The Tale of the Ghost Eyes Chapter 99 The Frozen Ghost

I listened to Master Liu and Sima Jie discuss the frozen ghost's transformation as we walked.

"It must be a coincidence." Master Liu said. "Perhaps the man had ties to the National Master, a long lost descendent or something of the like. He must have slipped through the spiritual boundary and accumulated the lingering power left over."

"That and the turtle spirit." Sima Jie added. "Its ascension into becoming a hell immortal released enormous amounts of supernatural air. Our frigid friend probably leeched out as much as it could before we captured it."

"That doesn't explain why it would go after Zhao Yuan." Master Liu noted. Sima Jie only shook his head in agreement.

The rain continued to mist, but didn't abate. The Falling Dragon Col flooded around us as we trekked through it towards home. We walked for most of that afternoon, waiting for the heavy stream to narrow so we could cross back into the village. It was dark before we found something passable.

When we finally arrived home my parents were waiting with dry towels and clothes. Mom prepared a ginger tea for us to sip on. Once properly dried and happily sipping on warm tea, Sima Jie asked to look at the dragon scales once more.

He inspected them carefully, turning them over in his hands again and again before saying, "They're not very effective in this state. I will treat them with ash water and cut them down to size for you." He told me. A balloon of excitement burst in my head at that.

"Really?" I asked.

He smiled, "Yes, indeed."

"The boys are going to be so jealous!" I thought, not wanting to brag in front of the masters.

Sima Jie seemed to read my mind. "Don't tell anyone you have them!" He said harshly. "Especially your friends. Dark tidings come to those who boast, remember that." His forehead creased in a scowl.

I made the most innocent expression I could and nodded in agreement. "Yes sir." I said.

After eating and getting almost completely dry, we made our way to the Zhao household. Zhao Yuan still lay in her bed, but she looked much more alive. She could walk to the washroom without assistance, and she didn't appear to be cold all the time. Seeing her working her way back to normal lifted a weight that I didn't know was on my shoulders.

"Did you catch it?" Zhao Laohei asked Master Liu. An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

Finally Master Liu spoke after checking Zhao Yuan's pulse. "Don't worry, Zhao Laohei. Your daughter is fine. We've contained the spirit for now. It is in the Qian Kun bag right now." Master Liu gave a heavy sigh. "Master Sima and I lost much of our power this afternoon. We dare not try to deal with a red ghost this evening."

"Red ghost?" Zhao Laohei asked.

Master Sima and Master Liu nodded in unison. "It changed." I said for them.

"We will question it in the daylight tomorrow." Master Liu said.

Zhao Laohei nodded, withholding his questions for the time being.

The rain continued to pour through the night. Soon our street was almost as flooded as the col had been. We returned to my house to rest. The next morning I practiced Da Hong fist inside while Master Liu and Sima Jie watched the sky.

"The rain will stop soon." Master Liu said. "The wonder of three rainbows will arrive this day." Sima Jie nodded.

We returned to Zhao Laohei's house after breakfast. I was both nervous and excited to see how the frozen ghost would be dealt with. It had been eight months since the spirit last appeared. He brought with him terror and mischief. It was time we had answers.

Master Liu instructed Zhao Laohei to prepare an altar and incense. He went to the task with familiar ease as he'd done so many times before. Soon candles were burning and the altar was laid at the doorway to Zhao Yuan's room. Master Liu turned to Sima Jie, "Senior fellow apprentice, I will take charge of these religious rites."

Sima Jie nodded wordlessly.

A sharp "Dang it!" ran through my head. I really wanted to see Sima Jie, a true Taoist Master, perform the ritual. Master Liu was excellent and powerful, but he wasn't at the same level as Master Sima.

He took out the Qian Kun bag and placed it on the altar. Once it was carefully positioned, he took out a meditation amulet and began murmuring the incantation. His feet moved in the conjuration footwork and the rites began.

I felt the air grow heavy with supernatural power. Yang air dropped into the house from the sky, lighting ten meters around the master.

"It's different…he's different this time." I whispered.

Sima Jie leaned close to me. "Perhaps it is because your godfather internalized the golden turtle's supernatural air. His power has increased, thereby increasing his momentum and flow."

I nodded, wrapping the idea of momentum around and around in my mind.

Master Liu used one hand to hold the Qian Kun bag and the other to grasp a soul binding amulet. He performed Taoist tactics and murmured incantations. At last he opened the bag, shaking it forcefully. A red light flitted out of it, hitting the ground and skating along the floor like a wild shadow. With a quick gesture, the flaming snake slithered from the bag and embraced the shadow, forcing it into shape.

Master Liu's expression curled into one of disdain. He twisted his right hand, tightening the flaming snake and spouted, "You bastard. Trying to run away already? Why are you so ungrateful?"

The snake tightened further until the red spirit before us began to whine a low pained sound. It sounded like a wounded animal and sent a spike of pity into my heart.

Master Liu was unfazed. "Who are you?" He demanded. "What do you want with Zhao Yuan?"

The blood red spirit now standing before us twisted in its binding to look at Zhao Yuan, who was lying on the bed behind it. A noise came out of it, not words, but sounds in that twisted foreign tongue.

Sima Jie stepped forward, raising his hand as if catching every word. He closed his eyes and translated, "His name is Yu Jinchao. He…" Sima Jie's forhead crinkled in concentration. "He was a tractor driver until the accident that took his mind. His wife…left…daughter…left him, parents…cast him out." Sima Jie sucked in air and clicked his tongue. "They didn't even look for you, did they?" He asked the bound spirit. It didn't answer, but continued to moan in that foreign language. Sima Jie went on, "Yu Jinchao wandered until he came to your village. The children were nice to him, gave him food…he…he loved you all. You were his new children"

Sima Jie's eyes snapped open, not looking at the spirit, but through it. He continued, "He says he was protecting you, entertaining you, helping you along the road, but you were afraid…you were all afraid." His staring eyes darted around until the fell on Zhao Yuan, opposite the ghost. "He misses his daughter… until he found you." He sucked in another hiss of air, clicking his tongue in another pattern of three. "You were ungrateful. You didn't like the school, or the teachers, you didn't appreciate the life you had…and he became angry. Not with you, but with everyone." The spirit stretched against its flaming bond and let out a wounded howl.

Sima Jie closed his eyes once more. "He is not a bad man."

I stepped gingerly to Sima Jie and placed my hand on his outstretched arm, careful not to disturb, but to make myself known. "Master Sima, why did he possess Zhao Yuan? He almost killed her."

Beyond the doorway Zhao Yuan visibly shook. She watched the three of us address the invisible spirit before her.

The ghost's red eyes stopped rolling and turned to me, boring into me. He opened his mouth and worked it until sounds came out, sounds that I could almost understand. "P….uuuuu…rree." It whispered.

It continued, "Ssshh…iii…Yong. You…r…name." I nodded. "You…gave…me food." I nodded again. Yu Jinchao's words were almost clear now.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"He's coming back into consciousness," Master Liu said. "His time in the Qian Kun bag has helped to tether his souls. The madness is fading."

"If you know me, then answer me. Why did you go after Zhao Yuan?"

The spirit's red eyes didn't waiver. It seemed to grasp at sanity just to form a response. "She…is…daughter…taken…from…me…"

"So you tried to kill her?"

The spirit nodded.

Without warning, Zhao Yuan shuffled out of bed and got unsteadily to her feet. She stared into the apparently empty doorway and half shouted, "Is your daughter's name Yu Doudou?"

Chapter end