Chapter 327: Ritual Duel

With the paper doll as a vessel, the ghostly flame slowly took shape; Feng Xue stared at its round, plump form and frowned.

“This looks… like a lantern?” Liu Yunxi glanced around and realized it indeed was a lantern; Feng Xue immediately replicated the process with another ghost flame, and this time, what emerged was a broom.

“Could it be the legendary spirits that attach to inanimate objects and become monsters?” Liu Yunxi rummaged through her memories and found that even in the stories told by the Fox Immortal Grandma, this was an extremely rare type.

Feng Xue pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

“No, it’s just an ordinary human spirit, twisted by some special method into something resembling a monster—essentially no different from a spirit ghost, except spirit ghosts are warped by their own obsessions, while this one is warped by external vows.”

In his past life, Feng Xue had been a doujin writer, and he’d dabbled in nearly every moderately popular 2D game; he’d even played Yakyuu Mouse for a while. If it had been just a lantern, he might have hallucinated Zhang Fei’s face shouting “Da Xi Da Xi,” but with a broom added—and linked to that ninja assassin—the word “shikigami” naturally surfaced in his mind.

Though similar to spirit ghosts, this kind of spirit entity—let’s call it a shikigami—was far inferior. Unlike spirit ghosts, which required certain thresholds of obsession intensity and soul quality to form naturally, shikigami were likely just random wandering souls sealed inside objects and falsely declared to have become spirits.

“Using such methods can’t be the work of any righteous sect. Should we destroy them outright?” Liu Yunxi made a decisive judgment, but Feng Xue shook his head.

“No need—or rather, I’ve been looking for the mastermind! Forget the shikigami and spirit ghosts; if they’re meant to be controlled, there must be a spirit pact.”

Here, Feng Xue’s face broke into a malicious grin. “Little Bell, can you trace it?”

“No problem, but be careful to seal your aura—if the enemy senses it, they might sever the connection.”

Little Bell quickly gave her professional assessment; Feng Xue smiled.

“Easy. Let’s give him a lesson! Yunxi, set up the altar!”

“Alright!” Liu Yunxi automatically replied, then blinked in confusion.

“Isn’t it already set up?”

“Hehe, I just feel it adds atmosphere to begin with.” Feng Xue flashed a slightly goofy smile, handed the lantern ghost back to Liu Yunxi for re-sealing, then placed another paper doll beside the broom ghost’s phantom form. He pulled out a small knife and slashed hard at the spirit body.

The broom ghost shrieked as if truly cut apart; the severed portion of its spirit flowed smoothly into the new paper doll.

This technique was essentially the same method Feng Xue had used before to forge blessed vessels—but given the broom ghost’s weak power, even if fully sealed, it might only improve a purification spell’s effect by a few percentage points. Feng Xue didn’t want the vessel—he wanted these two fragments of “spirit ghost.”

…

In the dim room, the Shinto master of the Kiku-ichi sect (a high-ranking Shinto priest, akin to a monk or Daoist) still maintained his ritual of worshiping the katana. But due to his stubborn isolation, he received no aid from the consulate or the cultivation community; his resources were scarce. What should have taken only two or three blood sacrifices now required far more time to refine.

As his mental exhaustion triggered emotional instability, a sharp sense of danger struck him—the candle directly north of the room snuffed out, and a crimson dot burst forth on his forehead.

The master gasped, reached into his robe, and pulled out a damaged spirit doll.

“Worse! It’s only evening—not the Hour of Chou for spirit assassination! Forbidden curse? But where did he get this…? Ah! Those two shikigami! Damn it! Wasn’t that brat from a reputable sect? How could he use such a vile technique?”

His heart pounded wildly; the rush of blood to his brain brought dizziness, and he longed to sit down—but he knew this was far from over. Without hesitation, he ignored the ongoing ritual, dragged his finger across the katana’s blade, drew blood, pressed a crimson mark onto his forehead, then seized the spare paper dolls on the altar and stamped them one after another.

Puff… puff… puff… puff… puff…

A continuous series of soft pops—the paper dolls splitting apart. Compared to the carefully crafted spirit doll, these makeshift substitutes were far too fragile. Fortunately, the shikigami he’d sent were low-grade and had been bound only briefly—their connection was weak. Had they been shikigami bound since childhood, a single strike would have shattered his skull.

The master was grateful he’d stayed by the altar—otherwise, he’d never have had time to prepare the substitutes. The first wave had passed. Now came the next…

“Woo… woo…”

“Damn it! He launched two curses at once! Doesn’t he fear shortening his lifespan?” The master clamped his throat, choking on sudden suffocation, stunned. He’d only sent a ninja to probe—why resort to such mutually destructive sorcery?

“But good—he’s probably exhausted too, after casting such a vile spell!”

The master’s eyes flashed with cruelty. He deliberately released his grip on his neck. As his Adam’s apple visibly sank, he pulled three thin threads from his sleeve—like he was impatient to die—and wrapped them tightly around his throat. He pulled hard, as if strangling himself—but strangely, as the cords slowly tightened, the crushing pressure on his throat abruptly ceased.

…

Feng Xue’s chopsticks pinched the paper doll’s neck. Though it was merely white paper, it stubbornly resisted the pressure. Just as Feng Xue picked up a small wooden mallet to add more force, the doll stiffened—then its head cleanly detached from its body.

“Got him?” Liu Yunxi watched Feng Xue vent his frustration on the paper doll; now that its head was gone, she assumed the spell had succeeded.

Feng Xue only shook his head, took the tea Liu Yunxi offered, swished it in his mouth to rinse the metallic taste, ate a small piece of fish cake to replenish his depleted yuan, then smiled.

“He’s ruthless—he used his own body as ritual material, killing the shikigami first. But that’s fine—at least in his eyes, both shikigami are gone.”

(End of Chapter)