Yu Sheng leaned up close to the mirror, looking more carefully at the "second reflection" that was faintly discernible in the mirror. The layered image inside the mirror felt to him like the nighttime reflection of a window, where the outside scenery merges with the shadows on the window glass, creating an impression that the somber cave and the snowflakes swirling at its entrance were really existing in some place opposite the mirror, albeit indistinct and full of overlapping shadows.

Erin quickly climbed up Yu Sheng's body and perched on his shoulder, embracing his head as she curiously looked at the mirror on the wall. After a while, she muttered, "Could it be that the snow is 'blowing' over from the other side of the mirror?"

"You can see it too?" Yu Sheng glanced at Erin in surprise.

"Of course, what's so surprising about that?" Erin felt somewhat baffled. "It's not like I'm blind."

Meanwhile, Hu Li didn't wait for Yu Sheng to speak before nodding on his own initiative: "Savior, I can see it as well."

"Eh," Yu Sheng scratched his head, "it's just that I've been dealing with Little Red Riding Hood and Li Lin, and I've gotten the feeling that what I can see is not necessarily visible to others. I've become a bit oversensitive."

While speaking, he quickly weighed his options for two or three seconds in his mind, then cautiously reached out to try and touch the surface of the mirror.

He remembered that last time he touched this mirror, it reflected an unfamiliar wasteland, where a fragmented puppet and a giant monster made of shadows both met their end in the center of the ruins—so what about this time? What changes would the mirror undergo?

Erin instantly tightened her grip on Yu Sheng's hair, watching his actions nervously: "Hey, be careful. If something's not right..."

"Ouch ouch ouch... let go first!"

"Oh, oh okay, I got a little nervous and did it subconsciously…"

The small puppet belatedly loosened her fingers, and at that moment, Yu Sheng's fingertips touched the mirror surface.

Very cold, as if touching the surface of ice, but beyond this unusually chilly sensation, the image within the mirror didn't change at all.

"It seems... nothing's happening?" Erin, braver now, reached out to touch the mirror surface herself. "It just feels a bit chilly."

Yu Sheng hummed in response, retracting his fingers and frowning as he scrutinized the mirror. At that moment, he noticed that the layered images in the mirror began to fade gradually. After just a few breaths, the scene with the snowflakes scattering around the cave entrance disappeared without a trace.

Leaving only the normal view of the room.

Yu Sheng hesitated, then touched the mirror surface again, discovering that the ice-like coldness was gone, returning to its normal temperature.

"Savior," Hu Li, having watched for a while, finally could not hold back from asking, "Was the mirror always like this before?"

"It's always been off, occasionally reflecting landscapes from who knows where," Yu Sheng spoke casually, his voice carrying a somber tone, "but previously it only showed some unusual images. It's never been like today... Snow even appeared in the room, and some strange metal gizmo fell on the floor."

As he spoke, he glanced again at the odd metal device he had just picked up from under the table.

The snow in the corner had melted, leaving wet marks on the floor, while the dark and non-slippery metal lump was still in his hand. The strange image in the mirror had disappeared, but these things that seemed to have "come out" from the mirror... did not fade away like illusions, but remained in the real world.

Just like what Erin always says: It's terribly strange.

"I'm sleeping in your room today!" Erin clung tightly to Yu Sheng's head, her small body obviously tense. "I don't mind sleeping on the chair or the table! Just definitely not staying in this room!"

"I wasn't planning to let anyone stay in this room anyway," Yu Sheng peeled Erin's hands from his head and continued, "This place is just too weird, and when I'm not here, don't open the door on your own."

Erin and Hu Li immediately nodded in unison.

"Moreover, even if you don't sleep here, you can share a room with Hu Li," Yu Sheng then picked Erin off his shoulder, looking seriously at her, "Why do you insist on staying in my room?"

"The strange creature sleep-whips with its tail!" The little puppet started fluttering in mid-air, "If you kick me, at most I'd hit the ground, but if she swings her tail I'd be plastered to the wall, didn't you see?"

And then there was a non-stop barrage of complaints, like not having her own room because she's short and overlooked, no bed of her own, getting shooed around at night—puppets don't need to breathe, so when she starts babbling, she doesn't stop, and it's enough to make your head buzz.

Yu Sheng even thought about stuffing the doll directly into Hu Li's tail—but considering that afterward, the puppet would definitely make a huge fuss, he just entertained the thought briefly.

