.o0o.
Using the moment of confusion to his advantage, Lin lunged forward and grabbed Hattori's firing hand, twisting the gun around so that it faced the cop. With a full-body tackle, he sent Hattori falling to the ground, knocking the gun away in the process. Just in case, Lin kicked the gun into the undergrowth.
Hattori scrambled back, an appearance of fear in his expression. Lin paused, confused. Whose consciousness was in the driver's seat?
Hattori reached for his radio. "This is Officer Hattori, I need backup at Site 387! Please hurry, they—" And with no warning, Hattori smashed his radio on a nearby rock. Lin's confusion morphed to anger. Hattori's fearful expression turned to an almost gleeful smirk. Hattori's body rose from the ground, bones cracking with every little movement. He sent both of them a bloodthirsty stare. "Get ready for the system to chew you up and spit you out, you dirty foreigners."
Naru's fists tightened. "You're a ghost. What do you think is going to happen when your backup gets here?"
"What do you mean? I'm Officer Hattori, and you lured me out here under false pretenses to kill me. Who do you think they'll believe?"
"They'll believe their own eyes," Naru said. He nodded at Lin.
Lin took his cue. He whistled. Both of his present shiki sped toward Hattori's feet, flying in a circle around the possessed cop.
"Make way!" Hattori roared.
Lin felt something silky and slimy rub itself along his shiki's tethers. He recoiled with disgust, failing to recall the parasitic aspect of Fusei's powers. Half a second was all Fusei needed. As the three shiki stopped spinning, he jumped out of the circle. Then he charged toward Naru like a predator on the hunt. Lin's protective reflexes took over. He tackled Hattori down. Like a rabid dog, Hattori kicked and squirmed, trying to twist his head around to bite, only succeeding in getting a mouthful of dirt.
"Master, your flockmates are here!" squawked Moss from a far distance.
"Bring them to me!" Lin ordered, just as he lost his grip on one of Hattori's wrists. An unkind elbow met his upper cheekbone, narrowly missing his eye. He lurched back and pinned Hattori again, this time straddling him.
"Father Brown is coming," Lin said. "This is the end for you."
In the distance, the sound of police sirens provided the only response Fusei needed. Hattori grinned, dirt falling from his lips.
Lin shot to his feet, getting off of Hattori in an instant. It was not a second too soon, as the forest was suddenly alive with echoing footsteps and shouting men.
"Over here!" Hattori cried.
Before they knew it, they were faced with a semicircle of roughly six police officers, all staring at them with varying levels of aggression. Several had hands on their holsters; several more had their batons out.
"Hands where we can see them!" shouted one officer.
"Hattori's possessed!" said Naru. "Fusei's spirit kidnapped our colleagues and lured us out here!"
"That's ridiculous!" Hattori said.
One of the officers stepped out of line and grabbed Hattori's shoulder, pulling the man aside. Lin couldn't make out what was being said, but he didn't need to. His Earth shiki was more than capable of spying.
"What the hell are you doing here without me?"
"Captain, I can explain—"
"You're not supposed to be anywhere without me until we can find you a new TO. Do you think you can just disobey orders willy nilly because your TO died?"
A hand grabbed Lin's arm, startling him out of his spying. His immediate reaction was to flinch away, only for the hand to tighten, and another to grip his shoulder. "Don't tense up." Lin then realized that it was an officer right next to him, pulling his hands behind his back. A second set of clicking signaled Naru's arrest as well. Lin chanced a glance at Hattori, who was still talking to his captain. Hattori had the gall to turn his head toward Lin, a covert and cruel smirk on his lips. Lin sucked in a breath. If Fusei was allowed to get away with this charade, it would only be a matter of time before he and Naru were disposed of, likely in a painful manner.
"Our colleagues are missing," said Lin. "Masako Hara and Mai Taniyama. We have been working a supernatural case in these woods for the past several days. Officer Fusei was at the center of it. He was personally responsible for the torture of numerous people, myself included. Do not let him get away with more."
"Fusei is dead," said the arresting officer. He took Lin by the elbow and began to walk him toward the road. They were going to walk right by Hattori and the captain.
Lin stopped just as he was in front of Hattori and the captain, within spitting distance. The officer holding him tensed, but Lin was strong enough to stand his ground. He sent a venomous glare toward the possessed Hattori.
