"Hey, hey, don't leave! You don't believe me? I'm telling the truth!" Yun Jin shouted.
She had no idea why things always turned out like this. She'd always been an honest person. But for some reason, every single time she told the truth, no one believed her!
The Elf girl sighed helplessly. "Fine, fine, I believe you, alright?"
Yun Jin blinked. "You believe me?"
"Of course, of course," the girl said perfunctorily, clearly just trying to humor her.
"Good," Yun Jin said seriously. "Since you trust me, I'll get rid of the spiritual imprint in your head for you."
The Elf girl didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She was just playing along, but somehow Yun Jin had gotten completely into character. She opened her mouth to say something.
But Yun Jin was already standing up and walking over.
"What are you trying to do? Wait, you're not actually—" the Elf girl started, but Yun Jin raised a finger and lightly touched the center of her forehead.
In that instant, a strange ripple spread out from Yun Jin's fingertip.
The Elf girl froze, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.
Then, right before her eyes—
The spiritual imprint that Mister Mirror had left in her sea of consciousness disappeared without a trace!
A flicker of pure shock flashed in her eyes.
What was that? How did she do it?
Wasn't Yun Jin supposed to be some kind of lunatic? Why… why was the spiritual imprint really gone? Could it be that everything Yun Jin said earlier… wasn't a lie?!
"You—you—you…" the Elf girl stammered. "You just erased Mister Mirror's spiritual imprint?"
The others froze and turned toward her.
A Mahayana expert's imprint, undone just like that?
Was the Elf girl pretending to play along with Yun Jin's act? But why would she need to?
The Elf girl's brief joy quickly turned into panic. "Shit, this is bad! If the imprint's gone, Mister Mirror will definitely notice! Once he gets here, we're screwed!"
The moment she thought about Mister Mirror's methods, her face went pale.
"Mister Mirror?" Yun Jin said calmly. "He won't dare come unless I tell him to. If you really wanna see him, I can have him come over."
The Elf girl almost went crazy. "Why are you still saying stuff like that? We need to think about how to deal with what's coming next!"
Her voice had barely faded when—
Click.
The carriage door opened.
The Elf girl turned toward the sound, her body trembling so hard she almost collapsed.
Outside the carriage stood a single figure.
Mister Mirror.
He'd found out. He was here.
He stepped into the carriage, eyes locked on the Elf girl.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she fell back in terror.
Yun Jin caught her before she hit the floor.
The Elf girl's lips quivered. "Mister Mirror… I don't know what happened. The spiritual imprint just vanished!"
Her whole body was shaking with fear, but she didn't mention Yun Jin's name.
Yun Jin gave her a quick glance, a faint smile curling her lips.
Mister Mirror didn't stop walking. His steps were steady, unhurried, as he moved closer and closer.
The others inside were tense too.
They spoke up in a rush.
"She didn't do anything! Maybe the imprint broke on its own?"
"Our spiritual power's sealed! We couldn't resist even if we wanted to!"
"Mister Mirror, this must be some kind of misunderstanding!"
Their voices overlapped, each trying to divert suspicion. No one dared mention Yun Jin.
Her smile deepened.
But their words couldn't stop Mister Mirror's approach.
In moments, he was standing in front of the Elf girl.
She squeezed her eyes shut in fear.
He wouldn't kill her right away, she knew that much. But he had a terrifying method of torturing people with spiritual force. A few captives who'd tried to escape before had been punished that way.
Just once was enough. After that, none of them ever dared think about running again. Even now, they still trembled at the mere sight of him.
It's fine, she told herself. Be strong.
It'll just hurt a bit.
She braced herself for the pain. But it never came.
Instead, a respectful voice spoke.
"Ming Si pays respects to Master."
...What?
The Elf girl froze. Slowly, she opened her eyes. And what she saw almost made her soul leave her body.
Mister Mirror, the one who'd held their lives in his hands, was kneeling on one knee before Yun Jin.
Master? Who was his master?
"Get up," Yun Jin said casually.
He rose immediately.
The once-noisy carriage went dead silent. Everyone stared between Yun Jin and Mister Mirror in horror.
What the hell was happening? Was Yun Jin actually the one behind all this?
"All these people carry your spiritual imprints, right?" Yun Jin asked lazily. "Go ahead and remove them yourself."
The captives' hearts trembled.
Mister Mirror didn't hesitate. "Yes, Master."
He stepped past the Elf girl toward the next captive.
The man flinched at first but then relaxed, his eyes widening as the spiritual imprint in his sea of consciousness vanished. He really was removing them.
"Hurry it up," Yun Jin said impatiently.
The others held their breath, terrified, while Mister Mirror's movements grew even faster.
The Elf girl stared, shocked. "You… you actually controlled him?"
"I told you that from the start, didn't I?" Yun Jin replied.
The girl's expression cracked completely. Yes, Yun Jin had said that before.
But who could've guessed such an absurd claim would actually be true?
"Who… who exactly are you?" the Elf girl asked, voice trembling.
Yun Jin grinned, showing a row of neat white teeth. "Someone invincible."
The Elf girl could only stare, half exasperated, half terrified. "Can you be serious for once?"
Yun Jin sighed.
See?
She told the truth again, and once more, no one believed her.
By now, Mister Mirror had finished removing everyone's spiritual imprints. He stood obediently before Yun Jin.
"Master, do you have any other orders?" he asked respectfully.
Yun Jin waved her hand. "Go back outside and stand guard. Don't let anyone suspect a thing."
"Yes."
He bowed and left.
Once the carriage door closed again, everyone sat frozen, their minds blank.
The imprints were gone. Just like that.
And Mister Mirror was really under Yun Jin's control.
One by one, they turned toward her. Who in the world was this person?