The Haunting Reflection: Xiaojiu's Lament

In the heart of a secluded village nestled between towering mountains and a whispering river, there stood an ancient inn known to the locals as The Abyss. The inn was said to have been constructed during the reign of the Ming Dynasty, its walls thick with stories and secrets that whispered through the rafters and crevices. Among these tales was one of a mysterious mirror known as the Ninefold Mirror, a relic of uncertain origin that had been passed down through generations, guarded by the innkeeper's family.

The mirror was said to possess the power to reveal the deepest, darkest secrets of one's soul, but only at the cost of one's own. It was a dark allure that had enticed many curious souls, leaving them to wander the inn's halls as restless spirits, never to be seen or heard by the living.

On a foggy night, the innkeeper's young daughter, Xiaojiu, stumbled upon the mirror while rummaging through the attic. The mirror was an old, ornate piece with intricate carvings, its surface etched with strange symbols. It had been hidden away, forgotten by time, but now it called to Xiaojiu, its reflection promising answers to all her questions.

Without hesitation, Xiaojiu pressed her face against the cool glass, and the room around her seemed to blur and fade away. The mirror opened a gateway to a soul's abyss, revealing a vision that left her breathless and trembling. There, she saw herself, not as she was, but as she had once been—a young girl with a radiant smile, the daughter of the innkeeper, and the victim of a tragic tale.

The story unfolded as Xiaojiu watched, her heart aching for the girl she had been. She saw her family, her parents, and her siblings, all of them murdered in a fit of rage by a rival innkeeper who sought to claim the inn for his own. The last image Xiaojiu witnessed was of herself, lying in a pool of blood, the mirror held above her as a final farewell to her life.

The mirror's magic was too strong for Xiaojiu to withstand. When she awoke from her vision, she found herself in the mirror's reflection, her face contorted with grief and rage. She was no longer the young girl who had died a century ago; she was the ghost of Xiaojiu, bound to the mirror and the inn she had called home.

Word of the haunting spread quickly, and curious souls began to flock to The Abyss, eager to witness the ghostly spectacle. Some were there to see Xiaojiu, others to seek their own answers from the mirror's depths. But as each person gazed into the glass, they too were drawn into the soul's abyss, revealing their own secrets and sorrows, and some never returned.

The innkeeper, a man named Ming, grew concerned for the safety of his guests. He knew the power of the mirror and the danger it posed to those who dared to look upon its reflection. Determined to break the curse, he sought out an ancient sage who had once been a guardian of the mirror.

The sage, a wizened old man with a long white beard, revealed to Ming that the mirror was a piece of forbidden magic, created to bind the souls of those who dared to gaze upon it. To break the curse, he would need to perform a ritual, one that required the blood of the mirror's last living victim—a descendant of the innkeeper's family.

Ming, torn between his duty to the inn and his love for his family, sought counsel from his wife and children. They were all in agreement: the blood of the last living descendant must be shed to free the souls trapped within the mirror. The mirror's power was too great a burden to bear.

The chosen descendant, Ming's great-granddaughter, was young and innocent, yet she understood the gravity of her role. She gathered the villagers, explaining the importance of her sacrifice to free Xiaojiu and the other spirits. As the blood was shed, the mirror began to shatter, and with each crack, the spirits of Xiaojiu and the other victims were released from their eternal imprisonment.

The inn was no longer haunted by the ghosts of the past. The villagers, relieved and grateful, continued to frequent The Abyss, but now with a sense of peace and remembrance. The Ninefold Mirror, however, had been shattered into a thousand pieces, its power dissipated, and its secrets lost to the ages.

The story of Xiaojiu's tragic past would be told for generations, a cautionary tale of curiosity and consequence. And while the mirror lay in pieces, its reflection no longer haunting the soul's abyss, the villagers would always remember the ghost of Xiaojiu, a young girl whose spirit had found solace in the final act of redemption.