Following that, he carried the jabbering puppet and left the eerie room with Hu Li, meticulously locking the door and pushing it several times to make sure it was secured.

"Savior, would you like me to guard this door tonight?" Hu Li, seeing Yu Sheng looking uneasy, whispered, "If there's any noise inside, I'll call you."

Yu Sheng imagined the Nine-Tailed Fox lying in the corridor watching the door for a moment and immediately shook his head: "No need, this room's weirdness isn't new."

As he said this, he seemed to recall something and put Erin down on the ground, then took out the new phone he had just received from the Special Service Bureau.

Erin finally stopped her chattering, curiously watching Yu Sheng's actions: "What are you trying to do?"

"Unusual matters require unusual experts. I'll post on 'Border Communication' and ask around, maybe someone will recognize this thing," Yu Sheng said while exploring the app's features, "There should be an option to upload photos... that bunch of detectives and investigators who wander to all sorts of strange places must need this function... Ah, here it is, it really exists."

Saying so, he held the phone with one hand and the bizarre metal device with the other, took several photos from different angles, and then posted them on the public channel's message wall.

Then he pondered for a while, searched through several preset channel lists, found the "Ancient and Mysterious Objects Discussion Group" and "Abnormal Phenomenon Discussion Group" which seemed to be related channels, posted the photos there, and mimicked the message format others had used to leave a brief comment:

"Unknown object, metallic material, no signs of corrosion or living characteristics, found in a room, seemed like it had snowed in the room when discovered. Also, suspected to be related to a mirror that can reflect distant scenery."

Yu Sheng actually wanted to write "found at home," but after typing it in, he deleted it, considering that ordinary households probably wouldn't find such a thing, nor would they find snow accumulation in a sealed room—No. 66 Wutong Road is a special place, and its secrets shouldn't be revealed too much.

Yu Sheng felt he still had the common sense of a normal person.

"Will anyone reply?" Erin then proficiently climbed onto Yu Sheng's shoulder and peeked at the content on the phone screen, "With just these few pictures, the description is pitifully scarce—I see others have at least a few hundred words of explanations, some even including videos..."

"I don't have that much information to write," Yu Sheng sighed, "You talk about the surrounding environment, it's just a room; you talk about its unique characteristics, holding it in hand doesn't feel like anything."

"That makes sense..."

The little puppet muttered to herself.

Yu Sheng returned to the living room, watching TV with Erin and Hu Li while waiting for replies on "Border Communication," continuing until the evening when he suddenly received a message alert.

Opening it, a user named "Evil Disciple Three Thousand" had left a reply in the "Ancient and Mysterious Objects Discussion Group": "Can you describe the surrounding environment where the object was found in more detail? Is it within the Exotic Realm? What type of Exotic Realm? Are there intelligent beings within this realm or traces left by them?"

Faced with this barrage of questions, Yu Sheng was a bit baffled, but this was the only "colleague" who had taken notice of his message so far, and as a "Spirit Realm detective," it was his first time engaging with a stranger on this platform. With an eager attitude, he quickly began typing a response:

"Exotic Realm, a private residence, environment is just an ordinary modern household," Yu Sheng typed and looked up around him, "Pretty peaceful, no monsters spawning. Intelligent beings—"

He paused, his expression somewhat odd as he glanced at Erin sitting on his lap and Hu Li earnestly grooming her tail.

"There are intelligent beings."

Erin reached out to fiddle with Yu Sheng's phone, looked up after a glance, and said, "Do you really think someone can answer your questions? Even the Special Service Bureau didn't know about the existence of No. 66 Wutong Road a few days ago, and here you are earnestly chatting about it with some stranger who knows where from?"

"I know, but asking is free, and what if they do," Yu Sheng was quite aware, "And besides, perhaps no one knows what's the deal with No. 66 Wutong Road— but this thing that suddenly dropped into our house might be from 'outside,' can't rule out that someone might recognize it."

Erin thought about it and with an "Oh," continued watching TV.

Yu Sheng's phone vibrated again soon after.

It was still a reply from "Evil Disciple Three Thousand": "I have never heard of such an Exotic Realm, your description is indeed strange... But this object is interesting, appears man-made, yet the inscription at the corner is very peculiar, someone in the 'Academy' might be interested."

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