Dòu Táng didn't bother to hold back.
"If you start pulling a 'tragic-backstory-triggers-boss-form' routine, I'll show you what real cruelty looks like."
…
Why is this guy so completely uncooperative?!
The dazed Ejima Izae snapped back to awareness as if struck by lightning. Dòu Táng's words hit him like a sledgehammer, shattering the memory that had been surfacing and driving it straight back into the depths of his mind.
He blinked at Dòu Táng, bewildered. "I… I think I just remembered something…"
"Cut the chatter." Dòu Táng's tone was flat, already losing patience. He pointed at the skeleton on the floor. "Can you use this thing or not?"
Ejima stared at the bones, then gave a helpless little smile. "Kiryu-kun, haven't you ever gone to school before?"
"Huh?" Dòu Táng frowned.
"This isn't a medical academy," Ejima sighed, slipping right back into his teacher mode. "Where would we get a real human skeleton? Kiryu-kun, I'm genuinely worried about your academic foundation."
…
The hell?! I'm being lectured by a bound spirit?!
Dòu Táng pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.
"Still," Ejima continued, "I appreciate the thought. And please rest assured—I'm not a vengeful spirit. I'm a jibakurei, bound here by duty. You have nothing to fear."
Dòu Táng eyed him skeptically. "I got separated from my partner. Think we got caught in a ghost maze. You're saying that wasn't you?"
Ejima frowned, then slowly shook his head. His expression looked sincere. "No… not my doing. But a disappearance inside the school—strange indeed."
He gestured toward the campus below. "One thing's certain, Kiryu-kun—she's not in this building. Now that I'm lucid again, I can sense every piece of my remains. If she were inside these walls, I'd feel it."
"I see." Dòu Táng's gaze hardened. "So she's outside—maybe near the field."
The high-school grounds connected to the junior division, but only the high-school building had that square, labyrinthine layout. Beyond it lay the field, activity rooms, and cafeteria—students had to cross the field to reach them.
Meaning, when they'd been separated, Lu Zizhen must've gone the other way.
If this really is a ghost maze… is she alright?
A flicker of worry stirred in his chest.
Not wasting another second, Dòu Táng said, "Alright, Ejima Izae—uh, Sensei. Sorry for the disturbance. I'm going to find my partner."
"Mhm. Go on, Kiryu-kun. I wish you luck. Judging by your aura—and your lack of fear toward the supernatural—you're clearly no ordinary stu—eh?"
Ejima looked down mid-sentence. The rooftop was empty.
He'd already gone.
"…Wait, Kiryu-kun! At least take the skeleton with you!"
Thud-thud-thud—
Footsteps pounded back up the stairs. Dòu Táng re-appeared, sprinted across the rooftop, grabbed the skeleton, then paused, glancing at Ejima.
The ghost suddenly felt cold.
"Wait, Kiryu-kun—no, Kiryu-san! Please! Don't—don't do that! I'm sorry! I was wrong! Have mercy!"
Two mischievous hands reached toward the hapless spirit. "Sorry, Sensei. But the model looks weird without a head."
Moments later, the skeleton—its skull a slightly mismatched shade—was neatly re-assembled in the equipment room.
"Kiryu-kun," the ghost teacher groaned, on the verge of tears, "how is it I have to clean up your
mess? Have you no respect for your elders?"
For once, Dòu Táng cracked a smile.
"You're using a twelve-year-old teaching credential to revoke my current enrollment?"
Ejima sighed. "You say it so seriously, but why do I hear mockery in your tone? You're not as mild-mannered as you look, are you, Kiryu-kun? There's a mean streak hiding in there!"
Dòu Táng ignored him, propped the broken door back in place as a makeshift barricade, and left.
The ghost teacher looked down at his ridiculous plastic body and sighed deeply. "…What kind of afterlife is this supposed to be…"
With Ejima secured, Dòu Táng headed straight for the field—where he saw the cafeteria faintly glowing.
Sparks flickered inside, tiny bursts of light that vanished the instant he looked closer. It was like a fighting game where the character models hadn't loaded yet.
The door was locked. Through the glass, he saw flashes of steel clashing mid-air. It looked… suspiciously like a Sekiro boss fight between invisible combatants.
Yeah, that's actually the perfect comparison.
This had to be it. Even if it wasn't, whatever was causing those flashes was definitely the problem.
He stepped back, then raised a foot.
He'd already broken one door tonight. What was one more window?
Crash!
Glass exploded into glittering shards. At that exact moment—
in the other space—locked in combat with Corporal Yamashita, Lu Zizhen flinched at a sudden sound behind her.
She parried a slash, retreated two steps, and glanced back.
In her world, the cafeteria door stood wide open—yet one of its glass panels had just shattered out of nowhere.
A signal.
Her mind connected the dots instantly. Something was happening in the real world. Without hesitation, she hurled one of her swords straight at Yamashita.
The blade ignited mid-flight, talismans flaring like burning paper. The fire roared, forcing even the hardened wraith to recoil.
But he sneered. "So this is the power of Huaxia's onmyōji? Brute force without finesse!" "Idiot," Lu Zizhen spat.
The flaming sword vanished the moment the fire died.
Back in reality, Dòu Táng still peered into the cafeteria, eyes tracking the phantom flashes of combat. He was calculating how to reach her—
when a flaming sword suddenly materialized out of thin air and shot toward the kitchen.
It was fast—
but Dòu Táng was faster.
He moved like a hunting cat, leaping onto a table and springing forward. In one fluid motion, he caught the hilt mid-air, utterly unfazed by the heat.
The moment his hand closed around it, he twisted, landing in a clean spin that drew a perfect flourish before reversing his grip and tucking the blade behind his arm.
Even Lu Zizhen had never seen him move like that.
He raised the weapon, studying it—her extendable sword, now cool and solid again. He assumed it was a message, a bridge between their spaces.
Holding it might let him cross over.
But judging by the still air around him… that wasn't the case.
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