Chapter 80: Battle of the Ghost Tamer

The thing he called a “Light-Bending Mirror”… wasn’t a magical artifact or any other treasure, but rather a type of monster—albeit a very unusual one.

In Japan, there exists a class of monsters known as “Tsukumogami.” These are everyday objects, initially lifeless, that, after being used by humans for a long time, develop a trace of sentience. Take, for example, the mirror before him now—a household necessity, and, it seems, remarkably easy to become imbued with spirit. Why else are there so many horror stories and supernatural movies that make mirrors such a common motif?

Or consider a warrior’s weapon, or even wardrobes, scrolls, vases, and other household items… These things, by nature, are devoid of life. Yet, after being used for many years, there’s a slight chance they might acquire a glimmer of spirit. That’s why, according to Japanese custom, when disposing of old objects—especially ones kept for a very long time—there’s a tradition of scattering beans or even conducting a minor ritual first. It’s a matter of tradition and custom, at least in Japan.

Similar practices exist in our own country, too: paper effigies, cloth dolls, mannequins—the more human-like the item, the more taboo it becomes to handle it carelessly. Even if the likelihood of such objects becoming sentient is infinitesimal, or mere fantasy, it’s not absolutely impossible.

Moreover, this person was himself a master of Onmyōdō—the Japanese way of yin and yang. Onmyōji excel in two kinds of arts: one is the veneration and manipulation of the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—an art originating from the Chinese yin-yang school of the pre-Qin era, which later took root and developed in Japan.

Of course, it’s not as exaggerated as in the movies, where one could summon a fireball with a wave of the hand or burrow underground to travel for miles—that’s pure fantasy.

But true practitioners can indeed perform feats that defy ordinary logic. For instance, just now he set fire to those scrolls in the exhibition hall—he must have prepared in advance, perhaps by affixing talismans during transport.

If such people come prepared, achieving this isn’t so difficult! All it takes is finding the right moment to activate the spell—like setting a mystical timed bomb.

And then, using just a thin layer of water on the ground, he managed to transport an entire display case as if by telekinesis—this was the power of water, a water-based escape technique.

This doesn’t mean weaving some hand signs and conjuring water dragons, as in popular anime. Not at all.

There was once a program on Tokyo TV featuring a folk magician named Yang, who demonstrated a similar trick before reporters and cameras: using an ordinary plastic basin filled with a finger’s depth of water, covered by a cloth, he stripped to the waist, reached in, fumbled around under camera scrutiny, and pulled out sheet after sheet of wet banknotes…

It caused quite a stir at the time.

The debate still rages today—was it a deft magic trick, or genuine skill, a “transportation” technique from Daoist lore defying the laws of physics? There’s no definitive answer, and a shroud of mystery remains. But it bore a striking resemblance to what Qi Yan and his father witnessed that day!

Another art for which Onmyōji are famous is “ghost manipulation,” a practice on par with the Thai arts of ghost-raising and controlling spirits.

Qi Yan had personally experienced the wonders of the Onmyōji’s shikigami. This method of commanding spirits as one might a hunting dog has a long and storied history.

Thus, Qi Yan wasn’t at all surprised that this person before him might keep some Japanese tsukumogami as familiars.

All those mirrors, arranged in a circle ten meters in diameter, formed a barrier—an enclosure invisible to outsiders. No one could see in, nor could any sound escape, no matter what happened within… Truly a technique that defied all scientific explanation.

Qi Yan had initially hoped to find a chance to flee into a crowd, but now that seemed less and less possible.

Nothing seemed odd at first, but after a moment, shadowy, indistinct figures began to appear in the surrounding mirrors. Their outlines resembled humans—tall and thin.

These shadows emerged within the glass, then seeped out like black water, sliding over the grass in twisted forms from all directions, converging upon Qi Yan’s position.

The area was already dim due to the exhibition hall’s shadow, and the blackness of these things made them even harder to discern.

By the time Qi Yan realized what was happening, something slick and clammy had wrapped around his ankles, disgusting to the touch.

Suddenly, the shadow on the ground snapped taut, yanking him off his feet and dragging him along.

Qi Yan was stunned. He couldn’t make out the shape of the thing with his eyes, only that a strong force was gripping his legs.

In the next instant, the shadow crawled up his body, transforming from a flat silhouette into a three-dimensional form—a faceless, hairless, pitch-black “person” who raised its hand, reaching for Qi Yan’s face.

“Get away from me!” Qi Yan found that once the shadow had become solid, he could touch it too. The texture was as rough as ancient tree bark; he couldn’t even tell what it was—only that it lunged at him like a starving wolf.

The two of them wrestled on the ground in the most primal, brutal way possible.

Punching or kicking was useless. Though rough to the touch, its body was soft and malleable as clay.

Its limbs could freely change shape, morphing into whips that tightly bound Qi Yan, while its round head suddenly split open into a giant maw that swallowed his entire head.

There was no foul odor, but Qi Yan felt as if his head had been buried in soil—he couldn’t breathe. He struggled with all his strength, but the thing wouldn’t let go.

Just then, eight monstrous, grotesque baby spirits appeared out of nowhere, hurtling themselves at the shadowy monsters crawling over.

They scratched and bit furiously, their infant wails shrill and full of rage.

But these shadowy monsters were incredibly troublesome! They didn’t possess overwhelming strength, nor did they have teeth or claws, but their softness counteracted brute force. Like rubber, they neutralized every attack.

The ghost babies could easily tear a shadow apart in a few moves, but the shadows would quickly reassemble, morphing into new forms to entangle the babies.

And unlike with Qi Yan, once the shadows latched onto the infants, they tried to drag them one by one into the smooth surfaces of the mirrors…

Anyone outside would only see an empty patch of grass—no sound, no sign of what was happening within the circle of mirrors.

Meanwhile, under Watanabe Nobutomo’s feet, the grass began to shift in a bizarre way—a tide of blackness surged forth. Not grass, but hair!

Much like the shadows, the hair grew in long, sinuous strands, wrapping rapidly around Watanabe’s limbs, binding his arms in an instant.

But Watanabe’s reaction was much quicker than Qi Yan’s. As soon as he was bound, he grabbed the hair with his right hand and, using his index and middle fingers as a blade, slashed through it.

Staggering back several steps, he drew something from his waist—not a belt, but a white strip hidden within: about three feet long, reminiscent of white paper, yet incredibly tough, woven from numerous diamond-shaped paper talismans inscribed with strange, dark red sigils.

The hair on the grass undulated in the air like tendrils underwater, and from the gaps between the strands, two sharp red eyes flashed.

In an instant, a slender hand wrapped in cloth shot out like lightning, bones crackling, stretching to nearly three meters as it lunged for Watanabe’s neck.

Watanabe didn’t even need to look. He raised the paper-woven cord, meeting the monstrous hand in midair.

There was no sound; the ghostly hand and the cord recoiled from each other. “Mother” parted her hair and emerged, still cradling the ninth infant in her other arm…

Since Qi Yan had received the spirit tablet, only two adversaries had ever faced “Mother” herself—first the little girl in red, and now, this man.