Chapter 167: Illusion

She filled the house with potted plants and a dog locked in a cage to recreate the situation from the past and determine the approximate range of influence of the Lether mirror.

This was also the task given to her by the priest after he heard everything.

The wilting of the potted plants meant the Lether mirror was always awakening. According to the priest, the extent of the wilting could roughly determine the range of influence of the Lether mirror, while the death of the dog meant the Lether mirror was constantly increasing its influence on the surrounding environment, doubling the change...

Although she didn't know what the priest planned to do, she wanted to contribute her insignificant effort.

The room's surveillance camera emitted a red light, intentionally focusing on the mirror hanging on the wall as controlled by its operator.

The Lether mirror, uncovered, seemed unchanged, including the quietly placed potted plants and the barking dog. However, a tiny crack in the lower right corner of the mirror reminded Kelly Russell that this was the antique mirror from the past, a very dangerous mirror.

"So, are you always awake? Or asleep?"

Kelly Russell's fingers moved, her gaze fixed on the potted plants arranged on the floor.

No matter how long it took, Kelly Russell's focus was always on observing the entire house, leaving no stone unturned.

"When will you start your performance?"

Kelly Russell murmured, stopping her moving fingers as the tablet screen halted in the room.

In the surveillance, the dog locked in the cage continued barking, but the surrounding potted green plants began to wither slowly, a scientifically impossible scene that made Kelly Russell's expression even more serious.

"It has begun."

Seeing the green plants wither away, Kelly Russell's face turned stern, and her fingers began to move again. She walked out of the room slowly, following the trail of withered plants.

Exiting the room and onto the outside hallway, the potted plants on both sides also began to wither, one after the other, extending to the stairwell.

Kelly Russell's fingers instantly moved.

After the stairwell's plants withered, the wilting spread to the plants arranged inside the stairwell, eventually reaching downstairs, extending to the living room, kitchen.

Although some plants' wilting wasn't as obvious, a careful comparison still revealed some were withering.

Now slowly spreading to the entrance, Kelly Russell stepped back, but at that moment, she also noticed through the tablet screen that this spreading trend stopped at the third potted plant in front of the main door.

Kelly Russell stared at the second potted plant in front of the door, relieved to confirm it indeed showed no changes.

"Is this the maximum range you can influence?"

Confirming the mirror was always awakening or alive, Kelly Russell's expression was blank as her fingers moved to shift the screen, refocusing on the dog locked in the cage.

As expected, with the wilting of the green plants, the barking of the dog locked in the cage began to weaken from its initial intensity, eventually stopping.

Watching the dog in the surveillance footage stop barking and slowly lie down, Kelly Russell remembered her childhood.

It started with her mother's complaints about the wilting plants, the dog becoming weak on the same day, lethargic every day until its death...

"Now, as long as you don't enter the affected range, you won't be affected by the illusion."

Remembering the priest's words, Kelly Russell looked up at the second-floor window.

This look immediately stirred a profound fear in her heart.

Somehow, several eerie figures were standing on the second-floor window, each dressed differently but sharing the same silvery eyes and bizarre, terrifying expressions.

And these figures were staring intently at her, their mouths slightly curved in an extremely sinister smile.

The horrifying memories of her childhood became clearer at this moment.

This combination made her, a revenger, feel afraid.

"Damn it!"

Kelly Russell cursed under her breath, angry at the hint of retreat in her heart. She stared at the people on the window and took a step back.

But this retreat made Kelly Russell notice another chilling change.

The main door, which was originally closed, had somehow silently opened without her noticing, empty inside but making her feel as if something would rush out.

Kelly Russell clenched her teeth and looked up again at the second-floor window, only to find nothing there; the eerie figures had disappeared.

A gust of wind blew directly at her, and the open main door also remained within her field of vision.

Due to the change on the window, Kelly Russell felt an unknown sensation in her heart, but to be safe, she still took another step back.

In that moment of retreating, Kelly Russell suddenly noticed from the corner of her eye a figure appearing in the front yard's far right.

She turned her head sharply, and this look sent a shiver down her spine, a chill rushing to the back of her head.

The figure was none other than her own father, who had long been dead, smiling at her while holding a watering can.

His eyes gleamed with silver light, and his smile grew wider, making the expression increasingly eerie.

Kelly Russell stepped back in shock, another gust of wind facing her, making her body stiffen.

As if frozen, she turned her head forward, and a face full of scars, blood, and a bizarre smile filled her vision.

This was a familiar face, her mother, who had been abused and shot by her father.

"No!"

Childhood horrors filled her mind instantly, and Kelly Russell stared at the figure of her mother appearing before her, throwing her bag at it in a moment of sanity breakdown.

"This must be an illusion! Everything is fake!"

However, Kelly Russell found that her bag was caught by the figure of her mother in front of her. Before she could react further, the figure of her mother suddenly reached out and grabbed her throat, slowly tightening its grip.

The strength was so great that she couldn't breathe, only able to stare with wide eyes at her mother's mouth, which curved into a V, the skin wrinkled together beyond recognition.

Kelly Russell scratched at the iron-like grip on her throat, her eyes gradually losing focus.

"Am I going to die?"

Just when she thought she would suffocate to death, as her eyelids began to close over her vision, she wondered if it was an illusion, but she heard the familiar voice of the priest.

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