Whooo—whooo—
In the dim, dilapidated temple, the air hung heavy with dampness, pierced by the eerie howl of the wind.
Yin Luan and the others snapped to attention, their senses sharpening instantly.
With the exception of the Little Snake Demon, none of the other three girls had much experience with Evil Spirits.
There was no need to elaborate on Eldest Young Lady Ren Tan. Xiao Luo and Lily had no reason to wander into haunted places, and the last time they had encountered anything like this must have been years ago, back when they were just children.
“They’re coming,” She Mei said softly, issuing the reminder.
Chaotic noises drifted in from outside the temple, sounding for all the world like mischievous children frolicking and causing a ruckus amid the ruins.
The sounds drew steadily closer.
Suddenly.
“Hee hee hee, hee hee hee!”
A blurry, faceless human silhouette in the form of a Light Orb appeared at the temple entrance. It beckoned to them and called out in a clear, crisp voice.
“Come play with us!”
Xiao Luo and Lily leaped back in unison, whipping out their Dragon Whisker Whips as they stared tensely ahead.
“Wait,” She Mei cautioned. “Not enough yet.”
When no one approached, the faceless silhouette beckoned again, repeating the invitation in the exact same tone.
“Come play with us!”
Ren Tan touched the Bracelet on her wrist, her face tightening with tension.
This was her first true encounter with a “ghost.” Were it not for the mental fortitude the Little Snake Demon had drilled into her lately, she probably would have screamed right then and there.
The silhouette called out twice more, and when no one budged, its tone shifted in an instant.
“Why……”
Its body ballooned outward in a flash, its torso swelling into a bulky, rotund mass while its limbs shrank to stubby proportions. The outline looked almost comical, and its once-crisp voice turned dull and grating.
“Why……won’t you play with me!”
Whoosh!
A blast of Yin Wind swept through, carrying two more identical Light Orbs in its wake. They charged forward, waddling unsteadily on their short legs.
“Go on,” She Mei said with a nod. “Put it to the test.”
“Charge!” “Let’s take them down!”
The two Sprites swung their Dragon Whisker Whips and each engaged one of the foes, while Eldest Young Lady Ren Tan drew a deep breath. A Divine Dragon Phantom materialized above her head, intercepting the third.
The greatest difference between battling these things and foes with physical form was the absolute need to keep Evil Spirits at a distance.
Wild Ghosts of this caliber inflicted harm primarily through mental assaults and possession.
Only Ghost Souls of a higher order could manipulate objects to wreak havoc.
Xiao Luo took point, her Dragon Whisker Whip aglow with pale golden radiance as she lashed viciously at the fat ghost’s head. The instant the whip made contact with the Light Orb, it sizzled violently, cleaving the thing neatly in two.
“That was easy?”
She had no time to celebrate. The bisected fat ghost hopped forward on a single leg, its speed utterly unaffected.
She Mei’s instruction arrived right on cue.
“Ghosts have no vital points in the usual sense. The only way to claim true victory is to eradicate every last scrap of them.”
Lily ran into the same trouble on her side of the fight. Even when she sliced clean through horizontally, the fat ghost simply braced its upper body with its hands and scuttled onward in a grotesque crawl.
“Divine Dragon, attack!”
Ren Tan directed the Divine Dragon Phantom to coil around the fat ghost, apparently intent on grinding it down piece by piece.
Yet after a few struggles, the fat ghost phased right through the phantom, dimming its glow only slightly.
“Ghost Souls possess phasing properties against most things—not just solid matter, but energy as well,” She Mei explained. “Unless you can project your mental power to form a barrier, you must maintain distance from them at all times.”
Their attacks proving futile, the three girls—facing Ghost Souls for the first time—lost their composure. Their movements grew frantic and disjointed.
“Stay calm,” She Mei reminded them. “I’ve taught you how to craft attacks that counter Ghost Souls. Think back carefully.”
At her words, the two Sprites clenched their teeth and furrowed their brows, switching up their approach. They lashed out at empty air with their Dragon Whisker Whips.
Crack! Crack!
The whips cracked through the air with sharp, resounding snaps. The advancing fat ghosts came to an abrupt halt, howling in agony.
“Ah……”
Ren Tan redirected the Divine Dragon Phantom, which wheeled about and unleashed a mighty roar from its gaping maw.
“Roar!”
The fat ghost’s form shuddered uncontrollably.
“Focus your energy to a single point,” She Mei directed. “‘Burn’ them away.”
The Dragon Whisker Whip plunged straight into the fat ghost’s head. In the next instant, a golden flame the size of a fingernail flickered into existence from nowhere, swiftly reducing the Evil Spirit to ash.
On the other side, the Divine Dragon Phantom coiled anew, its entire body ablaze with light, and made short work of its own fat ghost.
The three young maidens panted heavily, their hearts still pounding with lingering fear.
Even with advance preparation, dealing with these evil spirits remained incredibly dangerous. Without She Mei’s guidance on the scene, who knew what other mishaps might arise.
“What level of evil spirit are we up against?” Xiao Luo wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and asked.
“Wild ghosts with a touch of aggression,” She Mei replied after a moment’s thought. “Just a smidgen stronger than the lowest-grade evil spirits.”
“……”
Exterminating ghosts was no job for mere mortals!
Evil spirits of this caliber were hardly worth Yin Luan’s attention. What She Mei intended to teach her was how to handle far more formidable malicious ghosts.
The great demon’s snake-like vertical pupils gleamed as she peered into the darkness, hunting for prey.
Suddenly.
Whoosh!
She seized Yin Luan’s shoulder and rocketed to the edge of the village ruins at a speed the three young maidens’ eyes couldn’t track. With a flick of her wrist, she hurled out a beam of white light that solidified into a barrier, cutting off the malicious ghost’s desperate escape.
“Sending little ghosts to test us means it has some cunning.”
The intercepted malicious ghost was far more humanoid than the little ghosts, boasting distinct facial features and even the vague outline of clothing on its form.
“Urgh!”
The malicious ghost let out a guttural roar and lunged forward.
She Mei flung another beam of white light, which expanded into a cage like the first, ensnaring the malicious ghost within.
“Watch closely, Yin Luan,” she cautioned. “Snake Devour works like this.”
The beautiful maiden parted her lips slowly at first, then wider and wider—stretching to a jaw-dropping length that would have dislocated any ordinary person’s jaw.
Hiss—
Yin Luan heard the sharp intake of breath echoing in her ears.
She watched as She Mei’s vertical pupils blazed with light, demon qi roiling around her body. Iridescent, glassy snake scales bloomed across her arms, cheeks, and neck.
Big Snake Snake had explained it before: when tapping into demonic instinct, the body sometimes underwent this involuntary “demonization.”
She Mei’s inhalation grew fiercer by the second, birthing a massive, eye-visible vortex right before her mouth.
The swirling maelstrom wasn’t mere wind—it pulsed with a strange, potent energy.
“Ah—!”
The malicious ghost clawed at the ground, fighting to resist the pull, but resistance was futile.
Whoosh! It hurtled into the vortex, spinning in endless circles as layer after layer of its essence was ground away.
If Yin Luan had to put it into words, this wasn’t a vortex at all. It was a colossal grinding wheel.
The malicious ghost didn’t last more than a few breaths before it was pulverized to oblivion.
She Mei gradually shut her horrifying jaws and flashed her a grin.
“How’s that? Simple, isn’t it? I reckon even a snake could pick it up!”
