Time seems to freeze.
The virtual shadow of the woman in the mirror has no facial features, only a vague outline, but the dark hair draped over her shoulders feels terrible-cold and slippery, with a fishy smell like mud at the bottom of the river.
Chen Mo was stiff and did not dare to move.
The other senses enhanced after hearing loss capture everything around them very keenly at this moment: the lights seem dim; The air becomes thick and cold; On the workbench, those bronze mirror fragments are shaking slightly, making a high-frequency wail that only he can "feel".
The earrings in the left ear are getting hotter and hotter, like a piece of red-hot charcoal.
In my mind, the cold inhuman whisper rang again, this time with a strange "rhythm":
[Contract: Whispering Earrings]
[Status: Preliminary Resonance]
[Ability: Logical eavesdropping (passive)-can perceive the logical echo when the' unspeakable' rule runs]
[Cost: persistent alienation of auditory organs (current stage: intermittent oozing of blood in left ear); You need to confirm your face in front of the mirror every day, otherwise you will gradually forget your image]
Warning: Contractors, you have glimpsed the truth. Cognition is pollution, and knowledge is shackles. ]
Information flow forced into consciousness, Chen Mo a splitting headache, but survival instinct overwhelmed the chaos. He forced himself to focus on the most critical information: the mirror.
The woman in the mirror, Lao Li outside the mirror, fragments of ancient mirrors, whispers of earrings … everything seems to be related to the "mirror".
"Cognitive coverage ... face peeling ... mirror image communication ..."
He suddenly recalled the black words on Lao Li's face that he saw through the fragments of the ancient mirror.
Regularity!
These things, these "unspeakable", their actions follow a certain law! Like a computer program, like the laws of nature! Find the law, and you will find a way to live!
Chen Mo's breathing became heavy, but he forced himself to calm down. He stared at the black hair on his shoulder in the mirror and glanced at the monitoring screen out of the corner of his eye-Lao Li was still standing outside the door, still knocking at the door, motionless like a broken doll.
Must be verified.
Very slowly, he raised his movable right hand and reached for the workbench. Fingertips trembling, groped for a fine brush used to clean the gap of cultural relics. He grabbed the handle of the brush, and then-suddenly swept the brush behind his left shoulder!
The brush went through the air and touched nothing.
But in the mirror, that wisp of black hair, with the brush waving, floated back.
It is real in the mirror world, but nothing in the real world!
"Mirror propagation ..." Chen Mo heart pounding, "it can only have an impact through the mirror? In other words, its' existence' is anchored in the mirror world? "
Just then, Lao Li outside the door moved.
He didn't knock at the door again, but reached out directly, grasped the door handle and began to turn.
The door lock creaked unbearable. Lao Li's strength is extraordinary.
We can't let him in!
Chen Mo eyes sharp sweep, finally fixed on the workbench that the largest ancient mirror fragments. The debris reflected the ceiling light and the corner of the door-there, outside the door that was about to be pushed open, Lao Li's "face" without facial features was approaching.
A crazy idea came into Chen Mo's mind.
He grabbed the fragment of the ancient mirror stained with his own blood and tried his best to smash it at the floor mirror in the studio!
"Hua! ! !"
The harsh crash exploded (though he couldn't hear it), and the whole floor mirror was instantly covered with cobweb-like cracks.
The world in the mirror is destroyed.
Almost at the same moment when the mirror broke, Chen Mo's shoulder lightened-the touch of the wet and cold black hair disappeared. The virtual shadow of a woman in the mirror also fluctuated violently and became blurred.
"Effective!"
Chen Mo had no time to be thankful, because the doorknob had been screwed to the bottom.
"bang!"
The door was knocked open by a brute force.
Lao Li stood at the door, his smooth face facing Chen Mo. So close, Chen Mo can even see the outline of tiny peristalsis under the skin, like countless living creatures trying to break out of the skin.
No eyes, but Chen Mo felt the "line of sight" fell on himself.
Cold, dead, with an inhuman look.
Lao Li raised his hand, not to attack, but to pass the insulated lunch box to Chen Mo.
The action is natural, just like every night shift before.
Chen Mo's hair stood on end. Answer? Still not answering?
The ear stud in the left ear suddenly burst into sharp stabbing pain, and at the same time, a broken whisper mixed with noise crowded into my mind:
[… handing over … goods … touching … that is … completing … cognition … covering …]
[… refuse … never … look directly at … face … part …]
[… Rules … Laws … Complements … All: The faceless person spreads through' gifts' … The recipient will gradually forget the face of the giver … until he is covered …]
"Can't pick up! Can't look at his face! "
The silence jerked back and crashed into the workbench, and the fragments clattered. He stared at Lao Li's wrist, staring at the watch that walked backwards, forcing his eyes to avoid the smooth skin that squirmed.
The action of Lao Li handing out the lunch box froze.
His smooth "face" slightly deflects, and he seems to be "puzzled" by Chen Mo's reaction.
Then he took a step forward.
Chen Mo retreat, back against the cold wall. On the workbench, except for the debris, there is only the lonely desk lamp. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a small hand-held magnifying glass for fine work beside the desk lamp.
Mirror!
He almost rushed over, grabbed the magnifying glass that was only the size of a palm, jerked it up to his eyes, and aimed it at Lao Li!
Through the convex lens of the magnifying glass, the scene is distorted.
But in the distorted center, on Lao Li's "face", those wandering black words reappeared! And clearer and crazier than before! Words are no longer simple descriptions, but begin to combine and arrange, forming a dizzying logical chain!
[Individual: Li Guoqiang (original identity)]
[Status: The concept of face has been stripped and reconstructed]
[Communication logic chain:
1. The source' faceless woman' selects the target through the mirror.
2. The target is forgotten by all acquaintances at the same time (cognitive coverage is completed).
3. the goal is transformed into a' faceless person'.
4. Faceless people contact new targets through' gift behavior'.
5. The new target accepts a gift or looks directly at the face of the faceless person for more than three seconds, triggering the cognitive coverage process.
6. After the coverage is completed, the new target becomes a secondary faceless person and can continue to spread, but it cannot be more than 100 meters away from the source. ]
[Current scope: centered on the ruins of the theater in the Republic of China (now Red Star Cinema), with a radius of 100 meters. ]
[Breaking point: destroying the media (mirror); Or isolate cognitive coverage (the target is no longer remembered by anyone). ]
A large amount of information poured in instantly, and Chen Mo's temple chugged and jumped, and nosebleeds poured out again.
But he grasped the two key points: Red Star Cinema (the source) and isolated cognitive coverage!
Lao Li is one step closer, less than one meter away from Chen Mo. The insulated lunch box almost touched Chen Mo's chest.
Suddenly the silence will be in the hands of a magnifying glass, stung to the ground!
"pa!"
The lens is broken.
Almost at the same time, Lao Li's movements froze again, as if he had lost some guidance. His smooth face turned left and right, looking a little confused.
Take this opportunity, Chen Mo grabbed his backpack from under the workbench-there are some emergency tools in it. He pulled out a strong flashlight, not as Lao Li, but as a banner hanging on the wall of the studio! The glass frame of the banner reflects dazzling light!
The light swept Lao Li.
Lao Li let out a low, inhuman sob, took a step back and raised his arm to block the (non-existent) eye position.
He is afraid of light? No, it's the light that is afraid of mirror reflection!
Chen Mo's heart is big. He kept shaking the flashlight, using all the reflective objects in the room-metal tools, glass windows, and even mobile phone screens-to create flashing reflection spots, forcing Lao Li to retreat again and again, and finally retreated to the corridor outside the door.
Chen Mo seized the opportunity, slammed the door, locked it, and then dragged his trembling body, using everything he could find-chairs, toolboxes, heavy cultural relics catalogues-to cling to the door panel.
After all this, he sat down on the ground with his back against the blocked door and gasped violently.
The blood in the left ear has dyed half of the neck red, and the temperature of the earrings has slowly dropped, but the cold sense of existence has been deeply imprinted in the consciousness.
On the monitoring screen, the corridor was empty. Lao Li disappeared as if he had never appeared. Only the lonely insulated lunch box on the ground proves that everything just now is not a nightmare.
Chen Mo trembling hands, touch the phone. The screen lights up at 1: 47 a.m.
He clicked on the record and found the name of the top-"Xiaoyu".
Hesitated for a few seconds, he gave up making a phone call (he couldn't hear), turned to the information interface, and typed his fingers quickly:
"Light rain, leave home at once! Go to crowded places, 24-hour convenience stores or police stations! Don't ask why, now! Right now! I will find you soon! "
Click Send.
He looked at the prompt of "successful sending", but his heart sank to the bottom.
Because right above his information, it was a message from Chen Yu half an hour ago, with a selfie attached:
"Elder brother, the soup is almost ready! Waiting for you to come back ~ "
In the photo, Chen Yu is standing in the kitchen at home, behind which is the wall with small floral tiles.
And on the wall, the stainless steel range hood, which is spotless and reflects her bright smile.
Mirror.
The ubiquitous mirror.
Chen Mo closed his eyes, and the ear nail whispered like gangrene:
[Cognition is pollution, and knowledge is shackles. Contractors, welcome to ... the real world. ]