Volume One: The Field of Eight Coffins Chapter 57: The Beauty at Her Dressing Table

There was someone inside!

Summoning all my courage, I pushed open the door and shone my flashlight straight in.

The door opened toward the foot of the bed, and not far from there stood a dressing table. The situation was urgent; though my flashlight illuminated the table, I had no time to examine it closely. All I saw was someone sitting before the mirror, facing their own reflection.

Judging by the person’s movements, they appeared to be grooming themselves.

With elegant fingers, they held a jade hairpin, coiling up black hair, sometimes dusting powder on their cheeks, sometimes inserting ornaments into their hair. Every gesture was enchanting, every movement coquettish and alluring. Though I only saw a profile, I was mesmerized by the grace and beauty, utterly captivated.

But this state lasted only a heartbeat. Suddenly, a flash of realization struck me, and I shivered. Something was wrong. Wasn’t my third uncle supposed to be in here? How could he, a rough old man, be performing such delicate and seductive motions? Unless... something had possessed him too?

Fear washed over me, cold sweat trickling down my back. I aimed my flashlight directly at the person’s face.

At that moment, the figure slowly turned, and the beam caught their full face.

What I saw nearly made my soul flee my body; my scalp tingled with dread. How could this be?

It wasn’t my third uncle’s face—it was Xu Ruoxi.

Her complexion, already deathly pale, was now white as paper, as thin as a cicada’s wing, as if a light touch could pierce it. And she was merely miming the act of grooming, her hands empty, without any real cosmetics—making her seem all the more terrifying.

There was something even more bizarre. Despite the harsh glare of my flashlight, Xu Ruoxi didn’t flinch or even blink. As she saw me, her expressionless face twisted into a ghastly smile.

If Xu Ruoxi was in here, then who was behind me?

The question had barely formed when a chill crept down my spine. I had just brought Xu Ruoxi upstairs, speaking with her all the while. How could she suddenly appear inside, seated before the mirror? Could it be that something had disguised itself as Xu Ruoxi and followed me, while the real Xu Ruoxi was trapped here all along?

These thoughts flashed rapidly through my mind. If that was true, I was in grave danger—whoever was behind me was certainly no friend.

I dared not turn around. The shuffling sounds behind me persisted, as if the false Xu Ruoxi still followed. Gritting my teeth, I tightened my grip on the peachwood sword in my hand.

Time seemed to stop. I swallowed hard, then leapt up, spinning around in midair, bringing my sword down in a wide arc behind me.

I chose a sweeping strike to cover as much area as possible—whatever was behind me, at least my sword would make contact.

Sure enough, the move was so sudden that my sword struck the head of the person behind me.

A yelp rang out as the figure clutched their head and crouched to the ground.

Wait—something was wrong. That was my third uncle’s voice.

I shone my flashlight. Indeed, my third uncle was clutching his head, cursing in pain.

“Uncle... are you really my uncle?” I stepped back, sword still raised, not daring to lower my guard. The situation inside was clearly more complicated than I’d imagined.

“Li Yang, are you crazy? Since when is there a fake or real third uncle?” He rose to his feet, waving the sword and flashlight at me, grumbling loudly.

“But I thought Xu Ruoxi was behind me! When did you get behind me?” Judging by his tone and the sword and flashlight in his hand, I was pretty sure he really was my third uncle.

“Nonsense, did you get ghost-blinded or something? I’ve been right behind you the whole time.”

By “ghost-blinded,” he meant the hallucinations people could experience in places thick with yin or ghostly energy.

I shook my head and pointed inside. “I saw Xu Ruoxi in there...”

At this point, only my uncle and I were left on the second floor. Xu Ruoxi had vanished. That proved the one inside must be the real Xu Ruoxi.

My uncle nodded, gripping his peachwood sword, and together we stepped to the doorway, peering inside.

After all this commotion, I thought anything inside would have fled by now.

But no—the figure of Xu Ruoxi was still seated before the dressing mirror.

She had turned her head back, no longer grooming herself, but performing another inexplicable act.

Xu Ruoxi braced her arms on the dressing table, knees tucked under her on the chair, her body leaning forward, stretching her neck out so her tongue could frantically lick the surface of the mirror.

Seeing this, I clapped my hand to my mouth, nearly crying out.

When I’d heard the strange tales from the clerk and Xu Ruoxi, I’d been frightened, but none of it compared to witnessing this with my own eyes—especially when someone who had just been speaking with you suddenly began acting as if possessed, performing such disturbing acts. My heart pounded wildly in my chest.

My uncle grabbed my arm and whispered, “Look at her posture—what does it remind you of?”

At that moment, Xu Ruoxi withdrew her tongue and yawned, her head tilted back.

“What does it look like? Like... a cat?” Her motions had stirred the answer in me, and I blurted it out.

Indeed, she now resembled a large cat, licking the mirror, then beginning to lick her own arms.

A chill ran through me, goosebumps prickling my skin.

My uncle, more experienced, wasn’t as shaken. Seeing Xu Ruoxi make no further move, he shone his flashlight deeper into the room.

I remembered the clerk saying that, aside from the dressing table, the room held a carved wooden bed and an empty birdcage hanging by the window.

The carved bed was still there, neatly made, looking relatively normal.

After sweeping the light over the bed, my uncle suddenly stepped into the room.

I caught his arm, worried. Xu Ruoxi’s behavior was so strange—clearly, there was something sinister in this room. Was it wise to rush in?

But he shook his head, broke free, and tiptoed inside.

Xu Ruoxi, still crouched before the dressing table, continued to lick her arm like a cat. She tried to lick her own body too, but not being a real cat, she couldn’t reach, no matter how much she stretched her neck and stuck out her tongue.

The effort distorted her once-beautiful face into something almost unrecognizable. Her eyes bulged, facial muscles taut, creating a grotesque and frightening sight.

(End of chapter)