Chapter 142: The Snow Woman's Identity
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 142: The Snow Woman's Identity
The room, about 350 square feet, was a space completely dominated by the Snow Woman before me.
Her masterful offense and defense were like an impregnable fortress.
In fact, I couldn't even get close to her.
And her unidentified psychic power was strong enough to momentarily bind both Fuma-senpai and me.
She was, in every sense of the word, a formidable enemy.
"Kim Yoo-Sung, I'll help."
Perhaps feeling better after a short rest, Fuma-senpai spoke up and joined me.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"I think I broke a couple of ribs from that last attack, but I can still move. The bigger problem is that Snow Woman's ability."
It seemed Fuma-senpai was thinking the exact same thing I was.
Yellow sparks of electricity crackled from her Raikirimaru as she spoke.
"Among Onmyoji, there's a technique called Word of Power. It's a way of imbuing words with power and using them like a spell. What she just used felt similar to that."
"But your body stopped without her saying anything."
"Perhaps it's just stronger when she says it out loud?"
Hearing that, it did sound plausible.
Besides, Fuma-senpai was the expert in this field; her analysis was bound to be better than mine.
"So, for now, we attack together. We can't let her focus on just one of us."
"Understood."
I decided to follow Fuma-senpai's strategic command.
"Fwoooo—"
I took a deep, powerful breath.
The fundamentals of Baji Quan that Li Meiling had taught me were all contained within the Rushing Hammer and the Stomping Step.
After she returned to China, I had looked up various videos on my own, but it was all just scratching the surface.
I figured it was better to master one thing than to learn a variety of techniques poorly. So, whenever I had free time, I consistently practiced the Rushing Hammer and the Stomping Step at a local park.
The results of that training were about to be revealed here and now.
"Hup!"
My eyes flew open as I took a great step forward.
The Stomping Step isn't a movement technique.
But by stomping down hard as you move forward, you can use the rebound to cross a short distance in an instant.
One Step.
Perhaps because I controlled my strength, the floor didn't shatter like before.
But the impact must have traveled through the ground, as the bed the Snow Woman was sitting on shook slightly.
Two Steps.
I moved forward, maintaining the kinetic energy generated by the Stomping Step.
It only worked for an extremely short distance and in a straight line, but for this situation, it was enough.
Three Steps.
The energy generated from my lower body traveled up through my waist and focused entirely into one fist.
Finally, it became a single awl, piercing forward sharply.
BOOM!!
My outstretched fist shattered the thick wall of ice that had shot up just in front of the bed in a single blow.
"!"
The Snow Woman stared at me with a shocked expression.
Just before she could react, Fuma-senpai, having learned her lesson from before, threw the shuriken and kunai she'd pulled from her clothes from a distance.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
「Kyah!」
Though they barely grazed her skin, the Snow Woman screamed and curled her small body into a ball.
I immediately reached out to subdue her, but once again, my body wouldn't move properly.
It was as if my hands and feet were frozen in the cold of a snowy mountain.
"Kim Yoo-Sung! I'll help!"
Seeing my state, Fuma-senpai, who was behind me, threw another shuriken at the cowering Snow Woman on the bed, but just like mine, it stopped in mid-air.
"A poltergeist?!"
Fuma-senpai was exclaiming in shock, using a term I didn't understand.
「It hurts. Why are you bullying me? I was just sitting here quietly. Just waiting for my family in Tokyo.」
「Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?」
The Snow Woman, in the form of a young girl, began to mutter the same words over and over like a broken doll.
Unable to move, I had to listen to it up close, and it sent shivers down my spine.
Immediately after, black smoke began to rise from the girl's entire body.
Seeing this, Fuma-senpai was horrified.
"A sign of turning into an evil spirit?! Does that mean she wasn't a Snow Woman but an ordinary soul?!"
As Fuma-senpai continued to mutter things only she understood, I looked at her with a desperate expression. She bit her lip and said:
"Kim Yoo-Sung! It seems the information the village gave us was wrong! What's in front of us isn't a yokai, but an earth-bound spirit tied to this mansion! I don't know how she gained such immense power, but we have to stop her from becoming an evil spirit to prevent greater harm!"
Easier said than done!
With my arms finally free, I hastily reached for the Snow Woman—no, the girl ghost.
But the moment the girl lifted her head, I was hit with a powerful impact, as if struck by an invisible truck, and sent flying backward.
Crash!
A bookshelf toppled over, entangled with my large body.
Fortunately, thanks to my Ability of Indestructibility, I was able to get right back up. I found myself unconsciously overwhelmed by the aura radiating from the girl, who had stood up from the bed for the first time.
She was about 160 cm tall.
Perhaps because she had suffered from an incurable disease in life, her frame was delicate all over.
