Chapter Fifteen: Soul Searching

After finishing up in the main hall, I immediately headed to the morgue. Dozens of mutilated corpses were laid out there. Normally, I would have been terrified, but now I charged in without hesitation.

A few minutes later, I arrived at the makeup room for the deceased.

There was someone still on duty.

As soon as I entered, he jumped in surprise. Who would still be at the funeral home at this hour?

“What... what are you doing?”

I ignored him. Time was money. I stepped forward, lifted a glass bottle, and began chanting an incantation. Soon, white mist started to gather inside the bottle.

The man on duty stared wide-eyed.

I didn’t stop to explain and took the bottle with me as I left.

Once outside the funeral home, a sharp pain exploded in my head, as if it were about to burst.

I patted my head hard and sprinted until I finally found a car.

Back in my room, I immediately called Grandpa.

“Grandpa, I’ve caught the ghost. How do I use it?”

“Place the glass bottle beside Huang Ying, then go fetch a handful of glutinous rice.”

I did as instructed. Then Grandpa told me to get three chopsticks, wet them with water, and stand them upright in a bowl.

After setting everything up, I placed my phone next to Huang Ying’s ear.

I didn’t know what Grandpa did next, but the glutinous rice around Huang Ying began to emit black smoke, and the chopsticks in the bowl shook violently.

The soul inside the bottle turned into wisps of white, pure energy, slowly seeping into Huang Ying’s body.

I watched nervously as the bottle emptied, but Huang Ying’s body showed no sign of change.

“Grandpa, why isn’t it working?”

“This only replenishes the souls she loses every moment. Those souls aren’t very useful!” Grandpa’s voice was filled with helplessness.

“Not enough? I’ll catch more!” I jumped up, ready to go out again, but the pounding pain in my head forced me to sit back down.

“This amount will last until tomorrow night. Adding more all at once would harm her. Her current state can’t handle so many souls; too many and she wouldn’t be herself anymore.”

Not be herself? I dropped the bottle in fright.

Could it be that Huang Ying could only remain like this from now on? That wasn’t what I wanted. I hoped she could be like us someday, able to go out without wearing a mask.

Lost in thought, Grandpa spoke again.

“You said you could touch her, right?”

I had been so anxious I had forgotten such an important detail.

“Yes, but why has this change happened all of a sudden?”

“Go check if the corpse ointment I gave Huang Ying is still there!” Grandpa urged anxiously.

I remembered Huang Ying kept the ointment in a drawer in her room.

I hurried inside and before opening the drawer, I saw the empty bottle of corpse ointment on the bedside table.

I rushed back to my room.

“Found it, but it’s empty!”

Grandpa sighed wearily.

“Child, child…”

His tone made me anxious.

“Grandpa, what’s wrong?”

“She drank the corpse ointment.”

“What happens if she drinks it?” Even though it was Grandpa, I didn’t use a respectful tone.

“The corpse ointment is extracted from the most potent essence of corpses. Since she’s in a soul state, drinking it allows her to touch things with spirits for a time.”

Anyone could see she drank it to save me. Otherwise, she couldn’t have touched my body.

“And then?”

“The ointment is very yang in nature. Even if she wakes up later, her soul will be disturbed by it. She might not remember you.”

That was another blow. Would she become the Huang Ying from two months ago? But more than anything, I just wanted her to be okay. Even if she forgot me, I wished for her to wake up.

After hanging up, I sat beside Huang Ying, feeling powerless.

I thought I had done so much for her, but compared to what she did for me, I felt small and selfish.

“If I hadn’t told you I liked you today, would you have sacrificed yourself like this for me?”

Even when Grandma passed away, I never cried this much. I used to dislike those TV dramas where lovers suffer endlessly, but now I understood — some things you only comprehend through experience.

“I said, since I promised to help you, I would protect you and keep you from harm. But now, looking back, I feel ridiculous.”

“If two months ago I hadn’t promised to help you, you’d be better off now, wouldn’t you?”

“To be honest, half the reason I agreed was because you’re pretty. How ridiculous. Today I finally see how selfish I am.”

“I have no right to say I like you. I’ve never done anything for you. If anyone helped you, it was my grandfather.”

I said all this, but Huang Ying had no reaction except her eyes remained red.

I reached out and took her hand—that was the first time I held her hand. I wanted to hold it while I still could. If it were usual times, she’d be blushing now.

This might be the last time I ever hold her hand. When she wakes, she might not remember me.

I don’t know how I fell asleep that night.

The next morning, Huang Ying’s form was even more ethereal.

I quickly called Grandpa.

“Grandpa, why is she still turning more ghostly? Didn’t you say the talisman would keep her stable?”

“She’s losing too much of her own soul. Her current soul strength can’t keep her from fading. Plus, she drank the corpse ointment. The talisman only slows her fading. When its effect ends in three days, she’ll fade faster.”

“I’ll go catch more ghosts now!”

“It’s daytime. Where would you catch them? And if you meet something powerful again, do you expect Huang Ying to save you a second time?”

Grandpa’s words crushed my plan. Not that I was afraid, but if I died, Huang Ying would disappear too.

“What should I do then?”

“Wait… she can hold on until tonight. Go catch them then.”

Grandpa gave the only solution.

I hated that old woman more than anything. If I ever met her, I’d tear her to pieces!

I didn’t eat all day. Only someone with a heart as cruel as a wolf’s would think about eating now.

As dusk fell, I grabbed the glass bottle and went out.

This time I headed to the mass grave where, over twenty years ago, victims of an epidemic were buried together.

The souls there should be stronger than those in the funeral home.

But as soon as I arrived, I felt my soul fading rapidly.

I started chanting to slow the loss, but it still slipped away gradually.

I called Grandpa, put the phone on speaker. He chanted the same incantation from his end, but the effect was different. After only a dozen seconds, the bottle filled with white pure energy, much denser than yesterday.

“That’s enough,” Grandpa said.

“Catch more!”

“Do you want to kill her? Get out of there quickly!”

I had no choice but to leave.

Back home, Huang Ying was worse than ever. Her face was barely visible.

Grandpa repeated the same ritual from last night. Only after the bottle’s energy was used up could her features be seen clearly.

After hanging up, I called my homeroom teacher. The weekend was over, and I didn’t plan to go to school tomorrow—I needed to request leave for her.

“Hello?” a middle-aged woman’s voice answered.

“Teacher Chen, this is Wang Yu. I want to ask for leave,” I said listlessly.

“Why do you need leave?”

“A family illness,” I said briefly, not wanting to talk.

“Wang Yu, your studies are most important, you know?”

“Do as you please. I’m not coming tomorrow,” I snapped and hung up.

What could be more important than family’s safety?