What To Do If The Heroine Escapes From The Book

Earlier, when they had explored the house for a long time, Qiu Wuji, with her extremely sharp spiritual awareness, hadn’t felt anything unusual.

However, when the real and the imaginary interacted, the concept of being more real in the eyes of the one in the fantasy brought forth a philosophical contemplation. Not to mention Qiu Wuji, even Chu Ge could sense that there seemed to be something in the room.

They exchanged a glance and walked into the master bedroom together.

Their gazes simultaneously landed on the bedside table.

In the dust on the bedside table lay some scattered odds and ends, clearly items that were deemed unnecessary to deliberately bring along before moving to the capital. These included tissues, hairpins, a small mirror, and a few novels.

The items were randomly strewn about on the bedside table, something anyone would casually glance over and not pay much attention to. It was the kind of stuff that even a thief wouldn’t bother stealing.

Chu Ge’s gaze fell on the cover of the novel titled “The Plum in the Golden Vase.”

Dammit.

The SSS-level prestige plummeted to rock bottom in an instant.

No, the person was reading a classic, studying the local culture, not what I am thinking at all. Yeah, that’s it.

He turned to look at Qiu Wuji. Her expression was solemn, as if she hadn’t seen what kind of book it was.

Her focus was on…

The small mirror?

Chu Ge’s gaze also fell on the small mirror, and gradually, he felt as if the mirror’s surface had a whirlpool, tightly drawing his gaze in, as if it wanted to pull him inside.

“What is this…” Chu Ge released his spiritual sense carefully, sensing as if he could see tiny specks of spiritual energy slowly converging toward the mirror. They fell onto the mirror’s surface like dust, only to be absorbed by the mirror and disappear.

Yes, they disappeared. The gathered spiritual energy didn’t seem to be stored or collected but simply vanished, as if the revived spiritual energy in this world was just an illusion, returning to nothingness, like a flower in a mirror or a moon reflected in water.

“The grandpas and grandmas around here won’t awaken any abilities, right…” Qiu Wuji muttered as if in a dream. “Du Lianfeng and the others have it all wrong. The spiritual energy might not originate from Nanjiang but rather could be dissipating in Nanjiang.”

Chu Ge’s expression became solemn. “Could it be that my father is dispersing the spiritual energy? Why would he leave such a small mirror on the bedside table in the old house for such a serious matter?”

Qiu Wuji shook her head. “The effect of this mirror is extremely slow, not even comparable to a range hood. It can’t accomplish the task of dispersing such a large amount of spiritual energy… I personally estimate that it’s more likely for his personal use.”

“Hmm?”

“His ability is too powerful. The residual spiritual energy that spreads out could potentially create ability users in an entire neighborhood…” Qiu Wuji smiled faintly. “Based on the atmosphere in your old house, I dare to speculate that your father was a rather traditional and serious person…”

Chu Ge glanced at the novel “The Plum in the Golden Vase” and nodded.

Setting aside this book, in his nearly thirty years of awareness, his father had indeed been a very traditional and serious person. The neighbors often said that Old Chu’s thinking was very “Marxist-Leninist” – a description that didn’t actually refer to Marxism and Leninism but instead meant he was old-fashioned, conservative, and even referred to as old-fashioned or feudal in some cases.

Even the coffin lid of Marxism and Leninism couldn’t suppress it.

Qiu Wuji continued, “He probably didn’t want any consequences to arise from his actions. The function of this mirror is only to collect the atmosphere he left behind over the years. So, its ‘power’ isn’t high. However… the principle behind it is extremely profound.”

She slowly approached, picked up the mirror, and examined it for a long time before whispering, “Mirror flowers and water moon, seeming real yet illusory… Who is the illusion, and who is real? Your father has condensed reality into this illusionary mirror, but the actual world inside the mirror doesn’t exist. It simply vanishes. It plays with the boundary between reality and illusion, and it’s already close to Dao.”

Hearing the deep surprise in her tone, Chu Ge also understood that this was indeed extraordinary.

What was most remarkable was that this wasn’t a magical treasure or artifact.

“It’s just a concept; he felt it should be this way, so it became this way,” Qiu Wuji marveled, “In essence, this is just an ordinary makeup mirror.”

Chu Ge couldn’t help but ask, “Does it have any use for us?”

