Harvest Village.
Wu Xiaomi hurriedly descended outside the shrine and burst through its front gate.
“What’s wrong? Miss Nanalia! Are you alright?”
“Ah, Xiaomi, you came just in time.”
Fortunately, Nanalia was sitting peacefully in the courtyard.
A small tea table had been set up there, and seated across from Nanalia were two people.
Two girls—one older, one younger.
The older one looked to be around the same age as Nanalia, but clearly lived a far more luxurious life.
She wore an elegant moon-white robe trimmed with silver, large crescent earrings that dangled to her shoulders, and her finely styled hair was adorned with pearls and jewels.
Every movement radiated the poise and composure of someone used to power and prestige.
She seemed accustomed to tilting her chin slightly upward, looking down on everyone with a gaze full of disdain.
Beside her sat a girl of about fourteen.
Though still young, she already carried the same air of arrogance like a miniature version of the woman next to her.
“So this is your student? Just as rustic as you. A pity for such a pretty face.”
The woman curled one side of her lips in a condescending smirk, directing the comment at Wu Xiaomi.
“Rustic? Sorry, but I can’t bring myself to appreciate your nouveau riche taste.”
What… is going on?
Nanalia didn’t seem to be in any danger, but the air was thick with tension.
“Xiaomi, come,” Nanalia called, beckoning Wu Xiaomi to sit beside her.
Determined not to appear inferior, Wu Xiaomi sat as gracefully as she could, trying her best to seem refined.
“These two Gem Sprites are servants of ‘Arrogance,’” Nanalia explained. “They serve the Spirit of Arrogance.”
“That’s all?” the older woman replied, arching an eyebrow.
Wu Xiaomi had already noticed… this auntie looked quite a bit like Nanalia.
Only, she didn’t have the blessing-marked ears.
“Let me introduce myself,” the woman said, though even during her introduction, she didn’t bother to look directly at Wu Xiaomi. “I’m Nanalia’s elder sister, the former shaman of Harvest Village… and now I serve the Spirit of Arrogance.”
“Older sister? But your… ears?” Wu Xiaomi pointed curiously at the top of Nanalia’s head.
Where are yours?
“External traits change with the spirit source. Since I no longer use the spirit source of Fertility, I no longer display its features,” the woman answered coolly, casting a disinterested glance over Wu Xiaomi. “You can change too.”
She had already discerned Wu Xiaomi’s spiritual compatibility.
“Then… Why did you give up the Spirit of Fertility?” Wu Xiaomi grew more curious.
“It’s too gentle. Not suited for me. I prefer spirit sources with higher combat capabilities.”
Wu Xiaomi recalled what Nanalia had said about the Spirit of Fertility.
That its spirit source primarily cultivated the Shaman sequence—ideal for mastering various spiritual arts quickly, though not typically associated with strong combat abilities.
“You’d be wise to change your spirit source early on as well,” the woman said, lazily reclining and closing her eyes.
The girl beside her stood up with practiced grace and began massaging her shoulders and back.
“If you’d like, I can take you on as my student. My sequence is far more practical than Nanalia’s…” The woman gently stroked her cheek in contentment. “Come with me, and you could gain an official position at the Spirit Tamer Academy. See the outside world—you’ll understand what real life is.”
“You…”
Nanalia looked like she wanted to scold her sister for trying to poach her student.
But she said nothing—only looked quietly at Wu Xiaomi.
She didn’t want to interfere with the girl’s decision.
Perhaps… even she believed that following this woman might offer Wu Xiaomi a better future.
In the end, she simply sat in silence, waiting for the girl’s reply.
“So, Miss Nanalia, why exactly did you call me over so suddenly?” Wu Xiaomi let out a long sigh. “You do know that emergency descents are super expensive… If there’s nothing urgent, I’m heading back.”
“Ah, there is something.”
Wu Xiaomi didn’t answer the question directly—ironically, this made Nanalia breathe a little easier.
“What is it?”
“When is your next descent scheduled?” Nanalia asked instead.
“? Around… twenty-seven hours from now, I think.”
“I thought so. That puts it right at dusk tomorrow. Perfect timing.”
Nanalia exchanged a look with the woman who served Arrogance.
“If nothing changes… a lot of your people are going to die this time.”
“…Why?”
“We call it Mirror Night,” Nanalia said. “From what I’ve seen of your cultural customs, you have something similar. If I’m not mistaken, you call it Obon, or Hyakki Yagyō—the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons…”
But… in our Obon, no ghosts actually crawl out.
“In the Manggu Mountains—what your side refers to as zones D50 through D58—tomorrow marks the annual Mirror Night. Every household locks their doors early and covers all reflective surfaces with black cloth.”
“What happens if they don’t?”
“If they don’t… then next year, it’s you who’ll crawl out of that mirror. But by then, you won’t be you anymore.”
At this, Nanalia’s expression darkened.
“Twelve years ago,” the woman across from her began calmly, “the then-shamans of Harvest Village—our parents, hers and mine—died during a Mirror Night incident. Even now, they still sleep inside the mirror. Every Mirror Night, they climb back out, trying to drag all living things in with them.”
“They… are no longer who they used to be,” Nanalia said, shaking her head. “I know. I won’t open the door for them.”
Wu Xiaomi quietly processed the meaning behind their words.
“The door? So, if we don’t open the door for them, they can’t get in?”
“Correct. We can cover the mirrors inside the house… but we can’t cover lakes, ponds, or puddles in the wild. Mirror demons can crawl out of those,” Nanalia nodded. “But the buildings of Harvest Village are protected by the Spirit of Fertility. As long as no one opens the door, the demons can’t enter.”
“So that means… Tomorrow night, no matter how much we knock, no one will open the door for us. Right?”
Wu Xiaomi immediately understood how serious this was.
Landing spots were random. Most of them would descend into the wilderness.
Even if they ran to knock on doors and beg for help, the villagers wouldn’t be able to tell whether the one knocking was an explorer or a mirror demon.
So they wouldn’t open the door.
And the descent time—was scheduled after Mirror Night began.
Which meant every single explorer would be stranded alone in the wilderness, facing the mirror demons without backup.
“Tomorrow night, I’ll ask the villagers to vacate a few homes,” Nanalia said. “Those can be used as shelter for your people. But there are too many of you. Even if we emptied the entire village, it still wouldn’t be enough.”
Right. Which meant we’d have to rely on ourselves.
“Not even the most powerful shamans of the past could defeat the mirror demons,” the woman who served Arrogance said, shaking her head.
“You’re walking into certain death.”
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