"Fusei is right there. In that body. Possessing his student. Making fools of all of you."
Hattori did not move, but Lin could see the flicker of anger in his eyes, the twitching of his lip, and the clenching of his fists. Despite Fusei's remarkable amount of control and discipline, as a spirit without a true body of his own, he was far more susceptible to the power of his own emotions, as evidenced by the minor reactions that he did not have while he was alive. And here, in this tangled forest of woe, there was nothing to temper him but the echoes of fury and pain. Lin just had to push him over the edge. The thing was, he was more than sure that Fusei was ready to brush off provocations of anger. Lin decided to go with something else. Disgust.
In one swift move, Lin spat in Hattori's face.
For one second, there was silence. Then Hattori let out an inhuman, feral screech just as Lin was yanked away. A hot wind burst from Hattori's body. Lin fell to sitting and craned his neck to see the purple aura rising from Hattori's body. The captain stumbled away from Hattori, as did everyone else nearby.
"You see? Possessed," said Lin, wiping the extra saliva off his mouth with his shoulder.
It was too late to put the genie back in the bottle, so to speak. Hattori's body exhaled and stepped toward Lin, murder in his eyes. Lin tried to scramble back, realizing just how vulnerable he was with his hands literally tied. No matter what he did, he struggled to find his footing, unwilling to take his eyes off his enemy. And then Fusei stopped, a curious expression on his face. He turned around to the six policemen who had come to his aid.
"What are you going to do, hmm? Arrest me? Beat me? You'd only be doing those things to your living colleague Hattori here. I wouldn't feel a thing."
The officers exchanged glances.
"We've officially lost it," said one of them.
"Are you all seriously still denying what's going on here?" Naru shouted. "Ghosts are real. Deal with it! Or did you all collectively forget what killed Fusei the other day?"
A shudder passed through half of the gathered officers. That was answer enough.
Hattori clapped his hands once. "Well. Perhaps then it's good that you have a ghost on your side."
Lin and Naru's eyes snapped to the madman—or madghost in this case.
"After all, Hattori has been by no means a good student. Here's my proposition to all of you. Let me take Hattori's place as your… let's say, spirit consultant. The first order of business would be to eliminate these two spiritualists right here, right now. After all, they have brought nothing but chaos to Eastern Village."
Everyone in the woods stood still, stunned at Fusei's audacious offer. Lin held his breath. There was no way they could accept this. There was just no way. Hattori took a step toward Lin. Two officers raised their batons.
"Remember," hissed Fusei. "I am on your side."
Hattori sprung forward, landing a brutal kick into Lin's chest. With a strangled grunt, Lin slammed down onto his back, chest heaving as he struggled to regain the wind that had been knocked out of him.
Hattori's mouth fell open. Like vomit, out came a purple fluid, which slowly rose from the ground, taking the shape of Fusei's ghoul. It loomed over Lin for a second. Lin gave the order for his shiki to attack, but without his hands, he could not whistle to summon them. They pushed against Fusei's form to no avail. Like a tidal wave, Fusei let go of Hattori and crashed its entire essence into Lin.
Instantly, the battle for control of Lin's body began. Lin could hear Naru yelling, but he couldn't make out what he was shouting. His shiki were shouting too, begging for orders, instructions, anything to help their master. Lin was happy to oblige them. "Fortify!"
Two balls of light appeared over Lin's body. They dove straight downward, passing from the spiritual plane to Lin's mindscape.
The two shiki homed in on their master's central life force, his spirit, suspended in the snares of eight rotting branches, face wrought with exhaustion. From each branch sprouted jagged fingers, each one ending with a pointed barb, impaling Lin's spirit body from all angles. Occasionally, words in Chinese appeared on one of the branches, creating a blast that broke away the offending branch and those sprouting from it. The branches slowly filled themselves back in, squeezing tighter, pulling harder, and piercing deeper. Steam poured from his wounds, hot and thick. All around him, the echoes of "Give in!" assaulted the mind space, all in an attempt to bend Lin's will.
Earth and Water exchanged glances and nodded toward each other. Water made contact first, ramming its claws into the twisted branches and pulling every drop of water element from the roots. The attacking branches let out a hissing squeak as they were drained of their water energy.
