The Suited Ghost's Banquet
A low, agonized moan drifted through the air—Aaaah… Aaaah…—as the suited ghost began to move. Its steps seemed sluggish at first glance.
Yet the instant that impression formed, the very fabric of space warped like television static or a blur of overlapping afterimages. In the blink of an eye, it had crossed a vast distance.
Kkigigik…!
Ppadeuk…!
Wherever it passed, space bulged and twisted, producing a sickening crunch as though the building itself might collapse. Somehow the magistrate’s office endured what would have shattered any ordinary structure.
So this is what it feels like to be haunted by a ghost.
Strangely, eerily, no matter how many long corridors he traversed or how many dozens of doors he passed through, the same familiar spaces kept reappearing.
Han Yujin, ever the observer, had unconsciously activated his Dragon Eyes. Since the situation was not yet urgent, he had also taken the time to layer on a temporary spell that mimicked a fragment of the Yin-Yang Eyes from the Yin-Yang Union Technique.
It’s not merely a spatial maze… There are illusion-type and sensory-type powers mixed in. A touch of creation-type as well?
The phenomenon was far too sophisticated to have been conjured by some random ghost encountered along the way.
Fortunately, he suspected this was not the entity’s full strength.
Ghost Gate.
Even a common villager knew that during the Ghost Gate period, malevolent spirits grew especially terrifying and unnaturally powerful—so much so that even seasoned ghost hunters tended to tread carefully.
The term “Ghost Gate” itself demanded attention. After all, a gate was an entrance to another realm.
Which means this isn’t a phenomenon the ghost created on its own. It may have simply borrowed a sliver of power from some far greater, pre-existing force.
If that was not the case, then the opponent was at minimum a Nascent Soul stage ghost, and he would need to prepare for death.
At that moment—
Sssuk…!
Between the suited ghost leading the way and Han Yujin himself, a shadow flickered across the paper-screen wall. It looked like a hunched old man.
The suited ghost, which had been staggering forward, stopped dead.
Aah… Ah…
It stood motionless, as though its task were complete.
“……”
Even though it had been bound to the Ghost Soul Banner, controlling it was no simple matter. Part of the difficulty stemmed from the banner not being fully refined yet, but the larger issue was that Han Yujin had never studied the art of handling ghosts.
In situations like this, brute force worked well enough. He could endure the backlash.
“If you’ve found it, kill it.”
The suited ghost twitched its shoulder once. Then it simply continued to sway faintly, as if it had heard nothing at all.
Hmm.
Giving the same order again felt like it might provoke something entirely unpredictable. A being so saturated with rage and hatred had ample room for self-destructive impulses.
Controlling even one Decision-stage ghost is this troublesome…
He found himself wondering whether successfully sealing Wonhee inside the banner would truly be a good thing.
Then his gaze fell on Mu-yong, who was peering up at him from within his robes, and a new idea surfaced.
“If you’ve found it, you may devour it.”
A brief silence.
The suited ghost turned its entire body with excruciating slowness. This time it was not merely its head that rotated.
Its eyes—two pits of absolute darkness that seemed to pierce straight through reality—leaked blood as they fixed on Han Yujin. Then they slid toward the direction the shadow had vanished.
A languid hand rose and pushed at empty air.
The suited ghost stepped forward, its form blurring like static once more before reappearing far ahead.
Aaaaaah…! Aaaaaaaaaah…!!
The scream he had heard once before while being pursued now echoed again. It sounded like something in unbearable pain, or perhaps the desperate plea of a soul on the verge of annihilation—faint yet enormous, swallowing every other sound in its wake.
Kwaaaajijijik…!
Udeuk…! Kwajijik—!
Spreading bone-chilling cold and incomprehensible terror, the suited ghost surged forward. Though its gait appeared slow, the moment its head snapped at an unnatural angle or its torso twisted grotesquely, it would instantly manifest in the distance ahead.
Whether the ghosts resonated with each other or the bizarre maze offered no hindrance to its senses, the suited ghost advanced without the slightest hesitation.
