"It turns out that when someone comes to me for exorcism, I can receive a reward task."
Sun Yan realized, having gained more understanding of the notebook's functions.
The notebook publishing a task suggests there's hope for completion; it seems this reward from Joles can be earned.
Sun Yan picked up the mirror and stood up, saying to Joles, "Okay, it's too late now, you can stay at my place tonight, Mr. Joles. For safety's sake, I'll keep this mirror here first and return it to you after I successfully exorcise."
"Thank you for taking me in, Father Jackson. If you like this mirror, you can have it. Anyway, I never want to see it again," Joles quickly waved his hand to refuse, his expression relieved, wishing the mirror could be as far from him as possible.
Ever since getting this mirror, every night lying in bed, Joles would hear whispers of women in his ears, those sounds echoed in every corner of the room, impossible to stop, a great mental torture to a person.
Hopefully, staying at Sun Yan's house tonight can improve the situation.
American countryside houses are all villas, although they look shabby, the advantage is that they are large, and have plenty of rooms.
Even if three or five friends come over, they can each be given a room to stay in, and there's enough space for parties, where young men and women can find a place to release their hormones anytime, anywhere.
After choosing an empty room for Joles, Sun Yan then took the mirror back to his own room.
"If I follow the task requirements on the notebook, can I get rid of the Evil Spirit in this mirror?" Sun Yan contemplated the Magic Mirror, silently pondering.
Just this morning, he still thought he lived in an ordinary world.
But now, having inherited the graveyard left by his grandfather, Sun Yan has undoubtedly touched a door to the mysterious world.
More unknowns will open up before him.
"The task requires maintaining clear and rational thinking, which isn't too difficult for me." Sun Yan glanced at his phone; it was now 23:36.
There's not much time left until midnight. He placed the Magic Mirror upright on the table, found some candles, and drew the curtains.
Sun Yan took out a pack of cigarettes and held it in his hand, sitting by the table in silent wait.
Faced with the mysterious unknown, ordinary people have no idea what they might encounter, and the unknown can generate infinite fear in the heart.
Whether Sun Yan can remain rational until dawn will depend on the cemetery entry "Stare into Fear."
As time ticked away, when the phone screen displayed 11:59, Sun Yan immediately turned off the room lights and lit the candles. The flickering candlelight made the whole room look particularly dim.
The mirror reflected Sun Yan's face, albeit somewhat blurry.
"Based on Joles' symptoms, the Evil Spirit in the mirror likely doesn't have the capability to directly harm the human body. It can only use some methods to slowly torment, causing emotional instability and fear, until the spirit collapses, naturally leading to suicidal actions like jumping off a building."
Sun Yan lit a cigarette and clamped it in his mouth, watching the mirror as he pondered, even feeling a strange sense of anticipation.
Evil Spirit, what exactly does it look like?
Time slowly passed, and staring at the mirror for a long time, Sun Yan felt a slight trance.
"Father Jackson, have you slept? I suddenly remembered something important about that mirror that I haven't told you."
The door was suddenly knocked from outside, and Joles' voice slowly penetrated.
Sun Yan rubbed his eyes, instinctively stood up to go open the door, but then he sharply noticed that in the mirror on the table, his reflection was still sitting motionlessly.
The person in the mirror stared fixedly at himself, sitting straight.
At this moment, Sun Yan felt an odd sense of unfamiliarity with that version of himself in the mirror.
Clearly, the other looked exactly like himself, yet it felt like someone disguising as him through the mirror, observing him secretly.
Sun Yan's heart skipped a beat, his hair stood on end, back chilled as if he had stepped into an ice cellar.
Something's wrong!
The Evil Spirit has appeared!
"Father Jackson, you probably haven't slept, right? I heard your footsteps, why aren't you opening the door for me."
Joles' voice came again from outside.
But this time, Sun Yan was vigilant, realizing that the speaking tone of Joles outside the door seemed overly calm.
It sounded like... someone was poorly imitating him.
