Unexpected Overlap

Hua Subai seemed to sense something and looked back. There was nothing but empty space behind him.

But he knew those inhuman things were standing all around him, staring at him with their strange eyes every second of every minute.

He turned back around, unconcerned.

Whatever those things were planning, he would find a way to deal with them once they showed themselves.

The red-clothed ghost on his pant leg stiffly twisted its neck. Its broken bones creaked, and even the slightest movement met with a grinding resistance.

One twisted arm tried to claw its way up, managing to smear the fabric over Hua Subai's knee with grime.

Hua Subai turned his attention back to them and said fondly, "Oh, don't be so impatient. You're much luckier than that one whose face Medusa tore off. At least someone knows who you are."

"You're just a tiny bit unlucky... because I won't tear off your faces until I'm good and ready."

The red-clothed ghost heard him and clawed at Hua Subai's leg in anguish. The gesture conveyed not hatred, but pleading.

The audience... had all guessed wrong.

They had still thought Hua Subai was too "kind."

It wasn't that Hua Subai had tried everything and still couldn't kill the red-clothed ghosts. It was that he wanted to torment them without giving them the release of death.

They clung desperately to Hua Subai, only begging him to tear off their faces, which had already grown back, and let them disappear for good.

Hua Subai finally laughed with delight and said to himself, "If only you'd begged me from the start... I wouldn't mind being a good person for once."

"You're only afraid now because you know you can't kill me. Only now have you realized how painful it is to become a