At night, my desires are a hundred times stronger than during the day. I am trapped in an even harsher predicament. During the day, I continue my usual training, striving to precisely match the amount of Ghost Aura released by Isabelle Frost.
Fortunately, after ten days, I am no longer overwhelmed by nightfall's cravings. Every night, I train until midnight before returning to sleep.
Now, what I look forward to most is the arrival of night. I am desperate to master my desires so I can move on to the next stage of training.
Isabelle Frost still says nothing, quietly watching me train. Moonlight slowly pours down as I dart out of my little den toward the open field.
Once I reach the open field, I begin my repetitive drills. My progress remains slow—I still can't naturally release the same amount of Ghost Aura as Isabelle Frost. Seven out of ten attempts end in failure, but my success rate is gradually improving with relentless effort.
The days of monotony and dullness seem to have become my drive. I can ignore all that and just focus on training.
“How much longer, Ethan Zhang? I’m getting impatient.”
Just then, that delicate voice comes from beside me. I turn my head quickly, but see nothing.
“Almost done. Don’t rush me, okay? It’ll just take a little longer.”
“So boring. I’m all alone. Of all those people before, only that Evil Ghost knows I exist, but we can’t communicate. That self-important, scheming, devious guy really made things hard for me.”
I let out a snort and burst into laughter.
"Is it that guy, living off you for free in your house for fifty-eight years?" No need to ask, she was clearly talking about John Chou.
"Yeah, that's right. That guy is so annoying. All for breaking some sort of worldly pattern, he made my life miserable. At first, he deliberately had me create all sorts of things, trying to get rid of her. By the time I realized it, decades had passed. I didn't want to play with him anymore, but he kept coming up with new ways to torment me. It's exhausting."
I laughed and didn't continue talking with the girl. Three days later, in the morning, I stood in the open field, waiting for Isabelle Frost, who was still eating breakfast. My heart was a little excited. By tonight, I would be able to freely release Ghost Aura just like her, without any restraints.
I was eager to know what the next stage would be. I feared it wouldn't be any easier than this one.
"Hurry up, I can't wait any longer."
Isabelle Frost finally drifted over and landed in front of me, looking at me seriously.
"In the next stage, I won't give you any instructions. After this phase, comes the final stage, Ethan Zhang. When the last stage ends, I will leave."
Isabelle Frost spoke coldly. I nodded gratefully.
"First, let's talk about the composition of a ghost, Ethan Zhang. You should have heard of the Thirteen Ghost Gates."
I immediately nodded. Indeed, I remembered that when I went to the ghost realm, Rufina Howard had explained it to me.
"They are: Ghost Seal, Ghost Palace, Ghost Den, Ghost Fortress, Ghost Road, Ghost Market, Ghost Hall, Ghost Pillow, Ghost Heart, Ghost Leg, Ghost Faith, Ghost Camp, Ghost Vault, Ghost Minister. These Thirteen Ghost Gates are the foundation of a ghost's soul."
As Isabelle Frost spoke, I saw thirteen bright green dots of light radiate from her body. She pointed at herself.
"These are the Thirteen Ghost Gates. Generally, when a ghost uses power, it channels it through different gates to manifest its abilities. Depending on how the power is used, ghost abilities fall into seven main categories: Penetration, Illusion, Division, Convergence, Bewitchment, Ghost Array, and Curse Killing. Essentially, all ghosts operate within these six categories."
As Isabelle Frost spoke, her whole body emitted waves of green light. She raised her hand, and with a whoosh, I saw her penetrate a Desire Tree. I watched in astonishment.
"This is the first: Penetration. There are many branching powers, such as destroying someone's body from the inside—whether human or ghost, it's all classified as Penetration, including abilities like passing through walls or possession."
As Isabelle Frost continued her demonstration, she gradually changed shape—becoming identical to me. I swallowed hard.
"This is Illusion."
Isabelle Frost nodded.