Sun Yan suddenly recalled the black handprint he saw on Joles' neck earlier; unsurprisingly, this should be the Evil Spirit's method, trying to trick him out of the room.
Silently sitting back on the chair, Sun Yan stared at the mirror-version of himself: "Trying to trick me out of the room, looks like you really don't have the capability to directly threaten me."
"Father Jackson, open the door, open the door!"
With Sun Yan not responding for a long time, Joles outside the door became increasingly anxious and his voice grew hysterical.
The scraping against the door sounded irritably jarring, like long fingernails scratching against an old blackboard.
This noise gave Sun Yan the illusion that the guy outside might break the door at any moment.
If someone was timid, they might already be planning to jump out the window to escape.
But Sun Yan knew that continuing to follow the task requirements was the only way to save his life.
Hiding in the room was the safest; once he left the room, his safety was not guaranteed.
"I can hardly distinguish whether the noise is real or an illusion now; if the door is broken, can the Evil Spirit actually kill me?" Sun Yan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and couldn't help but mutter to himself.
"The notebook shouldn't lie to me. The reward task only requires maintaining sanity until dawn, without leaving the room. If I follow the rules, I'm unlikely to face mortal danger."
Extinguishing the burnt cigarette butt, Sun Yan lit another one, feeling more composed.
'Bang!'
The mirror suddenly vibrated, and cracks like spider webs began to spread.
As the mirror shattered wholly, a face twisted beyond recognition emerged from inside, uttering a low, murmuring growl.
Buzzing, seemingly coming from every corner of the room, surrounded Sun Yan's ears, straining his eardrums.
Even while smoking, Sun Yan felt his emotions becoming unstable, inexplicably anxious and agitated.
Distressed to the point of wanting to pick up the mirror shards on the table and slash his wrist.
The creature from the mirror twisted in an eerie manner, trying to crawl out, while the candles on the table flickered, as if wanting to extinguish in the absence of wind.
Sun Yan suddenly sensed something ominous; if the candles went out, could the task continue? Would it count as a failure?
He dared not gamble; if he didn't follow the requirements of the notebook and failed the task due to some accident, he might end up like Joles's friend.
In this survival moment, Sun Yan couldn't care less, lighting cigarette after cigarette in his mouth to calm his nerves.
"Cough cough cough! One isn't enough, I'll chain-smoke and face off against you, Evil Spirit."
A large puff of smoke entered his lungs, and Sun Yan regained composure. The Evil Spirit, halfway out of the mirror, shrieked angrily.
A powerful suction drew it back into the mirror's depths; it pounded the mirror futilely, crying out in despair.
Time unknown, the mysterious whispers dissipated, restoring calmness to the room.
"The Evil Spirit in the mirror indeed harms by influencing rationality, creating illusions. When facing the mirror, if the person's mind breaks down, the spirit emerges to possess, and I'd be like Joles."
Rubbing his eyes, Sun Yan felt fearful, fully aware that what he saw earlier was merely illusion, tricks by the Evil Spirit.
The reward task seemed simple, but maintaining sane rationality in front of an Evil Spirit affecting the mind was far from easy.
Without the ability to 'face fear,' relying solely on willpower, Sun Yan figured his chances were slim.
Smoke swirled in the room as ashes fell to the floor; Sun Yan's mind still lingered on the previous perilous encounter, staring at the mirror without noticing the passing time.
After some time, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of warm sunlight streaming through the curtain's gap.
The phone screen on the table showed 06:24; dawn had finally arrived.
Sun Yan snapped out of it, realizing at some point the candles had burned out, leaving wax residue on the desk.
Seeing the room's changes, Sun Yan felt dazed; from lighting the candles until now, it seemed only minutes had passed in his perception.
Smack!
Fearing being trapped in another illusion, Sun Yan slapped his face hard, wincing from the pain: "It really is daylight, not my imagination."
'Task completed'
'Tomb Magical Artifact: General Sun Mask (usable with Divination)'
Feeling his pocket suddenly bulging, Sun Yan reached in and took out an object.
A green-faced, fanged mask — [Official General·Green-Faced General Sun]