A/N: The last chapter was a bit spooky wasn't it? Anyway, I don't like Eminem's rap of Mockingbird, so don't worry, I won't turn it into a rap… Heheheh… As usual, for my Francis… Ok, enough with the author's notes this time… Let's get into the chappie…

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King… Gosh, I'm tired of saying that…

Chapter 4: Discoveries From Beneath the Grave

Jun Tao's Range Rover stopped in front of the now-modernized Ainu Village and all of them jumped out. The village consisted of ten modernized houses all in a row. People started staring at them intently. The women who were looking after their children stopped to stare at them and the men who were carrying basketfuls of fish or fruit put them down and approached them.

"Whoah, we're popular, aren't we?" Yoh grinned.

"Uncle Japoy!" Horo suddenly recognized his uncle among the tattoed men and women.

"Horo, my dear boy!" Uncle Japoy, a big, burly guy with a whole garden of beard on his chin, huge earrings and tattoes on his face, gave Horo a big bearhug "How are you? Where's your sister? And why are you here? Isn't the Shaman Tournament going on?"

"I'm fine, Uncle," Horo grinned, "Pirika's back in the rest house, we're having a break from the pressures of the tournament. By the way, Uncle, these are my friends. Yoh-" Yoh grinned and waved, "Manta-" Manta nodded and smiled, "Anna-" Anna looked at Uncle Japoy blankly, "Ryu-" Ryu shook Uncle Japoy's hand, "And Jun."

"I'm glad to meet you all," Uncle Japoy nodded.

"We are glad to meet you too," Ryu said.

"Where are you staying?" Uncle Japoy asked, "I hope not in that dreadful Tao mansion."

"Er…" Horo looked at the others, especially Jun, in alarm.

"We're staying in a campsite far from here," Anna lied. It was her who had a knack for lying and not getting caught.

"Good," Uncle Japoy said, "I hate those Taos. Everybody here hate them."

All heads turned to Jun, who seemed calm and composed.

"Why is that?" Jun asked calmly.

"It was started 1,000 years ago," they all walked around the village with Uncle Japoy talking, "When a boy from the village was found dead just outside the Tao Mansion. It was a hatred that was carried on to future generations."

"What was the boy's name?" Manta had the sense to ask.

"Kino," Uncle Japoy uttered, "Everybody knows his name."

They all looked at each other and smiled. Their lead was right.

"Does he have any descendants?" Manta asked again.

"Yes, I believe so," Uncle Japoy answered, "But she's not here at the moment. Actually, nobody knows where she is-" they all gave a sigh, "But I can take you to her house."

They all brightened up and followed Uncle Japoy to the depths of the little village. He stopped outside an old house and they all went in.

"Hullo, Japoy!" the caretaker, a chubby Ainu woman, greeted them, "You seem to have some visitors."

"Yes, they're here to see Kino's relics," Uncle Japoy told her.

"Upstairs, Japoy," the woman smiled.

They all followed Uncle Japoy up the stairs and into a little room.

"This is where Kino's relics are kept," Uncle Japoy told them, "You could look around if you want, just don't touch anything. They're a thousand years old and could crumble to dust any moment. I have to leave you to Horo, I still have a lot of work to do."

"Take care, Uncle," Horo said.

"Your relatives are weird, Horo," Ryu said as soon as Uncle Japoy left the room.

"Who are you calling, weird!" Horo and Ryu started arguing again while the rest had the sense to look around.

"Whoa… these are ancient," Yoh stared at the different objects littered around the room, "So, do we start our search?"

"Hey!" Horo protested, "Uncle said to-"

"Who cares," Anna started to turn things over.

"We have another problem," Jun said as she started to search the stuff, "I don't think we can find anything here that could give us something to stop tht ghost from haunting Pirika."

"I think that's an understatement," Manta said.

"Why's that?"

"I found Kino's journal."

Ren was still tackling the door of the attic. Pirika sat on the floor shivering in the cold, even though it was steaming inside the room. Ren finally gave up and sat beside Pirika.

"Sorry about this, Ren," Pirika said.

Ren sighed and got up. He started to search the attic's boxes for something. He got out a blanket from one of the boxes, shook out the dust and wrapped it around Pirika.

"It's not your fault," Ren sighed again, "But this is just crap! How the hell are we going to get out of here?"

"Curiousity kills the cat, they say," Pirika shivered again, "It's so… cold…"

"How can it be?" Ren was losing his patience, "There must be a heater in here somewhere."

Ren looked through centuries-old trash in the attic. There were dusty weapons, dusty books, dusty clothes and even dusty jewelry. There was a heavily locked huge truck with the Tao family crest that Ren opened with furioku and started searching in it. Ren's eyes grew wide at the sight of what was inside the trunk. Pirika looked at him cautiously and approached.