Several thorns flew forth, stabbing into Water's body, stealing back the water she had stolen, and then some. Water shrieked and Lin shuddered, feeling himself wither with his shiki. As Water worked to drain the intruder, Earth worked to break through Fusei's hold on Lin's mind, the roots digging downward into the walls of his psyche. Coming into contact with Fusei's roots proved painful; Wood devoured Earth naturally, so Earth's ability to harm Wood was limited. They needed help. Help that they did not have.
A branch snaked around Lin's waist, up his back, and wrapped around his neck. Its tip touched Lin's left ear, whispering, "Submit."
Lin gritted his teeth. He had no energy to speak, but his thoughts could be summed up with a single phrase, Over my dead body.
Fusei seemed to sense the message, as after all, they were in Lin's mind. "So be it," said the ghoul. The branches tightened.
In the waking world, everyone watched as Lin's struggles grew weaker, and his desperate gasps for air grew shallow. Naru was the only one to lunge forward and kneel beside Lin's fallen form, hands still cuffed behind both of their backs. "Dammit, Lin! Fight!"
Lin's body stilled. Naru turned his attention to the officers, unable to take a moment more of this suffering. "Uncuff me! Uncuff me so that I can help him!"
All of the officers turned to the captain for guidance, save for one, Hattori, who was only now reviving from his mentor's possession. The police medium groaned and sat up. One of the officers knelt down beside him and began to check him over, but Hattori could only stare with a lost look at the still Chinese man beside him.
"I told you," Hattori finally said. The officers looked at him. Naru hardly spared him a glance. "I told you Fusei was a monster! Look what he did to us! To him!" He thrust his hands toward Lin. The police stared, hesitant but contemplative.
By now, Naru could no longer tell if Lin was breathing. Naru pressed his ear to Lin's chest, checking for signs of life. It was difficult to find any when his own pulse was racing. An officer in the background was radioing for an ambulance. Like that was going to do any good.
"How can I help?" Hattori asked.
A vicious snarl on his face, Naru said, "You've done enough!"
He turned away, listening again for Lin's pulse, only for Hattori to open his damn mouth once more.
"Mr. Lin's shiki says we have his friends in custody. Captain Ito, is that true?"
To this, Naru perked up. That had to be John and Takigawa. "Bring them here. They can force Fusei out!"
"I'll go get them," Hattori offered.
"No."
All seven eyes turned to the captain. Naru couldn't help but let his aura flare. The captain continued.
"I will get them. You stay here and keep an eye on the situation."
Nobody spoke for several seconds. The captain turned around and walked back toward the road. Once he was gone, Naru spoke.
"Uncuff me. Uncuff me, please."
To this, Hattori obliged.
As soon as he was free, Naru clambered forward and pressed his hands onto Lin's chest. To his immense relief, he felt the stubborn man's ribcage rise and fall, signaling that he was indeed alive. Naru didn't know how much longer it was going to stay that way. Determined to give Lin the best chance of succession, Naru took a deep breath and focused. His body glowed, his own aura, white and warm, flowing through his hands. Naru began to channel his power to Lin. It was a great risk to take, as the exertion of his power out here meant that he would likely take some heavy recoil, but if Lin didn't receive help soon, he'd expire under the pressure.
Something rammed into his gut, forcing the air out of his lungs and destroying his concentration. Before he knew it, he was topsy turvy, lying on the floor, five feet away from Lin. Upon sitting up, Naru saw that Lin's leg was extended toward him. Lin had kicked him away. His one visible eye was staring at Naru, focus unsteady and at the brink of exhaustion. Through desperate, gasping breaths, Lin managed a single, solid shake of his head. His eyes closed, and his body went limp.
Mai and Masako sat huddled on the floor. Well, neither of them were sure they were on the floor. They weren't even sure they were still on Earth. Whatever had abducted them had either been unable to keep their minds separate, or it was allowing them to stay together. Mai had asked Masako what possibly could have gotten her, a trained medium, and taken control.
"Possession is in my line of work," Masako said. "I can defend against unwanted communication, not necessarily possession."
Mai gawked at that excuse.
Masako didn't look. "Think of it this way. Bike locks won't save your bike if someone's specifically on a mission to steal bikes."
"But who did this?" Mai asked.
Masako shook her head. "I didn't see them. They didn't let me. But I can tell you a few things. One, I don't think the spirit is malicious. It's using us to its own ends, not harming us. Two, it probably isn't human."
