Turbid World: Martial Arts Master of the Republic of China Era, I Cultivate Immortality!

Chapter 91 Look in the Mirror! (Please Subscribe!)

Rewind 15 minutes to the Western Girls' School.

As Zhao Zheng and Chu Ruoxi stepped out of the girls' school gate, Principal Lin, as always, began to inspect the girls' dormitories.

Even though at this moment, she was only accompanied by Instructor Zhou, who had also been temporarily relieved of his original post, she still remained loyal to her duties.

Not many of the female teachers on campus made sarcastic remarks, but of course, not many doesn't mean none of them did.

Just like wearing it doesn't mean giving it away—

Ahem, those who know, know!

The vice-principal, who was temporarily acting as principal and student affairs officer, and the female teachers of the vice-student affairs department all made sarcastic remarks.

The two vice principals denied this and sternly reprimanded the female teachers who had mocked Lin Wantang and her colleague.

At the same time, they criticized the other party for saying such things that were detrimental to unity, since Teacher Lin Wantang and Teacher Zhou Huizhen were doing this for the sake of the school.

The words were very polite, but the constant use of "Teacher Lin Wantang" and "Teacher Zhou Huizhen" made Zhou Huizhen extremely angry.

Lin Wantang was alright, her expression was just a little unpleasant. The two vice principals found her temperament terrifying and secretly decided to get rid of her from the girls' school as soon as possible.

There was no other way; if Lin Wantang and the other two weren't removed, the two vice-principals felt that their positions as acting principal and discipline instructor wouldn't be secure.

And so, the two groups separated. The vice principal and others led a team of female teachers to inspect the girls' school, while Lin Wantang and Instructor Zhou continued to inspect the girls' school, which had become somewhat unfamiliar.

"Principal, they've gone too far!"

After the vice principal and the others had gone far away, Zhou Huizhen's face turned ugly, especially when she saw those female teachers who had always respected them but had now switched their allegiance to the vice principal and the others.

"Don't worry, Huizhen, Mr. Lin has agreed to raise funds for us and take us to visit that gentleman—after the visit, the school will be back in our hands—"

Lin Wantang smiled and comforted Zhou Huizhen, who nodded in agreement, as if the school would eventually be back in their hands.

The cleaning lady passing by opened her mouth, but didn't say anything, since she didn't stand in anyone else's spot; she stood in the middle.

The cleaning lady gave Lin Wantang and Zhou Huizhen her usual smile before leaving, prompting Zhou Huizhen to sigh.

"I never expected that Aunt He would treat us the same way she always has—"

"6

'

Is it possible that they treat everyone this way?

Lin Wantang sighed inwardly, said nothing, and simply began to patrol the girls' dormitory buildings in the school as usual.

Instead of inspecting the original two girls' dormitory buildings first, they went to the dormitory building where the female students from the martial arts school, whom they thought might have problems, to begin their inspection, just like they had done a few days before.

Although the female students at the martial arts school didn't really pay attention to them, even the original female students, who were now recruited by the martial arts school, didn't really pay attention to Lin Wantang and her companion.

The two were not angry about it, but simply thought that the children were too naive and innocent, and did not understand who was truly good to them.

As always, the two inspected the female students' dormitories to check for any violations of school rules!

After confirming that there was nothing there, Lin Wantang and Zhou Huizhen left the dormitory building where the female students of the martial arts school lived by going up the stairs.

"You're really meddling in other people's business."

Because of the rain, Shi Lianlian, who had chosen to stay in dormitory 501 on the fifth floor for the night, stood at the door watching Lin Wantang and his companion leave, muttering to herself.

Shi Bingbing, who shares a dormitory room with Shi Lianlian, also chose to stay overnight in the martial arts school dormitory because of the rain, and spoke up.

"Don't say that. Principal Lin and the others are only trying to help us. They're just used to being strict—"

"Used to being strict? To put it bluntly, it's just being domineering. I've done my research, and Principal Lin and Instructor Zhou, who offended my brother Zheng, have incredibly powerful official authority."

Because they all knew Zhao Zheng, Cheng Qingqing, who chose to live in the same dormitory as him, sat up from her bed with a jolt, holding a comic book, and said in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

As she spoke, she mimicked Zhao Zheng's tone and continued, "Of course, I don't deny that they have always been very dedicated to their contributions to the school, but have you ever thought about this—"

Cheng Qingqing paused, mimicking Zhao Zheng's tone, and continued, "—My brother Zheng, a grown man, can think of finding some doctors to examine their bound feet, but why can't these two old women, who are determined to teach modern women, think of that? Is it that they really can't think of it, or that they haven't thought of it or dare not think of it?"

