What happens when two worlds collide. A runner and a hi-caste K-sec Lieutenant officer run into each other after faith has been in prison for 2 years.

Andrea Caputo was a girl who worked as a chef at Serra Restaurant, her parents died and left her and her little sister sick sister alone, one day coincidence brings her and Luca Serra the leader of one of the biggest Italian Mafia together, but also the coincidence has once brought her with the FBI agent Owen Jones when she's put between her little sister and prison what is she going to do?

Luca Serra, one of the most feared Mafia Capos, everyone who dared to say no to him ended up dead, but one day he puts his sight on the best chef at his restaurant, Andrea Caputo when he knew about her sister, he took advantage of her, but what will happen when he finds out that she has been arrested.

Owen Jones, one of the best FBI agents, he was an orphan until one day, a loving family who couldn't have kids, adopted him, but they were killed when he was 18 years old and he knew who was responsible for that so he decided to go after them and became an FBI agent, but what will happen when life gets him and Andrea Caputo together.

Humans have suffered under the yolk of the long-lived since time immemorial, but the sins of one lord centuries ago will destroy an empire everyone thought invincible.

At the East Sea, an old man wearing green clothing came to a small fishing village and stopped outside. The old man was only carrying a flute on his waist and a jar of wine in his hand.
Looking at some of the dilapidated villages, the old man's eyes filled with emotion, nostalgia, and also memories of the fleeting years.
In the twinkling of an eye, so many years had passed by.
"I'm afraid that in a few years, this village will no longer exist."
The old man stood outside the village for a long time before turning towards a small grove nearby. But, he stopped after taking a few steps.
"Come out!" The old man called in a deep voice.
As his voice died away, two men wearing clothes made of rough material came out of the grove in front. They had the same look, same height, were physically strong, bald, had rustic expressions, and gave the impression of being down-to-earth people from the mountainside.
However, the long knives resting on their shoulders gave them an air of menace.
"Eighth most powerful expert in the world, Lu Pinghai, we have been waiting for you for a long time." They both said in a low, muffled voice at the same time.
Lu Pinghai looked at the two and his facial expression was motionless.
The aboriginals seldom appeared in other nations, and these two specifically came here under someone's order.
"Her Majesty told us to get a Spirit Yuan Pill from you at whatever price or condition you want," the two continued.
As expected.
Lu Pinghai suddenly realized that the order was from Qi Zixiao.
"Tell Qi Zixiao this old fellow doesn't want anything, please go back," Lu Pinghai shook his head and said.
"Her Majesty said that if you do not agree, she will come personally to find you," the two said in response. Actually, what the empress said was to kill him if he refused to give her what she required.
But if they phrased it this way, Lu Pinghai would turn hostile on the spot.
No matter what, he was the eighth most powerful expert in the world and was not easily threatened.
"Then let Qi Zixiao come and find me." Lu Pinghai laughed loudly. He passed through the two men without even looking at them.
Although Qi Zixiao was the fifth most powerful expert in the world and, furthermore, had Hong Wu, the ninth most powerful expert with her, he was still not afraid of them.
Being the eighth most powerful expert in the world, he was definitely confident of himself. They hadn't fought before, who knew what would the outcome be?
Qi Zixiao was originally the seventh most powerful expert in the world, and didn't she kill Hua Sanliu, who was ranked the fifth in the world?
What's more, it's not as if he did not have any trump cards.
"Lu Pinghai, you really want to offend Her Majesty because of one Spirit Yuan Pill?" The two turned around their hands already on their swords.
"Although Qi Zixiao is powerful, I will not let her have my stuff just because she says so. Today, as a sign of respect to Qi Zixiao, I will let the two of you go if you do not act recklessly." Lu Pinghai grunted, swung his sleeve behind him and immediately the sleeve extended like a snake for a few meters. It directly wrapped around the sword hilts of the two men.
"Clang!" The two knives slashed at the sleeves but could not overcome the force exerted by the sleeve on the knives. Instead, their two swords were directed towards their own necks.
"Roar!" The two men bowed their heads at the same time. The two swords crisscrossed and slashed towards the sleeves which were on the hilts of their swords. But, they slashed their swords in vain.
That sleeve was like a living thing and loosened from the hilts. It then hit the two men heavily on the chests, causing them to move backward involuntarily. They went backwards for seven to eight steps before stopping and vomiting fresh blood.
"Eh?" Lu Pinghai snorted. These experts who had just attained the Spirit Wheel level could not even resist one strike from him, let alone being hit directly on the chest. But to his surprise, they were still standing over there.
These two that were sent here were already quite powerful, the aboriginals must have a lot of experts.
"To cultivate oneself is not easy, so today, I will let the both of you go," Lu Ping Hai said and disappeared into the woods.
The two glanced at each other and turned around to leave.
Since neither of them was a match for their opponent, they had to go back and report Lu Pinghai's rejection of their offer to the general.
Lu Pinghai entered the woods and finally sat down in an open space.
His old friend had lived here for several decades, and now he could not even find his grave.
But, this was also fine as nobody would disturb him.
By closing his eyes, he could visualize where he used to live.
"I am back to see you…" Lu Pinghai opened the wine jar, took a mouthful, and poured some on the ground.
…
Ren Baqian looked at the silver mirror in his hand and then at the smug looking craftsmen and Jiao Zuo. "How many days does it take for you to make a mirror? How stupid are you? Even the black-faced guy is smarter than you!"
Black-faced guy is another term for the wild boar.
"Two days!"
Ren Baqian looked askance at the craftsman who answered him.
"Even one black-faced guy could do the job given in two days."
The few men shrugged their heads and quietly listened to the lecture. The row of big and strong men bowed their heads and stood like walls.
Ren Baqian rambled on for a long time before he finally said, "Everyone gets a reward of ten taels of silver and the monthly salary will be increased by one level."
Although these people were stupid to the point where it was beyond cure, they still managed to produce the silver mirror anyway. Scolding and rewards should be dispensed as warranted.
