Everyone laughed for a while, and the tension caused by the monster quickly faded. Only after Su Ming sat down did he continue:
"She didn't used to look like that. There was a magical accident. She secretly read John's Magic Book and tried to summon a demon in the basement to make her band famous. In the end, the demon latched onto her."
"I think I've heard about this. Who was it that mentioned it?" Bobo smacked his forehead. He truly couldn't remember, because Constantine had gotten too many former girlfriends killed—probably seventy or eighty of them. There was no way to remember all those dead women's names.
"After discovering that she'd been possessed by a tentacled demon, Constantine said he would save her. But in the end, his spell failed and got her killed. After she died, she turned into this tentacled evil ghost and showed up every now and then to look for that heartless bastard, because he hadn't fulfilled his promise."
Su Ming finished the story anyway. Being haunted by a resentful spirit wasn't unusual; this one just had a particularly distinctive appearance.
"What does she want from Constantine?" Hermione picked up the rabbit head again and took a huge bite. "I like ghost stories. When I studied abroad at Shinto Magic Academy in Japan, they were especially fond of using the power of undead spirits and Shikigami there."
"She doesn't actually mean any harm. She just wants to be saved, or to find release."
In the flickering room, Su Ming lit a cigarette and leaned back on the sofa, continuing to puff out smoke. He glared at the chandelier, telling the House of Mystery not to play up the ghost-story atmosphere:
"Don't let the fact that Constantine is a scumbag fool you. First loves are always