Chapter 33: The Ghost Master (6)
Jiang Si’s reaction was nothing short of lightning-fast. He spun around, delivered a sharp elbow strike, and immediately pulled away to create distance. The Evil Ghost was evidently stunned; it hadn’t expected that, in a world of magical arts, someone would resort to a direct physical attack. It froze for a moment.
Standing face-to-face just a few steps away, Jiang Si finally got a clear look at its appearance. Although both were controlled by the Ghost Master, this Evil Ghost looked nothing like the parasitic worms from before. At the very least, it retained a human shape. It was wrapped tightly from head to toe in a black robe, and the malice in its slanting eyes was practically overflowing.
It opened its mouth, revealing a pitch-black cavity as it grinned widely. “Interesting, interesting…”
on the surface, Jiang Si maintained eye contact, but his fingers had already slipped into his pocket to text Shen Hu.
Perhaps the Evil Ghost was aware of the classic villain trope—dying because they talked too much. Without wasting another word, it vanished in a flash, reappearing behind Jiang Si to snap his neck.
Jiang Si’s nerves were strung tight. The moment the Evil Ghost vanished from his sight, he anticipated the angle of the attack. He ducked to avoid the blow while simultaneously grabbing a bundle of long incense sticks from a pile of goods nearby, whipping them toward the ghost.
While long incense wasn’t as effective as a mourning staff—and quite a few sticks snapped in mid-air from the force—it still had some effect. The sticks struck the Evil Ghost with a crackling sound, sending out sporadic sparks and filling the air with a strange, scorched smell.
Jiang Si leaned against the wall, panting heavily. The violent movement had nearly thrown out his chronically stiff back. Through his headache, he felt the urge to curse.
He was a technical player; why was he always stuck doing physical labor?
“I should have asked Shen Hu for more talismans.” But regret was useless now.
Enraged by the assault, the Evil Ghost suddenly swelled to double its size, the baleful energy around its body materializing and surging outward.
“You deserve to die!”
“Your dad’s the one who’s gonna die. I’ve got the toughest life around,” Jiang Si retorted, losing the physical fight but refusing to lose the war of words.
Out of the corner of his eye, he scanned the room for a proper weapon.
The Evil Ghost moved faster. It hoisted Jiang Si up and pinned him firmly against the wall. Its icy head leaned in, sniffing greedily around Jiang Si’s face. It seemed very satisfied with the scent of the living, its black maw opening and closing.
“This body is mine now—”
Jiang Si’s back burned with pain from the impact. Knowing he couldn’t overpower it physically, he simply stared coldly at the ghost.
“What are you thinking about?” The Evil Ghost sensed something was wrong.
Jiang Si sneered. The hand he had hidden behind his back suddenly swung up, throwing a handful of incense ash directly into the ghost’s face. He had grabbed it from a corner incense burner during the struggle.
Incense ash was different from unburnt incense. Ash that had been burned was specifically effective against evil spirits and possessed immense damaging power. In folk traditions, people who knew the trade often scattered incense ash around their homes to ward off unclean things.
The Evil Ghost immediately let go, the areas touched by the ash burning as if scorched by flames. It covered its wounds, roaring in a low, guttural voice as its body shrank back to its normal size.
Jiang Si knew the principle of hitting an enemy when they were down. He grabbed the incense burner and dumped every last speck of ash onto the Evil Ghost.
Seeing the ghost flicker and fade, momentarily too occupied to deal with him, Jiang Si seized the chance to run for the door.
He couldn’t defeat this thing; he could only delay until Shen Hu arrived.
But he hadn’t anticipated that the heavily injured Evil Ghost would lose all reason and enter a frenzied state.
The ghost’s black robes flared, the fabric elongating like tentacles to wrap around Jiang Si’s body. With a violent heave, Jiang Si was flung across the room, smashing heavily onto the floor.
It felt as though his internal organs had shifted places. The metallic taste of rust filled his mouth. Jiang Si couldn’t hold it back; clutching his chest, he coughed twice, blood trickling from the corner of his lips.
“Damn it…” Jiang Si watched the approaching ghost and muttered, “Going to work would have been better than this shit.”
At least corporate slaves got to live a little longer.
As the ghost drew nearer, Jiang Si’s heart pounded violently, threatening to leap out of his throat.
He truly had no strength left to resist. Resigned, he closed his eyes, waiting for the final blow.
But a second later, he was pulled into a cold embrace.
Jiang Si looked up in shock. It was Hai Di.