Lin Wantang and Cheng Qingqing did not hear what Cheng Qingqing said, as they were about to reach the lobby on the first floor.

The two were just walking and talking, reminiscing about the past. But soon, when they arrived at the lobby on the first floor, Zhou Huizhen suddenly covered her mouth and screamed.

Her already pale face turned ashen, and her body trembled violently as she pointed with trembling hands at the empty wall next to the dormitory building entrance.

The wall, which should have been empty after Zhao Zheng destroyed the full-length mirror, now has a full-length mirror hanging on it again.

A full-length mirror hangs on the wall. The frame has a common pattern, but a piece of Chinese white jade is inlaid at the top, making it look out of place.

A mirror that shouldn't exist!

A mirror that looked somewhat eerie and even a little scary under the dim lighting of the lobby on the first floor.

"Principal"

Zhou Huizhen pointed to the mirror, which hadn't existed before they went upstairs to inspect, her voice trembling, and stammered.

However, Lin Wantang's face showed no fear whatsoever; instead, she looked at the dressing mirror with an extremely ugly expression.

She said to Zhou Huizhen, "What's there to be afraid of? It's just a prank by some people who want to see us make fools of ourselves."

"But----"

"Huizhen, there are no ghosts in this world. Have you forgotten what I told you? All of this, whether it's the mirror ghost or those ghost infant skeletons, is just a trick used by that Zhao guy to seize our school. He just doesn't want us to cultivate women of the new era!"

Lin Wantang grabbed Zhou Huizhen, who was trembling all over, and said loudly. Then she quickly walked to the dressing mirror and said.

"I'll see what's going on in here!"

Her voice was loud, and she deliberately looked at the doors and windows as she spoke, as if to say, "I've seen through your tricks."

However, when Lin Wantang stood in front of the tall dressing mirror, she found the woman in the mirror, with short hair and wearing a Western-style black dress, to be somewhat unfamiliar.

So unfamiliar that she inexplicably felt that the person in the mirror, dressed in a Western-style dress, with short hair, and constantly talking about "women's education," was—not her!

"I don't think I look like this."

Lin Wantang felt confused, and her expression began to become blank, just like Zhuang Weiyu's before.

However, just as she was becoming dazed, the woman in the mirror moved. Her face was still the same unfamiliar face, but her clothes began to change.

The color of the black Western-style long dress faded inch by inch, turning into a pale white like the autumn moon, and then into pink.

Then it turned bright red again!

Red lanterns hang high, a vibrant red symbolizing a daughter's upcoming wedding. It's not just that the clothes she wears in the mirror have turned red; the style of the clothes has also changed.

From a Western-style long dress to a bright red wedding gown!

The bright red wedding dress she wore when she got married!

The dress was embroidered with phoenixes in gold thread, which climbed from the hem of the skirt to the chest and then cascaded down from the phoenix coronet on her head.

The heavy, heavy, bright red wedding dress, as always, weighed down her neck, and Lin Wantang began to feel a sense of fear.

She wanted to speak, but found that she couldn't make a sound. She could only stare blankly at the image of herself in a wedding dress in the mirror, slowly raising her head and smiling at the image outside the mirror.

With a desperate, numb, and resigned smile, she gave her a bitter laugh. She recognized that smile; it was the smile she wore when the sedan chair was lifted on her wedding day, the smile she wore hidden under her red veil.

Lin Wantang wanted to close her eyes, not daring to look at herself from that time, but she found that she couldn't close them.

Not only could she not close her eyes, but the person in the mirror, or rather, the woman in the mirror wearing a bright red wedding dress, began to speak.

She spoke in the same tear-stained, hoarse voice she had on her wedding day: "Lin Wantang, do you remember what your mother said to you on your wedding day?"

"Of course I remember—"

The voice seemed to possess an unusual magic, causing Lin Wantang to subconsciously respond in her heart. After she responded, O

She thought of what her mother had said to her as she combed her hair the night before her wedding!

"Wantang, Wantang, this name is wrong. A girl should have a more auspicious name. I think it's because the name was chosen poorly, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten married so late. —Alright, alright, I won't say anymore. —"

"But Wan Tang, I didn't stop you from studying before because you were still a girl. But now that you're getting married, you'll have to stop studying. After all, men don't like women who know more than them."

"What modern woman? That's all nonsense. Alright, alright, Mother knows, Mother won't say anymore. But you must remember, once you walk into his family's door in this wedding dress, from this day forward you will belong to them in life and in death."