"How do you figure?"
Masako put a finger to her chin. "Have you ever had the experience of a stranger trying to get your attention in a foreign language? It is difficult to notice when you aren't looking in their direction. I believe that is why I was possessed so easily. I did not realize I was a target until it was too late because the energy was neither human nor malicious in nature."
"Oh. So just kind of out of left field, huh?" Mai surmised. "So then… what do they want?"
"It is up to us if they want to tell us." Masako turned her head outward, toward the darkness surrounding them. "Isn't that right?"
There was a beat of silence. Then, Mai heard, far off in the distance, the sound of a tiny plop in water. Then another. And another. Something was coming. Masako stood up. Seeing this, Mai steadied herself, getting herself ready to fight if need be.
Out of the darkness walked a heron. A katana was strapped to its back. Its feet were invisible, sunken into the ground as though the ground itself was water. Perhaps it was, in this place.
Mai's brow furrowed. That face, that bird face, looked familiar. "Are you…"
"Lin's tengu," Masako said.
The bird nodded.
Mai jumped to her feet. The bird might have been tall by nature, but Mai's human stature made her taller.
"Why did you kidnap us?" she blurted.
With a fwoop, the bird snapped open its wing. Mai flinched back.
A terrible scream filled the air. All three spirits present startled, looking in the direction of the scream. Mai's stomach leaped to her throat. That was Lin's voice. Had Lin come here after all? She thought Not-Masako had told him not to come. Or was that just some tricky reverse psychology that the spirit was using? No matter, Lin needed help. She started to run in his direction, or at least the direction she thought he was, but the heron once again opened its wings with a fwoop, blocking her path.
"Let me go! He needs help! Your master needs help! Don't you understand?"
The heron remained still. A deep, militant voice spoke all around them. "You must stay where your spirit is safe!" It didn't sound like it was coming from the heron, but both Mai and Masako knew that it belonged to the bird.
"Something's wrong with Lin. I can't not help him!"
She kicked out. The bird brought up its own twiggy leg and caught her foot with its talon. With strength greater than Mai would have thought possible, the heron pressed her foot down. A warning glint in its eye told Mai not to test it.
In a disbelieving voice, Mai murmured, "Don't you care? Even a little?"
She and the heron stood facing each other for several seconds. It was several seconds too long. Finally, the heron backed down. Mai wasted not a second more, pushing past the bird, running off into the distance.
Alone with the heron, it was Masako's turn to stare it down. "I assume you have a plan?" she asked. "You and the huli jing?"
The heron simply nodded before stalking off into the darkness.
Mai did not have to run far. She did not come upon Lin's physical form, as she was already in the realm of spirits, where the invading spirit had shoved her when it first took control of her. Instead, she found Lin's spirit body, ensnared within eight thorny vines. The barbs dug deep into him, causing steam to spew from his wounds. Every now and then a word in Chinese blasted some of the vines away, but such bursts were few and far between. There was one spirit swirling around the writhing mass of vines, ramming into it every now and then, to little no effect.
Mai cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Hey you!"
All activity stopped, turning their attention to her.
"Mai, get away!" Lin said, his voice laced with exhaustion.
The vines stretched up, collecting high above Lin's spirit form and changing into a massive head, with two gleaming eyes blinking curiously in Mai's direction. Mai took a reflexive step backwards. The wooden head slithered in her direction, lowering itself to her level like a serpent inspecting prey. A few branches grew from its face, reaching toward Mai. Mai took a step back, only to back straight into a standing vine, intent on keeping her there. Within seconds, she was surrounded. Branches poked and prodded her body, but not with an intent to harm. No, this touch was inquisitive.
"Stop it," Lin rasped. "Focus on me!"
Another Chinese symbol appeared on one of the roots wrapped around Lin's torso, blasting the piece to smithereens, but Fusei's arboreal form hardly registered the attack.
"Leave Lin alone," Mai commanded. "I'm the one you want. I'm the host of Weiguó."
Lin's head snapped up, glaring at her. "No, you idiot!"
Fusei's body cracked like dry wood. It was a vicious, gleeful sound. With a lunge like a cobra, the ghoul flung itself at Mai, wrapping around her and squeezing her tightly in its coils. In doing so, it released its hold on Lin, whose spirit body fell to the floor in a heap. He reached his hand out to Mai, calling her name and pleading to Fusei to let her go and focus on him. He went unheeded.