"Thank you, Sir!" Everyone beamed happily.
Ten taels of silver was equivalent to more than two months of their salary. Furthermore, their monthly salaries were increased by one level and that was also quite a handsome sum.
"Everyone, please take your leave." Ren Baqian let the craftsmen leave first before instructing Jiao Zuo on the important works to be done.
The most important were the concave and flat mirrors that would be used to make the solar furnace. After these tasks were completed, the iron ore mining problem at Mount Damo would be solved. Only then could the iron ore be sent via trade caravans to other countries and sold for cash.
In the following period of time, Ren Baqian would go to the glass factory in the morning, the palace at noon, and practice his martial arts in the afternoon.
After the glass making and silver-plating issues were resolved, things went more smoothly. Although the speed of glass production was not fast, it was better than it was at the start. The proportioning of the materials was also affirmed, there were less problems and one week later, there were enough completed concave and silver mirrors to fill two rooms.
Following this, Ren Baqian brought people to the glass factory every day to make a shelf with square frames made of wood, the center of the square frames was made of rattan cane and was concave in shape to fit the mirrors.
After which, the mirror would be affixed on it.
A few days later, during the afternoon, a group of about a hundred over people came bustling out of Lan City and went straight to the glass factory outside the city.
However, they didn't enter the newly built brick house but went to an open space by the side of the glass factory.
There was a big wooden platform with a shelf on it, measuring six meters high and twelve meters wide. A row of concave mirrors was fixed on it and a dazzling white light could be seen from afar. It was difficult to open one's eyes, and many people used their hands to block the white light from their eyes.
The empress came down from her carriage, followed by six high ranking officials: Shi Qing, Zhe Kouhai, Tu Wan, Tong Zhengye, and Qin Chuan. As long as they were available, they were pulled along by the empress.
Everyone wondered why the empress asked so many people to come and what exactly they were going to see.
At this moment, they saw the shelf and the concave mirror which displayed distorted images. Shi Qing, Zhe Kouhai, Tong Zhenye, and some others immediately knew what it was. It had actually been produced now, but they didn't know whether it would be the same as described by Sir Ren. If it was, it would be a happy occasion.
The rest of the people were looking curiously at that big piece of mirror.
"Isn't that a mirror?'
"I wonder what it's made of, it doesn't look like a bronze mirror and yet is so bright."
"But the reflections are not moving and don't look right. Look at the stones in the mirror, the images are distorted."
"Hey, the images make people look short. What a joke."
The empress looked at the big mirror in front and sized it up for a moment. Afterwards, she told Ren Baqian, "You can begin." 
Ren Baqian was very relaxed, he had spent a lot of time building this. Now, it was the time for him to showcase it.
He hoped those idiots didn't mess things up.
After greeting him, thirty guards who normally served him ran to the side to carry thirty mirrors that measured two meters high by one meter wide. Then, they placed the mirrors on the ground, facing the direction of the shelf.
Following which, some people carried a four-meter-long iron bar which was as thick as the circumference of a bowl, and placed it standing upright on the ground.
Ren Baqian walked in front of the row of thirty flat mirrors. He adjusted the angle of one of them, reflecting the sun rays to the concave mirror on the shelf and then the focused beam of light from the concave mirror-reflected to the top of the iron bar.
As he adjusted the angle, the rest of the people followed suit and started to adjust the mirrors. From time to time, he helped everyone adjust the mirrors.
Initially, many people looked at him, but with the empress, Shi Qing, and company fixing their eyes at the top of the iron bar, more of them directed their eyes there and wondered what they would see.
But at once, they got the shock of their lives.
The top of the iron bar suddenly burst into flames without any cause.
One had to know that this was an iron bar. No one was blind, and they were certain that it was an iron bar from the heavy footsteps of the guards that had carried it over as well from the effort it to erect. But, how could an iron bar catch fire?
Even more surprising things were happening, the top of the iron bar not only caught fire but was also melting, and the red-hot liquid iron flowed down the bar.
Very soon, the tip of the iron bar was missing a portion.
Not only was it shocking for those who saw it for the first time, even Shi Qing and company were also surprised.
The previous time, it was just a disk of light which burnt a hole in a steel knife.
This time, it was the melting of an iron bar as thick as the mouth of a bowl, and the difficulty was ten to one hundred times more.
Therefore, several people who witnessed this personally were astonished.
"Your humble servant congratulates the empress and Dayao. This is a great contribution from Sir Ren, and Dayao shall not need to worry about the lack of iron for the next one hundred years," Shi Qing happily announced loudly.
After he opened his mouth, everyone reacted and one after another, and they congratulated the empress.
Although they didn't know what was happening, they could see for themselves the melting of the iron bar, which was as thick as the girth of a bowl.
In that case, Mount Damo could continuously be mined for fine iron, and they would no longer face the problem of a shortage in supply for the army. This was definitely a joyous occasion and very good news.
Ren Baqian contributed the most to this project, and in the eyes of many people, his status was elevated by a few levels.
Earlier, the empress did mention something about letting him run a school and ordinary disciples without innate talent from each family could be sent in. Nobody took it seriously, and many people didn't even consider it.
When the empress asked later on, they would say even though their disciples were not talented enough, putting their heart into martial arts training was enough.
However, based on what they saw at present, this guy really possessed some abilities.
Those families might as well send the ordinary disciples to the educational institution to try it out and see what they could learn.


In a world where its inhabitants can destroy a city wall single-handedly, the empress has a kirin as her pet, and the imperial palace of Great Xia has a pool containing a dragon. There is also a Sword Mountain where spirit swords occasionally leave in search of a master .

Bootlicking the empress, Ren Baqian ascended to the apex of life.　　

