The red lamp flickered overhead, casting the room into alternating light and shadow. The shadows on the wall danced, as if something were moving within them.
He glanced at his watch. 12:03 a.m. The script said the time was midnight sharp. Three minutes had passed. But he hadn't moved yet.
Choose to return or not to return. What would happen if he returned? What if he didn't? The script didn't say. Only the line: "The choice will lead to different outcomes." A key scene, affecting subsequent progression.
Shen Du stood up, his legs slightly numb. He walked to the coffee table and picked up the photo of Mei and Lin. In the photo, Mei's smile was gentle, but the man's face was a black hole. He touched the hole. The paper was brittle, the burned edges crumbling into powder.
"The mirror does not lie, but it conceals the truth." The script's hint. What did it mean? Would the Mei in the mirror reveal the truth? But what was the truth? He already knew the gist of Mei's story: abandoned, pregnant, suicide. What hidden truth remained?
Shen Du tucked the photo back into his pocket. He touched the ring on his left index finger. The silver band was cold. The engraving "Forever Yours" inside was deeply carved. He recalled the tiny writing in the registry: "Do not trust those who wear the ring."
Those who wear the ring—did it mean Lin? Or him, now wearing the ring?
He took a deep breath and walked toward the bathroom. The dripping sound continued—drip, drip. He gripped the doorknob, the metal cold. Turned it, pushed the door open.
The bathroom was lit. An old incandescent bulb under a frosted glass shade cast a stark white light, illuminating the small bathroom clearly. Sink, toilet, shower. The mirror was oval, hanging above the sink, its frame brass and tarnished.
The mirror reflected Shen Du's face. Pale, bloodshot eyes, stubble on his chin. He looked utterly exhausted.
The dripping sound came from the sink faucet. It wasn't fully closed; water dripped into the basin, pooling into a small puddle at the bottom. The water was clear, but the white ceramic basin made the puddle look like a small mirror.
Shen Du walked to the sink and tightened the faucet. The dripping stopped. The bathroom suddenly fell silent, so quiet he could hear his own heartbeat.
He looked up at the mirror.
In the mirror, behind his reflection, stood a person.
White dress, disheveled long hair, pale face, empty eyes streaming red tears. It was Mei. She stood at the bathroom doorway, right behind Shen Du, watching him quietly.
Shen Du tensed all over but didn't move. He knew he shouldn't move, at least not now. The script hadn't been triggered yet.
In the mirror, Mei slowly raised her hand, her pale finger pointing at Shen Du—or rather, at the ring on his hand.
"Give it back," she said, her voice soft but clear, coming from the mirror yet also seeming to echo directly in Shen Du's mind.
Shen Du looked at Mei in the mirror. Her face was the same as in the photo, yet different. The Mei in the photo was gentle, smiling. The Mei in the mirror was sorrowful, angry, her eyes filled with deep resentment besides the bloody tears.
"It's mine," Mei continued, her voice beginning to tremble. "He gave it to me... He said he'd love me forever... Liar... They're all liars..."
Shen Du spoke, his voice dry. "Are you Mei?"
Mei in the mirror paused, seeming surprised by the question. Then she nodded, the bloody tears flowing more heavily. "I am Mei... Where is Lin? Have you seen him? Did he tell you to return the ring to me? Is he finally willing to see me?"
Questions tumbled out one after another, her voice growing more urgent, carrying hope and fear.
Shen Du recalled the burned-away face in the photo. Mei hated Lin, hated him enough to burn his face away. But now she was asking about Lin, her tone still holding expectation. A contradiction.
"Lin isn't here," Shen Du said.
Mei's expression froze. Hope shattered, turning into deeper resentment. "He's not here... Then why is the ring on your hand? Who are you to him? A new lover? Did he give you promises too? Say he'd love you forever?"
Her voice grew shrill, tinged with mockery. "Men are all the same... Sweet words, then they turn and leave... A ring? Ha... What's a ring worth? What are promises worth? All lies!"
Shen Du watched her. In the mirror, Mei's body began to change. Dark red stains appeared on her white dress, spreading from her abdomen, like blood. Her belly swelled slightly, the shape of pregnancy. But the bloodstains spread from her belly, staining large sections of the dress red.
"He left..." Mei murmured, looking down at her belly. "Left me and the child... He said he'd be back soon... A month, two months, half a year... No letters, no calls... I couldn't find him... The address he gave was fake... Everything was fake..."
She looked up, blood-red eyes fixed on Shen Du. "Do you know how I died in the end?"
Shen Du didn't speak.
"I took pills," Mei said, her voice eerily calm. "Sleeping pills stolen from the hospital. Took them all, lay on the bed, waiting to fall asleep, waiting to never wake up. But when the pills took effect, my stomach hurt so much... The child kicked inside me... He was crying, screaming for me not to..."
She clutched her belly, her body beginning to tremble. "But I couldn't stop... I'd already taken the pills... I could only lie there, feeling life slowly drain away... feeling the child inside me gradually stop moving... He died. I died... We died together..."
Tears fell, red, dripping onto her hands, onto the ceramic sink counter, blooming into small red flowers.
"I hate him," Mei said, looking up, her eyes filled with pure hatred. "I hate Lin. I hate him for lying to me, for abandoning me, for killing me and my child. But I also hate myself... Hate myself for believing him, for being so foolish..."
She looked at the ring on Shen Du's hand. "That ring... it's the only thing he ever gave me. He said wearing it meant I was his wife. Ridiculous... I didn't even know his real name... Lin? Maybe even that name was fake."
