His way towards the rooftop felt like forever, yet it was just a few seconds as his feet ate up the distance. His lungs burned from the anxiety-filled breathing and run—at a time when air already felt sharp yet didn't hurt until running after it.
He looked around with deep breaths, swallowed hard. The roof wasn't the kind to stand on like a regular thing unless necessary. It had slides at both sides, and only the middle had some space to walk over. The sun was dimmed like a fireball floating, barely visible within the thick cloud layers blanketing the town.
But nothing affected him. All he could hear were those words from the girl—and feel like he had already failed to help them.
He looked at his own hand again. The same edges were black crystal. But darkened, gleaming faintly, not really spreading. It was just probably reacting from his emotional toll.
Without wasting any moment—or Chóng Fēi might really come upstairs since the reason he had given was too off-topic from the task they had been doing—he ran smoothly over the roof to stand at the very edge.
This time his both hands moved with his fingers as he drew the symbols with a few talismans. Too fast and controlled even. His fingers left visible pulsing black marks over the air within the same shape of his hands, without lasting too long.
It felt like a deadly yet beautiful dance of fingers and fire, with a few deliberate spins under the sunless sky.
Usually this wasn't the spell he used with talismans. Unlike other exorcists, his full-time use was mostly needles. But this raw energy couldn't be recycled and used the way he used his regular purified spiritual powers over the needles. But it could work really well if he used it over his made-up talismans.
The second his hand paused, the talisman lit up, burning between his tall, elegant fingers. He lit at least eight talismans and threw them in different directions.
"Have we disturbed them now?!"
"Why is he furiously throwing those talismans!?"
"Those are going to hurt!"
"Run!!"
Those few ghosts—male and female—cried out just at the heat of those floating fires.
They were living as invisibly as they could, though Lìngxiāo had always spotted them—they were at all the places he had thrown his talismans. All of them floated around like balls made of wind and dust.
But they weren't able to run longer or much farther.
The talismans burned off all and left two strange male ghosts who had the mark of being killed by a curse—not murdered normally at this same location or with a wish unfulfilled at all—only captured in one place by the temporary capturing talisman.
Common ghosts mostly stayed within the boundaries where they were killed, had memories there, or where their body was buried. But he could already tell that their own body wasn't here at all. Bodies usually went within the fire cliff where they got burned with no trace.
Not left as they were.
When he looked more closely, the Male one was demonic, cursed by any curse. Another..it was more likely cursed by exorsism curse. But the ones killed by curses were more likely 'fixed' or 'cursed'—where the curses lock them in places to hunt others. Their souls looked like gray, heavy clouds roaming around, not white.
So running over here for another reason wasn't useless either. They weren't serious, nor should they be neglected. At least not those two.
He caught those in his mirror, and then his work with the small ghosts here was done.
He exhaled, head dropping lower as he put back his mirror, eyes shut for a moment as he felt himself lighter than before.
'This was the least force I have used at my energy releasing. But still it almost feels like the biggest aches are left in me which cannot be given from those energies just yet. I did not get affected by any intimate physical touch to have it..completely.'
'But I am fine as long as people are safe under my care..'
When those golden-brown pools slowly opened again, he looked back at his hands.
The crystals were softening like melting ice, slowly leaving their harness and color—which was already much less than his previous one. It only came to the fingertips, as the previous one came to his wrist. It could have really left big damage back then if he hadn't thought of the right decision at the right time.
He looked at the mirror. The ghosts roamed over the surface with their own demands and threats, which weren't going to work at all.
"Who killed you?" His two fingers rested over the mirror together before spreading far, making them forcefully pause over the surface of the mirror. "I order you to tell me. Which curse has set you up here?"
At first the ghosts barely responded, being cornered or hissed at by the curses inside. But they were also ignoring him completely—which he had rarely seen. This was really not any typical curse. And it raised a lot of chilling possibilities.
He exhaled with silent disappointment, his smile cold and dark. His voice thin but sharp. "I have asked you something. Do not..waste my time."