The killing on the east wall was still ongoing.
Monkey's bloodshot eyes were widened, resembling two sinister red lanterns in the dark night.
Wherever the lanterns passed, a blood storm would rise!
Snap!
The sound of bones cracking could be heard.
A Glass Palace Golden Core seized advantage of the chaos to close in, waving his fist to pummel monkey's kneecap fiercely.
The kneecap turned into a bloodied mess of flesh and blood and the bones were shattered on the spot!
Although monkey was in a berserk state and could not feel any pain, the severe injury on his left kneecap cost him to almost fall from a lack of balance!
That brief delay in his movement technique caused a few incoming flying swords from the air to shoot right into monkey's tall figure.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Arrows of blood splattered.
Instantly, a few bloodied holes appeared on monkey's body.
One of them penetrated his chest and was right beside its heart - a slight difference would have ended its life there and then!
Filled with injuries all over, monkey's body was drenched in blood as it panted heavily.
Every single pant would cause blood to spurt out of its nose and mouth - it was a shuddering sight!
Gradually, monkey's footsteps came to a stop.
It was truly tired.
If not for the berserk power that was triggered from the depths of its bloodline, it would have collapsed a long time ago.
The blood glint in monkey's eyes faded gradually.
The berserk power was vanishing from its body!
What replaced it was throbbing pain from every part of its body that intensified by the moment.
Apart from physical weakness, the large amount of blood lost also caused monkey to experience bouts of dizziness and blurred consciousness - even its vision was fluttering.
Monkey shrugged its head.
Blood spurted out of its mouth and nose.
The Demon Revealing Mirror was not far ahead.
There were only two rows of Glass Palace cultivators before him.
Right now, monkey was fully exhausted.
However, it was indignant!
Although the blood light in monkey's eyes dimmed, their ferocity was not reduced as it glared furiously with clenched teeth at the Demon Revealing Mirror that was not far ahead!
The cultivators on the opposite end did not dare to advance recklessly after meeting with monkey's gaze.
Two Glass Palace cultivators stood out and composed themselves. With a shout, they summoned their flying swords once again and thrust towards monkey's head!
The two flying swords shone with five spirit lights.
Two perfect spirit weapons!
All the cultivators who managed to survive up till this point were the strongest elites of their respective sects and factions. As such, it was only natural that their weapons were special.
Monkey wanted to dodge when it caught sight of the two incoming flying swords, however, its body felt incomparably sluggish and would not obey its mind!
If it was struck by the two flying swords, monkey would definitely die even if it had 10 lives!
All of a sudden!
A dark shadow bolted over from the side and sent one of the swords flying.
The other flying sword stabbed into the shadow.
The black shadow fell to the ground weakly with a grisly hole that spewed with blood in its abdomen!
It was the spirit tiger!
At the last moment, the spirit tiger had rushed over to save monkey.
To begin with, the spirit tiger was already exhausted. Now that its abdomen was pierced by the flying sword, it no longer had the strength to get up and could only lie on the ground and whimper with dimmed eyes.
Su Zimo's gaze was cold as he gripped his fists so tightly that his knuckles went white.
Unknowingly, sharp fingernails had protruded and stabbed into his flesh but he did not realize it at all!
"Roar!"
When monkey saw that, it was first stunned. Immediately after, its massive body convulsed in a seemingly spastic manner as it roared to the front!
Ta! Ta! Ta!
Dragging its battered body, monkey used the final bits of its strength and took three consecutive strides towards the two rows of Glass Palace cultivators at the front!
"Glass Divine Light!"
One of the Glass Palace Golden Cores harrumphed and released the legacy phenomenon of Glass Palace towards monkey.
Splash!
The power of phenomenon surged and Glass Divine Light shone brightly!
Streaks of rainbow light shone behind the Glass Palace cultivator one after another!
Some of the demon beasts nearby were enveloped by the rainbow lights and their flesh crystallized immediately, cold as ice without any life in them.
A single touch would turn them into ice blocks to shatter onto the ground.
Monkey had a menacing expression and charged towards the Glass Divine Light with no intention of stopping. It reached out for the Glass Palace cultivator with its massive palm!
 "You must have a death wish!"
The person sneered and snarled.
Given the might of Glass Divine Light, there was no way monkey's arm could come into contact with him - even the bloodline of a pure-blooded ferocious beast would be turned into powder by Glass Divine Light!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
True enough.
Monkey's arm was instantly covered by a layer of rainbow crystal upon reaching into Glass Divine Light. Its fur fell off and its flesh was revealed!
In the blink of an eye, even the flesh on its arm was covered by a layer of rainbow crystal!
Once the power of phenomenon seeped into the arm's flesh, blood and bones, monkey's arm would be as good as gone!
However, monkey's arm had already reached the throat of the Glass Palace cultivator before it was fully penetrated by Glass Divine Light!
"How is that possible?"
The Glass Palace cultivator's eyes were widened with disbelief.
There was only a single explanation.
Monkey's bloodline was even stronger and more frightening than a pure-blooded ferocious beast's bloodline!
It managed to defend against the penetration of Glass Divine Light for the time being!
At that moment, as long as monkey exerted some strength to its fingers, it could kill the Glass Palace cultivator right away!
However, monkey did not do that.
Gripping the person's throat, it made aim and tossed the person viciously towards the Demon Revealing Mirror that was not far away!
The Glass Palace cultivator's head spun from the toss and he could not control his figure at all, maintaining his Golden Core phenomenon subconsciously as he flew through the crowd.
A few cultivators who did not manage to dodge in time were crystallized by Glass Divine Light and smashed into powder!
Of the remaining cultivators, nobody could release Golden Core phenomenons to defend against this person.
Boom!
The person smashed heavily into the Demon Revealing Mirror.
Clang!
The Demon Revealing Mirror rolled and fell from the city wall!
There were initially four columns of light from the four city walls.
But now that one of the Demon Revealing Mirrors was sent flying, there was one less column of light!
The pressure on Su Zimo's body diminished by a fraction.
However, the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation was not completely dispelled yet!
He could only break free if there were at least three Demon Revealing Mirrors that were moved!
On the city wall, monkey heaved a deep breath of air when it saw the Demon Revealing Mirror fall over. Its eyes dimmed and it could no longer hold on.
With a thud, monkey's massive body fell weakly onto the city wall, causing blood to splash and dust to billow.
Slanting its head, monkey gazed at Su Zimo in the center of the city and tried its best to shift its chaffed lips and smile, the same way it did back in Cang Lang Mountain Range.
A layer of mist filled Su Zimo's eyes.
In midair, Elder Xiu's palpitating heart calmed down as well.
The fall of a single Demon Revealing Mirror did not have much impact on the current situation.
Furthermore, the two Demon Kings were already exhausted and could be killed at any moment. The remaining demon beasts were of no threat either.
"Everyone, heed my orders! Abandon the East city wall and guard the other three walls with all your strength! Protect the other three Demon Revealing Mirrors!"
Before Elder Xiu's words were finished, something happened on the Southern city wall!



