The Black Spirit Jade
It's fine. The ones who made that box are probably already dead, reduced to dust. But if they happen to wander as spirits and cross my path, I'll make them suffer thousands, tens of thousands of times over. Torment beyond death itself, until they beg for annihilation.
I want to go home... I want to go home...
The child kept wiping away tears, sobbing endlessly.
I don't want to be alone... It's scary... It hurts... Why... why won't they come? Mom and Dad said if I was good, they'd come after ten nights...
The sadder the child grew, the more desperately she called for her parents, the thicker the dark, murky energy poured from the bead. Like the thick rope coiled around her neck, that energy bound her body tight.
That murky energy forcibly rips spirits away, seals them in the box, and uses the trapped ones as materials to "complete" the bead. In the Dark Heavenly Realm, such boxes were called Spirit-Catching Traps. True to the name, they were crafted solely to capture spirits and feed them into the bead.
Judging by how intact the child's spirit remained, this was a shoddy knockoff—maybe a tenth as efficient as a proper one. But even in its bungled state, tossing it among unprepared people would have caused massive harm.
Especially that bead—the Black Spirit Jade. If it had fully absorbed the child's spirit and existed alone in the box, it wouldn't have stayed buried under a peach tree. It would have burst out, tearing spirits from any nearby life it could find and devouring them.
There were mad fools in the Dark Heavenly Realm who called such horrific things "wish stones" or "all-purpose gems," prostrating themselves before them, worshiping, offering sacrifices. They captured strangers as tribute or, claiming it had to be something precious, sacrificed their own families. Not killing cleanly, either—they stabbed, sliced, burned, froze the living flesh, dragging out the agony so the resentment soaked into the Black Spirit Jade. They did every atrocity imaginable to complete it, to make their wishes come true.
Thus, anyone involved in making Spirit-Catching Traps or Black Spirit Jades was an irredeemable sinner. The Great Immortals themselves had stepped in, capturing them and executing them publicly. "Executed" meant using them as fodder to destroy the traps and jades.
The Immortals spoke of mercy, patience, compassion as naturally as breathing. They believed even the wicked had some good, avoided taking life lightly. The Great Immortals cherished all life even more. For them to personally sacrifice sinners was partly for public punishment, but mainly because nothing else could fully eradicate the traps and jades from the world.
Layer upon layer of venomous grudge demanded satisfaction—not without the blood, flesh, and spirits of those who contributed. If any remnants survived, they were offered to the Heavenly Wood, praying it would purify and console what was left.
Who'd have thought Earth had Spirit-Catching Traps and Black Spirit Jades too. Once the concepts form— what spirits are, how to capture them, how to wield their power— and desire stirs, crafting such gui-mul isn't that hard. But seeing this... I wonder if the "human like me" Gwang-jeong and Su-jeong mentioned really was like me.
After resolving this, I'll head straight there. Maybe that cave I suspect is a training grotto holds— no, no rash judgments. First, check the traces, find the talking bone, smash or burn it as sacrifice.
Sob... sniff... Mom... Mommm... Dad...
The child kept crying. Somewhere, psychos might delight in a kid's sobs of sorrow, loneliness, hunger. But not me.
To avoid startling her—lest the Black Spirit Jade, still subconsciously under her control, react—I approached slowly. Reaching her side as she hiccuped sobs, I cupped my right hand, creating something.
This space was illusion, peeking into the entrant's memories, showing joy, sorrow, hope, despair. Realize it's a dream, and you can toy with it freely. Same here.
What I made was honey candy, wafting sweet aroma. Bin-i's favorite from the taffy shop back then. Sugar, not real honey, but she called it honey candy for the bright yellow hue.
Honey candy was illusion yet not— infused with a bit of Heavenly Wood's qi. Even back on Earth from the Dark Heavenly Realm, Heavenly Wood lingered in my right palm. As a living spirit, it stayed linked, making this possible.
If all went to plan, easy to dispose of the trap and jade.
Crumple.
The wrapper's crinkle halted her sobs; she startled, turning.
!!!
Seeing me, her sunken eye sockets made her eyes seem huge, widening further; mouth gaped— then fixed on the honey candy at her eye level.
I unwrapped it, offering the round, bright yellow treat. She reached trance-like, then flinched back as if burned.
