Chapter 123: A Malevolent Spirit from Thailand

Uncle Yan pondered for a long time but could not come up with a reasonable explanation. After all, once he allowed the imp to possess his body, his own consciousness had become extremely weak, leaving him with almost no memory of what transpired during those few minutes.

Fortunately, the demon appeared to be truly dead. Before it could cause any more trouble, it had to be disposed of completely.

He first retrieved the small, partially shattered coffin from the pit where the imp had been buried. Then, Uncle Yan took out a square cloth talisman—similar in color to the others—and used it to wrap the demon's remains before throwing them back into the pit. He poured the remaining half-bottle of white liquor over them and set the pile ablaze.

Although the demon’s corpse possessed a face resembling a human’s, it was not true human skin, nor did it contain a real skull. The vines that formed its structure had already withered; once touched by the fire, they immediately billowed into thick, rolling smoke. The remains hissed as residual juices evaporated, eventually settling into the crackling sound of burning charcoal. The scent emitted by the smoke was bizarre—a mixture of charred, fishy, and strangely fragrant notes, all intertwined.

Uncle Yan also threw in the seven half-burned yellow candles he had used during the ritual. If any onlookers were present, they might have mistakenly thought the two were hosting a bonfire party.

As the demon burned, Uncle Yan fingered his black prayer beads and chanted softly. Qi Yan, busy packing up their belongings nearby, asked, "What is this? Are you trying to absolve a murderous demon with prayers?"

"Hmm... Even if it is a truly wicked demon, since it had attained sentience and become a supernatural being, it possesses a soul. Besides, in this day and age, it is no small feat for it to have cultivated to this level. Although the Theravada Buddhist philosophy emphasizes self-liberation, it is only right to provide it a proper end..."

"Strictly speaking, this was its territory, and we were the invaders. Its ferocious attacks were not entirely unjustified. People often compare insignificant things to 'blades of grass,' which is an injustice to these lower life forms... 'Those not of my race must have a different heart'—don't humans often love to trample grass? There is no right or wrong here, only different perspectives. I will not be like those sanctimonious Taoists who constantly prattle on about 'slaying demons' and 'upholding justice for heaven'... How ridiculous. It is merely the law of the jungle."

Qi Yan curled his lip. "You certainly know how to make excuses for it... Fine, fine, take your time chanting."

As he spoke, he hummed a little tune to match the mood: "The wildflowers by the roadside... don't you go picking them... Wait, no, hurry up! There are still two people whose lives are hanging in the balance!"

Suddenly reminded, Uncle Yan stopped his movements and looked down. The mass of remains was already ruined. Despite its formidable vitality and regenerative powers while alive, once dead, it burned away faster than ordinary dry wood, quickly reducing to a pile of charred, foul-smelling ash.

Uncle Yan and Qi Yan worked together to fill the pit with the soil they had excavated, burying the remains thoroughly. Just as they finished smoothing the ground and were brushing the dust off their hands, Qi Yan inadvertently glanced ahead and immediately stiffened, staring intently into the distance.

The blue, mummy-like specter had reappeared, hovering in the air only a few meters away.

"Uh... Uncle Yan, I forgot to tell you... it seems there is another problem here that hasn't been solved yet," Qi Yan said, never taking his eyes off the spirit, and tugged at Uncle Yan's arm.

Uncle Yan was startled to see it. It was his first time witnessing this ghost, and he was even more bewildered than Qi Yan. Where on earth did this come from? And if Qi Yan hadn't spotted it, he wouldn't have noticed it either!

He pulled Qi Yan behind him and raised his prayer beads. "Be careful... this spirit is not right. It clearly has a physical form, yet I haven't been able to detect its presence for all this time..."

Many believe that the heavier the ghostly or demonic aura a creature emits, the more powerful it is. In reality, this is not absolute; sometimes, the cause and effect are inverted. Someone like Uncle Yan, even while injured and exhausted, would normally detect any strange spiritual entity approaching immediately. Yet, this ghost emitted almost no aura at all. Earlier, when it had followed Qi Yan, he hadn't noticed it either.

Qi Yan had seen clearly that the spirit showed no fear of the demon. Although he didn't know where it had gone in the interim, it was certainly not simple. He had foolishly mistaken it for a common wandering ghost at first, but it turned out to be remarkably "low-profile."

Now that the demon was dead, it had appeared before them once more. It could not speak, so what exactly did it want?

Uncle Yan squinted, scrutinizing the strange spirit for a long time. The ghost was quite cooperative; it didn't move or run, simply hovering with its feet off the ground and its head bowed, waiting for the two living men to "inspect" it.

Qi Yan reminded him, "It seems to emit blue ghostly fire; even the demon was a bit wary of it..."

Uncle Yan remained silent, his expression shifting between solemnity and relaxation, unreadable. After staring at the ghost for a full seven or eight minutes, he suddenly slapped Qi Yan on the shoulder. "Oh, this is incredible!"

"You scared the life out of me!" Qi Yan shuddered and grumbled irritably.

Uncle Yan was now beaming, his eyes shining as if he had struck gold. He pointed excitedly. "If I'm not mistaken... it... it is the Fourth Ghost of the Yin Palace!"

"Huh?" Qi Yan looked back at the spirit. "How can you tell?"

"No, no, you don't understand... This spirit is clearly not a local wandering ghost. It is definitely a ghost from Thailand."

Qi Yan was even more confused. "Uh... you can tell that? What, do ghosts have labels on them? Or did it bring a passport?"

Uncle Yan waved his hand dismissively. "That’s why I said you don't understand. It's easy to distinguish between ordinary spirits and fierce ghosts crafted through evil arts. Take my 'Luk Krok' for example—do you think it's the same as a common imp? I am a Nanyang sorcerer; if I couldn't tell the difference, I wouldn't have a place in the mystical world. Think about it: we are deep in the mountains of Western Hunan. Aside from the ghosts we brought with us, how could there be a foreign Thai ghost here? It is one hundred percent... wait? Where did it go? No, wait... where did the ghost go?!"

While he had been busy talking, the spirit had vanished from its spot.

Qi Yan craned his neck to look into the distance and soon spotted the ghost's back; it was slowly drifting toward the old village and the mountain behind it.

"There it is..."

"Then what are you standing there for? Chase it!"