He is a young man without a spirit root. It is believed that this denies him the chance at cultivation. However, a mysterious lady imparts a Supreme Demon Classic to him and from then on, he starts his path of cultivation.
He undergoes a total transformation to emerge as the most fearsome and powerful fiendish demon in his era, that even immortals and fiends are fearful of him, and saints are at his beck and call.
Mastering the Supreme Demon Classic is the turning point in his life. He is able to unleash his immense and divine power from within, illuminating the entire universe!

Li walked through the miles and miles of lush grass with his feet tingling with every step.
"I should probably make some clothes". Li thought, looking as his now tanned body from the direct sun. His hair started to grow longer the day he got here and it looked silver, reflecting into the grass. 
"Am I not human? No human has this kind of straight silver hair." He realized he hasn't actually looked as his full body yet due to lack of mirrors. Li started to think about mirrors and their reflection, but nothing showed up in his hand. 
"Mirrors are of glass and metal put together..... I should start with the desert biome." Li began to think about the hot sun with burning sand and the dunes. He soon found a pile of coarse sand in his sand, about a good handful. 
AUTOMATED SYSTEM: SAND ACQUIRED
" I want a 1000 mile by 100 mile square area of sand. Can you do that system?
 AUTOMATED SYSTEM: DONE
"Bu...." Before the words could get out of his mouth, a land of sand started to spread quickly to an exact square of 1000 miles by 100 miles if you could use something to look into space. Sand saw slowly heating up and flying into the air due to the present breeze. 
"So... yellow" What a wonderful shade! Li ran around and jump through the sand mounds randomly generated, feeling the rough yellow substance across his entire body. It didn't feel uncomfortable, despite being naked. The breeze also felt nice as he "swam" through the area. 
"I should start making some buildings, i'm not a naturalist". Li thought about the pyramids based in Earth's Egypt, filled with items not known by many people. He opened his eyes and saw a large pyramid, as big as he imagined, but it soon fell down, creating a small dust storm. From the collision with the ground, the air picked up and a large dust storm, approaching Li fast.  He tried to bury himself within the sand , but it was too late as Li got hit was millions of sand particles. He closed his eyes and braced for the worst. He brought his toned, bronze arms and shielded his face. He didn't feel any of the sand hit his arms, in fact, the only thing he felt was the wind. Li looked up and found the sand circle him, like there was a transparent wall.
SYSTEM: YOU HAVE SOME RESISTANCE TOWARDS THINGS YOU CREATE. 
HIDDEN TRAIT FOUND: RESISTANCE ISN'T FUTILE
Li found the the statement surprising and soon relaxed.
"At least I can't be killed anytime soon, though I wonder what will happen if I create life?
SYSTEM: YOU CANNOT CREATE LIFE YET. IT WILL BE DIFFICULT TO KILL YOURSELF. IF YOU DO, YOU SHOULD REMEMBER THE CONSEQUENCES. 
Li shuddered as he thought about what mythology's hell looked like, with lava, obsidian, and Hades, lord of the Underworld.
SYSTEM: CONGRATS, YOU CREATED FIRE, LAVA, AND OBSIDIAN BASED OFF YOUR IMAGE.
Li looked in his hand and found three things. A golden flame that stayed stable. Along with the fire was a small block of black rock, obsidian. The third thing was a small drop of molten lava. Li started to panic, feeling the invisible pain fire and lava should, but soon found the fire and lava didn't burn through his hand. He didn't even leave a scorch mark.
"I can play with fire! I've got the thank the system for the resistance"
SYSTEM: YOU'RE WELCOME. YOU CAN NOW CREATE GLASS SINCE FIRE HAS BEEN FOUND. 
"Bout time".
SYSTEM: YOUR SASS ISN'T REQUIRED
"Oh I have a question for you, are you an AI or are you an entity, but what are you?"
SYSTEM: THAT CANNOT BE EXPLAINED UNTIL YOU HIT THE MEDIEVAL ERA.
"Damn, how long do I have to live?"
SYSTEM: A GOOD WHILE, AT LEAST UNTIL I SEE A RELATIVE MODERN SOCIETY.
"You can see?"
SYSTEM: OF COURSE, I AM THE SYSTEM. I AM BETTER THAN THOSE COOKING AND WORLD DOMINATION SYSTEMS. SOUNDS FUN BUT I WANT TO SEE SOMEONE NOT DEAL WITH PROBLEMS THAT AREN'T THEIRS. I WANT YOU TO CREATE YOUR OWN PROBLEMS AND SOLVE AS WELL AS COLLECTING DATA FOR MY NEXT "SYSTEM" PROJECT. I AM HERE TO HELP SLIGHTLY AND OBSERVE. YOU ARE THE HOST, AND I HAVE TO FOLLOW SOME OF YOUR ORDERS. YOU WON'T FIND MY TRUE IDENTITY TILL LATER. I'VE RANTED LONG ENOUGH.
TEMPORARY MISSION: MAKE A MIRROR AND EVALUATE YOURSELF AND TAKE A GOOD GUESS WHAT RACE YOU ARE
REWARD: FLAME AND MANA MANIPULATION
"Oh mana exist? I haven't heard about mana since I've read those web based novels. I wonder if this is similar to mana from the novels." Li pondered but eventually stopped, and thought about a mirror. Some reflected glass appear, with no frame. 
SYSTEM: YOU HAVE CREATED A MIRROR.
Li was finally ready to see what body he had given since he been reincarnated. The results left him speechless.

Li is ready to pass on into the afterlife until a unique system makes him become a god of his own world.