“For you and me, this is akin to a… how should I put it, a treasure that peers into the boundary between reality and illusion or a means to glimpse a connection,” Qiu Wuji said. “Perhaps…”

She paused, then said uncertainly, “We have never been able to find the passage or method to connect our two worlds. Maybe we can deduce something from here.”

In objective terms, the world inside the book and the world outside were separate dimensions, both real and tangible. After all, everything was within Chu Ge’s creation, and it was difficult to definitively say what was real or illusory.

This was another form of mirror flowers and water moon, a separation of reality and illusion.

It was also the reason why both of them had always felt uneasy, fearing that one day they would wake up and never see each other again.

But now, with this mirror, it could gather real spiritual energy into the illusionary world, causing it to dissipate… In terms of principles, it seemed possible to peer into a connection between the two worlds. Perhaps, someday, they could establish a connection between the two worlds.

Because of their constant worry, they hadn’t dared to say the word “marriage.”

Because they wanted to get married, they had come to visit the old house.

Because they came to see the old house, they had found a possible solution to their worries, at least a way to investigate.

It was a mysterious circle.

Chu Ge hesitated. “In that case, should I go directly to ask my father, or maybe contact my mother to convey the message? But our situation… I don’t know how to explain it.”

Qiu Wuji shook her head. “Even though your father is strong, asking him might not necessarily yield results. There’s no need to force it. Everyone has different starting points. When your father did this, he wasn’t thinking about this matter. It’s just an unexpected reference for you and me…”

“Let’s put that mirror away for now. You can use it as a makeup mirror,” Chu Ge suggested.

“I don’t need makeup,” Qiu Wuji replied. She still put the mirror into her small bag.

This thing was truly mystical. It wasn’t a magical artifact; it was just an ordinary, broken mirror. It wasn’t even created through the infusion of magical power.

This fact deeply impressed Qiu Wuji.

If one’s thoughts alone could bring about such an effect, it was an ability akin to that of a Buddha. Even the unopened map of Heavenly Realm, Qiu Wuji dared to assert that the practitioners of that realm definitely didn’t possess this ability.

Thinking further, if Chu’s father could make real spiritual energy vanish into illusion, could he reverse the process and create spiritual energy in the world?

The origin of spiritual energy?

Or, did it have something to do with why spiritual energy was so concentrated here?

The thought was suddenly a bit unsettling. If a portion of spiritual energy originated from imagination, how much of the world they inhabited was actually illusory?

“Wait, what are you doing?” Qiu Wuji snapped back to reality, seeing that Chu Ge was also discreetly collecting items from the bedside table and storing them in his personal space.

Several book covers flashed by and disappeared.

Chu Ge looked serious. “As a writer, it’s embarrassing to have an empty bookshelf at home…”

Qiu Wuji turned around and left expressionlessly.

You have such a refined taste in culture; why don’t you move Mao Zedong’s works to your bookshelf?

“Wait a minute,” Chu Ge caught up with her. “No need to rush back. I’m going to find Little Xu.”

Qiu Wuji was puzzled. “Why are you looking for him?”

“Qiuqiu, as a modern person, do you know what ‘live streaming e-commerce’ is?”

Qiu Wuji remained silent.

I’m still absorbed in the nostalgia of this old house and the miraculous mirror. How did we transition from fantasy to reality, from the mystical to urban life?

Chu Ge held her hand and whispered, “We practice our respective paths, but we also live our lives. In fact, I’m more eager to understand what my father is doing. I have a feeling our paths won’t diverge for long.”

Qiu Wuji nodded slightly.

Was it just a coincidence that Chu Ge’s mother suddenly reminded to visit the old house?

Or was it some kind of hint?

Maybe this mirror could reveal even more secrets.

Chu Ge whispered, “Do you think I only collected books?”

Qiu Wuji turned to look at him.

“My dad definitely wouldn’t leave diaries or similar things here, but there might be bookmarks and notes in the books,” Chu Ge explained. “I’m thinking that what we can uncover here might not be limited to just one mirror. You study the mystical, and I study the written word. That’s our division of labor. Together, we’ll discover the truth of everything.”

((Note: Jin Ping Mei (Chinese: 金瓶梅)—translated into English as The Plum in the Golden Vase or The Golden Lotus—is a Chinese novel of manners composed in vernacular Chinese during the latter half of the 16th century during the late Ming dynasty. Censored for its erotic content, this sensational book had a profound impact on the development of Chinese fiction.))