"Where is he?" Fusei demanded, nearly squeezing the life out of Mai. Had she not been an incorporeal form at the moment, she would most definitely be sprouting some broken bones and crushed organs.
She cracked open an eye and said, "We let him go!"
"You WHAT!?" Thorns shot out from Fusei's bark. Some harmlessly jabbed the air—others speared into Mai's form, drawing a shrill cry from the girl.
"Mai!" Lin called. He stumbled forward, the injuries to his own spirit making it hard to move.
"How dare you!" Fusei roared, squeezing its thorny bindings tighter and tighter. Mai's screams cut off as Fusei placed a root over her mouth.
Lin brought his hand to his mouth and whistled. Both of his shiki flew from their positions, ramming into Fusei with all their might. To his surprise, Moss arrived inside his mindscape, adding a third shiki to their numbers. The three lights swirled around Fusei, pounding the ghoul's form with all their might. Despite their incessant ramming, Fusei did not give up Mai, still squirming in its grasp. Her kicks slowed as her spirit weakened. Panic overtaking reason, Lin resorted to a Hail Mary saving throw.
"It was me!" he shouted. "I exorcised Weiguó."
Fusei froze. The three shiki swirled around Fusei's head, but they made no move to strike. Fusei rounded on Lin, looming over him like a cruel lord, still clutching onto Mai.
"It was me," said Lin with a shrug. What else was there to say?
Fusei dropped Mai. She landed with a thud, groaning and whimpering. The vines once again wrapped around Lin's body, stretching his limbs out and driving their thorns into him. To its own demise, Fusei lifted Lin high up into the air. From that vantage point, Lin was able to see over Fusei's thorny shoulder. In the distance was a flickering light, like a candle in a dark room. The way it waved and danced made Lin almost sure that it was beckoning him. Before he could ponder its appearance any further, it vanished. It was not a moment too soon, as Fusei turned around quizzically, following his point of view.
Fusei's eyes landed on Mai, trembling on her hands and knees. A single vine wrapped around her torso, lifting her off the ground and holding her in front of Lin. Lin was unsure which one of them Fusei was going to kill and which one it was going to force to watch, but upon seeing Mai close up, Lin noticed a critical detail. Fusei had not pinned Mai's arms. At this, Lin thought of an idea. A stupid, insane idea just crazy enough to work.
"Use the nine cuts," Lin hissed.
Mai froze, eyes wide. She craned her neck and tried to turn, but it was no use. "I can't turn around!" she said.
Lin shook his head. "On me. Return to your body and use them on me."
Mai gasped. "I can't do that! It could kill you!"
"You're not strong enough. You're the only one who can use the nine cuts without lethal force. You might just drive Fusei out!"
Mai's face went blank. She thought back to the time she was forced to use the nine cuts on a person, not once, but twice. Both times, the target lived. In one case, the spirit was weak enough to flee after its host absorbed the hit. In the other case… The memory of a dead body floating in the sea flashed through her head.
"Mai. Please trust me."
She shoved her thoughts to the side and nodded. Lin squeezed his eyes shut. A white Chinese word appeared on the branch that held Mai. With a burst of light, the branch broke, fizzling away to nothing. Mai hit the ground running, darting past Fusei, toward the direction she had come.
A thorny arm swung in her direction. Lin's Earth shiki swooped down, striking the arm and deflecting the attack. Water bit down into the next arm that aimed at Mai. As for Fusei's third arm, Moss coiled itself around the joint, rendering it unable to reach her.
Mai continued to run until Lin and Fusei were far behind, out of sight, out of earshot, out of mind. Now she just had to return to her own body. How would she—
Mai sat up too fast, making her head spin. She had pushed several dead leaves off of herself when rising, meaning that she had been buried underneath a pile of leaves. Looking around, she realized that she was in the clearing. The broken-in furnace was nearby. She was still waist-deep in leaves, so she stood up and brushed herself off. She then looked around for any sign of Lin or the SPR. She finally spotted them, way off in the distance, Lin lying on the floor surrounded by Takigawa, John, and Naru. She started running.
As she got closer, she began to hear their conversation. Hattori was speaking, looking at Lin with a lost expression.