She probably was, back when alive outside. Whenever hunger drove her to eat dirt or twigs, pain punished her. That's how the trap eternally pinned her spirit, forging the device.
【It's okay.】 I held the candy closer, voice steady. No feigned warmth, no pity. Not what she needed now.
Outside, I'd sensed corrupted spirits. So many near her inside the Black Spirit Jade— fused as one body— it'd react to anything odd, badly for us both.
Who... are you?
She tore gaze from candy, looking up.
【Someone to get you out of here.】
Really?
Hope flickered in her black eyes— then dark energy gushed from the jade, enveloping her. Her eyes glazed; she muttered.
No, no way. No one's come. Ever. No one looked for me... Mom, Dad... They said ten nights and they'd come if I was good... No one...
She gnashed nail-less fingers, black blood oozing, eyes rolling wildly.
Bad sign.
I have to stay here. To be good. I'm a good girl. If I'm good... Mom and Dad will like me, come see me... So I stay... good girl... good...
Movies slap the deranged awake. But for a child who'd suffered enough, striking her—even for her good—was inhuman.
So, gentler method.
Thwack!
I gripped her chin like the box lid. Pressed, mouth opened. Murky energy tried shoving me off. Yeah, right.
Her eyes refocused in shock—
Whoosh!
Candy in, jaw shut.
-!!!
Her face transformed. Rightly so. Sweetness eclipsed brutal pains of forced feedings. Heavenly Wood's qi flowed down her throat.
Fingers cradled cheeks; joy filled rolling eyes. The binding energy peeled away like shed shell.
...Wow.
After mindless sucking, her sigh brimmed with bliss.
So good...
【Tasty, right?】
Yes... really tasty... Thank you, thank you...
【What've you been eating all this time?】
People who laughed or cried... Didn't want to... but had to... to survive...
Mid-answer, her form shifted. Relaxed guard let Heavenly Wood's qi absorb deeper. Height grew inch by inch; cheeks plumped. From toddler to six or seven now. Probably true age— starved stunted before.
Really... you can take me out? From here?
【If you want.】
If I want...
She nodded, repeating, still slurping candy side to side, savoring.
If I want, I can leave? Really?
【Of course.】
B-but... Mom and Dad...
【You already know. What happened to your parents. You just can't remember. Look inside.】
...
She squeezed eyes shut. I watched the jade intently. Don't freak. Don't freak. Ideally, acquire you intact.
Mom. Dad.
Eyes opened, teary, to a young couple standing there. Gaunt as her, poorly clothed. But eyes brimmed love; faces wet with pure tears.
Obvious tale. Poor, cold, hungry home overflowing love. Strangers came promising food, clothes, wishes granted... lured the child, tortured her, killed searching parents for trap materials. Child chained parents; parents chained child. Eternal prison.
Mom! Dad!
She bolted up, fleeing white box. Rope snapped from neck. Jade clattered to floor.
Her steps light leaving parent-bone box. Ran, embraced them. They knelt, hugging fiercely.
Not pure memory illusion— remnant spirits too weak to pierce jade before.
I missed you... so much!
Oh, my baby... my precious...
We missed you too. So much.
I glanced at family reunion of tears and smiles, then the lone jade on the floor. Reached out.
Trap incomplete; jade too. Complete, it wouldn't just watch my hand approach helplessly. It twitches— effort, futile.
I grasped the Black Spirit Jade.
Heavenly Wood seemed joyful... No mere feeling; real. Sensation sharpened as it gulped the Delusion Pouch. This would change us both.
- -- ---!
Huh. Center cracked, trying to speak—
Nope. Begone.
Gulp.
* * *
Pung-jeong, guarding fiercely, eyed the approach warmly.
「Master! Comrade!」
Slipping through window with Hwa-jeong, he bounded joyfully— then puzzled at box under arm.
「That. Dangerous? Why bring?」
【Not anymore. Invisible to normals.】
「Oh.」
Trusted master, but Hwa-jeong's prior scare made him hesitate—
「As expected. Master. And. Thank. You!」
「Comrades. Protect. Each other! Safe. Good!」
Hwa-jeong grabbed, dancing; Pung-jeong joined, then tilted head.
Something inside box watching.
「Box. Inside. Something?」
「Ah. Yes. Maybe. New. Comrade?」
「Oh. Oh?」