       "Samuel," Garrick shouted, finally waking him from his own head. He turned in shock towards his best friend as he brought a hand up to rest against his temple. 
       It took him a while to realize that he'd passed out because he was laying on his back and his back was smarting. Garrick kneeled beside him with worry etched into his thick brows. "What... ?" 
       He sat up finally with a groan before looking around him. He couldn't have sworn he'd heard someone laughing at the back of his head. The second the door opened, he could have sworn that he'd seen something crawl out the second the door had opened. 
       "You dropped so suddenly, it scared me. Are you feeling ok?" Garrick stated, but his voice was abnormally calm. The back of Samuel's head pounded and the second he got to his feet, he felt light headed. 
       "Did you see… did anything come out of the room?" Samuel asked, meeting his friend's eyes. 
       "No," he answered steadily. "Nothing. The Room is empty." 
       Samuel, you need to listen to me. Never open that door. Do you hear me? Don't open the door into the Room. Never. It isn't empty. His mother had once told him years ago, when they'd first moved into the house. She'd been so adamant that Samuel had never second guessed her. There were times he'd tried to open the door, and he'd just turn the knob a small bit before his mother was barreling up the stairs to yell at him. She'd torn him from the door in a fit of rage before sitting him in a corner downstairs for almost an hour. 
       Now, he'd finally opened the door and all the secret his mother would mumble and worry about were all fake. The room… it was empty. She'd lied to him. All those years. He grit his teeth as he stepped inside the Room before taking another deep breath. Behind him, he could hear Garrick follow. 
       "See. It's nothing to be afraid of," Garrick stated, clasping a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "This whole time there was nothing inside the Room." 
       The Room felt as if it was chuckling and the sound dipped beneath his flesh and curled its cold tendrils around his bones. All Samuel could smell was must and mold, evidence of a room that hadn't been entered nor cleaned in years. He stepped across the middle of the room only to look towards his left where a simple cardboard box sat. For a few seconds he simply stared at it. The cardboard box was hanging together by threads. It squatted in the corner with bulging sides. The brown color had long since faded as the cardboard had started to deteriorate. Samuel squatted down beside it and pulled one of the flaps free. 
       "What's in it?" Garrick pressed as he came up behind the boy. 
       "Mirrors," Samuel answered with shock. He reached in and pulled out one of the mirrors before pulling it free. 
       It was old. It felt like it'd break apart in his hands if he so much as squeezed the sides. The mirror was cracked from the bottom corner all the way to the corner opposite of it. It seemed to have split the reflective glass in half. Inside the box, there were more in various different states. But all of the mirrors were cracked. Samuel held  it up and stared into the top portion of the mirror. 
       Something ran across the floor behind him, but it only reflected in the bottom half of the mirror. He didn't get more than a second to see what the thing was, but it had seemed human like in form. Only that it ran on all fours with extremely pale skin. Samuel gasped in shock as his hands released the mirror. The mirror fell to the floor and shattered at his feet in thousands of different pieces. 
       "Samuel?" Garrick asked. "Dude, are you ok?" 
       Samuel turned his head and he squinted towards the pale monster, only to find it wasn't there. In fact, nothing had been there. 
       "Samuel, look at me! LOOK!" Something screeched and he could feel fingers on the back of his neck. He was frozen in place, too afraid to even utter a small breath. "Look at ME Samuel. Aren't I pretty?" 
       It was the same voice that had always talked just beyond his door when he was growing up. Whenever the Room opened on its own and the monsters would slam their fists against his door, only one voice would ever speak. It sounded like a woman's, but only if her throat was filled with sludge or water. She seemed far away, yet he could feel her tapping against the nap of his neck. 
       "I haven't seen you in forever. Why did you leave us Samuel? Why did you leave?" This time, it sounded like children. They ran through the room with the lightest of steps before disappearing. "We missed you Samuel. We missed you but you left us. Why are you so mean?" 
       "Yeah, I'm fine," Samuel replied quietly before closing the box. The only explanation for all of it was his imagination going nuts. Like it had used to do when he was still a kid. "Could I sell these online? Do you think anyone would be interested in them?" 
       "Cracked mirrors?" Garrick asked before shaking his head. "Cracked mirrors are bad luck, I highly doubt anyone would be interested in them. Probably just throw them out into the trash." 
       "Yeah…" Samuel sighed before pulling the blinds up from the window. Sunlight filtered through, giving light to the tiny particles that only had just started to settle. 
       "You know," Garrick said as he hefted up the box of mirror. He rattled the box in his hands slightly. "They say mirrors are windows into the soul. So whoever broke these, they must've been a terrible person." 
        "Is it possible for someone to get trapped inside a mirror?" Samuel replied before looking over at him. He eyed the box warily before glancing towards the doorway where he could have sworn he saw someone walking across. 
       Garrick scoffed before passing through the doorway. "In horror movies, sure. Not real life. It's ok." 
       Samuel rubbed his forehead with a frustrated sigh before he chased after the man. The room was only an excuse to be afraid of something he couldn't understand. Just like his therapist had said. It was all in his imagination. Anyway, Samuel had seen enough horror movies to know what was real and what wasn't. He chuckled quietly to himself, unbeknownst that the Room chuckled behind him. 
                                                   ~ ~ ~
       "FUCK!" Garrick snapped as he fell down the staircase in a mess of loud bangs and shattering glass. The box lay flattened at the bottom of the staircase in a mess of its own remains whilst Garrick had come to a stop mere inches away from the first bits and pieces of glass. 
       Samuel rushed down the steps quickly to help the other man up before he stared ruefully at the mess that now awaited him. "That's like three years of bad luck." 
       "Ugh, don't remind me," Garrick answered before squatting down by the pieces. He threw the larger chunks into the box before he came to a sudden pause. 
       Blood dripped out of a small cut on his thumb. Not a lot of blood to be wry of, but it dripped into the carpet with the intention to stain. Garrick had pricked his finger on one of the shards of the mirrors. A few sullen, scarlet drops lay on its reflective surface as if it was staring right back up at them. He cursed before cleaning it off with one of the many tissues he kept in his front jeans' pocket. 
       "Do you need a bandaid? I'm sure my mom has some floating around somewhere." 
       "Nah, I'm good," Garrick answered simply before picking up the offending piece. 
       The second he picked it up, cold dread settled into the pits of Samuel's soul. Whilst they were now on the first floor after Garrick's disastrous fall, the mirror reflected the closed door to the Room. The very same door that they hadn't closed. Without sound, the reflection's door opened slowly and fingers wrapped around the wooden edge. 
       Bloody fingers with one having already been severed in a mess of rotten, mangy flesh. A head creeped around the edge of the door with a quiet cackle Samuel could only hear. There were no eyes, just maggoty bugs crawling free from the rotten flesh that held them. They dropped to the floor and wiggled pathetically on the stained champagne colored carpet at its feet. Some of that very flesh, pale in color, clung loosely to the white bone beneath. There seemed to be a soft glow emanating from the pits of the monster's eye-less sockets. The cheekbones poked out from the creature's skin in a bloody mess whilst black blood dripped from it's eardrums. It's long black hair was matted with mud and what seemed to be solid, fleshy chunks. It clacked its canine like teeth pitifully before tilting its head ever so softly to the side. 
       It moved slowly as it crawled its way free from the door. Now, on all four limbs it crawled out towards them and the smell, oh the smell was absolutely horrendous. Samuel tried to not gag, because all he could smell was death. He stumbled back. 
       "You shouldn't have opened the door Sammie."
       "Samuel, what's wrong?" Garrick asked and Samuel realized he'd been lost in his own thoughts once more. Whatever had been in the reflection had long since cleared, and he was half tempted to run up the stairs just to check. However, something was tapping against the stairs from the very top. 
       "D-do you hear that?" 
       "What? Hear what?" 
       "GET OUT SAMUEL!" A voice screamed and it was so loud he could feel the wall's shutter. It was familiar in the way that any kid, regardless of how old they were, would recognize. It was his own mother's voice that echoed from the walls.

