in the mirror hadn’t completely pulled the charm gun out of the grey bag, and a gun barrel was already protruding from the very centre of Zheng Qing’s forehead, emitting a dim blue glow.

”Bang!”

A muffled gunshot.

”Crash!!”

The sound of a mirror shattering.

The terrified expression of ’Zheng Qing’ in the mirror slowly gathered amid the shattering sound, then revealed a sinister smile to the guest outside the mirror: ”...you’re quite fast.”

The shattered expression seemed particularly happy amid the ’crashing’ sound.

Zheng Qing felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

The huge mirror did not scatter on the ground as hoped after shattering. Instead, it floated in mid-air, spinning around Zheng Qing as if it were a massive windmill.

White mist surged up like the tide.

When the windmill stopped, the mist receded. The original single large glass mirror had now turned into hundreds of pieces. They surrounded the warlock, forming a gigantic maze that enveloped him.

In every piece of mirror, there was a Zheng Qing, smiling and waving at him.