Following close behind, Han Yujin located the other ghost in less than a minute.
It was an old man drenched in blood, clad in rags. Messy, unbound hair, swollen blue-black skin, and a cane that looked ready to rot away at any moment—there was no mistaking it for anything but a ghost.
Kyaaaaaaaak—!!
Bang—!!
The first clash erupted.
The old ghost shrieked, its ash-gray eyes flashing as it spewed unknown filth. The suited ghost simply extended its palm in that deceptively slow motion, and the elder was sent flying as though struck by a truck, smashing straight through a wall.
Euhuuuuk…!
The suited ghost gave immediate chase. The old ghost leaped upward to escape the incomprehensible approach, clinging to the wall with all four limbs. Then it twisted its head—not toward the other ghost, but toward Han Yujin behind it—and charged. It clearly understood who the real threat was.
At that instant the space warped again. The suited ghost erupted from the shadow on the floor and reached out once more.
Bang—!!
Floor, walls, and ceiling were violently shoved by an invisible force before exploding. The old ghost, flying like an arrow, was hurled away even faster, spraying blood.
It was not merely blood. An arm and chunks of torso flesh tore free and scattered in a gruesome spray.
Immediately afterward the suited ghost made a grasping motion with the hand that had struck.
All the scattered remains wriggled as though alive, sucked toward its palm. The suited ghost seized them with both hands and opened its mouth until the corners ripped, then began to chew and swallow with savage speed.
Udeuk…!
Kwajik…! Ppadeudeuk…!
Its previously languid movements became blindingly fast. The sight was grotesque, like watching only part of a video unnaturally fast-forwarded.
In the time it took to blink once or twice, the suited ghost had devoured every last hideous scrap. Its face and upper body now drenched in blood, it fixed its gaze on the fleeing elder as though its long-dormant appetite had finally exploded.
Then it began to run.
Aaaaaaaaaah…! Aaaaaaaaaah…!!
Kwaaaajijijik—!
Kwagagagak—!!
Walls and doors in its path exploded instantly. The suited ghost smashed every obstacle aside with sweeping blows of both hands, shooting forward as if piercing straight through the air. Its speed could only be described as a literal launch.
…It knows how to run?
The shock was comparable to watching a zombie that had only ever shambled suddenly break into a full sprint while howling in a horror film.
The old ghost probably felt the greatest terror of all.
Even while empowered by the Ghost Gate, it was overtaken in an instant by an opponent that was at least a Decision-stage spatial ghost.
Kyaaak…!
The moment its desperate shriek rang out—
Keuheoooooooaaaaaaa…!!!
The suited ghost’s jaw unhinged to an impossible degree and engulfed the elder. The pitch-black abyss within its maw swallowed him like a swamp, cutting the roar off abruptly.
Kwadudeudeuk…!
Udeuk—! Udeuk…!
Jjijik…! Ppajijik—! Udeuk…!
For a long while afterward, the bizarre sounds of something struggling violently being chewed and swallowed continued.
From behind the writhing, ecstatic yet utterly repulsive figure of the feasting ghost, Han Yujin stood quietly, contemplating the unjust existence known as ghosts.
Knowledge of talismans was useful, but it was clear that the most vital knowledge to acquire in this world was understanding of ghosts themselves.
The damages inflicted by the Ghost Gate grow more severe with each passing day. Investigate whether these events herald the emergence of a new Ghost King.
By order of the Royal Court of Zhou.
After finishing its meal, the suited ghost returned to the Ghost Soul Banner with surprising obedience. Whether it had learned resistance was futile, whether the meal had calmed its rage, or whether the interior of the banner simply wasn’t uncomfortable, Han Yujin could not tell.
He had no desire to waste energy satisfying idle curiosity with the Dream Illusion Mind Snatching Art, knowing it would provoke immediate resistance.
Regardless, the ghost had proven remarkably useful this time. Without it, he might have wasted far longer trapped within the Ghost Gate phenomenon.
