Chapter 47             The j.a.panese Ghost

The Buddha was crying! Buddha was free of all emotions, so he only cried for the sufferings of mere mortals. The audible chant of a Buddhist hymn thrummed from the mouth of the statue. It seemed to linger in Ye Shaoyang’s ears as though it had echoed a thousand times. 

“Within this haunted building lies thousands of awakened spirits. They are powerful and cannot be transcended. I burned my body into Sarira and cast the Seal of the Devil Defeating Golden Warrior. Together, this will hold them for 70 years. But the time when the seal breaks will inevitably come. The spirits will be able to freely leave, and the world will be left in ruins. You, who can enter my consciousness, must be one with sufficient power. Fulfill my last wish and cleanse such evil from the world.”

The hymn slowly faded together with this scene. In just a few seconds, Ye Shaoyang returned to reality again. He could not help but let out a sigh after he found out these last thought in the monk’s mind. On his last breath, the monk’s deep concern had somehow projected such a bizarre illusion, which automatically played his last will when any sorcerer tapped into his consciousness.

Ye Shaoyang had noticed something important in this message. The seal would only last for 70 years. When the time came, the seal would break. Then, all of the evil spirits trapped inside would be released. They would plunge the world into chaos if this happened. He quickly a.s.sociated this scenario to what Liao Qingqing had mentioned. Would the seal break after one more month? This thought instantly pressured him. Too much was at stake. He laid down flat on his back and took a deep breath. To replenish his energy, he quickly cultivated the Daoist Craft of Qi Extracting and circulated the Qi throughout his body.

“Is everything okay, little trickster?” Xie Yuqing knocked from outside. 

As Ye Shaoyang stood up and was about to head out, he heard a splas.h.i.+ng sound from behind. Immediately, he turned around to see a short figure in j.a.panese military uniform. It was a spirit squeezing out from a tiny crack in the seal, like the genie from Aladdin and the Magic Lamp. 

It was indeed a j.a.panese ghost!

It was rumored that j.a.panese soldiers once committed suicide here. To Ye Shaoyang, this encounter with the j.a.panese soldier’s spirit confirmed this rumor. j.a.panese soldiers’ spirits, as the owners of the spirit nest, had absorbed more Yin Qi compared to normal spirits. This allowed them to achieve the hateful spirit level within a hundred year. This spirit looked rather funny with its short, plump body, toad-like puffy cheeks, and toothbrush mustache. It glowed with a viridescent light, as it grasped a katana and looked ferociously at Ye Shaoyang.

Now it seemed clear. A fight was unavoidable.

Since they did not hear any response from inside, Xie Yuqing and Xiao Ma started to grow worried, “Hey, I’m coming in,” Xie Yuqing entered the hall, and Xiao Ma followed her before Ye Shaoyang could say anything to stop them. The sight of the spirit that stood there in the room startled both of them, as they had never expected it.

“A j.a.panese ghost!” Xiao Ma screamed.

“Take the candles from the altar and stand at the north and south corners. Don’t move no matter what happens!” Ye Shaoyang shouted out orders, as he unsheathed his peach wood sword and pointed it toward the awakened spirit. Xiao Ma and Xie Yuqing immediately regained their composure, as this was not the first time they had encountered a ghost. They did as Ye Shaoyang ordered and stood between the pair of mirrors.

The rationale behind Ye Shaoyang’s instructions was to keep them safe. The Qixing Gra.s.s Powder in the candles could repel evil spirits, and the reflection of the two mirrors formed a barrier of enchantment.

“Little Ye, where did this ghost get the katana from?” asked Xiao Ma. This fellow was as curious as always.

“It’s a Natal Substance. This one is j.a.panese. Naturally, its Natal Substance would be a katana.”

“I thought a j.a.panese ghost would use a rifle or another firearm.”