The creaking of the door's hinges could be heard throughout the house. Always at 12 am and then those... those things would spill out into the halls. Samuel shouldn't have opened that door. He should have never went inside The Room.

If anyone had said this to Xu Xun at any other time, she would definitely have treated them as a retard. However, she could only think the monk was indeed amazing when she heard it now… She was then startled to her senses. One Finger Monastery's abbot? Wasn't that the monk Ma Yuan had been talking about?
At that instant, she finally understood why Ma Yuan was so insistent on returning home to drink a bowl of Laba Congee! How could the congee given by such an amazing monk be anything ordinary?
With this in mind, Xu Xun hurriedly got to her feet to check on Ma Yuan's condition.
To her surprise, she saw two people on the wall, and they were none other than Ma Yuan and Tan Ming! Having survived their ordeal, they naturally had plenty to talk and cry about. Their praise for Fangzheng sounded incessantly.
Meanwhile in hell. Zheng Yuan was dragged by a ghost the entire way until they arrived before a huge door. On it were the huge words—Hell of Mirrors of Retribution!
"What's this place? Where are you bringing me?" Zheng Yuan cried out.
The ghost chuckled. "Punk, you committed plenty of misdeeds in the mortal world and used various means to hide them. Later, they were exposed and you hid everywhere and concealed your identity. Did you think you were so skilled that no one could do a thing to you? Did you not know that the gods were watching? In this Hell of Mirrors of Retribution, no matter what powerful means you have, your past deeds will be revealed clearly for all to see. Only then will your future path be decided."
With that said, the ghost threw Zheng Yuan through the door of the Hell of Mirrors of Retribution. It then laughed. "I forgot to mention. The Hell of Mirrors of Retribution is also a punishment. Enjoy yourself!"
Fangzheng grinned and mumbled. "How pitiful. The ones before you were directly sent to the corresponding hells to suffer punishment, but you have to make a detour to the Hell of Mirrors of Retribution first."
Perhaps many people would imagine that the Hell of Mirrors of Retribution was just a part of a verification process, but Fangzheng knew very well that there were a few ways of entering hell.
One of them was to directly enter hell and suffer the corresponding hell's punishment.
Another was to be judged by an official before being sentenced to the corresponding hell.
The last type was to be judged via the Hell of Mirrors of Retribution before being sentenced to the corresponding hell.
The latter two didn't sound very different, but Fangzheng knew that the difference between them was huge.
Hell had eighteen levels, and many people imagined the eighteen levels to be equivalent to eighteen stories that went from a lower to a higher level, or vice-versa. However, that wasn't the case!
The levels of hell weren't simply differentiated by space and type of punishment, but also by time and type of punishment! Most important of all was time.
If one directly entered hell, the punishment they received was the lightest. Time inside and outside was the same. 365 days also made up a year, and the punishment period had its face value.
As for being placed in different levels of hell, it just meant different kinds of punishment. There was no difference in time.
However, to be judged by an official before entering hell was different. If that was the case, time was counted in a different manner. The first level had 3,750 years for every day in the mortal world! If the official's hand trembled, and he sentenced you to ten days, don't be too happy. That didn't mean you would be staying in hell for ten days but 37,500 years!
The second level of hell's calculation was twice that of the first level of hell⁠—7,000 years counted as a day!
It continued the same way beyond the third level. As for the final level of hell, the punishment length was twice that of the penultimate level.
If one was thrown into the eighteenth level of hell, it meant that a day's length of punishment had exponentially increased all the way to that level! There was basically no reprieve at that point.
And the levels mentioned didn't simply refer to the levels of hell, but to the levels of punishment! So if the official sentenced you to the eighteenth level of hell, he wouldn't simply be throwing you to the eighteenth level's Hell of Sawing, but he would be doing so for the time which corresponds to the eighteenth level. As for the punishment, it was determined based on the kind of sins committed.
Similarly, passing through the Hell of Mirrors of Retribution to enter the other hells had an effect on the time of the punishment. People that went through this course were even more pathetic. Just as the ghost said, the Hell of Mirrors of Retribution was also a hell of punishment. Entering this hell didn't just mean that one would learn what one's deserved punishment was. One would also have to enjoy the punishment feast from the fourth level's Hell of Mirrors of Retribution! Only after the hell itself was satiated would the official punishment begin!
As such, people who were made to enter the Hell of Mirrors of Retribution from the very beginning to suffer punishment were extremely pitiful existences.
With this in mind, Fangzheng couldn't help but press his palms together and silently say, "Nicely done!"
Fangzheng hadn't had parents from a young age. He envied people with birth parents, but here was a person who was worse than an animal. He had committed a monstrous crime! This completely rubbed Fangzheng the wrong way as the pangs of fury in his heart were so strong they could burn up all the lakes and rivers in the world! So how could he show any pity to Zheng Yuan?
After Zheng Yuan entered the Hell of Mirrors of Retribution, all he saw was mirrors all around him. There were countless mirrors.
He stood in place as though he had fallen into a kaleidoscope. When the mirrors reflected him, the reflections were also reflected in the other mirrors. This repeated incessantly, forming a world of countless mirrors! Every world had another mirror reflecting him…
Standing there, Zheng Yuan couldn't figure out his bearings or where he was.
"Is this hell? It's just this and nothing more." Zheng Yuan thought as he mumbled. "I thought there would be mountains of knives and fiery seas…"
Just as he said that, he heard a thud as the mirrors around him shattered.
Zheng Yuan was stunned as he laughed. "No way? Such poor quality? They shattered all at once? You call this hell?"
But when the glass fell to the ground, he could no longer laugh.
The glass that fell to the ground suddenly ignited and burned!
"Ah!" Zheng Yuan's feet instantly became scorching hot as boils were produced before even they were burnt into a char. Following that, the smell of roasted flesh wafted right after the smell of charred flesh.
Zheng Yuan cried out in pain as he tumbled to the ground. But when he did, he realized that the ground had countless knives!
The knives began to rise up. He clearly saw that the entire world was made of knives. These knives rose into the air to become huge mountains of knives!
Below the mountain of knives was a fiery inferno…
At that instant, a thought flashed in Zheng Yuan's mind. Mountains of knives and fiery seas?
He felt his hand hurt as his fingers were sliced off. He cried in pain as he fell down the mountain of knives, tumbling along the way as his flesh was sliced open, splattering blood all over. As his flesh was mangled, his limbs were sliced off.
By the time he arrived at the bottom of the mountain, Zheng Yuan had been reduced into a mangled mess of flesh.
Following that, an inferno swept over him and instantly reduced Zheng Yuan into a ball of fire. He cried out incessantly.
Zheng Yuan didn't know how long the fire lasted. Perhaps a year or a decade, but he felt like he'd rather die than suffer for even a moment longer! Unfortunately, he just couldn't die, and the pain increased multifold.
As Zheng Yuan was crying out in pain, the surroundings changed once more. The flames and mountains of knives flew up again and transformed back into mirrors.


