Chapter 72: Slaying The Blue Ghost
Ten seconds ago.
Shangshan Che could clearly feel that after he shook the bell, three faint connections inexplicably appeared in his heart.
It was just like temporarily gaining three shikigami.
He looked to his side—three corgi-sized straw koma-inu were pacing back and forth in place, waiting for his command.
Straw woven through burlap crafted the koma-inu’s expression with lifelike precision.
Shangshan Che held his breath in the thick fog, tentatively sending the exact same command to the three koma-inu,
‘Attack the blue ghost in the fog!’
He had thought such a vague command couldn’t be understood by the koma-inu, that they, like him, couldn’t pierce the thick fog to sense the enemy’s position.
But contrary to Shangshan Che’s expectations, the koma-inu instantly changed direction and charged into the thick fog.
This item is surprisingly useful!
Shangshan Che immediately followed behind one of the koma-inu and saw Niijima Yuta turning to fire at one of the koma-inu.
The shotgun’s muzzle flashed, pellets tearing through the fog and easily shredding the frail koma-inu into fragments scattered in the air.
Good opportunity!
Shangshan Che immediately made the koma-inu in front of him stop moving, while he suppressed all the motion of his ki-gong technique and thrust forward with unmatched ferocity.
The blade easily pierced the blue ghost’s abdomen, and before the opponent could react, Shangshan Che retreated backward.
Hannya vanished into the thick fog again, using ki-gong technique skills to let a flat voice echo throughout the train station,
“Niijima Yuta, it’s time for you to go.”
Under the cover of this voice, the second koma-inu quickly moved, charging toward Niijima Yuta’s back on its short straw limbs.
Boom!
The shotgun roared again, predictably shredding the airborne koma-inu.
This time, the lesson-learned Niijima Yuta unhesitatingly thrust the trench knife backward, aiming to deliver a painful counter to the ambushing Shangshan Che.
But this heavy blow missed.
“How is that possible!?”
The blue ghost’s pupils contracted sharply; he had clearly heard footsteps from behind as well.
The next instant, the burning sensation at his ankle made him look down—
Koma-inu! Another koma-inu!
Rage at being toyed with surged in Niijima Yuta’s heart, and he was about to roar, “Using such despicable tactics, kid! You call yourself a man…”
Intense pain from his right shoulder interrupted the blue ghost’s words.
Kaga Kiyomitsu pierced his shoulder blade at the peak of his anger, effortlessly tearing open the blue ghost’s tough skin and muscle, nearly severing his entire shoulder.
With the successful strike, Shangshan Che retreated into the fog, nearly laughing: “So I’m the despicable one?”
The blue ghost panted heavily while gripping the shotgun, emitting a low roar akin to a demon.
His already nearly two-meter height began to grow further, his human-like appearance swiftly turning into a striking blue hue.
In less than a few seconds, Niijima Yuta shed this human skin, reverting to the horned, fierce-faced blue ghost.
His wounds began to staunch, healing at a visible speed, and his already terrifying power rose another level.
The blue ghost’s eyes were pitch black as he murmured lowly: “To think, to think you forced me to ruin the appearance granted by Adult…”
“Shangshan Che, I’ll torment you to death!”
“—Your nonsense is too much.”
Directly in front of Niijima Yuta, the thick fog suddenly parted.
Blade light flashed!
A premonition of death enveloped his heart, but the blue ghost unhesitatingly pulled the trigger: “Die!”
At such close distance, the shotgun had no chance of missing.
Yet the blue ghost saw Shangshan Che, somehow donned in a shrine robe, the robe flapping wildly as he advanced at extreme speed.
Under the shotgun’s iron rain of pellets, Shangshan Che indifferently unfurled the blessed folding fan in his hand,
Gentle breeze flowed!
Spiritual power was consumed in massive quantities as if swallowed by a whale, and in response, Shangshan Che’s figure shifted several feet to the left without warning, defying physics.
Dozens of pellets missed entirely, ricocheting and scattering across the ground.
Before the blue ghost could be shocked, the folding fan flipped again.
The remaining spiritual power in Shangshan Che’s body was fully absorbed, and the next instant, hair-thin purple-blue lightning abruptly appeared, striking the blue ghost’s head.
Heavenly thunder blazed!
Admittedly, this fragmented lightning’s power wasn’t strong, not even causing Niijima Yuta the slightest pain—like scratching an itch through a boot, utterly ineffective.
But no matter how small the lightning, upon touching a body, it would inevitably cause a momentary stiffening in the struck person.
In this fleeting instant, Shangshan Che finally unleashed the pent-up internal qi in his chest, roaring as he swung his blade with full force.
Kaga Kiyomitsu traced a brilliant arc in midair, slicing open the blue ghost’s chest like cutting leather.
The blade drank deeply of the demon’s blood, vibrating excitedly in Shangshan Che’s hand.
But Niijima Yuta didn’t collapse in agony; instead, he discarded the shotgun, lunged forward, seized Shangshan Che’s shoulder, and crushed his shoulder blade.
Bones cracked several times, buckling under the strain in moments.
The gravely wounded blue ghost grinned,
“Got you!”
The trench knife plunged straight into Shangshan Che’s chest, and for a moment, blood under extreme pressure spurted out.
Massive blood loss!
Yet Niijima Yuta felt no weakness whatsoever from the Hannya before him.
On the contrary… it felt exactly the opposite!
The blue ghost’s palm trembled; he realized he was losing control of Shangshan Che.
It was then that Niijima Yuta realized with horror.
Some people grow stronger the closer they are to death—
Ignoring his severe wounds at chest and shoulder, Shangshan Che forcibly broke free, lunged forward, and used the hilt to unbalance the blue ghost.
“Damn it—!”
The blue ghost roared ferociously, trying to repel the close-range Shangshan Che and regroup.
But Kaga Kiyomitsu’s alluring blade was already in his pupils, rapidly enlarging!
With the trench knife embedded in his chest, Shangshan Che precisely drove the blade into the blue ghost’s heart, then twisted viciously, pulverizing everything inside.
The blue ghost’s roar cut off.
Niijima Yuta crashed heavily onto the slick ground, his carefully prepared killing move forever lost before it could be used.
The blue ghost could clearly feel his entire body’s power draining like floodwater through the blood, greedily drunk by the blade in Shangshan Che’s hand.
Powerlessly rolling his eyes, in his final daze, the blue ghost only saw that hannya mask gazing down at him with utter calm.
Calm from beginning to end.
“You monster…”
In the gap as Kaga Kiyomitsu was withdrawn and swung again, Niijima Yuta spat with final resentment and mockery: “No matter how human you disguise yourself, you’ll end up just like me sooner or later…”
Shangshan Che pulled the trench knife from his chest and tossed it aside, replying indifferently: “Thanks for the compliment.”
“—And farewell forever.”
Kaga Kiyomitsu fell, severing the blue ghost’s resentment-filled head.