“Stop being ridiculous,” Ye Shaoyang had no time to explain the concept behind Natal Substances. In fact, a Natal Substance was a weapon actualized using the Qi attached to a spirit. It was usually a weapon they carried in their lives. It had to be simple and easy to control.

The evil spirit had been trapped for almost a century. Now that it had escaped, it wanted to first enact a vengeful killing spree. When it saw a sorcerer in its way, it naturally grew agitated. It did not waste any time and charged at Ye Shaoyang with the katana.

“C’mon j.a.panese. Let’s fight!”

Although Ye Shaoyang had encountered many kinds of spirits before, a j.a.panese one was really a first for him. He could not help but feel a rush in his blood. The thought of being able to fight a j.a.panese soldier that had tried to oppress his country excited him a little. He dipped his finger into the red ink and wrote an incantation on the peach wood sword. Then, he charged at the spirit and directly faced the katana. The peach wood sword was very short—barely a few inches long. On the other hand, the katana was a meter long. In comparison, the wooden sword seemed like a really weak weapon; they were not even in the same league. But when they collided, the symbol on the wooden sword shone and abruptly activated. It blew up a thousand holes in the spirit’s body.

The spirit crashed on the floor and let out a pained moaned. Its body went through a rapid change. Its uniform disintegrated into pieces, which revealed its rotting skin. Its flesh turned soft and muddy, while its whole body uncontrollably shook. However, if one took a closer look, they would feel chills sent down their spines. The spirit was not shaking, but a million worms crawled over its body. All kinds of disgusting insects feasted on its flesh right in front of them.

The spirit tried to lift its head up and crawled toward Ye Shaoyang. But its body had rotted to the point where every time it moved, some flesh would drop down from its body. One of its eyeb.a.l.l.s had slipped from their sockets, and a red centipede was crawling out of the hole. In the other socket, a rat was sniffing and chewing its way out. Xie Yuqing could not stand this disgusting scene anymore. She bent over and regurgitated everything in her stomach.

“That’s some freaking disgusting sh*t!” Xiao Ma yelled with his mouth covered. He had seen many disgusting things since he had started to hang out with Ye Shaoyang lately. As such, he considered himself well prepared. But this was almost a little too much for him.

“Little Ye, I thought this was a spirit. Why are there worms and insects?”

“This was how he looked when he was dying.” Ye Shaoyang frowned. His stomach was not feeling good either, “But this is just an illusion. Don’t take it seriously.”

“Is it? But everyone rots after they die. Why is this spirit the only one being so disgusting?” Xiao Ma asked.

Ye Shaoyang took a step forward and stabbed the spirit’s left eye socket. The spirit shook as if a current had pa.s.sed through it, and all the insects inside it swarmed out from in all directions. This time, even Xiao Ma could not take it anymore despite his best efforts. He vomited out of disgust. Fortunately for them, this did not go on for too long. Under the power of the peach wood sword, the spirit, the worms, and the insects melted into a puddle of dark black water.

Ye Shaoyang inhaled a breath of relief, “You don’t understand. This was how he looked when he was dying, not after he died. Insects ate him alive as he was rotting and dying.” 

“Rotting and eaten alive? That’s not scientifically possible, isn’t it?” Xiao Ma could not believe these words.

“For some reason, in this case, the body had died, but the soul in its body had not. It was trapped inside until its body rotted to its core and the insects ate all his organs. After all that,  this one finally died, ” Ye Shaoyang explained, “A witch must have used it as a test subject of some spells or curses. But these are all things of the past. No need to dwell too deeply on it.”

“This must be the cruelest way to die in the world,” Xiao Ma mumbled, as he shook at the thought of having no choice but to watch and feel himself rot and eaten away slowly in the ground.

“There is much more for you to learn,” Ye Shaoyang simply smiled.

Just as Xiao Ma wanted to say something, he suddenly paused. He pointed behind Ye Shaoyang, “Little Ye! Quick! Another spirit!”

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