The floorboards creaked loudly. Behind me, May Shaw kept apologizing, clutching her head. I stared quietly at the corpse before me—Jean Zeng. Only her torso and neck could move; her arms and legs were pinned down by invisible leyline energy, anchored directly into the ground below. The rope around her neck pulled tight. For now, I didn’t dare act rashly. Instead, I planned to approach and remove the sachet containing a protective talisman from Jean Zeng’s neck.
Everything began when Chen Yu gave four girls sachets and made a bet with them. I wanted to know what kind of talisman was sealed inside those sachets. Although I knew very little about ritual techniques—other than the Paper Spirit Art of Hades—I at least understood the basics of how such magic worked.
But that was enough. As long as I could get the talisman and determine its nature, it would suffice. My father taught me long ago that the elemental configuration—metal, wood, water, fire, earth—was vital in ritual techniques. It’s the foundation of everything, and he once forced me to learn a bit.
"You’ll be fine, May. Go outside first."
I turned and yanked May Shaw up from where she’d collapsed on the floor. She whimpered in pain, shaking her head and sobbing uncontrollably. She looked utterly broken—after all, she’d just witnessed her former friend come back to life.
"She’s not human anymore—not the Jean Zeng you knew. She’s just a corpse. As for why, it’s complicated. But it’s okay. I’ll handle this."
A heavy whimpering sound came from behind, along with the creak of floorboards. The rope suspending Jean Zeng’s corpse twisted tighter and tighter. After absorbing so much leyline energy, her body had become unnatural. She writhed, trying to snap the rope around her neck. I dragged May Shaw out of the room and straight downstairs. I told her to wait by the river and not come back. Leyline energy is earth, and earth suppresses water—but the leyline within that corpse wasn’t strong enough to withstand the river’s flow. So, inevitably, things would reverse.
When two opposing attributes interact, they adhere—either combining to generate power, or clashing until one devours the other. But if the devouring side is too weak, the process reverses, and the devoured side consumes the devourer instead.
May Shaw still looked terrified. I patted her back, having already noticed the black mist seeping from the upstairs room. Once the leyline is cut off, any residual energy inside the corpse will lose its connection, and the body will begin to produce corpse aura. The terrain will gradually turn the corpse into a ghoul. There are records of this happening before—rare, but documented.
But the speed at which corpse aura formed this time puzzled me. Then I realized—the corpse had absorbed leyline energy for so long that its nature had changed, transforming into earth attribute. The greatest trait of earth is resilience. Ritual techniques and defensive formations rely heavily on earth. And the ability to draw leyline energy for magical power—I understood that well.
Now, with Jean Zeng’s corpse severed from the leyline, the energy began to convert into corpse aura. Corpse aura is formed from leyline energy mixed with death energy, unique grudges, and various other corrupt energies. Every condition was now met. I raised Belle, flames licking along the blade, and stared quietly at the inn ahead. Heavy thumping sounds echoed from inside.
Life and death are also opposing attributes. The dead harm the living, and the living can harm the dead. The dead seek the living, and the living inevitably become the dead. Both energies exist within me, and I’m beginning to understand—now I see Quentin Yin’s intent, why he brought me to that island.
"Roxie, I..."
"No more talking. Don’t get in my way. If a fight breaks out and I have to protect you, I’ll lose focus. You don’t want to die, do you?"
I asked, and just then a surge of black-green energy burst from the inn’s front entrance. My eyes widened. Belle was already swinging, sizzling as it struck. May Shaw screamed behind me and ran. I watched as my flames scorched the corpse’s skin. It was strong—Jean Zeng clamped her hands around Belle, baring blackened teeth, trying to drain my life energy.
I smiled faintly, wanting to intensify the flames. What I unleashed was ordinary red fire, but if I burned the corpse, the sachet would be destroyed too. I leapt back, releasing Belle, which turned into a pink shimmer and returned to my hand. The ghoul shrieked and lunged at me. I sprinted away—I wasn’t about to fight head-on. Here, my strength couldn’t recover, and using power would only drain me further. If real trouble came, I’d be finished.
Right now, the only thing empowering the ghoul behind me was leyline energy. My sole option was to lure her into the forest and use the basic principle of wood overcoming earth to gradually break down the leyline within her body, returning her to a true corpse.
But just as I was about to cut left toward the woods, the ghoul veered right down a side alley. I braked hard and spun to chase after her.
"Come here!"
I shouted as I reached the alley, only to see the ghoul already far ahead. Her intent was clear—she was after May Shaw. Jean Zeng must have died harboring hatred for the other three girls, especially May Shaw, who’d criticized her. That hatred now drove the corpse to hunt her down.
There was no time left for hesitation. I unfurled my crimson Flame Wings and shot straight into the sky, heading for the riverbank in the distance. I could already see May Shaw.
"May, get onto the river!"
I shouted, but the ghoul had already reached May Shaw and lunged at her. May cowered in terror, clutching her head and collapsing to the ground.
With a whoosh, the flames on my back blazed crimson, scattering sparks as I landed in front of May Shaw. I kicked the ghoul—her face twisted, veins bulged—and sent her crashing through a wall into a ruined house.
The ghoul floated up with a gust. My eyes widened in disbelief as corpse aura erupted from her body, surging straight at me. Black smoke poured from the spot I’d just kicked. Her gaze was still fixed on May Shaw, ignoring me completely.
There was no other way. I stowed Belle and gripped a plain bow. Crouching low, I drew the bow with my left hand, while a trace of violet light flickered between the fingers of my right. Instantly, a violet flame arrow appeared. A fierce wind swept outward, power barely contained, heat coursing through me, my long hair whipping in the purple sparks.
With a whistle, the violet arrow pierced the ghoul’s heart just as she reached me. A thunderous boom—violet flames exploded behind her, reducing the house to ashes. The ghoul was hurled into the blazing ruins with a heavy crash.
I exhaled, watching the ghoul still writhing and whimpering on the ground. I stood, released the bow, and it dissolved into gentle particles of light. I gripped Belle in my left hand and walked over slowly.
I’d destroyed the ghoul’s heart—fire governs the heart in the Five Elements. Once the heart is ruined, the elemental flow within the body breaks down, and her power unravels. That’s the basic principle of the Five Elements. I pressed my palm to my forehead.
"Damn old man."
He’d drilled all this into me since I was four—things I never cared about. Yet now, it let me instantly spot the enemy’s weakness and think of a way to break her. Sure enough, corpse aura leaked from the ghoul. Though leyline energy still flowed into her body, it couldn’t generate corpse aura effectively with her elemental cycle broken.
Fire is the root of power—its strength depends on one’s own flame. I have the strength I do because my rebuilt body is pure yang, forged in the fire of the sun.
Gradually, the ghoul stopped moving. Her power drained away, black smoke curling around her. I approached and yanked the sachet from her neck. Her body shriveled, a black, charred hole gaping at her heart. At last, she lay still, her eyes dull and lifeless. I raised my hand.
A streak of violet flame swept across, igniting the corpse. Jean Zeng’s body quickly turned to cinders in the fire. I breathed a sigh of relief. Behind me, May Shaw cheered. I smiled, pressing wind-tossed hair down, gazing at the river in the distance, a warm current flowing through my heart.
"I really have grown, haven’t I, Ethan?"
I looked at the sachet in my hand. It smelled strange—fragrant, but with a foul undertone I’d recognized countless times as the stench of ghosts. I stared coldly at the sachet.