Combined with her beautiful features of white hair and blue eyes, she gave off the impression of a glass sculpture crafted with the utmost care by a master artisan.
Except for her hair and eye color, she was a spitting image of the photograph I saw on the first floor, so it had to be her.
「Get out of this house. Or I'll kill you.」
The girl spoke, raising her right hand, from which icicles had grown out like claws, and slowly approached us.
Hoarfrost spread rapidly with her every step.
The air in the room grew so cold that it was now difficult to even breathe without cloaking myself in Yang Energy, and the chill constricted my lungs from all sides.
I clicked my tongue and looked back at Fuma-senpai.
"Fuma-senpai, do you have that pill you gave me before?"
"You mean the Ghost Pill? I always carry one for emergencies."
Hearing my words, Fuma-senpai reached a hand into her cleavage and pulled out a single red pill.
"Give it here."
I snatched the red pill from Fuma-senpai's hand.
"Wait! That's the new model I just made!"
Gulp!
Before Fuma-senpai could say anything else, I swallowed the pill.
Time was of the essence; I didn't have a moment to listen to her explanation.
Thump!
My heart began to beat rapidly.
As soon as I took the pill, my blood flow must have increased dramatically, as I could feel the pounding of my own heart.
Along with that, I felt the familiar sensation of my whole body catching fire for the first time in a long while.
"Hraaaaaaaaaaah!"
When the heat from my upper body couldn't escape through my clothes, I ripped my T-shirt right off.
Sssssssss!
My muscles glowed red-hot.
My body met the cold air, emitting clouds of hot steam.
My synesthesia expanded, as if a third eye had opened on my forehead.
It wasn't to the point where an orange radiance overflowed from my entire body due to uncontrolled Yang Energy like before, but I had succeeded in regaining a similar sensation.
It was a power I hadn't felt in a very long time.
"Fwooooooo—"
To cool my heated body, I took a deep breath, filling my lungs, and stared at the girl ghost before me.
The girl ghost's eyes widened, startled by my sudden transformation, but her expression soon twisted into a venomous glare.
「So you have no intention of leaving?」
I said, unclenching my fists, which were now brimming with Yang Energy.
"And if I don't?"
「Then I'll settle this with force.」
Fwoosh!
An icy breath like diamond dust blasted from her mouth.
"A breath attack! Dodge! To the corner!"
As I shouted and looked back, Fuma-senpai quickly rolled away.
I, on the other hand, couldn't dodge due to the confined space and was exposed directly to the ice breath.
Shwaaaaaa!
But unlike before, instead of freezing, my body was wreathed in a thick cloud of steam.
According to Fuma-senpai's explanation, the natural counter to Yin Energy is Yang Energy.
In other words, by letting the Yang Energy within my body run wild, I had obtained the power to stand against the girl ghost's overwhelming Yin Energy.
I threw a Gender Equality Punch at the astonished girl ghost.
「Guhk!」
The fist landed squarely in her abdomen, and her body momentarily bent into an L-shape.
From that position, I tripped her, and once she was down, I used my large body to pin her limbs so she couldn't move an inch.
「Agh! Let go of me! Get off!」
The girl ghost struggled, flailing her arms and legs to escape, but it was no use.
No matter how overwhelming her spiritual power was, her physique and strength were nothing compared to mine.
The moment I was able to hit her with my bare hands, the outcome was already decided.
While holding her down, I asked Fuma-senpai.
"Fuma-senpai! How do I help an earth-bound spirit pass on!"
Fuma-senpai, who had been staring dumbfounded at me subduing the girl ghost, answered a beat later.
"Spirits who remain in this world after death usually do so because of some lingering attachment! If you resolve that attachment, they'll disappear naturally!"
I asked in disbelief.
"How am I supposed to do that in this situation!"
"Earth-bound spirits actually have simpler attachments than wandering ghosts! It's just that their obsession is stronger!"
I looked down at the girl ghost, who was still trying every trick in the book to get out from under me.
「Get off! You pervert!」
She had become completely hostile now; it didn't seem like she would answer nicely if I asked.
Wondering if there were any hints in the room, I looked around and suddenly spotted a picture frame on the floor.
It was a frame containing the same photo I'd seen on the first floor, but an old photograph was sticking out from behind it.
I instinctively felt it was a clue and reached for it.
「No! That's!」
The girl ghost frantically reached for the photo I was looking at, but unfortunately for her, my arms were much longer.
I looked at the photograph, which showed considerable signs of age.
It was a birthday photo of a much younger-looking girl making a V-sign with her fingers, alongside two other children her age.
And for a moment, I couldn't believe my eyes.
Because, for some reason, the faces of the other two children in the photo looked strangely familiar.
A boy with spiky, orange, sea-urchin-like hair, and a girl who looked like she was about to lose at something.
It was Sakamoto Ryuji and Yaguchi Maiya.