"What exactly is this?"
Victor Fan stared in shock. On the table lay two infants, one boy and one girl. They looked somewhat different, but at this moment, the girl had her mouth open, revealing a row of pitch-black, razor-sharp teeth, emitting a sound that was not human. I could see that the boy was growing weaker, a stream of white energy continuously flowing from his body into the girl's.
"When heaven and earth first opened, they split into yin and yang. This child's body has had its yin and yang completely separated. Just as Cecilia was about to seal me into this beauty, at the last moment, she forcibly stripped away the yin and yang parts of this child. And this girl is the yin part that originally belonged to the child."
Victor Wu spoke as he sighed. His face was pale. I knew well the power of the Spirit Transformation Technique—it could split a person and a ghost entirely without harming either. Previously, Master Zachary Wu did just that for me, helping bury my ghostly side and making me fully human.
Victor Fan picked up the beauty lying to the side, still stained with blood. Victor Wu took it from him, sensed it for a long while, and sighed.
"Cecilia's presence has completely vanished."
There's no more time to wait. The boy's vitality was almost undetectable now, and in the blink of an eye, he seemed to have shrunk even further.
Victor Fan thought it was his imagination and asked, but Victor Wu shook his head.
"These two infants were originally one. Now, because the girl has been affected by Cecilia's ghostly energy, she cannot be considered human. She is merely the yin portion of the boy. She is gradually absorbing the yang part of his body."
Victor Wu did not know what would happen next, or what the outcome would be. But he was certain: the boy was about to disappear. Once the girl absorbed all the yang from his body, John Chou would no longer exist in this world.
Victor Wu knew well that his half-mastered Spirit Transformation Technique was deeply responsible for this situation. His master had warned him not to use this move lightly, as it was still in development. By borrowing the power of the Heavenly Dao, a person could gain a pure force capable of dispelling all evil.
This power comes from heaven and earth, the universe itself. In an instant, it can purify all evil nearby. Ghosts are powerless against it. With the rise of Blue Wraiths in the ghost realm, this technique was created decades ago by Victor Wu's master specifically to counter a Blue Wraith.
Now Victor Wu was pondering how to reunite the yin and yang parts. The broken life before him was something he longed to save, but he was helpless. If he failed, there would be no other way—the infant would die.
Victor Wu then left the room, leaving Victor Fan to watch over things alone. Everyone in the Henderson Family was deeply worried. This was their only descendant—if he died, the Henderson Family would be finished.
Henry Henderson waited outside with Edward Henderson and other clan members. Victor Fan could only say that more time was needed. Whether the child would recover was unknown.
But the Henderson Family trusted Victor Fan completely, without a hint of doubt. There had been rumors of such miniature children before, but usually they died soon after birth. Because John Chou still had breath and a faint pulse, the family placed great hope in him.
Victor Wu walked along the edge of the village, looking out at the fields. Many had been flooded by last night's torrential rain, but thanks to the efforts of everyone in Henderson Village, some areas had been saved.
Staring at the water's surface, Victor Wu felt turmoil and confusion inside. Everything that happened last night was beyond belief, far outside his understanding. He had never heard of a person being split in two, with soul and body separated.
After much thought, Victor Wu concluded it was likely his Spirit Transformation Technique that caused all this. Deep inside, he burned with the desire to save both the infant and Cecilia, relying only on his own strength.
Now, Cecilia's ghost had vanished, and the boy was on the verge of death.
The Spirit Transformation Technique Victor Wu used last night, with its pure power, saved the girl's life. When he found her, her body and soul were nearly gone. Then the girl bit Victor Wu's hand, drinking his blood.
Victor Wu rolled up his sleeve, looking at the row of bite marks on his arm, still raw and bloody.
Time was running out. Not a moment could be wasted; any further delay would endanger the boy's life. Even if the girl absorbed all the yang from the boy, she might still not be able to live as a human.