The phenomenon itself began collapsing rapidly the moment the old ghost perished. After roughly ten minutes, the midnight-like gloom brightened, the office structure returned to normal, and the chilling, anxiety-inducing eerie energy vanished.
Only the gruesome traces of slaughter and destruction remained. Considerable effort would be needed to restore the building to usability.
“Hmm.”
After scanning the interior with his divine sense, Han Yujin moved to the local magistrate’s bedroom and rummaged through the scattered belongings.
What he found was a violently torn scroll that felt ominous simply by existing. Gathering every fragment with his divine sense and reassembling them like a puzzle, he encountered no difficulty reading the contents. Though soaked in blood, the writing beneath had not been erased.
The message was written in the royal court’s characteristically pompous, circuitous style. It warned that the Ghost Gate’s damages were worsening and ordered an investigation into whether a new Ghost King might be about to appear.
And this…
He lightly swept his hand over the scroll. A thin wisp of greenish-blue eerie energy—small yet unmistakably potent—rose like smoke. It was not ordinary ghostly qi but a spell designed to act as bait.
As expected. A conspiracy.
They had not simply suffered this tragedy by misfortune.
Is there a ghost cultivator among this Zhou Kingdom’s officials colluding with spirits?
It was, of course, pure speculation without evidence. He had only read a villager’s memories so far and still knew too little.
Pachik…!
A thread of Purple Heaven Divine Lightning bloomed and erased the unpleasant energy without a trace.
He then scanned every book and record in the office with his divine sense, rapidly accumulating knowledge. The task took little time. When he emerged, barely an hour had passed.
“Eot…!”
The moment he revealed himself intact, several sturdy men recoiled in fresh fear. A well-dressed middle-aged man, however, swallowed hard and approached respectfully.
“It is a relief to see you safe. Right after you entered, your figure strangely vanished…”
Before replying, Han Yujin cast the Dream Illusion Mind Snatching Art. The middle-aged man’s eyes flashed with purple light; he staggered, dizzy, then straightened with a bewildered expression. He seemed completely unaware of what had just occurred—precisely as Han Yujin had intended.
Definitely better than a villager’s memories.
Still, the man’s knowledge did not exceed that of an ordinary person. He would need to locate a proper ghost hunter.
“The evil spirit has been dealt with. Go inside and tend to the bodies.”
“Y-yes… understood.”
To call a ghost that had massacred an entire government office—including two ghost hunters in a single night—a mere “evil spirit” spoke volumes. The middle-aged man bowed deeply, now convinced the stranger was no ordinary hunter.
“Would you consider remaining until the Ghost Gate period ends? We will serve you with utmost sincerity.”
“I’m afraid I’m rather busy. If fate allows, we may meet again.”
Leaving the man—who did not dare detain him—behind, Han Yujin strode away.
“Eot…?!”
Regardless of the crowd’s shock, his figure blurred like a dream and vanished on the spot.
A brief commotion stirred, but it was of little consequence.
* * *
Thanks to the middle-aged man’s far more educated memories, Han Yujin was able to head directly for the capital.
Other villages might have fallen into similar danger. Yet he felt no compulsion to check each one.
I am not the savior of this world. Why should I?
Helping when death unfolded right before his eyes was entirely different from actively seeking out every possible tragedy. Anyone who called such restraint hypocritical or selfish was simply speaking nonsense.
Just because one gives alms to a beggar on the road does not mean one must give alms to every beggar in the realm.
It was self-evident.
A few minutes later—though only minutes had passed, his movement speed made it a considerable distance—he finally laid eyes on the capital of the Black Soil Continent’s Zhou Kingdom.
Despite a world that could hardly be called comfortable, the capital was large and bustling. The spell patterns and guardian statues on the walls and gates suggested respectable defenses against ghosts.
Rather than submit to pointless inspection, he flew over the wall and infiltrated directly. The prohibition array was of fairly high quality, yet it proved insufficient to stop a forbidden-period cultivator armed with advanced formation knowledge and dharma-eye divine powers.