"There's… there are six… no, five spirits inside. One of them just left."
Naru, Monk, and John shared glances.
Monk shook his head. "I can't perform an exorcism on him in this state. My power is something of a bomb."
Naru turned to John.
"The presence of Lin's shiki in there complicates things," said John. "I would be just as likely to destroy them as much as Fusei. I have no way of distinguishing one from the other."
"So then what can we do?" Takigawa said, an edge of panic in his voice.
That was Mai's cue. "I know what to do!"
Everyone turned around.
"Mai!" Takigawa exclaimed.
Mai ignored Monk. She ran up to Lin, taking a position over his supine form. She raised two fingers. Realizing what she was about to do, Monk's expression hardened. "Don't you dare—" He lunged for Mai's wrist.
A katana flew down from above, landing between him and Mai, stopping Takigawa in his tracks. Naru looked up for the source of the weapon, eyes landing on a large, red-crowned crane roosting in a tree. It had piercing silver eyes and a sheen on its flight feathers that made it stand apart from normal cranes. Naru realized instantly that he was looking at Lin's former tengu shiki.
Using the moment of confusion to her advantage, Mai performed the nine cuts, aiming for the center of Lin's chest.
"Rin! Pyou! Tou! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!"
Lin's body seized as Mai's weak pulses hit him head on. A deep purple spirit attempted to rise out of his body, more specifically, out of the nine-grid pattern now carved into his skin under his clothing. To everyone's surprise, three claws reached out of Lin's body and grabbed the purple essence, yanking it back in.
Suddenly, Lin's eyes opened. He shot up to sitting and immediately tried to stand. He was wobbly on his feet, so Takigawa and Naru leaped to his sides to steady him. They followed his line of sight, finding that he was looking at the Japanese crane perched above them all.
The crane nodded. Then it flew off in the direction it came from. Lin leaned forward, intent on following it.
Realizing that the man had some kind of plan, Naru and Takigawa let him go.
"Wait," Hattori said. Five sets of glares came his way. Hattori waved a set of keys in response. Lin allowed Hattori to uncuff him, and then the SPR continued toward the forest.
To the surprise of everyone present, all of the police followed, but not in pursuit. They were genuinely traveling with the SPR. That was, until the captain stopped two of them and said, "Go back to the street and monitor the vehicles. Do not call for backup until I radio in, or if you go ten minutes without hearing from us."
The officers split up and followed the SPR toward the clearing.
They stopped only once or twice, each time because Lin fell against a tree for support, muttering, "Stay down. Stay down." And each time, the crane above them gave a shrill call, prompting them forward.
It took five minutes to reach the clearing, where Mai had woken up. Hattori was now quaking like a baby's rattle, eyes glued to the tops of the trees. The captain radioed to his officers at the street that no backup was needed yet.
A hand pressed against a tree, Lin pointed to the middle of the clearing where several dead leaves lay piled up.
"There," he said.
John stared quizzically at Lin, then at the space he indicated. Naru and Monk walked over to it and began to dig through the leaves. It didn't even take them five seconds of digging before they unearthed Masako's cold body from under the leaves.
"Holy shit," Monk breathed as Naru and John announced what they had found. They pulled the girl's form close, checking her vitals and thankfully finding a pulse. Masako was relatively cold but not dangerously so. She was still wearing her coat.
"Is she still possessed?" John asked. He reached into his pocket for his crucifix, but he stopped when he heard a soft, lonely whistle.
From the bodies of Masako and also Mai emerged a blue smoke. Mai blinked, shocked that that wisp had still been inside of her, even after she had woken up. The wisp rose up into the air before floating back down, taking the shape of a fox with nine tails.
"You have brought your foe," said the huli jing, staring straight at Lin.
Lin nodded.
The fox opened its mouth and sucked in. Fusei's purple ooze was drawn out of Lin's body. This time around, Lin allowed it. To Mai's surprise, the ghoul was sprouting a grid of nine thin gouges on its back. It appeared to be in a stunned state, unresponsive to everything that was going on around it.
A noisy wind whipped up in the branches of the trees, causing leaves to fall and the branches to crack.
"The spirits, they're whispering," said Hattori. "I… it's not in Japanese…" His eyes went from the treetops to Lin. "Oh, you're hurt."
