Fighting the Ghost (Part Two)

As Shen Luo pondered, the tall ghost's tangled hair suddenly drifted apart, revealing a pale, rotting face.

It looked as though it had been soaked in water for a long time. Its lips and cheeks had decayed into a mush, torn flesh hanging loosely from its face. Most of the flesh in its eye sockets had rotted away as well, constantly leaking pus. Only a few blood vessels still connected its two bright-red eyeballs, which trembled unsteadily as if they might fall out at any moment.

Even Shen Luo, who had always been rather brave, was badly startled by the ghost's face.

The ghost opened its mouth and let out a piercing shriek. Two invisible gusts of yin wind shot from its mouth like arrows, flying toward Shen Luo's and the little girl's faces.

At the same time, the ghost spread its arms to either side. A yin wind immediately swept through every corner of the room, tossing all the smaller objects into the air. Only the shrine remained unaffected; even the ash atop it did not stir in the slightest.

Shen Luo had suffered badly from that ghostly shriek before. The instant he saw the ghost open its mouth, he hurriedly threw himself to the ground and rolled aside, avoiding a direct hit from the yin wind.

The little girl lacked such experience, however. The yin wind struck her squarely in the face, and her eyes rolled back as she collapsed unconscious.

"Not good!"

Shen Luo tried to roll over and get up, but debris filled the room. Cups, bowls, and chunks of wood kept flying past his head and body, while gusts of yin wind blew all around him. He had no choice but to roll across the floor and take shelter in a corner.

Yet the tall ghost did not pursue Shen Luo and the girl. Instead, it floated backward and raised a hand toward the outside.

The air outside trembled with a low hum. Waves of foul, frigid yin energy, wrapped in thick fog, poured into the room and merged into the ghost's body.

Its body recovered at a visible speed, quickly becoming solid again, while the black aura over its surface surged.

The seaweed-like hair atop the ghost's head began to grow wildly as if alive. It then shot out like tentacles, coiling toward Shen Luo on the ground.

Shen Luo watched the series of changes in shock and regret. He hurriedly sprang up to dodge, but there was too much hair whipping toward him and too little room in the house. Before long, his body and limbs were bound by countless strands.

The four remaining talismans on him could not be activated again, while the two wooden stakes were also caught in the ghost hair and could no longer be swung.

In his desperation, Shen Luo tried to activate the Minor Transforming Yang Art again. Yet he was already utterly exhausted, and activating the Minor Thunder Talisman earlier had consumed the Yang Hardness Force he had painstakingly accumulated. He could not do anything more in the short term.

After that brief delay, more and more hair wound around him, tightening continuously. Soon, with a thud, he was dragged to the ground.

The tall ghost twisted its body and turned into a snake-like black shadow, attaching itself to Shen Luo, who was wrapped in hair. Then it opened its mouth and inhaled at Shen Luo's face.

Shen Luo felt a chill sweep over him, followed by a violent shudder. He clearly sensed streams of warmth separating from his body and drifting outward.

It's sucking away my yang energy! Am I really going to die again...? Shen Luo felt himself growing colder and colder, his limbs increasingly weak until he gradually became unable to move.

Though unwilling to accept it, he no longer had any power to turn things around.

At that moment, lightning flashed across the pitch-black sky outside. A thunderclap followed, and torrential rain came pouring down.

The little girl lying beside the bed shuddered and was awakened by the thunder. She barely managed to sit up. Seeing Shen Luo's predicament, panic flashed through her large eyes, and she hurriedly dragged a small wooden bucket out from beneath the bed.

The bucket held nearly half a bucket of thick, black liquid: black dog blood.

The little girl opened her mouth and fiercely bit through her finger. Blood flowed out and mixed into the black dog blood in the bucket.

The ghost, already attached to Shen Luo, sensed something. It abruptly turned around, its body twisting as it tried to fly up from Shen Luo.

But the little girl had already shakily lifted the bucket and flung it outward. With a whoosh, she splashed all the black dog blood inside over the ghost.

After doing this, the girl seemed to have exhausted all her strength and slumped to the ground.

Unable to dodge in time, the ghost was drenched over most of its body by the sudden black dog blood. Hissing erupted from its surface as large amounts of black vapor scattered away. Its recently condensed body turned transparent again, as though it had suffered grave damage.

It let out a shriek sharp enough to tear eardrums and floated to one side, only to crash into the nearby wall.

Quite a bit of black dog blood had splashed onto the wall. The tall ghost could not pass through it and was instead thrown back to the floor with a huge dull boom, shaking the entire house.

The hair wrapped around Shen Luo loosened as well. His body relaxed, and though his limbs were weak, he still struggled free with all his strength.

He panted heavily, his chest heaving violently. He felt as if he were on the verge of collapse.

Yet he gritted his teeth, threw away the wooden stakes, and used the last of his strength to snatch the dog-headed deity statue from the shrine behind him and stuff it into his robe. Then he strode forward and threw his entire body onto the ghost, which was writhing in agony.

The little girl watched Shen Luo's action with wide eyes. She opened her mouth to cry out in alarm, but no sound came out.

This time, Shen Luo's body and hands did not pass through the ghost. Instead, he firmly seized it in an embrace.

Immediately afterward, the statue in his arms suddenly grew scorching hot and burst forth with brilliant yellow light, shining onto the ghost.

Under the yellow light, the ghost's body hissed continuously as strands of black vapor rose from its surface. It let out one miserable scream after another, its ghostly hands flailing madly as it tried to break free from Shen Luo's embrace.

But Shen Luo seemed determined to see it through. He did not know where the strength came from, but his hands locked tightly around the ghost without loosening in the slightest.

As streams of black vapor rose from the ghost's body, its form rapidly became blurry and began to shrink.

Shen Luo's face had turned bluish white, and even his lips had lost all color. The ghost's entire body was originally ice-cold, and waves of yin energy passed into him, nearly freezing the blood in his veins. His teeth chattered without stop.

The last shred of awareness he had told him this was the moment between life and death. If he let go, all his efforts would be wasted.

The little girl finally snapped out of her shock. She struggled to her feet, dragged herself to Shen Luo's side, and poured the last bit of black dog blood from the bucket over the ghost's head.

The tall ghost was already at the end of its strength. This final bit of black dog blood became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

After a piercing shriek, the ghost's greatly shrunken body suddenly burst apart, turning into a vast cloud of black vapor that drifted away.

When the black vapor dispersed, Shen Luo's body appeared as well. There was not a trace of color on his face, while his cheeks had turned a deep purplish black.

His eyes were tightly shut. He had already fallen unconscious, taking in little breath and letting out much more, as though he might not survive.

Seeing the ghost destroyed, the little girl relaxed, and her body immediately crumpled to the ground. But when she saw Shen Luo's condition, she gritted her teeth and forced herself back up. She reached out to shake him, only for her hand to touch something ice-cold.

Her eyes reddened with panic as she tried to help Shen Luo up.

But at that moment, Shen Luo's expression suddenly became strange. Starting from his feet, his body began to turn blurry and transparent section by section.

A moment later, he silently vanished from where he stood, as though he had never been there at all.