There was a knock at the door. When I opened it, a staff member came in with a flashlight, delivering a pot of hot water, a hot water bag, and a blanket.
"Sir, this cursed weather is a real torment. With the water and power out, make sure you keep warm tonight."
I nodded with a smile. Once the door was closed, the noise from outside faded instantly. Many guests had gathered together in the hotel. The temperature outside was already close to zero, and it was freezing indoors as well. Even wrapped in the blanket and clutching the hot water bag, I still felt cold—especially since there was a Green Wraith in the room.
"Maybe I should just go outside instead."
The air was thick with Corrupt Miasma. Logan the Living Buddha’s ghostly aura began to leak out, affected by the outside contamination. Worried, I peered through the glass at the distant plaza, where many lamas were still sitting. It was already 10 PM.
People were all talking about the sudden change in weather. Many planned to leave early tomorrow, and no one knew when water and power would be restored.
At this moment, the streets were visibly choked with foul miasma, slowly drifting toward the Golden Temple, only to be swiftly purified by the external Ritual Array.
"It’s only a matter of time before the Ritual Array collapses. In this weather, no one from the Hades Circle could possibly come."
Logan muttered. I nodded. Suddenly, I saw a streak of white flash past my eyes. Instantly, the sound of crackling echoed from outside. I gasped, and as I stood up, the roofs of cars out on the street began to rattle—hailstones the size of goose eggs were falling from the sky.
I looked toward the plaza. It seemed there was no hail there, and a faint sliver of moonlight pierced the clouds. The lamas on the plaza were already getting up to head back to the temple.
The hail kept falling, smashing up all sorts of things on the street. Soon, hail began drifting down onto the plaza of the Golden Temple as well.
I watched anxiously, but luckily the hail only lasted half an hour before tapering off. By then, the plaza was empty, and even the outline of the Golden Temple was swallowed by darkness. I rose to my feet.
"You’re not thinking of going out there, are you, Roxie? You’d freeze to death in this weather—"
Logan didn’t finish his sentence before waves of heat began to radiate from my skin. Instantly, warmth flooded my body, and flames flickered faintly around me. I went straight downstairs. The street was in chaos, littered with hailstones the size of goose eggs. Weather like this almost never happens. The Corrupt Miasma around me began to evaporate under the weak fire, but quickly gathered again. It felt like I was wading through knee-high fog as I hurried toward the plaza.
After a while, I climbed the steps to the Golden Temple, with Logan following close behind. The temple’s perimeter glowed with a faint white light, and many rooftops had broken tiles from the hail.
I could sense that the Ritual Array near the plaza had contracted, now only covering the Golden Temple itself. Inside, the sound of chanting echoed. The temperature here was higher than elsewhere. I glanced back; black mist was rolling in like a thick fog.
The scene was deeply unsettling, and the Corrupt Miasma kept growing, blanketing a huge portion of the city. Black fog, invisible to ordinary people, drifted everywhere. The plaza was lost in the haze. The black mist surged like a river, still swelling toward the Golden Temple. I sat at the temple entrance as Logan sighed.
"Don’t be reckless, Roxie. Put your power away for now. Let me stabilize things around the Golden Temple until the Hades Circle can get here."
I raised my hand, letting the violet flames die out. I planned to use the Vermilion Mantle, then burn away the Corrupt Miasma with Vermilion Bird’s fire. Logan slowly floated upward, his body glowing green as he drifted above the black mist.
Suddenly, clusters of green light appeared in the sky—Logan’s ghostly soul. His body swelled, and dozens of Logans flew toward the black mist, mouths wide open, sucking it in. I stared, stunned, as hundreds of Logan’s ghostly souls circled the Golden Temple, absorbing all the Corrupt Miasma.
In an instant, the Corrupt Miasma on the ground began to disappear rapidly. The miasma couldn’t keep up with Logan’s rate of absorption. In less than a minute, I saw the white plaza reappear, while Logan kept desperately sucking it in.