"What's in it, Ren?" Pirika asked.

"I've never seen these things before, these are supposed to be destroyed!" Ren exclaimed in shock, "These things have an involvement with the grisly history of the Taos. I can't believe these aren't destroyed yet."

"What's this?" Pirika held up a little ornate vial with a rubber stopper that contained something that looked terribly like coagulated blood.

"Don't touch that!" Ren grabbed it from her and placed it back into the trunk, "That's the blood of the legendary vampire Dracula. If you spill some on yourself you'll get turned into one!"

Despite that warning, Ren found curiousity seeping up into his brain. He found himself unearthing the antiques and even came across deadly ofudas that Jun would die for to get in her possession. Soon, even Pirika was curious enough to join him in unpacking the trunk.

"Look," Pirika held up a Mandarin-Chinese book, "Can you read this book?"

"Holy crap," Ren grabbed the book from Pirika, "It's Lian Tao's journal!"

At those words, the same icy gust filled the room again. They both stood up as clouds of cold dust swirled in the room. Amidst the chaos, there seemed to be a spectre forming in front of them. It was the girl carrying a huge knife and was inching towards Pirika. The little Ainu screamed and started crying again. Ren stayed calm and locked Pirika in his embrace, protecting her from the ghost.

"Help!" Ren yelled, hoping someone was outside, "Open the door! Yoh! Jun! Bason! Anybody!"

"Master Ren!" came Lun-Lun's voice.

"Lun-Lun! Hurry up and open the door!"

Lun-Lun unlocked the door and Ren nimbly got Pirika and himself out. Suddenly, Anna appeared behind Lun-Lun and weilded her Mala. Lun-Lun got herself, Ren and Pirika out of Anna's way. The string of 108 beads started shaking as Anna uttered a prayer to send the ghost back to the astral plane.

"Lian Tao!" Anna exclaimed, "I send you back to the spirit world! Rest in eternal peace!"

Anna shook her beads, but the wind grew stronger. Suddenly, Anna gave a gasp and she was blown off her feet (literally). She crashed into Yoh and the winds subsided.

"I just can't believe this," Anna got up, "I can't send her back to the astral plane. Who does this spirit thinks she is?"

"What happened, Anna?" Yoh asked.

"She doesn't want to go to the spirit world, yet," Anna explained, "She can't be sent there against her will."

"This sucks," Ren was still holding a sobbing Pirika tightly, "Hey, you ok, Pirika?"

Pirika had suddenly turned pale and was on the verge of fainting. Her breaths came out in gasps and she had a flushed face. Without hesitation, Ren carried Pirika on his arms and into a room. He laid her gently on the bed and tuned to Horo.

"She's having a raging fever," Lun-Lun told them as she placed her hand over Pirika's forehead.

Pirika looked at Ren and Ren found that she was holding his hand tightly. Ren sat beside the bed and let Pirika hold his hand before the girl went into a deep sleep. Horo stared at Ren in astonishment.

"Whoah, Pirika's got the hots for you," Horo whispered.

"She does not!" Ren blushed.

"What caused this fever?" Lun-Lun asked Ren.

"I don't know, but I think it has something to do with that stupid ghost," Ren told her, "Oh yeah, and this."

Ren showed them the journal that Pirika was still clutching tightly.

"Uh-huh," Manta nodded, "We found this too."

Manta held up the other journal.

"So, we'er one step closer to getting rid of that ghost," Ryu said.

"Could you bring Pirika to her room, Ren?" Horo asked, "We'll have to help Lun-Lun prepare dinner.

"Hey!" Ren started to protest but the others left the room, except for Yoh.

"Ren, I think we all have to keep a close watch on Pirika right now," Yoh told him, "The spirit is getting more violent."

"I told you not to go after her and you wouldn't listen."

Yoh and Ren jumped. Grandpa had suddenly appeared on the doorway.

"Now, it will not stop," Grandpa whispered, "It will never stop until history repeats itself."

A/N: Hahahaha! Uncle Japoy! Hahahaha! Filipinos may recognize him from the Milo commercial and Sarah Geronimo's misic video of "Lumingon Ka Lang." You know, that Tae Kwon Do guy… Hehe… his name just popped out of my head. Anyway, peace, Dairen! I won't steal him from you (even if I can if I tried! Hehehehe!), I know how much you love him! (Kidding! kidding!) Here's my replies to your reviews:

pendulum-swing- Welcome to my reviewers list! Eminem is annoying and I'll try to update soon!

Feathertop- Huh? No need for you to tell her… sobra lang toh emote ko kahapon… hehehe… I'll try to update quickly… This chappie's a bit not-in-the-right-mood so I don't know if you'll like it...