Chương 183: The Broken Clue

Before long, Xingxian arrived near the location indicated by the distress signal—a ten-story unfinished building standing silently in the continuous rain.

A pale purple light pierced through the gray rain curtain and silently enveloped the girl's body.

Xingxian did not choose to land directly on the target building, but instead landed quietly on the roof of another building some distance away from the unfinished building, like a light feather.

Instead of acting immediately, she suppressed all magical fluctuations around her and used the shadows of the building to perfectly conceal herself.

Under the gloomy sky, rainwater washed over the mottled, dilapidated cement exterior of the building, which was covered with moss. The empty window frames, like dry eye sockets, stared straight at the uninvited visitor.

Xingxian stared silently at the building before her, which appeared particularly eerie and terrifying in the gloomy weather, a hint of undisguised disgust showing on her delicate face.

"Hmph, just like a rat in the gutter," she muttered to herself, her tone filled with disdain.

"She just likes to stay in this gloomy, dilapidated, and sunless place."

Despite her disdain, Xingxian remained vigilant.

Her silver-gray eyes quickly swept across the surroundings, her sharp gaze replacing her previous disgust, and she instantly entered a highly vigilant "working mode," beginning to use her magical senses to investigate the surrounding situation.

Soon, clear results were fed back into her mind: the entire building was empty, with no life or energy reactions whatsoever. The only anomaly was located in the very center of the fifth floor of the unfinished building.

"Is it on the fifth floor? —" Xingxian made up her mind, and the next moment, she flashed and silently slipped into the unfinished building through the broken window on the first floor.

The moment she stepped into the building, she had already completed all the preparations for battle.

A large amount of magic quietly gathers at the tip of the wand, ready to unleash a destructive beam of powerful magic at any time under her control, or to instantly deploy an indestructible defensive barrier.

Xingxian didn't choose to fly directly to the fifth floor; that would be too reckless.

She held her breath as she climbed the dusty, gravelly stairs, checking each floor carefully, step by step, without making a sound, always ready to deal with any possible ambush.

One floor, two floors, three floors — After checking each floor and confirming it was absolutely safe, she would leave a magical mark that was unique to her, shimmering with a faint purple light, in a hidden corner at the bottom of the stairwell.

This is the most basic code of conduct for a patrolman—when entering an unknown environment, one must leave oneself a way out as much as possible, and leave clear directions for any companions who may come.

Finally, after confirming that there were no ambushes on the first to fourth floors, Xingxian arrived at the fifth floor, where the anomaly had been detected.

Unlike the dark and rubbish floors below, which were filled with construction debris, the entire fifth floor was open and spacious, and also strangely eerie.

In the very center of the entire floor, a sign stands quietly, incongruous with the dilapidated building.

An extremely large and ornate floor-length mirror.

The frames are made of some unknown dark metal, engraved with intricate and eerie patterns that can cause dizziness if looked at for too long.

The mirror, which should have been as smooth as water, did not reflect Xingxian's figure, nor did it reflect the interior of the dilapidated building.

At the center of the mirror, a huge vortex emitting a deep purple light was slowly and silently rotating, as if it wanted to devour all the gazes and souls that were watching it.

Xingxian silently gazed at the eerie vortex, as if she could pierce through the barrier of space and "hear" the despicable figure in the smiling mask whispering in her ear with a mocking and malicious voice: "Look, the stage entrance I've prepared for you is right here—do you dare step into it, my dear Inspector?"

Faced with this trap entrance filled with unknown dangers, even the battle-hardened Xingxian couldn't help but hesitate for a moment.

—Should I just step right in? What awaits me inside?

But this hesitation lasted only a moment before it was replaced by an unwavering resolve.

—What am I still hesitating about? Wasn't this decision already made on the way here? Now, there's absolutely no need for any more hesitation!

Xingxian reaffirmed her belief in her heart once again. She slowly closed her eyes, cleared away all distracting thoughts, and adjusted her spirit and magic to the best combat state.

The pale purple threads surrounding her, constructed from pure magic, burst forth with an even more dazzling light in an instant.

Then, she opened her eyes again, her silver-gray eyes now devoid of any hesitation or fear.

Xingxian straightened her back, took firm steps, and resolutely stepped into the slowly rotating, bottomless vortex, her figure disappearing from the spot in an instant.

After an unknown amount of time, as the rain intensified and the sound of raindrops falling gradually transformed from a "drip-drop" to a "splash-splash," a small, dark figure finally appeared downstairs.

It was Jiying who arrived at top speed after receiving the news.

Her gaze swept over the building, which appeared even more eerie in the torrential rain, and her dark red eyes were filled with barely concealed anxiety and worry.

After receiving Xingxian's cryptic text message, she immediately tried to call back, only to hear a busy signal.

She tried contacting them via text message, but to no avail.

From that moment on, a strong sense of foreboding welled up in her heart.

Ignoring everything else, Jiying rushed to the coordinates Xingxian had shared with her as quickly as possible. However, when she arrived, the place had already become desolate, with only the cold rain relentlessly washing everything away.

In her perception, the place was deserted, with no magical or ethereal energy fluctuations, and not even a trace of a battle had been left behind.

Ji Ying's expression instantly turned somewhat surprised.

"Where are they? Could it be—not here?"

But she immediately shook her head vigorously and said firmly, "No, Xingxian isn't the kind of person who would joke about something like this. She must have been here."

Ji Ying closed his eyes, raising his senses to the limit, carefully examining every trace of energy remaining in the air.

Soon, at the entrance on the first floor, she found a pale purple magic mark with the unique aura of Xingxian.

"Found it!"

Ji Ying's heart tightened, and he immediately followed these marks, searching upwards.

The second floor, the third floor, the fourth floor—every mark was intact, which made her feel slightly relieved, but also more confused.

Upon reaching the fifth floor and seeing the enormous and ornate floor-to-ceiling mirror before him, Ji Ying's expression instantly turned extremely grim.

In the center of the empty floor, only a huge and magnificent floor-to-ceiling mirror stands quietly.

Although it looks ordinary, Ji Ying can clearly see that there is a faint trace of ethereal energy fluctuation on the surface of the mirror, which is the same as that of the Mirror Lord.

And Xingxian's aura, as well as the magical imprint she left behind, all came to an abrupt end in front of this mirror.

The answer is self-evident.

Xingxian—through this mirror, she traveled to an unknown space, and the entrance to that space was now completely closed.

The trail went cold there. She had no idea what Xingxian's current situation was, nor did she know where to find her.

A strong sense of powerlessness surged into Ji Ying's heart in an instant.

"That idiot! Why didn't he wait for me to come before saying anything!" Ji Ying complained in a low voice, his voice filled with anger at Xing Xian's reckless behavior and self-blame for his own powerlessness.

In a fit of extreme anger and anxiety, Ji Ying was unable to control his emotions.

She suddenly swung her right fist and slammed it heavily onto the huge floor-to-ceiling mirror.

"Bang-!!!"

With a crisp, ear-piercing crash, the smooth mirror shattered, and countless broken pieces of varying sizes scattered across the ground like hailstones.

Ji Ying, panting heavily, slowly lowered his fist, which was still trembling slightly.

She lowered her head, her gaze falling on the broken pieces of glass at her feet.

Hundreds and thousands of fragments, each one clearly reflecting her delicate face, now etched with anger and helplessness.