Lin looked down. His white shirt was now turning red, and even though his suit jacket was too dark to see the blood, he knew it was also down for the count. He clicked his tongue. This was proving to be a messy case. He pulled his coat over his torso, making sure to cover his formerly white shirt.
A second breath from the fox pulled out three other lights from Lin's body. Lin looked up, surprised but unharmed. The three lights took the form of Chinese dragons, one blue, one green, and one tan.
The fox floating in the air slunk downward, approaching Mai directly. Unlike other times Mai had been face to face with the huli jing, this time, it was tall enough to look her in the eyes.
One of the fox's tails arced over its head. Mai's breath hitched, worried that the fox was about to punish her for harming its former master. Instead, it touched her forehead. Images flashed through her mind. Some of them were faint; others were at the forefront, but Mai recognized all of them. They were her memories of the things that Weiguó had shown her. The memories that were faint were the ones that Weiguó did not experience personally, whereas the strong ones were truly his. Most prominent was the series of memories he had shown her backwards—the memories of the moments right before, during, and just after his death. It was to Mai's relief that among the slew of his emotions that passed through her, hatred was nearly imperceptible. Anger for sure was present, but not hate. Weiguó was not a hateful spirit by nature.
Opening her eyes, Mai realized she had been moved from the outer edge of the clearing to dead smack in the middle. She was standing in front of Fusei's ghoul, still kneeling on the ground. Over its shoulder, she saw Lin, holding his coat closed. She winced. She hadn't wanted to do it, but her cuts were just right to break Fusei's concentration. Encircling Fusei's ghoul were Naru, John, Takigawa, and five police officers, one of whom she recognized as Hattori. Unsure of what was happening, she began to turn toward the huli jing, intent on asking, but the fox beat her to it.
It stepped forward and spoke, voice echoing over the gathered. "Before us, we have Haruki Fusei. Human in life, yōkai in death. There are two victims here to reveal the crimes of the accused: Koujo Lin and Mai Taniyama. Mai Taniyama will act in place of Weiguó Lin, human in life, resting in death."
A murmur passed through the crowd. Fusei's ghoul looked up, making eye contact with Mai, its face blank as ever.
The huli jing's tails fanned out dramatically, sending a commanding pulse of wind over the gathered. "On this day, the dead speak!" At that, the crowd fell silent. Mai stepped forward. She felt the fox's breath on her neck like a hot iron. "Close your eyes. Tell them what you saw."
Mai did as instructed.
The images that she thought she had escaped came back to her. Why was this happening? Was this the huli jing's power? Or was this the forest? Brushing those thoughts aside, she allowed Weiguó's memories to inhabit her. In that moment, she was Weiguó's mouth.
"I'm… I'm here. In Japan. On business. They told me simple recon. All they gave me was my watch with the lithium battery. I unload in a hotel. There was a fight. I lost." Mai was grateful that she couldn't see the expressions of her colleagues. "The next thing I knew, I was in prison. The guards. They beat me."
"Which guards? Is one of them before you now?"
Mai did not open her eyes. She simply nodded. At her nod, the trees began to rustle, almost as if they were hissing. She couldn't see it, but all those sensitive to spirits were now staring at the trees. Hattori and Masako in particular were particularly alarmed.
"When they couldn't get me to betray my allegiance, they took me to their doctor. I don't know the name. But as we walked through the hallway, I dropped my battery. Some other prisoner must have picked it up."
"How many prisoners were there?"
"Not many. Maybe four others."
"How many prisoners were there?" the huli jing repeated, this time with a growl in its voice. Mai's head flooded with the horrid memories of the nightmares Weiguó had given her. They were not his memories, but they were still someone's memories. To her dismay, every person hurt, tortured, killed, wore Lin's face, just as Weiguó had shown her. Mai clenched her fists, gripping the fabric of her pants.
"Too many for one spirit to count," said Mai.
Again, the trees hissed. This time, the branches bent downward, as far as the bark would allow. Off to the side, Masako whimpered. Mai could hear Hattori dissolving into a puddle of swears and panicked muttering. There was a thud, and Lin barked, "Quiet." The muttering turned to whimpering.
The fiery fox continued. "How did you die?"
To this, Mai opened her eyes. She pointed at Fusei's ghoul, still folded on the ground. "He shot me. Then he burned me. He destroyed my remains."
