Chapter 101: Controlling the Second Ghost
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation
Miles was absolutely convinced of one fact: the elderly woman in front of him was harboring at least two distinct ghostly entities within her.
First, there was the ghost of a headless shadow, which Miles had inadvertently set free, and then there was the corpse water ghost that resided within Page, who had died before on the rooftop during their ambush of the old woman.
Yet, the possibility of a third ghostly presence inside the woman was something Miles couldn’t be certain of. From his observations, he had only identified traits associated with two malevolent spirits, with no evidence pointing towards a third one. Given the unfolding situation, he doubted he’d have another opportunity to investigate this further.
The old woman, who had been knocked to the ground, was currently being consumed by the human skin parchment. She lay there, emotionless and expressionless, as if numbed by some unseen force. Her frail fingers desperately clawed at the ground, signaling her resistance against being drawn into the parchment.
It made Miles ponder: if spirits could experience fear, the headless shadow ghost would surely be in the throes of terror. This entity had gone through so much – having been liberated from its confinement within a golden box, obtaining a physical form, and even gaining the power to control other ghosts. Now, however, it faced the grim fate of being absorbed against its will by the human skin parchment.
Any attempt to resist seemed pointless. The parchment was like the ultimate predator for these malevolent spirits. The mere contact with it was enough for the paper to draw a ghost into its confines.
In Miles’s estimation, the threat posed by this elderly woman couldn’t merely be rated as ‘C’. Considering she harbored the headless ghost shadow that had the power to dominate other spirits, she should be ranked as at least ‘B’, if not higher, maybe even an ‘A’. After all, she had managed to breach the defenses of Miles’s ghost domain.
“Even with a spirit of this magnitude under my control, is it still powerless against the might of the human skin parchment? My earlier apprehensions and skepticism about this parchment were indeed well-founded.” Observing the innocuous skin parchment, an unsettling sensation of cold dread washed over him.
His instincts had always cautioned him about the item due to its unsettling nature. But now, faced with dire circumstances, he found himself having to forge an alliance with it.
A thought that deeply concerned Miles was the potential transformation of the parchment after it absorbed these spirits. It seemed the parchment had always been on the hunt for such entities. And if the thing held such formidable capabilities, why had it lain dormant and benign by his side? Miles himself had the “ghost eye”, making him somewhat ghostly. Shouldn’t the parchment have the power to consume him too? Was it possible that there were some boundaries to its capabilities? And if so, what could those limits be?
With a heavy heart and a mind swirling with thoughts, Miles observed the relentless pull of the parchment. In just a brief span, half of the old woman’s form had been dragged into it, and despite her futile attempts to resist, she seemed destined to be wholly ensnared. To Miles, the parchment felt like a trap designed for ghosts, and the elderly woman was nothing more than unfortunate prey ensnared within its grasp.
As time ticked by, the elderly woman found herself gradually and inexorably being pulled into the piece of parchment. No matter how fiercely she resisted, her efforts were futile.
Miles stood by without intervening. He watched, a heavy dread settling in his chest as the situation spiraled. Both the ominous shadow of the headless ghost and the human skin parchment had been set free by him. In many ways, he was the spark that ignited this eerie tableau.
His actions were driven by a desperate plan to address the looming disaster in Yellow Hill Village. Without this course of action, he felt he was on a path to inevitable ruin.
“I can only put my faith in this parchment this one time. I’m backed into a corner with no alternatives,” Miles internally lamented, his emotions churning. “The equilibrium that’s formed is not of my doing but at the whim of the headless ghost. It’s not the harmonious state I had hoped for. Whether dealing with the current headless shadow, the mysterious vengeful spirit, or the coughing ghost, they’re all beyond my current capacity.”
Confronted with three powerful phantoms in Yellow Hill Village, desolation washed over him. His sole hope lay in finding a way to influence the headless ghost and regain some semblance of control. This might provide him with a chance for survival or even an escape. He was conflicted, unsure if the human skin parchment would truly ally with him.
It seemed imprudent to rely on the artifact, yet when facing such peril, he had scant options.
Then, before his very eyes, the paper enveloped the old woman. Only her head was momentarily visible, but as the process continued, even that disappeared, swallowed whole. She was gone, leaving no evidence of her prior existence.
