Stein cautiously pointed toward the vanity mirror in the room. "Over there!"
The mirror?
I quickly activated my phone's flashlight and rushed to examine it. But whether beneath or beside the mirror, there was no sign of the old lady. The mirror wasn't large enough to conceal anyone - any hidden figure would have been immediately visible.
"Brother? Where is she? Where?" I demanded urgently from Stein.
Stein swallowed hard in fear, then pointed at the mirror again. "Inside... inside the mirror."
What the hell? Was he joking? Someone inside the mirror?
Neither Nova nor Daphne looked pleased either. Given the circumstances, if Stein was messing around, who could possibly find it funny?
"It's true, I'm not lying to you," Stein insisted.
Really?
I raised my phone to illuminate the mirror's surface. The pale reflected light looked eerie, but I only saw my own reflection - no old lady.
"See? Bullshit! Where's this old lady you saw? I'd believe you if I could actually see her. Otherwise Nova will think we're both crazy."
Nova didn't bother arguing with Stein. She suggested her grandmother must have left the room and went to search elsewhere. "The mansion is quite large. As guests, you'd better wait outside until the power returns. Don't wander around."
As Nova left, Daphne hurried after her as if fleeing ghosts - perhaps spooked by the darkness after her shadow incident earlier that day.
Just as Stein and I prepared to leave, the mirror suddenly changed. A pale, wrinkled old face appeared in the glass. My phone's light hit that face, making its sickly white complexion appear almost green.
Holy shit! The old lady was actually in the mirror - Stein hadn't lied.
"Hehehehehe..." The old woman suddenly cackled, then tore off her own face with her hands and threw it outward. Blood splattered across half the mirror in a terrifying display.
Stein's legs gave out in terror. He dropped to his hands and knees, scrambling desperately toward the door.
"Little Boss, let's get the fuck out! This ghost is coming for us!" Stein cried.
"Running won't help - bring the sticky rice!" I kicked Stein's rear, sending him sprawling with a yelp before he handed me the glutinous rice from his arms.
I grabbed the rice and hurled a handful at the mirror. Crackling sparks erupted across the glass surface before - BANG! - the mirror shattered, the old woman vanishing instantly.
The cracked mirror oozed blood from its fissures, bubbling with dark vapor.
This was too bizarre - clearly the mirror itself was cursed, likely another artifact Nova's family had collected from the dead. The old woman in the mirror couldn't have been real; just some sinister manifestation within the glass.
We couldn't stay in that room. I grabbed Stein and bolted outside.
In the hallway, Daphne and Nova had vanished without waiting for us - probably gone downstairs. As Stein and I moved toward the staircase, I suddenly sensed something standing directly behind me.
I started to turn, but Stein dug his fingers into my waist. "Little Boss, don't look back! Don't you dare!"
So Stein felt it too - that unnatural presence at our backs. His warning suggested something spectral. How could Nova's mansion be this haunted? What kind of demons emerged after dark?
We stood frozen, not daring to move or glance backward. Stein trembled violently, sweat pouring down his face. I couldn't believe him - after all his ghost-hunting experience, he still got this scared?
"Does glutinous rice work on ghosts or not?" I whispered. "If not, I'm dumping this whole bag behind us."
"Only works on jiangshi," Stein gasped. "Won't stop ghosts."
We couldn't just stand there. "On three, we run," I decided. "If it chases us, we'll deal with that later."
Stein eagerly nodded at the escape plan. "One... two..." At "three" I shot forward like an arrow.
Stein scrambled after me. I took the stairs three at a time, leaping down entire sections. When Stein tried mimicking my jumps, his short legs failed him - he tumbled down the staircase, actually reaching the bottom before me.
"You cheated!" Stein groaned, clutching his bruised head and back.
"Your own damn fault," I said, helping him up. "I'll count it as work injury compensation."
The crowded first floor felt safer - with so many people gathered due to the blackout, the collective yang energy kept spirits at bay. My tension eased slightly.
Then I glanced upstairs. A red-clad woman stared down at us from the second floor landing - was she what had been behind us? A real ghost?
But in the blink of an eye, she vanished. In her place stood Zephyr, Nova's seven-year-old heir - the last male of their family line.
The boy stood perched on the second-floor banister, his eyes blank and expressionless, looking ready to jump at any moment.
I immediately shone my phone's light upward and shouted, "Danger!"
But at that exact instant, an old woman's face emerged from behind him - none other than Nova's missing grandmother whom we'd been searching for.
The old woman gave a grotesque smile before placing her wrinkled hand on Zephyr's back.
"Stop! That's your own family!" My warning came too late. Before I could finish shouting, the old woman pushed with that same eerie smile, sending Zephyr tumbling downward.