Were You Looking for Me?

To the ghosts, Tang Changsheng's blood and vitality had been abundant, making him stand out like a blazing torch in the dark. Now that radiance had faded. He looked little different from a corpse—or even a tree or a clump of grass.

And so, none of the ghosts took any interest in Tang Changsheng...

Even so, with his yang energy greatly diminished and his blood and vitality suppressed, he was close to breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Those are all Grudge Ghosts... There are so many of them..."

In the modern world, never mind cultivating to attain the Dao—even finding a Vicious Ghost was all but impossible.

Despite his position as head of the General's Temple, Tang Changsheng had seen Grudge Ghosts only a handful of times.

Now they covered the hills as far as he could see. There had to be dozens, perhaps a hundred. If they spotted a living man like him, tearing him to pieces would be child's play.

Tang Changsheng groaned inwardly. How had I ended up in a place like this?

Unless he possessed the divine powers of the founding patriarch, discovery by so many Grudge Ghosts would mean certain death!

Tang Changsheng backed away slowly, preparing to flee this deadly place.

He moved with care, doing his best not to commit some foolish blunder like snapping a twig underfoot. Thanks to the martial arts he had practiced since childhood and the agility they had given him, he made no such mistake.

Tang Changsheng crept through the woods. Only after leaving the ancient tomb behind did he prepare to run.

Unfortunately, the moon slipped behind the clouds again, plunging everything around him into thick darkness.

The one thing that reassured Tang Changsheng was that he could see no more ghostly lights in this direction.

He stumbled onward over the uneven ground, nearly falling, before moonlight spilled down once more.

Only then did Tang Changsheng discover that he was standing amid ruins. A collapsed wall blocked his way, with nothing left but a foundation barely a foot high.

Not far away was a carved wooden lattice window. A great hole had opened in it, and cobwebs stretched across the frame.

Through the hole, he could clearly see a desolate courtyard overgrown with weeds. Bright moonlight washed over it like water, making it look lonelier still.

Where am I? Startled, Tang Changsheng looked around.

Somehow, while walking through the dark, he had wandered into an abandoned estate.

Collapsed houses and courtyard walls stood everywhere among stray trees. Moonlight fell across dust and cobwebs, giving the place an eerie air.

It had the atmosphere of a ghost film.

Someone else might have been scared witless by now, but to Tang Changsheng, this place was far better than the mass graveyard he had just left.

At least it did not have so many ghosts!

Perhaps he could even find somewhere to spend the night.

With that thought, Tang Changsheng headed toward a house that still looked reasonably intact.

But as he neared it, something shifted beneath his foot with a crack. In the faint moonlight, he saw that he had crushed a dry, decayed bone.

Half the door to the dilapidated house had collapsed. Tang Changsheng ducked through, getting dust all over himself.

Something rustled by his feet and gave him a start. A creature he could not tell was a rabbit or a weasel darted into the grass.

Tang Changsheng paid it no mind. Ghosts would not have surprised him in a house left to rot this long, much less snakes, insects, rats, or ants.

No sooner had he thought of ghosts than a woman's faint sobbing seemed to drift from nearby. It came and went, as though something kept scratching at the marrow of his spine, raising the hairs on his body.

Instead of frightening him, it made Tang Changsheng snort. "Enough of your ghostly tricks. If you dare show yourself, I'll beat your soul to pieces!"

At that moment,

Tang Changsheng was no longer afraid. Ghosts feared the fierce. The more frightened a person was, the more a ghost would hound him.

But once his courage rose and his blood burned with yang energy, ordinary ghosts would avoid him like the plague. Why would they come courting death?

Besides, as far as Tang Changsheng knew, the ghosts that put on the greatest shows were usually the most timid!

He strode toward the sound. The estate was large, with courtyards opening into more courtyards. There was no telling how long it had stood abandoned.

Weeds had overrun the rear courtyard. Of the precious flowers that had once grown in its beds, not a trace remained.

Above him stretched a clear sky. A half-moon hung cold and high, shedding a snow-bright light.

Yet the sight made Tang Changsheng's heart lurch.

A woman in white stood beneath the wall beside the flowerbeds. Her long hair hung down, and she appeared to be weeping softly.

When Tang Changsheng approached, she seemed to startle and raised her head. In the moonlight, her face was rotted beyond recognition, with bone showing through. One eye socket was a black hole, and maggots crawled out of it.

In a deserted house on a dark night, the sight could have frightened a timid person to death.

Tang Changsheng was not frightened, but inwardly he cried, This is bad.

Then he heard the ghostly woman ask in a mournful voice, "Was it you calling me just now...?"

People feared ghosts three parts in ten; ghosts feared people seven.

But people varied in strength, and so did ghosts!

Tang Changsheng had just told himself that courage could frighten ghosts away. But that depended on the ghost...

The one before him had not fled. If anything, he seemed to have angered her.

She was no ordinary wandering soul. At the very least, she was a Grudge Ghost!

No. A Grudge Ghost should not have been this powerful.

Could this ghostly woman be the legendary Vicious Ghost?

"Were you looking for me...?" the ghostly woman murmured. Her expression was half a sob and half a smile. A maggot poked its head out of her eye socket, as though it too were staring at Tang Changsheng.

This was bad. Tang Changsheng instinctively stepped back and reached for his gun.

Then he realized it would be useless. However powerful a handgun was, it would do little against a ghost without a solid body.

Besides, the gun had broken during the crossing, and Tang Changsheng had tossed it away.

Tang Changsheng gave a shout and drove his foot into the ground, sending a stone hurtling toward the ghostly woman. Without waiting to see what happened, he turned and ran.

The fist-sized stone struck her, but her figure merely wavered and dissolved into mist. The stone passed through and slammed into the wall with a bang.

Tang Changsheng did not look back. He sprinted into the house and kicked a pillar.

The house was already falling apart. His kick toppled the pillar, and beams and roof tiles came crashing down in a clattering chaos.