Pain appeared in Lin Wantang's blank eyes, but she continued speaking in a hoarse voice in the mirror.

"Lin Wantang, do you still remember what your father said to you when you brought up studying abroad?"

"Of course I remember—"

Lin Wantang subconsciously responded in her mind, and after that sound, she seemed to return to that night.

"Wantang, I won't stop you from studying in Japan, but remember, you've been married before. Even though your husband is gone, you still have a husband's family to rely on. Once you get there, don't learn those Western things, and don't let the people there laugh at the Lin family for having no manners!"

The father's voice reminded both the past and present Lin Wantang of her mother-in-law's words at the same time.

"Wantang, although my son is dead, according to our rules you must guard his grave for the rest of your life. If you guard it well, you will be honored with a memorial arch in the future. If you don't guard it well, you won't even be allowed to be buried in the grave, and your name won't be recorded in the family genealogy."

"Wantang, you've been to school, you should understand better the virtuous women in the biographies of martyrs. Didn't each of them persevere? Do you think they wanted to? This was our fate—"

"life----"

Lin Wantang murmured to herself, her memory flashing back to the day she proposed to her husband's family elders that she wanted to study in Japan.

"You're going to study abroad? A woman like you, going to study abroad? Why aren't you staying home? What are you doing running around outside?"

"Japan? What kind of place is Japan? A place where foreign devils live? If you go there, who will know what you'll do? Who will know who you'll meet? If your reputation is ruined, how will our Zhang family ever face anyone again!"

"No, there's no going back on studying abroad. Forget about it. You either stay here as a widow for your husband or you die. You have no third choice—"

One phrase after another kept appearing in Lin Wantang's mind, just like the red embroidered shoes she had once worn were slipping onto her feet again.

At the same time, the woman in the mirror spoke again.

"You established girls' schools, you taught them to read, you taught them to read, you taught them to seek freedom, and you made them women of the new era, but—did you really succeed—?"

"—You clearly saw that their feet were still bound, but why didn't you dare say anything and stop them from binding them? Are you really teaching them to be modern women?"

"I----"

"You're afraid—"

"I—I'm afraid—"

"But I'm not afraid—"

"Why—why—"

"Because—I am Lin Wan-tang—"

The woman in the mirror smiled slightly and spoke, a confident smile on her face. Lin Wantang subconsciously retorted.

"No, you are not—"

However, all she saw was another version of herself wearing a Western-style black dress, and herself in a bright red wedding gown who had somehow appeared in the mirror.

I've become faceless!

She could only watch helplessly—no, she could only watch as that confident woman smiled at Zhou Huizhen and said something.

"Hye-jeong, look in the mirror—"

"I----"

Zhou Huizhen looked tremblingly at the woman in front of her who was clearly Lin Wantang, yet did not resemble Lin Wantang. Her feet unconsciously stepped forward, silently walking to the mirror.

Or rather, taking steps that are careful not to disturb her husband's family, steps that are quiet and cautious.

As the mirror came into view, a series of sounds and images began to play.

"Master, I'm combing my hair. Look, this is still the comb you gave me all those years ago. It's still here, just like my heart is still here—"

"Master, you've been gone for eighteen years, and I've guarded you for a full eighteen years, not missing a single day—"

"Master, I don't want to go home. If I go home, they'll say things like, 'I can't be honored because I didn't give you a son—'"

"Sir, I button my collar all the way up every day. I'm afraid if I loosen it, I'll forget who I belong to."

"Master, those female students' skirts are really too short, and their hair is so short too. I need to keep a close eye on them for you. I can't let them run wild. If they run wild, they won't be women anymore—"

"Sir, when I can't sleep at night, I sit and sit until dawn. Eighteen years have passed, a full 1,570 days—I've been counting them all."

"Master, the students are secretly saying I'm a living dead, but I'm clearly alive! Why would they say I'm a living dead?!"

"Sir, I don't want the memorial arch anymore—because a question suddenly occurred to me: did you ever truly look at me when you were alive?"

"It seems like you looked at me properly the day you married me, when you lifted my red veil and glanced at me, then went to your study. After that, you fell ill and passed away—I've waited eighteen years for that one glance—"

"Master—I'm so tired—"

Zhou Huizhen murmured to herself. When she came to her senses, all she could see was herself with a comb she always carried, turned around and talking to the female student who had come in.

"Look in the mirror—"

"Look in the mirror—"

"Look in the mirror—"

The sounds echoed incessantly throughout the girls' school, and like a plague, they spread through the mirrors towards Anping County.