Neither human nor ghost, yet still alive. With a splash, a small stone fell into the water, sending ripples across the surface.
"Life or death?"
Victor Wu hesitated, unsure whether to act. In the end, he walked to a secluded spot, took out three sticks of incense of different lengths, and set up a simple altar beside the Wishing Tree. He picked three leaves and drew different symbols on each, then lit the incense and knelt down.
"Master, if your spirit is here, please listen to your disciple..."
After performing a series of hand signs, Victor Wu sat on the ground. The curling smoke gradually changed direction, as if it had a will of its own, swirling together and forming the shape of an old man with a long beard.
"Yuan Yi, your troubles—I already know them all."
"Master, what should I do?"
Victor Wu gazed eagerly and expectantly at the old man formed by the smoke. I swallowed, looking at the elder whose voice was gentle and whose face seemed kindly and wise.
"Whatever is in your heart, that is what you should do. As Daoists, we must find our own way. The way that can be spoken is not the true way. It lies within reason, yet outside sentiment. We are, after all, human. Go now, Yuan Yi—you already have the answer in your heart."
Victor Wu bowed respectfully, then stood up. The uncertainty in his eyes vanished, and he ran toward Henderson Village.
Back inside, Victor Fan was still keeping watch. The boy was now only half the size of a palm, while the girl had grown considerably, her mouth open to reveal a row of pitch-black teeth.
Victor Wu took golden talismans and began sticking them in the corners of the room.
"Leave now, Victor Fan. Warn everyone to stay away."
Victor Wu spoke, and Victor Fan nodded, worry in his eyes.
"Mr. Wu, the Spirit Transformation Technique you mentioned—using it twice in one day is dangerous, isn't it? You..."
"Don't worry, Victor Fan. I know my limits. If I used it in full, I'd probably die immediately. But this isn't a full use, so I'll be fine."
Victor Wu smiled. He had figured it out—the Spirit Transformation Technique he used last night hadn’t been complete. He couldn’t even remember the incantation, as it required repeated chanting, lengthy and complex, with many variations, each having different effects. Because he hadn’t memorized it all, that might have saved his life—and perhaps, that was also why all this happened.
"As expected, I’m still just a half-trained amateur. Sigh, when this is over, I should return to my master and learn a bit more before he passes away."
Victor Wu smiled and sat quietly. The pure power left by last night’s Spirit Transformation Technique was still present. As soon as he calmed his mind, he sensed something—the surface of his body began to glow faintly with golden light, the process smooth and effortless.
Victor Wu silently chanted. Gradually, the golden glow around him intensified. Slowly, he began to float, spinning in midair. Suddenly, he extended a finger and wrote two characters in the air. Golden words appeared on the bodies of the boy and girl: "yin" and "yang," but reversed.
On the boy’s body floated the character for "yin," while on the girl’s was "yang."
Victor Wu tried to use his pure power to connect with the infants’ yin and yang, using it as a medium to harmonize and complement them.
Everything was going smoothly. Victor Wu breathed a sigh of relief. All things in this world depend on yin and yang, and Daoists have studied their origins and interactions for ages. For Victor Wu, this wasn’t difficult.
Suddenly, Victor Wu shouted, spreading his arms wide. Gradually, both infants floated into the air. Victor Wu began to bring his arms together, and the energy around the infants started to intertwine. Yin and yang began to merge, and although there was some resistance, the method was working.
Victor Wu was drenched in sweat, but inwardly he was extremely joyful. Bit by bit, the bodies of the two infants, especially their arms, began to fuse. With a little more time, the separated infants’ souls and bodies could be fully restored.
Suddenly, the girl opened her eyes wide and let out another inhuman sound. She stared at Victor Wu, her mouth moving rapidly. With a swish, the beauty lying on the ground shot up and flew towards Victor Wu.
With a clang, it struck the light barrier around Victor Wu and fell to the ground.