"Indeed, this is the simplest form of Illusion. It's mostly used to gain a person's trust, by mimicking someone familiar—whether human or ghost. As long as the Ghost Aura, speech, movements, and expressions are matched, it creates a hypnotic effect. Simply put, it's a power of transformation."
Isabelle Frost returned to her original appearance and continued.
"This Illusion isn't just simple transformation. High-level Blue Wraiths can change their form much more intricately. For example, Sima Ying—you've seen her. She's nearly perfect at this type of transformation, appearing exactly as she wishes."
I made a sound of acknowledgement and nodded. Sima Ying's power, when it appears, is like cherry blossoms swirling—beautiful, but deadly.
"If you master Illusion, it greatly enhances your ghost martial abilities. Remember this. You've seen Zhuang Bo's Illusion at its peak, and also that Blue Wraith called Old Nine."
I nodded.
With a whoosh, a green light flared. Suddenly, I saw the area fill with countless Isabelle Frosts, all with cold expressions. In unison, they spoke, their voices loud and perfectly synchronized.
"This is Division—multiple manifestations of a ghost's soul. In battle, it's mainly used to confuse enemies. If your ghost soul isn't strong enough, these copies are easily destroyed."
As she spoke, the many Isabelle Frosts vanished. Then she raised her hand, and a cluster of green Ghost Aura glowed in her palm. Instantly, I felt a massive surge of Ghost Aura converging into that small green orb.
Crackling sounds echoed around us. I saw the barriers made of spider lilies disappear. I stared in surprise, then all that Ghost Aura vanished as well.
"This is Convergence—pure power. A ghost gathers all its Ghost Aura in an instant, unleashing powerful energy to defeat opponents."
As Isabelle Frost spoke, the red eyes flashed with light. Suddenly, my surroundings changed completely—it was an apartment building. I watched in astonishment as ghosts came and went.
Then, in an instant, the images flickered and disappeared. I looked at Isabelle Frost in surprise.
"Can ghosts create hallucinations too?"
Isabelle Frost nodded.
"When powers are equal, it doesn't work, but my power is much greater than yours. Ghosts use this trick to deal with humans—a lot of ghosts make the three fires on a person's shoulders go out, scare them to death, or find substitutes to absorb their yang energy. You'll understand more as you try it—find some people to practice on."
I made a sound of surprise and could only quietly acknowledge.
"It's easy to scare the timid to death. For the brave, try those who are obsessed with money—as long as they're still thinking about unspent cash, they won't die of fright."
I clutched my stomach and burst out laughing.
"That's a good idea. When I get out, I'll try it on someone."
Isabelle Frost smiled, then began talking about the Ghost Array.
"About the Ghost Array—it's similar to the formations set up by practitioners to deal with ghosts. Centuries ago, ghosts developed it to counter the growing power of the arcane world, often combined with ghost domains. But don't worry about it; only high-level Blue Wraiths can manage. The best advice I can give is to keep improving your strength and create your own Ghost Array."
I acknowledged, then finally, there's Curse Killing. I'd watched a lot of horror movies before—Ju-On, The Ring, and so on—with Wu Xiaoli. We were so scared our legs went weak.
Then I started talking, and Isabelle Frost nodded.
"That’s basically the ability. Curses are special—not every ghost can use them. Only a rare few can, and you don’t have this ability yet."
"So Miss Frost, what's your strongest ability?"
I couldn't help but ask. Isabelle Frost raised her hand and a spider lily appeared in her palm.
"Curse Killing is my strongest ability. I can tell you this: the ghosts summoned in games like Pen Fairy, Paper Fairy, or Water Fairy all use this power. The female ghost in your apartment building, Chen Hongyan, is one of the best Curse Killers."
I made a sound of surprise, and Isabelle Frost continued. Usually, the ghosts summoned in these games can at most move objects to kill, stab with sharp things, or cause mysterious illnesses, but rarely kill outright.
So the ghosts summoned in these games are weak—usually just minor ghosts, rarely Blue Wraiths.
I remembered the game played under moonlight, with paper dolls and shouting names. Niu Quanfai's friend disappeared during that game.