The camera froze on the mirror in front of the heroine, as if she too were studying her own face carefully.
The end credits began to roll, yet the shot representing the heroine's point of view remained fixed on the mirror.
The woman in the mirror slowly extended her hand, caressing the face reflected there, then leaned her body toward the mirror.
The screen became entirely occupied by the woman in the mirror, and the audience could see her more and more clearly. As the heroine's hair parted to either side, the woman in the mirror revealed her left eye.
Just as that left eye gradually widened, the camera suddenly pulled back!
The perspective no longer seemed to be the heroine's. The camera kept retreating, capturing the heroine's back and the woman in the mirror both.
As the viewpoint continued to move away, the heroine standing before the mirror turned her body and looked toward the camera.
Her face was pale as paper, completely different from the woman in the mirror — and in that instant, the most terrifying scene appeared.
The heroine turned away, but the woman in the mirror remained in her original pose. Together with the heroine, she gazed at the camera, wearing an expression of absolute, bone-chilling eeriness.
The music cut off abruptly. The screen went pitch black. Perhaps because this Dead Person Screening Room hadn't been used in so long, the lights inside didn't come on after the film ended — everything remained shrouded in darkness.
The darkness was unsettling. Chen Ge sat in his chair without moving, his eyes still fixed on the screen.
He had roughly pieced together the film. It used a technique of interspersed narration, with the ending echoing the beginning, and the middle serving as flashback.
The "Left Eye" belonged to a girl named Wen Yu, but the girl currently controlling Wen Yu's body was no longer Wen Yu herself.
The director had simply selected a single fragment of time. At the very start of the film, the female ghost screamed madly at the heroine, calling her Qiu Mei — which meant that even then, the soul inside the heroine's body had already become Qiu Mei.
The parents and doctor seen later were all ghosts — or rather, they all existed in a world that could only be seen with the Left Eye.
That also explained why Wen Yu had always been so cold toward her parents. In truth, they weren't her family at all — merely the ghosts of Wen Yu's relatives.
The middle section of the film was essentially Qiu Mei's recollection, depicting how she transformed from Qiu Mei into Wen Yu.
When the flashback ended, the film returned to reality. Qiu Mei had arranged to watch a movie with her friend that evening, and afterward she would invite her "friend" to come visit her "home." A new cycle was about to begin.
The nightmare had not been broken. The next girl to take over the Left Eye from Qiu Mei would likely be that friend of hers.
The most terrifying, most dreadful ghost in the entire film was the heroine, and this was the only horror movie Chen Ge had ever watched that was filmed entirely from a ghost's perspective.
There was another part of the film that gave Chen Ge a creeping sense of dread upon reflection. Near the end, the filming perspective shifted.
It changed from a first-person view to a third-person view. At that moment, there had been no one else in the room. Could that final shot have been filmed from the audience's perspective?
The heroine and the ghost in the mirror had both looked right at the audience beyond the screen. Chen Ge remembered clearly — their left eyes were open.
"I feel like the next second they'll come crawling out of the screen." Even Chen Ge felt a chill crawl up his spine after watching the film.
It wasn't exactly terror, but the more he thought about it, the more unsettling it became.
He opened his backpack and let the white cat out, stroking its head until he calmed down.
"The horror of a film is created by the director. That's different from real-world urban legends. If I get the chance, I definitely need to have a good conversation with that director."
The screen had been black for nearly three minutes, but the Black Phone still hadn't sent him a message that the mission was complete. Chen Ge wasn't sure where the problem lay.
"Could it be because the film was too short, and the Black Phone doesn't recognize it?" He stood up, staring at the pitch-black screen, and another possibility crossed his mind: "What if the film isn't over yet?"
The film was only twenty minutes long, but if the ghost from inside the film had escaped, then this horror movie couldn't be considered finished.
A faint musty smell hung in the screening room. Looking around, each seat resembled a low burial mound — the more carefully you looked, the more horrifying they became.
"The girl who possesses the 'Left Eye' could be hiding somewhere in this screening room right now." Chen Ge was here to complete the Black Phone's mission. If the film wasn't over, then his mission could never be completed. "Do I really have to wait here until dawn?"
Chen Ge was a very calm person. He knew his strengths and understood his shortcomings.
Zhang Ya was in slumber, and there was no telling when she would awaken. Xu Yin had stayed behind at the haunted house, having Red High Heels work quickly to clear away the curses. The strongest employee currently at Chen Ge's side was Bai Qiulin.
Old Bai had devoured Xiong Qing's heart with Xu Yin's help, becoming a Half-Clothed Red, but he was the type who had been forcibly elevated to Half-Clothed Red status. In a real fight, he would certainly be no match for those Half-Clothed Reds steeped in resentment.
"The Left Eye seems very powerful. If she suddenly pops out from somewhere, the white cat and I won't be able to hold her off."
Chen Ge had always been cautious. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he rarely took risks.
"Brother, it's been so quiet — the movie should be over by now, right? Can I go?" The blind man raised his head and spoke to Chen Ge.
"You just called me brother, so I definitely can't screw you over. I'll be honest — the female ghost from that film just got out."
"The ghost from the film got out?!" The blind man reacted with alarm.
"Don't panic. I've got one piece of good news and one piece of bad news for you." Chen Ge reached into his backpack and flipped open the comic book.
"What kind of time is this for jokes?" The blind man shrank down in his seat — it was obvious he was genuinely scared. "Tell me the bad news first."
"The bad news is, that female ghost is very dangerous. She seems to be looking for a replacement, and we've had the misfortune of running right into her." Chen Ge analyzed calmly.
"I didn't choose this misfortune, okay? Brother, let's not stay here — can we just leave? Please?" If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't fight, the blind man probably would have grabbed his white cane and gone at Chen Ge with it already.
"Leaving now is probably too late. That eye saw both of us — she's definitely going to latch onto us."
"Fine." The blind man slumped helplessly in his seat. "So what's your so-called good news?"
The sound of pages turning reached his ears as Chen Ge softly called out name after name: "The good news is, I've called over a lot of friends. We've got an overwhelming advantage in numbers."
A faint smell of decay drifted through the screening room, overpowering even the mustiness that had been there before.