Late at night, the Yin Spirit practiced swordsmanship at the crossroads as usual.
Lately, shadowy Yin Souls had appeared along the road. Most were ghosts of the recently dead, muddling their way back along the paths in their memories. Whether they could drift all the way home was anyone's guess.
The aura of the Underworld had grown noticeably thicker. Black Snake wondered whether too many deaths might blur the boundary with the Underworld.
Black Snake practiced swordsmanship while pondering this.
The assumed form was still that of an unremarkable country boy.
Straw sandals covered his feet, freckles dotted his cheeks, and his short hair was tied atop his head. His trouser legs and cuffs had deliberately been cut short, exposing his wrists and ankles for greater ease of movement.
Black Snake sensed a spectral figure with an unusually strong yin aura leave the main road and turn straight onto the Mountain Road leading to the Azure Cloud Monastery.
With a turn of the wrist, the longsword silently barred its path.
Unexpectedly, the Yin Soul had a fiery temper. Before Black Snake could question him, he whipped up a gust of chill wind and barked.
"Out of my way, brat! I reckon someone's hiding up the mountain!"
Black Snake had been considering the finer variations of a sword move and glanced up at the voice.
The Yin Soul's phantom form was faint, yet his temper was fierce and his conduct reckless. Clearly, he was a novice.
His aura did not mark him as a Vengeful Ghost or an evil entity.
These days, Black Snake rarely dispersed wandering souls like this outright.
"Get lost."
The hotheaded Yin Soul seemed enraged by those words. Shouting wildly, he insisted on forcing his way up the mountain. Knowing the longsword was sharp, he tried to