He raised a needle with the blue flame. "You wish to be punished or just live within this mirror? Because there is no way I would release you."
"We do not know. Ask him who has set me here without any crime." Male ghost dryly answered.
Lìngxiāo paused, tilting his head a little, gaze moving to the hollow sun.
He didn't even need to order anything to ask the curse unless it was anything too big. Before anything else, the same pair of ghosts cried out as if something had squeezed them too hard.
"My darling looks humble, but yes—he can be dangerous. Do not annoy him, because I would not take it lightly too~" Serpent chuckled sharply with the sly words. Her tail could be seen waving into the mirror.
The other two curses—unmistakably the eight-eyed and three-eyed curses—laughed. They didn't really need to join because she was already more than enough on those stubborn souls.
"I am telling! I. Am. Telling!!" Female one among them cried out. "Just stop squeezing! It hurts right where it has left the mark!"
Lìngxiāo finally looked down when they were finally in line, while he was clearly not himself totally right now even if he looked like it on the surface to even be hyper-aware over the flirting Serpent was doing.
"Speak." He waited. "Everything about the curse."
"Him first.." the female one whimpered.
"I did not see or hear its real voice. It was..made of series of human voices, being changed within every sentence." the male voice chuckled like it was still not ready to admit things, pained by the squeeze but still sadistic. "But I have enjoyed drinking the fear of the children. Especially the day before they would lose their heads. And you just made it easy for me to catch that little thing."
"Stay away from me, you jerk!" That female ghost cursed.
Lìngxiāo clicked his tongue in silent annoyance. His gaze went to the stars of the rooftop. His midnight also seemed half of whole, and the other half was downstairs for the matter he was working on.
"Silence! If his head aches because of you—your already ended life would end again." Serpent hissed, warning which she probobly meant all of it.
"That's my girl." The three-eyed one purred, smirk could be heard within his voice.
"No, woman." The eight-eyed one teased back, correcting.
But they did silence the ghosts to talk again.
"What are your motives here if a curse you cannot even give me proper directions for has told you to live among common people and ghosts?" Lìngxiāo asked again.
Then added, as their tones were completely different, "Why have you mentioned only 'you'? The other gûi is not related to you at all?"
"The heir.." the single female one said, almost with trembling—cursed but somehow not totally."I was just stuck here also by any Mō or exorsism curse..but believe me, I was just keeping an eye on that heir for safety who came here with you!"
Lìngxiāo's lips parted in silent surprise.
'Him? Why would a cursed ghost keep an eye on..him for any kind of safety if those cannot really be steady beings?'
"And that one gûi—it is a dog! It was already chasing after me to remove me from its path because it knew you all would come here. The target was the heir!" That same one answered.
"What a drama, girl." Serpent commented dryly.
"Impressive. But I do not believe a single piece of it. Why would a rotten thing—a more rotten thing than us—try to save that Yùn Chóng heir?" The three-eyed one said.
"I have a feeling about this too. Either she's completely lying, or..she was arranged by someone close to the heir who did not want to harm..at all. But knew all too." The eight-eyed one analyzed.
Lìngxiāo thoughtfully tilted the frame of the mirror under his chin, his other palm cupping the elbow of the right hand he was holding the mirror with.
'She cannot be a regular watcher—if I am not wrong. I did not feel her around. Not even that Mō..played that role into the clan right when I would not or cannot act. That Mō was not easy to spot.'
'She does not feel completely innocent either. I may unfold it slowly. Step by step. In right time. This gûi..is 'dieing in pressure type'—designed especially for this kind of situation. I have to make sure it does not escape unless I am done.'
"Who sent you to watch over him?" He asked this time. "I am asking..the female gûi. His next question was too loud with suspicion. "Are you sure..you were sent only to ensure his safety. "
The ghost hesitated before answering, still panicked. "The..peacock song dancer! I do not know more than this about him. He has addressed himself like this!"