He had gotten out of the car and shielded Jiang Si, taking the Evil Ghost’s blow himself.
The Evil Ghost’s greyish-blue arm had pierced right through Hai Di’s chest. The hand twisted, churning inside Hai Di’s spectral body.
Hai Di’s face went beyond pale; he turned translucent.
Even so, he endured the agony without letting out a single groan. His cold fingers brushed the blood from the corner of Jiang Si’s lips. He tried to force a smile, but lacking strength, he could only twitch the corners of his mouth.
“Hai Di—” Jiang Si’s pupils constricted. Every emotion coalesced into a single thought: pull him out from the Evil Ghost’s grasp.
“Go…” Hai Di shoved him away with all his might. The Evil Ghost then hoisted Hai Di high into the air and tore him in two at the waist.
It happened so fast. When Hai Di’s torn limbs hit the ground, they were still twitching. The arm of his upper half slowly crawled across the floor, fingers curling, his unblinking eyes fixed on Jiang Si.
If he could, he wanted to touch Jiang Si’s hand one last time.
But now, he wished Jiang Si wouldn’t see this. Being torn into pieces must look ugly and terrifying.
Jiang Si only liked beautiful people; this would scare him.
“Don’t look,” Hai Di mouthed silently, his lips barely moving.
Get out. Find Shen Hu. Live…
Jiang Si stared blankly at the scene. It felt like a dream. The catastrophe was too sudden, so sudden it felt unreal.
The pain in his body tugged at his nerves, reminding him that this was reality.
Real life wasn’t a movie; there were no foreshadowing clues or omens.
Numbly, Jiang Si used the wall to prop himself up. His white T-shirt was stained with the blood he had coughed up, and his pant legs were covered in mud and ash.
He looked wretched, yet he was incredibly lucky.
He didn’t know when Shen Hu would arrive, but he knew the Evil Ghost wouldn’t let him go after killing Hai Di.
From here on out, he had to rely on himself.
Jiang Si’s brain whirred into overdrive. The red string on his wrist suddenly snapped, the beads scattering across the floor. His gaze was drawn to the bouncing beads—the protection bracelet his grandfather had left him.
If the old man were here, facing this Evil Ghost, what would he do?
Victory was in sight for the Evil Ghost. In its eyes, Jiang Si was already just a shell, ready to be emptied and possessed. Certain that Jiang Si had no way to escape, it slowed down, savoring the cat-and-mouse game.
Behind Jiang Si were the paper effigies—paper dolls and horses—he had put out for display. Aside from that, there was nothing.
Feeling a lighter in his pocket, Jiang Si gritted his teeth, deciding to gamble everything. He turned and set the paper dolls and horses ablaze. Flames shot up instantly, billowing thick black smoke.
Simultaneously, Jiang Si bit his fingertip and sprinkled his blood into the fire, chanting silently.
“Paper dolls and horses act as straw dogs; a drop of blood paints the eyes to invite the gods. If human cries and horse neighs go unheard, then descend to the Yellow Springs to summon Yan Ming.”
It was a good thing he hadn’t listened to the renovation company when they suggested wooden floors for aesthetics; otherwise, the fire would have spread. The firelight plated his pale face in warm gold, singing the edges of his hair.
“Heh heh—overestimating yourself—” The Evil Ghost mocked his futile effort. “You might as well burn all that for your own funeral!”
With that, its arm extended, aiming straight for Jiang Si’s throat. Deprived of oxygen, Jiang Si’s face turned blue-white, draining of life.
“…Cough…”
Jiang Si’s bloodshot eyes looked past the ghost to the spot nearby where Hai Di was slowly dissolving into a puddle of water on the floor.
Was he really going to die here today?
He wasn’t ready to give up.
The oxygen was thin, his brain starving for air, his temples throbbing violently. Just as Jiang Si was about to collapse and slide down the wall…
A chain appeared out of thin air, hooking around the Evil Ghost’s neck. With a sharp tug, the ghost was dragged back several meters.
Finally able to breathe, Jiang Si clutched his chest, gasping for air in greedy gulps, but he didn’t forget to assess the situation.
A man wearing a tall black hat stood beside the Evil Ghost, holding the chain tight with one hand. No matter how much the ghost struggled, it couldn’t escape. On the man’s tall hat, four characters were written in clerical script: Peace Under Heaven.
This was… an Underworld Officer? Black Impermanence? Jiang Si sucked in a cold breath. He hadn’t expected his desperate, last-ditch gamble to actually work.