“It’s as though the ghost has been entirely consumed,” Miles whispered, a shiver running down his spine. “What a horrifying spectacle.”
But then a moment of clarity struck him.
His face contorted with concern, “I had bargained to exchange one ghost with the human skin parchment. But now it seems to have claimed at least two, possibly more. It’s gaining more than its due. Will it still honor our agreement?”
Doubt and unease shadowed his thoughts. He had lost the upper hand, now seemingly at the mercy of the treacherous artifact.
Yet, even after consuming the elderly spirit, the parchment appeared unchanged. It lay dormant, resembling dark brown human skin, showing no hint of the power it possessed. Before he realized it, his allotted time within this ghost domain had expired, and he’s now on borrowed time.
Miles felt a deep unease growing within him. The “ghost eye” embedded inside him was stirring more violently than ever, awakening with a fresh, heightened energy.
He was losing his grip over it. The eye moved unpredictably within him, causing immense discomfort. At times, it felt like it was trying to burst from his chest; at others, it seemed like it was extending from his back. Sometimes, it even traveled to the base of his foot. Despite this internal turmoil, he couldn’t afford to deactivate the ghost domain.
A sense of temporary equilibrium had settled, and the once-darkened sky now revealed some brightness along with the once-disappeared shrine within the village. Even so, the threat of the death curse weighed heavily on Miles’s mind. Would he meet his end at the hands of the mysterious vengeful ghost once he ventured out of the ghost domain? He couldn’t dismiss the likelihood.
The scenario felt eerily familiar, reminding him of his previous venture into the village when three ghost tamers met their untimely demise one after another. Miles was determined not to join their fates.
“Is this the end of my journey?” he pondered.
Fear wasn’t his primary emotion; it was a touch of sorrow and regret. The thought of all his struggles culminating in nothing was disheartening.
Reflecting on his choices, Miles’s mind wandered, “Perhaps, for ones like me, finding an end is a relief. Continuously battling the odds in this nightmarish world can be so wearisome. It’s time to ready myself for the inevitable conclusion.”
With that, he made a move to encase himself within the body bag. At the very least, he desired to leave behind a whole body, ensuring he didn’t end up as a ghost slave, forever tormented in death. The bag would also serve to confine the restless ghost eye, preventing it from wreaking havoc upon the world.
He wished he had enough time to call his mother. Though his finances were dwindling, he hoped the few million he had would suffice for her usage.
As he contemplated the sum of his life and its troubles, he wondered if it would have been easier to meet his end back in the school restroom. With a rueful smile, Miles tried to shake off the thought.
However, an anomaly caught his attention as he took a few strides: a flowing headless shadow merging seamlessly with his own. Was this the headless ghost?
His senses on high alert, Miles quickly pivoted to inspect the shadow. There, he saw a tether connecting him, the shadow, and the human skin parchment. As he squinted, words started to materialize on the parchment: “The deal with the human skin has been sealed. I now hold dominion over the second malevolent ghost.”
The revelation struck him, “Command over the second ghost?” Miles’s brows furrowed in comprehension.
Was the human skin parchment truly going to uphold its end of the bargain? What were its underlying motives? Did it genuinely have his best interests at heart, or was it merely postponing his demise for its own hidden agenda?
However unclear the parchment’s intentions, there was no denying the shifting dynamics at play for Miles.
The headless ghost was making its presence felt, attempting to infiltrate his very being by coldly seeping in through his feet. As this sensation intensified, he observed his shadow slowly elevating, seemingly preparing to unite with his form. But an urgent concern preoccupied him: once this unification was finalized, who would hold the reins – him or the ghost?
From a rational standpoint, the odds seemed to favor the ghost’s dominance. Miles was acutely aware of the challenge, deeming it highly unlikely that he could maintain sovereignty over his own body in the face of such a formidable spirit.
“There must be a solution.”
On impulse, Miles swiftly turned on his heels, retracing his steps to the vicinity of the human skin parchment. The prior inscriptions on its surface had faded, replaced by a set of guidelines detailing the process to master the headless shadow.
A glimmer of hope emerged, but it was tinged with skepticism. “Can I truly rely on these instructions?” Miles pondered, his gaze intense and filled with uncertainty.