Ghosts don’t normally consume Corrupt Miasma. It disrupts their bodies, and miasma doesn’t usually gather like this—it only appears near dead things. Sometimes unlucky people in the living world encounter it, but seeing so much of it here was shocking.
Where ghosts are, you rarely see Corrupt Miasma. It’s like cooking smoke in the living world—unpleasant, but nobody would breathe it in on purpose. Logan’s actions were astonishing.
A few minutes later, a vast white plaza emerged, and the city’s Corrupt Miasma surged toward Logan, sucked up completely by his ghostly souls.
What surprised me most was that the clouds parted, moonlight broke through, and power was restored to the city. Lights flickered on house by house. Soon, I could barely see any Corrupt Miasma at all. The massive miasma that had shrouded the city was now entirely inside Logan. His hundreds of ghostly souls merged together, and Logan, belly bulging, landed in front of me, grinning as the clouds vanished overhead.
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"It’ll last a day or two at most."
Logan burped as he spoke. I blinked.
"Are you sure you’re alright?"
Logan made a gesture, signaling he was fine, but his whole body was puffed up like a balloon. His chubby cheeks looked even rounder, his nose, eyes, and mouth were all squished together, making him look comically ridiculous. He glanced at me, and I almost burst out laughing.
"Sorry, sorry."
Logan pouted as he spoke.
"Don’t worry at all. I’ll digest all this Corrupt Miasma."
"You can digest that?"
Logan sat on the ground, looking even more like a human balloon as he spoke.
"Corrupt Miasma is harmful to ghosts. If a ghost inhales it, it’s like a person breathing car exhaust—it disrupts their body, affects their ghostly aura and the gathering of Yin energy. Basically, it blocks the ghost from naturally absorbing Yin energy, building their form, and releasing ghost aura. It’s all bad for ghosts. But I’m different. My ghost soul is naturally more resilient, so it’s fine for me."
I watched as Logan’s body really did start to shrink. I turned and knocked on the Golden Temple’s main door, but after a long wait, only a faint voice told me to leave. Frustrated, I muttered a few complaints, but had no choice but to head back with Logan. I’d wait for the Hades Circle to arrive, and see if I could use the Four Saints’ power to do something.
Around eleven, the street filled with the smell of grilled food. Barbecue shops were booming. Logan and I finally found a spot at one. The weather was still freezing, and many people, now that the power was back, went out to eat. Barbecue and hotpot were the best choices.
Logan and I ordered a small hotpot, but he said he couldn’t eat another bite. I was baffled, so I ate by myself. The clouds had completely cleared, and the moon was visible.
But then I noticed the moon didn’t seem so bright—it looked a little blackened.
"Hurry up and eat, the meat’s done."
I gave a quiet reply. After finishing the hotpot, I felt much better, though tired. Back in my room, I lay down straight away, but noticed the moonlight had nearly vanished—the moon itself was dim.
"Is this a Celestial Eclipse?"
I muttered suspiciously, and Logan laughed.
"It’s just a natural phenomenon. I’ve managed to help a little for now, but it won’t last. By the looks of it, things might start up again tomorrow night."
The next morning, the weather was clear. Many people abandoned their plans to leave, finding the strange weather oddly refreshing. Now that it was sunny, the sunlight still felt cold on my skin.
Early in the morning, Logan had disappeared somewhere. I wandered the streets for a while, then received texts from several Underworld Agents—they’d gathered the Hades Circle and were coming to help. They understood that, although I’d been locked up in the Golden Temple before, most didn’t want to see the Lama Order suffer a disaster and just stand by.
By noon, hundreds from the Hades Circle had arrived. I had them settle around the plaza, ready to respond if needed. Several Underworld Agents accompanied me to the Golden Temple’s gate.
"Could you please inform Elder Samuel that I am Roxie Lan, head of the Lanworths of the Hades Circle, and wish to see him?"
Half an hour later, the temple doors creaked open. The sight shocked me—many lamas were huddled together, shrouded in black mist and writhing in pain, while others tended to them.