In the rural northeastern mountainous regions stands a tiny Buddhist temple, named One Finger Temple. It isn't a large one but it is extremely miraculous.

The temple has rice that emanates an aromatic fragrance.

The temple has sweet and refreshing water that rivals ambrosia.

The temple has Buddhas that grant wishes to the sincere.

The temple isn't large but it has everything. The temple isn't large but it has flourishing incense offerings that far exceed all temples. The temple isn't large but it attracts both citizens and foreigners that line up overnight…

The temple has a bald but handsome monk. Every day, he would bawl, "I want to renounce asceticism! I want to marry a chick that's not too pretty, have a cute baby, and lead a stable life!"

This book is a casual novel that introduces various Chinese traditional customs, as well as Buddhist ones. It strives to be a positive book, allowing people to reflect on how they should live their lives and treat others.

Peter ran to the garage door the second he heard the door going up. His tiny feet stumbling with the clumsy gait of a five-year-old. He threw open the garage door and found both his parents deeply absorbed by their blue screens. He slowly approached them looking up at their foreboding frames. Their combined shadow blocked his little eyes from the overhead light.
"Mom? Dad? Could you play with me?"
His mother peered down at him over her phone. She sniffed in distaste at the sight of her son's dirty hands.
"Oh, Peter you little fool, you're not worth my time. Just look at yourself. You're not a CEO or a President. Mommy has important people to "play" with, darling. So run along and make something of yourself. Maybe then we can play." Peters father turned to her,
"Couldn't have said it better, my dear". He leaned over and gave mother a quick kiss on the cheek. Just as quickly as they shared a glance they both returned to their screens.
Peter's eyes filled with tears as he slowly turned and walked away. He paused before leaving the garage at a dusty old mirror leaning against the wall. Peter took a hard look at himself in the mirror scrutinizing every inch of his appearance. At the sight of the dirt on his hands, he quickly rubbed them off on his pants. He then moved closer to the mirror.
He blinked and suddenly he could no longer see himself in the mirror. He frantically waved his arms in an attempt to find his reflection. He starts to gasp faster and faster as he starts to hyperventilate with panic. Surely, he could not disappear simply because he was not important, could he?
Suddenly, it all became too much for little Peter. He grabbed his head and screamed. His parents groaned and left closing the door behind them. It locked in their wake with a soft click.
..............................…..
Peter lay shivering in his sleep on the garage floor, his back turned away from the old mirror. 
"Peter." Peter shifts in his sleep. He whimpers when he heard the whisper.
"Peeeter." His eyes blink open. He sat up and turned toward the door, and the mirror.
"Mommy?"
"Peter."
"Daddy?"
"Peter!"
"Who's there?"
"Look in the mirror Peter." Peter stumbled to the mirror. He gasped at the sight of his reflection. Upon a closer examination of the mirror, he gave out another whimper. His reflection was exactly like him except for the eyes. They were yellow around the pupil but shifted to a blood red.
"Wha-. Who are you?"
"I am you." The reflection spoke with cold mocking precision.
"You're me?"
"Yes."
"But, but I'm me."
"Well, I'm the new and improved you."
"But I don't need improvement. What is improvement?" His reflection let out a long-suffering sigh and rolled its eyes.
"Let me explain in simple terms. I'm. here. to. REPLACE. you." Peter's eyes fill with fear and a hint of lingering confusion.
"I'm going to take your mommy and daddy, kid." Peter's eyes widened even further as his reflection stretched and grew in the mirror. The reflection strangely still looks like him, a future teenaged version of little Peter.
The reflection of the garage shifts away, replaced by a bedroom. His parent's bedroom. He could see their chests rising and falling through their blue blanket.
"Say Goodbye."
The reflection turns towards Peter's sleeping parents, his fingers shifting into the sharp claws. Peter screamed out,
"MOMMY! DADDY! RUN!" At his cry, the reflection turns back towards the little boy. He sneered down at him,
"You're too late, kid. You'll always be too late." With this last remark, he lunged at Peter's parents.
"NO!" Peter lunged at the mirror trying to save his parents. The mirror shattered at the boy's impact. An eerie cackle ringed in little Peter's ears as glass shards exploded around him. He cries out as a glass shard slices a crescent moon shaped scar around the left side of his jaw.
Peter looked down at his hands, his hands shaking as he watched his hands start to bleed. He looked down at the glass dazzling with moonlight from the skylight. Blood soon mixed with the pure white shards. Peter watched in fascinated horror as the glass started to absorb his blood.
"A- A- AAAAAAAH!" In a corner of the old mirror within a largely unshattered portion of the glass, a dark red shadow's gleaming white teeth smiled at little Peter's screams.
..............................…..
"We have Peter's psychiatric evaluation back." The doctor sat down behind her desk and faced the two parents seated in the two plush black armchairs. She laced her hands in front of her on the desk. What she was about to say would be hard and she wanted to give the parents time to get comfortable. She was surprised when the father snapped at her,
"And?" She blinked. His tone was so different than it had been in the emergency room when he and his wife had first brought their son in. Then again the press had been crowding into the room with them…
She mentally shook her head and decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. She calmly responded,
"It seems Peter suffers from a rare phobia called catoptrophobia."
"Do you expect us to know what that means? You're the doctor here, explain." Shrieked Peter's mother. The Doctor slowly blinked once again, both their attitudes had changed severely. She suddenly became very cautious of the high power couple.
"Y-yes ma'am. It means a fear of mirrors, but more precisely reflections. He is having extreme attacks of anxiety because of his irrational fear of his reflection." Both parents glared at the doctor. The mother rolled her eyes and the father sighed, severely irritated,
"And? How do we fix him? We don't want a mentally challenged son. That is not the image we want, the public is only sympathetic for so long!"
The doctor had to mentally hold herself back from screaming at the man. His son had been severely injured and the resulting mental and physical scars would haunt him for the rest of his life. This fear was not something he could just "get rid" of. He would need love, understanding, and therapy. He would need parents who were concerned about him, not their public image.
"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Lake we have found the easiest way to fix phobias is to slowly expose them to the source of their phobias in a controlled environment. This allows them to see that their fear is irrational and eventually overcome it."
"So your saying we can fix him by placing him in a room full of mirrors for a few hours?"
"Well, sort of sir. It would probably take around three months because of his youth."
"Do it. As fast as possible!"
"Right away, sir? I  don't think that is a good idea. He is still injured."
"Did you not hear my husband the first time? Do it. NOW!" 
"Yes, ma'am. Right away. We will expose him for half an hour." The doctor  stood from her desk. As she walked away a shiver of disgust snaked down her back. She could read this couple like a book. They were the type who wanted power and would do anything to achieve and maintain as much of it as possible. Their son Peter was a pawn to them. A way of gaining favor through the ruse of being a perfectly happy family. 
They were people easy to despise.
..............................…..