“Audacious ghost! Not only do you wander the mortal realm without permission, but you also seek to harm human lives. Come with me to receive your punishment!” the Underworld Officer shouted, yanking the soul-hooking chain, preparing to drag the ghost down.
Jiang Si shouted anxiously, “Wait!”
The Underworld Officer looked displeased. “What is it?”
“Cough, cough, cough…” The agitation pulled at Jiang Si’s injured chest. His throat, raw as a broken bellows, wheezed painfully with a string of coughs.
It took a long while to suppress the itch in his throat. Hoarsely, he said, “This… Comrade. Can you save my friend? He’s a living soul… he shouldn’t have suffered this calamity.”
The Underworld Officer glanced over, his expression unchanging. “Life and death are fated. I am powerless.”
“Is there really no way?” Jiang Si clenched his teeth, unwilling to accept this.
“Name your price. I can give you money, lots of incense offerings, anything, as long as you save him.”
“No means no. Perhaps for other things, but he doesn’t even have a whole soul right now. He can’t even go to the Underworld. How can I help? Enough nonsense, I must take this evil ghost back.”
With that, the Underworld Officer yanked the chain and vanished on the spot, taking the gagged Evil Ghost with him.
Once they were gone, the shop was left with only Jiang Si and a floor covered in paper ash. Wind squeezed through the crack in the door, swirling the ash into the air.
Jiang Si stumbled toward Hai Di, ignoring the water soaking his pant legs, trying to piece what remained of him back together.
But the more anxious he got, the clumsier he became. Because Jiang Si wasn’t blocking the light properly, the shadows shifted, causing even more of the fluid on the floor to evaporate.
It was useless. No matter how familiar Jiang Si was with human anatomy and muscle structure, he couldn’t piece together a body for Hai Di.
He was so weak that his eyes were half-closing.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry.” Jiang Si couldn’t hold back the suppressed emotions any longer. Tears fell from his reddened eyes, splashing onto Hai Di’s pale, transparent face.
“…” Hai Di’s eyelashes trembled, but he couldn’t open his eyes.
Jiang Si didn’t dare imagine how much pain Hai Di had endured when he was torn apart alive.
Or perhaps, if he traced it back further… if he had just spoken clearly to Hai Di earlier, if he hadn’t evaded things, they wouldn’t have this regret.
His blood-stained fingers smeared messily across Hai Di’s face as he tried with all his might to wake him up.
…
When Shen Hu arrived with his people, he found a scene of devastation and a person kneeling on the floor.
“Little friend Jiang?” Shen Hu suppressed his unease and walked closer.
Jiang Si looked up slowly, his tone calm. “You’re here.”
“I’m glad you’re okay…” Shen Hu let out a sigh of relief. On the way over, he had been terrified something had happened to Jiang Si.
Jiang Si said faintly, “It’s good that you’re here.”
Before Shen Hu could ask what he meant, Jiang Si asked him for a knife.
“What do you need that for?” Shen Hu hesitated. “Where is the Evil Ghost? Did it run away?”
Jiang Si repeated, “Give me the knife.”
“…Here.” Shen Hu pulled a Tang Dao (straight sword) from his sleeve and handed it over. Jiang Si knew about his habit of carrying a blade, which was why he asked.
Shen Hu looked around at the chaos—heaps of paper ash, scorch marks on the walls, scattered incense and spirit money. It was clearly the scene of a fierce battle.
Before he could figure it out, his apprentice beside him cried out, “What are you doing?!”
Shen Hu quickly looked down. Jiang Si had plunged the blade into his own body.
Blood instantly stained his clothes, dripping steadily onto the floor.
Shocked, Shen Hu rushed to grab the sword, shouting, “Are you crazy?”
“Don’t move.” Jiang Si blocked his hand. Moving his jacket aside, he revealed a semi-transparent human head resting underneath.
Shen Hu froze, his throat feeling as if it were being squeezed by invisible hands. He asked with difficulty, “What is that?”
“My friend,” Jiang Si said indifferently. “He was torn to pieces by the Evil Ghost. I’m going to save him.”
“That living soul?” Shen Hu couldn’t believe it.
“It doesn’t matter if he can’t be human. Even if he becomes a ghost, he can stay by my side.” Jiang Si said words he hadn’t even realized he was thinking. He pulled out the blade, pried open Hai Di’s mouth, and guided the blood from the hilt down the tip of the blade, feeding it to him drop by drop.
Some drops missed, landing on Hai Di’s eyelids and rolling down like tears of blood—beautiful yet eerie.
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