Shen Du remained silent. Mei's story was more tragic than he'd thought. Completely deceived, not even knowing her lover's real name, abandoned after becoming pregnant, ultimately committing suicide with her unborn child. How deep must her resentment be?
"What do you want the ring for?" Shen Du asked. "If you hate him so much, why do you want this ring?"
Mei's expression turned confused. "I don't know... I just feel that the ring is mine... He deceived me, but the ring is real... At least the ring is real... It's the only thing I have, proof that he once loved me... Even if that love was false..."
She reached out, through the mirror, as if to touch the ring. "Give it back... Give it back to me... It's mine..."
Script time. Moment of choice.
Return, or not return?
Shen Du recalled the slip of paper: "Don't trust the tears." Mei was crying, bloody tears. Her story was tragic, but the tears could be a trap. Returning the ring might trigger something worse—perhaps Mei's resentment would dissolve upon receiving the ring, and she'd ascend and leave; perhaps she'd become more powerful, more malevolent.
And if he didn't return it? What would happen to Mei? Continue haunting him? Or would there be other punishments?
"The mirror does not lie, but it conceals the truth." The hint said. Was the Mei in the mirror telling the truth? Or was she hiding something?
Shen Du looked at Mei in the mirror. She was still crying, bloody tears ceaseless, appearing pitiful, tragic, hateful. Her hand was outstretched, waiting for the ring.
"Mei," Shen Du spoke. "Do you want to see Lin?"
Mei froze. Then she nodded frantically. "Yes! I want to see him! I want to ask him why! Why did he lie to me! Why did he abandon me! I want him to look into my eyes and answer!"
"If you found him, what would you do?" Shen Du asked.
"I would..." Mei's eyes turned fierce. "I would kill him. Make him feel my pain, my child's pain. Then... then I would be free. I could leave this place, leave with my child."
"Can the ring help you find him?"
Mei shook her head. "I don't know... Maybe... It's something he gave me, it carries his essence... Maybe it could guide me to him..."
Shen Du looked down at the ring on his hand. The silver band, ordinary, plain. The "Forever Yours" inside now seemed like a joke. Forever? Love? All lies.
But he couldn't return it. At least not now. Mei's resentment was too deep. Returning the ring, she might truly go find Lin—if Lin was still alive, or still existed. But more likely, returning the ring would remove her obsession, but her resentment would remain, and she'd become something even more terrifying.
Moreover, the slip of paper hinted, "Don't trust the tears." Mei's tears might be genuine sorrow, but they could also be a lure, enticing him to return the ring.
Shen Du made his decision.
He looked at Mei in the mirror and said, "I can't give it back to you."
Mei's expression solidified. Then slowly twisted, from sorrow to anger, from anger to grotesque fury. "Why?" Her voice was sharp, piercing. "It's mine! Mine!"
"Because even if I gave it back, you wouldn't find Lin," Shen Du said, keeping his voice as calm as possible. "And if I gave it back, you might be trapped here forever. Hatred would imprison you, turn you into a monster that only knows how to kill."
"So what?!" Mei shrieked, her voice shaking the mirror. "I'm already dead! I'm already a monster! It's all his fault! All his!"
Her body began to change. The white dress turned completely blood-red. Her belly swelled more noticeably. Blood dripped from the hem of her dress, pooling on the floor. Her face turned pale blue, her eyes now only whites, the bloody tears turning into black blood oozing from her sockets.
"Give it back..." she roared, her voice no longer human, bestial. "Or I'll kill you... Kill you..."
She lunged at the mirror. Not at Shen Du—at the mirror itself. The mirror rippled like water. Mei's hand emerged from the mirror—pale, nails black and sharp—clawing toward Shen Du.
Shen Du stepped back, but the bathroom was too small. He hit the wall with nowhere to go. Mei's hand grabbed for his neck. He sidestepped, the nails scraping the wall, leaving five deep gouges, plaster crumbling.
"Give it back!" Half of Mei's body was now out of the mirror, hair flying, blood-red dress, swollen belly, grotesque face. She no longer looked human, like a demon crawling out of hell.
Shen Du, back against the wall, faced Mei's hand clawing again. This time he couldn't dodge completely. The nails slashed his left shoulder, tearing his shirt, leaving three bleeding gashes. A burning pain.
Gritting his teeth, Shen Du raised his right hand—not to block, but to make a fist—and slammed it into the mirror.
Not aiming at Mei. Aiming at the mirror itself.
His fist hit the mirror surface. Crack. The mirror didn't shatter, but a web of cracks radiated from the impact point.
Mei's movement stopped. She looked down at the mirror. The cracks ran through her reflection. Then she let out a piercing shriek—not of anger, but of pain. The cracks on the mirror seemed to scar her body.
"No... don't..." she trembled, trying to retreat into the mirror, but the cracks trapped her. She was stuck between the mirror and reality, unable to advance or retreat.
Shen Du panted, blood from his left shoulder staining his shirt. He looked at Mei. She looked back, her eyes now holding fear alongside the hatred.
"The mirror binds you, doesn't it?" Shen Du said, guessing, but it seemed he guessed right. "You can't fully leave the mirror. What happens if the mirror breaks?"
Mei shook her head frantically. "No... don't break the mirror... I'll disappear... truly disappear..."
"Then tell me the truth," Shen Du stared at her. "The whole truth. About Lin, about the ring, about how you died. Then I might consider not breaking the mirror."
Mei stared at him, then at the cracks in the mirror. The cracks were spreading, small fragments beginning to flake off. She gritted her teeth and nodded.
"Fine... I'll tell you..."