The sudden change startled me, but it also answered a question I'd had.
The Guide hadn't been startled at all. He grabbed the ghost's hands, rushed forward, and opened his mouth as if he meant to bite the ghost's neck.
I was stunned.
The ghost's pale skin loomed larger in my vision. When the Guide bit down, I felt the strange sensation too.
It wasn't human skin or muscle, let alone edible meat. What I tasted was the flavor of yin energy. There was no flesh or blood.
When the Guide lifted his head, a chunk was missing from the ghost's neck, with tooth marks around the edge. But inside the wound, all I saw was torn muscle. It was the same unnatural gray as his skin, with no blood.
The ghost let out a wail and began to struggle.
The belt around his neck creaked as it tugged at the dead tree.
I'd thought all these dead trees were lifeless, but suddenly the branches of this one began to sway and thrust toward the Guide.
The Guide nimbly stepped aside, but didn't retreat far.
With a crack, the branch holding the belt snapped, and the ghost fell to the ground. His tongue still hanging out, he lurched toward the Guide.
The Guide looked even more disdainful. He waited until the ghost was right in front of him, then grabbed him.
I didn't want to see what happened next, much less experience it, but I had no choice but to endure the Guide devouring the ghost whole. Although there was no sensation of flesh or blood—only yin energy entering the Guide's stomach—I still felt nauseated.
The dead tree stopped moving too, and the branch that had thrust out retracted.
The Guide glanced at the tree and paused just as he