Chapter 42: Reflecting Faces in the Mirror

Liu Wei stood straight as an arrow. He didn't even bother to check the bloody hole in his chest, keeping his eyes locked onto the ambusher.

To be precise, he was staring at the mask worn by the ambusher.

"Who are you, and where is Liu Wu?"

The two brothers depended on each other for survival, and each cared far more about the other than himself.

Wu Chang removed his mask and said, "Brother Liu Wei, instead of staying in the village to deal with the evil spirits, you left in the middle of the night. What is your purpose?"

As he spoke, he slowly reloaded his weapon. His movements were deliberate, almost as if he wanted to make sure someone was watching clearly.

"Hero Wu?" Liu Wei stared at Wu Chang in utter bewilderment.

He never expected that the noble-looking, refined gentleman Hero Wu could stoop to such a despicable act as a sneak attack.

Wasn't that supposed to be the specialty of mountain bandits like them?

Wu Chang's persona in Huagu Village was that of an expert in Daoist magic, capable of summoning and returning souls. Now that the mask had fallen into his hands, how much of his secret had been exposed?

Thinking of the real reason why younger brother Wu had left, Liu Wei's heart sank.

"What did you do to Liu Wu?"

Wu Chang shrugged. "Just like you—bang!"

Liu Wei spat out a mouthful of blood and cursed:

"Despicable! To think you come from a prestigious and renowned sect. If you have the guts, let's fight fair and square. What kind of hero relies on sneak attacks?"

Wu Chang curled his lip. "Come on, my friend, we from the Tang Sect specialize in hidden weapons. Fighting you blade-wielding duelists head-on? You must be out of your mind."

"You!" Liu Wei's face flushed red with fury, and he hacked up another mouthful of blood.

"See? When moral blackmail fails, you just get impatient again. Well, my hidden weapon is reloaded, and your brother is still waiting for you down below. Any last words?"

"Coward! Give me back my brother's life!" Liu Wei launched a desperate final counterattack, driving his captive ghost to strike at Wu Chang.

However, because Wu Chang wore the other half of the mask, the captive ghost was completely unable to attack him, rushing uselessly past his side.

Wu Chang pulled the trigger, and a symmetrical bloody hole bloomed on the other side of Liu Wei's chest.

The times have changed, my friend.

Looking at Liu Wei, who had collapsed with a crash and was breathing out more than he was breathing in, Wu Chang complained with dissatisfaction:

"You're a mountain bandit, what right do you have to call me a coward?"

Liu Wei turned his head, his eyes wide with fury. "You knew all along?"

"If you had ever been to Chen Family Village, you would have figured it out too," Wu Chang said.

"Heh, I see. Then I suppose I didn't die unjustly."

Liu Wei let out a bitter laugh, his eyes wide open as he drew his last breath.

You lunatic, you still have to try and look cool even as you're dying?

Wu Chang clicked his tongue, reaching out to tear the mask from Liu Wei's face.

[Item Name: Demon-Transformed Human Face (White).]
[Item Type: Dungeon Item]
[Item Grade: D.]
[Item Skill: Ghost Control.]
[Description: By sacrificing your own vital energy and blood, you can control the captive ghost refined within the mask.]
[Item Note: Combining this with Demon-Transformed Human Face (Black) unlocks a combo skill.]

The description of the mask on Liu Wei's face was indeed identical to Liu Wu's.

He tried to piece the two masks together, but found a crack between them that refused to align no matter what he did.

Liu Wu had once mentioned that one must refine a sufficiently powerful master ghost and possess enough capacity to make the two halves of the mask merge into one.

Looking at the two halves of the mask in his hands, he inexplicably thought of the mist demon.

Both were transformations of mortals into demons.

Yet the demons formed through human transformation were entirely devoid of sapience, retaining only instinct.

Was this kind of demon transformation truly what the user desired?

Or was the reason their sapience was scattered by demonic energy simply the lack of a master ghost powerful enough to bear it, just as Liu Wu had said?

Never mind.

Wu Chang shook his head and stopped dwelling on it.

Though the two half-masks held secrets, they were ultimately D-grade items—and "dungeon items" at that, which could not be taken out of the realm.

Instead of obsessing over their function, it was better to return them to the captive ghosts in exchange for the rewards of the bloody last words.

Only what you could actually keep in your hands truly belonged to you.

Holding the two mask halves, the moment he stepped into the Forest of Ghostly Crying, the dormant resentment throughout the entire forest came alive.

Some had already transformed into captive ghosts, while others remained pure, unattached resentment.

They all "looked" toward Wu Chang simultaneously, their faceless features flickering with expectation, anxiety, and excitement.

Ever since laying eyes on the true form of Lehman, Wu Chang had been able to read the emotions contained within lingering resentment.

He didn't know whether this was due to an increase in his inspiration or a side effect of witnessing the true form of an evil god, nor did he know if this ability was a blessing or a curse.

But one thing was certain: at this moment, through this ability, he was resonating with the residual resentment of other players.

[Give it back to me.]

This time, the voices carried by the resentment were no longer shrill and frantic, but restored to reason, filled with a pleading tone.

Wu Chang placed the two mask halves on the ground and gestured gracefully with an outstretched hand, inviting them to take them.

The resentments swarmed forward, each passing through the mask to retrieve their plundered heart's blood.

For a time, the wind roared through the Forest of Ghostly Crying, sounds resembling both weeping and laughing echoing all around. The commotion was even more terrifying than usual, yet it entirely lacked the dreary, gloomy chill of the past.

A few minutes later, the captive ghosts and lingering resentments had all reclaimed their heart's blood and slowly dissipated.

The disappearance of the deep red resentment also caused a change in Wu Chang's attribute panel.

Super-passing the aggregated player resentment in the Forest of Ghostly Crying increased his Energy attribute by 2, his Inspiration attribute by 2, and his Willpower attribute by 1.

Just like the deep red resentment purified in the Moonlight Sanatorium, it granted a total increase of 5 attributes.

In addition, the two pieces of the mask left on the ground had also undergone a transformation.

[Item Name: Shadow-Reflecting Human Face.]
[Item Grade: C.]
[Item Skill: Shadow Reflection.]
[Item Description: The Human Face (Black) and Human Face (White) can independently record the appearance of a target and summon that figure to aid in battle. If the reflected target's level is ≤ 12, their combat power is perfectly replicated; if the target's level is > 12, their combat power will fluctuate based on the user's level and energy attribute. If the summoned figure is destroyed, it can only be summoned again after 24 hours.]
[Item Combo Skill: Freedom.]
[Item Description: When wearing both the Black and White Human Faces simultaneously, a flawless disguise is achieved. Actions performed during the disguise will not entangle the true body in karma, and conventional abilities cannot trace information left behind during the disguise back to the wearer's true body.]
[Remark: The mask is so lifelike that it will make the wearer truly believe they possess two souls.]

True to being born from deep red resentment, the human faces remodeled through the bloody last words were far more useful than the demon-transformed human faces Liu Wei and Liu Wu had used to control their captive ghosts.

Though the captive ghost masks had accumulated enough power, they could never truly unleash their potential unless fused into one.

Separated, the captive ghost masks could only crudely drive the ghosts, using them merely as control skills much like Liu Wei did.

They might work against ordinary people without magical abilities, but against opponents with special abilities or items like the Soul-Cleansing Banner—which naturally countered captive ghosts—the masks proved largely inadequate.

By contrast, the purified human faces were equivalent to gaining two stable Level 12 combat assistants, complete with a flawless disguise to conveniently conceal one's identity.

They were simply infinitely more useful.

Stashing the Shadow-Reflecting Human Faces away, he mounted his horse and galloped back toward Huagu Village.

Ambushing Liu Wei had taken a bit too long; he hoped the village hadn't undergone any drastic changes in the meantime.