The doctor quickly found her way to Peter's room. She took a moment at the door to observe the small child. He was kicking his legs nervously against the bed frame while looking down at his bandage hands. Fear emanated from every twitch of his small frame.
 She couldn't help but feel sorry for the small boy. He had so much to deal with at such a young age. 
She cleared her throat and Peter's little head shot up. He looked at her expectantly.
"Come with me Peter."
"Are you taking me back to mommy and daddy?" The doctor could see that the poor kid had yet to see his parents for the monsters they were.
"Not yet Peter. First we're going to help you get rid of your fear of mirrors."
"BUT I'M NOT AFRAID OF MIRRORS!!!" The forceful statement startled the doctor.
"Then what are you afraid of Peter?"
"I'M AFRAID OF THE BAD MAN INSIDE!"
"Bad man?"
"Yes, at first he looks like me. But once the glass broke in the shards I saw the man. He wanted to hurt me."
"Peter, that is an illogical statement that to you appears true because of your phobia."
"No it's not. He hurt me, see?" The doctor looked down at Peter who was holding up his bandage hands.
"Well, Peter we have a way to help you get rid of the bad man."
"Really!?"
"Yes. All you need to do is walk into a room and stay there for a little over half an hour."
"I can do that!" The doctor was surprised to see an ear to ear grin on the little boy's face. She had been almost certain that she would never see the boy smile. He had a lovely smile and she hoped he would be able to smile often in he's coming years. He reminded her of her sweet grandson.
"Ok. Take a deep breath." The Doctor watched as Peter took a deep breath. She unlocked the door to their left and motioned for him to enter.
"Now walk in here and I will be back in one hour."
Peter walked into a dark room. The door softly closed behind him.  His panic only set in once he heard the click of the lock. The lights flash on and Peter finds himself in a room of mirrors. 
"No, no no no!"
An hour later the doctor opened the door.
"Peter did you conquer your fear yet?" She cried out once she saw Peter. He was crumpled on the floor, blood splattered around him. Every mirror shattered to pieces.
A message was splattered in blood on the floor "Leave the boy alone. The time is not yet here."
The doctor looked up and saw a dark shadow in the shape of a man sitting in a window sized piece of unshattered glass. He put a finger to his lips and smiled.
.................…
The memory faded away and Peter opened his eyes.
He has a soccer ball tucked under his arm and earbuds pulsing in his ears. He turned up the music and closed his eyes for a second. He opened his eyes after a moment and saw a girl. He could see she was about his age with blue eyes and short messy brown hair. She was reading a book titled, The Language of Flowers. 
The nickname Flower Girl popped into his head. He watched her as she turned a page. She suddenly glanced up and his heart spluttered in his chest. After a few seconds she looked back down at her book. Hey, she's pretty.
 He shook the thought out of his head; he had to practice his "footwork". His old coach has told him,
"You're a good footballer Peter. You just need to work on your footwork. Practice soccer over the summer before you try out for your new school's football team." Peter sighed and walked around the girl on the park bench and onto the soccer field.
"Time to practice," he muttered to himself.


long glass mirrors novel

Mirrors Edge

Mirrors & Guns

Snow White 2035

Empire of Blackened Glass

The Empress's Gigolo

Eternal Sacred King

Creation by Thought

Don't Go Inside The Room

The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Phantasmagorical Happenstance

People search long glass mirrors also like: