The Memory Crystal necklace lay cold in An's palm, a constant reminder of the hidden world. He had spent the entire night pondering Thanh Lam's words: "Uncover her story... find the reason she's trapped... experience her final memories." It sounded terrifying, but it was also the only glimmer of hope to help the chrysanthemum girl, and perhaps, himself.
The next morning, An decided to return to the hospital, where the chrysanthemum "mirror stain" first appeared. He pretended to visit a friend, secretly heading straight for the familiar restroom. The place was deserted in the early morning, only the sound of dripping water from the faucet and faint light filtering through the window.
An stood before the mirror, taking a deep breath. He held the necklace up, pressing it against his forehead, concentrating all his will on connecting with the soul.
At first, An only saw his own reflection, but then, a chilling mist began to spread across the glass surface, blurring everything. The temperature around him seemed to drop sharply, every cell on his skin prickling with goosebumps. The sound of dripping water suddenly transformed into a grotesque gurgle, like blood flowing.
The mirror stain appeared. Clearer than ever. The chrysanthemum girl. Long black hair cascaded over her pale face, her eyes wide and lifeless. She still clutched the withered white chrysanthemum. But this time, An clearly saw thin, spiderweb-like black threads, with a faint purple shimmer, tightening around her wrists and ankles, pulling her deeper into the shadows. These were the invisible tendrils of a Shadow Demon, imperceptible to the naked eye, yet vividly present through The Inverse Eye.
An focused on the girl's eyes, trying to feel the sorrow and despair Thanh Lam had spoken of. A sudden, piercing pain shot through him, like thousands of needles pricking his brain. An gritted his teeth, enduring. The images began to flicker.
The sound of an argument echoed from a familiar hallway. A deafening crash. A tall figure, rushing away.
The images shifted at dizzying speed. An saw himself in a hospital room, cold white lights. The suffocating, nauseating smell of disinfectant. The chrysanthemum girl lay there, her face pale, a long, crudely stitched surgical scar running down her abdomen. Her eyes were unfocused, staring at the ceiling, and then... a tear rolled from the corner of her eye, falling onto the pillow, soaking into the white chrysanthemum she clutched.
The scene abruptly plunged into darkness, an unbearable oppressive feeling. Something was sucking An's breath away, pulling him into a suffocating void. Faint, resentful whispers echoed in his mind, not in language, but in pure emotion: "Why? Why didn't you save me? Why was I left... alone..."
An image of a young man flashed by. Not the young man from the library, but another, a familiar face An couldn't quite place. He stood in an operating room, his scrubs stained with blood. His eyes filled with despair mixed with horror.
Then the scene plunged into darkness. A metallic, putrid, rotting blood smell overwhelmed An's senses, making him want to vomit. He felt a strong pull trying to drag his soul into the mirror.
"Stop! Close it!" An muttered, his voice hoarse. He used all his strength, visualizing the door slamming shut, the solid wall. A wave of dizziness washed over him, and An found himself sitting on the cold floor, drenched in sweat, gasping for breath. The mirror now only reflected his own image, trembling and ashen. The necklace in his hand glowed with a hot, tingling sensation.
An braced himself against the wall, standing up, feeling as if he had just run a life-or-death race. The chrysanthemum girl's soul... She died in the hospital, after surgery. Someone abandoned her. And the young man in the operating room... who was he? Blood-stained scrubs... was he a doctor?
But then, another memory fragment, fleeting like lightning, appeared in An's mind: the distorted face of the young man in the library, his wide, fearful eyes... and he too clutched a white chrysanthemum, but it was crushed and covered in mud.
A sudden connection became clear. Both souls clutched white chrysanthemums. Both had unresolved grievances. And most importantly: the young man in the library, whose mirror stain An had "closed," seemed to have some connection to the chrysanthemum girl. Perhaps they were victims of the same tragedy?
An decided to return to the library. Perhaps, if he found that young man, he would find a clue.
At the library, An found the old phone the other young man had used. He glanced at it. No mirror stain. An breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps his action yesterday had temporarily freed him from the Shadow Demon's surveillance.
An searched for information about recent murders or mysterious deaths in the hospital area, especially cases related to surgery. The internet was a sea of information, and An quickly found an incident from a few months ago.
"Horrific Murder Case at Hospital X: Talented Young Doctor Brutally Assassinated – Second Victim Found in Anomalous Condition."
An skimmed the article, his heart pounding. Hospital X... it was the very hospital he was in! Young doctor... The blood-stained scrubs in the chrysanthemum girl's memory! The young man in the library!
The article described a horrifying double murder. Dr. Nguyen Hoang Minh, a talented young doctor, was brutally murdered in his office at the hospital. The case remained unsolved. But what sent shivers down An's spine was the detail about the second victim: a medical intern named Nguyen Duc Duy, found dead in the university library, not far from the hospital. Both died under very mysterious circumstances.
The second victim... Nguyen Duc Duy... Library... The mirror stain An had seen... A bone-chilling shiver ran down An's spine. The young man in the library was Nguyen Duc Duy! And Dr. Nguyen Hoang Minh... could he be the doctor in the chrysanthemum girl's memory?
An continued reading. The description of Dr. Minh's death made him want to vomit. "The body was found in a horribly deformed state, as if rapidly decomposed by a potent chemical or a mysterious biological agent. The entire face and chest were almost liquefied, skin and flesh sagged, revealing the underlying bones, accompanied by a pungent smell of ammonia and sulfur."
The description of Nguyen Duc Duy's death was no less gruesome. "He was found in a huddled position, his hand clutching a crushed white chrysanthemum, covered in mud. The victim's blood vessels appeared to have frozen and shattered from within, leaving dark bruises and a terrifying network of purple veins clearly visible beneath the skin, like a horrifying spiderweb. The body temperature was extremely low, almost completely frozen."
The connection was too clear. Two deaths, along with mirror stains and white chrysanthemums. Clearly not a coincidence. A Shadow Demon, or multiple Shadow Demons, were behind it all. And they were using these horrific deaths to pave their way.
An gripped the necklace. He knew this was no longer an experiment. This was a horrifying murder case, where the dead found no rest, and he was the only one who could hear their cries for help.