-"I don't think that's necessary... We should just focus on the mirrors with the highest probability," I replied to her.
Yashu narrowed her eyes, quickly catching onto my intent:
-"You mean... the mirrors inside the rooms or near the area where we just found the clues?"
-"Exactly. But I'm still hesitating," I mused, my gaze sweeping across the dark hallway. "The sound of breaking glass is too loud. Won't it attract the hunchbacked demon here?"
As I spoke, I stepped toward the mirror hanging on the wall of Butler Li's room. While scanning the surroundings, my eyes suddenly locked onto a trash bin in the corner. Tucked at the bottom was a fairly long piece of wire, neatly coiled.
A few tricks I had read online flashed through my mind. Though I wasn't certain it would work, in this situation, it was a gamble worth taking.
I picked up the wire, carefully threading it into the small gap behind a corner of the mirror, then turned to the other two:
-"Give me a hand! Hold the mirror so it doesn't fall unexpectedly."
Yashu and Xi Yong'an immediately stepped closer, their four hands pressed firmly against the cold glass surface. Holding both ends of the wire tight, I began a continuous "sawing" motion back and forth. The wax adhesive used to fix the mirror began to wear down, slowly peeling away under the heat of the friction.
Xi Yong'an looked at me with a look of pure shock:
-"Damn, where on earth did you learn this move?"
After a period of strenuous effort, we finally managed to pry the mirror off the wall. However, behind the glass was nothing but a flat, polished section of the wall. I tapped lightly on the brick surface - the sound was dull and solid. As expected, there was nothing. My prediction about the mirror in Butler Li's room had been wrong.
Up until now, Ky Kha Nhien had sat in silence, observing us without a word. Suddenly, she stiffened, her eyes fixed on the figures looming from the distant hallway corner.
It was Pham Bach Kha's group. Perhaps they had taken advantage of the moment the hunchbacked demon was busy "enjoying" the photograph to recklessly climb down from the roof. And so, the two groups reunited, but the atmosphere this time was significantly heavier as our numbers had dwindled to just eight.
The faces of Bach Kha's group were deathly pale. Perhaps the horrific scene of Li Junjie and Hoang Nhat Tan's deaths in that room still haunted their minds. Tu Qinghe was trembling uncontrollably. She glanced around frantically as if fearing something, then gasped out:
-"Why... why are there only eight of us? If Junjie and Nhat Tan are gone, we should still have... nine people left, right?"
We remained silent, no one answering, only instinctively glancing toward Ky Kha Nhien. A bitter tightness in my throat made speaking the truth at this moment far too difficult. She was the one who had finished off Phan Ngoc Tien, but if we exposed her right here, the rift and suspicion would tear the group apart before we could even deal with the demon.
At that moment, the culprit who had just committed the deed nonchalantly covered her mouth with a long yawn, then spoke in a feather-light voice:
-"The girl in my room is dead. I don't know what kind of demon possessed her in the middle of the night, but she suddenly rushed out of the room. She was probably caught and torn apart by the hunchbacked demon." She lied smoothly, her expression unchanging as if that fabricated story were the absolute truth.
The three of us, though fully aware of the reality, also understood that "stirring the nest" at this time was a risky move.
Xi Yong'an stood beside me, his fists clenched so hard they shook, struggling to suppress the rage simmering in his chest.
Truthfully, I couldn't understand this girl at all. Clearly, just a few minutes ago, she had admitted to killing Phan Ngoc Tien right in front of the three of us. Yet now, she could put on that face to deceive the other four. What exactly was her goal? Was it a split personality, or was she simply someone with an extremely volatile temperament?
But in a life-or-death situation, escaping was still the top priority. I quickly played the recording for Pham Bach Kha's group and summarized the method of removing mirrors with the wire. To save time, I cut the wire into several small pieces for everyone.
-"My group will take care of the mirrors in the rooms, while you guys handle the area near the stairs and the dining hall," Pham Bach Kha suggested. We agreed and quickly split up to take action. This time, the "variable" known as Ky Kha Nhien went with our group.
As we were approaching the dining hall, a strange sensation suddenly washed over me. The space around me began to blur, fading like a water-stained painting. It felt as if reality were being warped or was about to shift into another dimension.
Amidst the visual chaos, a strange, cold voice abruptly echoed right inside my mind...