Masako had her head bowed. John had one hand over his mouth, listening intently. Takigawa was livid, teeth bared and fist at his belt, ready to rip the ghoul to shreds. Naru was breathing deeply, clearly trying to keep himself composed.
The police were an entirely different story. Two of them were exchanging unsure glances. The other three were halfway between ready to fight and ready to flee. Why on Earth they were still here for this… was it appropriate to call this a trial, or was this a sentencing? Mai looked up. The trees were still bending downward, as if trying to reach toward Fusei.
She felt something push her forward, toward the SPR. She turned toward the huli jing for clarification, but the fox would not look at her. She moved toward the team, gingerly stepping around Fusei, who did not react to her in the slightest. Monk was ready for her, grabbing her into a hug and pulling her an extra few feet away from the center of the clearing. Naru put a hand on Mai's head. She looked at him.
"Breathe, Mai. Let him flow from your head, down to your feet, and into the ground."
Mai blinked. What was…
"Weiguó is not with you. Do not be fooled into thinking he is."
Oh. Mai closed her eyes, leaning into Monk's strong arms. She sucked in a breath through her nose, letting it out slowly.
"The next testimony will come from the last living victim of the accused."
The fox was looking straight at Lin. Lin had a troubled look on his face, but nobody could describe him as surprised. He closed his eyes and stepped forward. When he got close enough to Fusei, the ghoul attempted to lunge in his direction.
A furry tail sprouted from the ground, impaling the ghoul's torso. Like a meat hook, it pulled down, forcing Fusei into a reluctant, half kowtow.
"What's the point of all this?" asked one of the cops, drawing the attention of every being with agency.
In lieu of a response, the huli jing merely glanced upward. The forest's branches were still rustling. This time, instead of reaching for Fusei alone, they were now spreading out toward every other person present.
Hattori quaked. Masako gasped, eyes widening in realization.
Naru vocalized her thought. "Because when we cleanse the forest, the vengeful spirits will be freed. We want their anger focused on Fusei, not us. And certainly not the rest of Eastern Village."
The same officer who opened his big mouth before continued to talk. "Okay. Let's just say all this ghost shit is for real. Why the hell would they come after us? We're the goddamn police."
"Because you knew about everything," Lin said. He was now standing beside the huli jing, elevated on the mound of dirt serving as the witness stand. "Hattori informed us. Everyone at the Eastern Village Police Station knows what happened at Site 387. The police used their power to capture me in order to keep the site a secret. He had me arrested for espionage when he knew for certain that Weiguó was the one he wanted. Hattori, you were there when I was beaten. When my tethers were severed, which nearly killed me. I had to endure being revived by the person who despised my existence and only wanted to see me suffer, and you helped him.
"Then you took me to…" Lin paused. The police captain was staring at him in shock and confusion. Right. There were people here who didn't have the full context. Lin decided to approach this from a new angle. "Are you aware that your station is directly connected to the underground prisons of Site 387? That's where Fusei held me for at least twelve hours. All the while, he used my shiki, hurt them, to interrogate me. Ordered my Metal shiki to strike my Earth shiki, all the while knowing that I could feel every slash, every stab, every stroke of an iron cane."
A sound like creaking floorboards caught Lin's attention. He glanced at Fusei, whose slit mouth had curled upward into a smirk. Lin swallowed his disgust.
"The day that Fusei died, do you know what he said to me? He told me that he'd torture me within an inch of my life while the rest of my teammates watched. Then he'd make them choose whether to watch him kill me, or put me out of my misery themselves."
A series of murmurs came from the SPR's side of the clearing. Right, they were not aware of what exactly went down during Lin's last confrontation with Fusei.
"Past and present make no difference to the spirits." Lin gestured to the treetops, the movements of which had grown more and more violet as Lin recounted what he had endured. "The fact that Fusei was ever one of your own is enough to condemn you in their eyes. You are fortunate that I don't wish to see you destroyed. Only him."
The cop now looked properly disturbed. Beside Lin, the huli jing gave a satisfied smile and the barest of nods.
"Will he have a chance to defend himself?" asked the captain. His tone was much more respectful.
Lin leveled him with a piercing stare. "If you knew anything about spirits after death, you would know there is nothing there worth defending."
The captain appeared taken aback. Masako was happy to explain further.
"The human body is the only shape a living human can inhabit. When the human spirit transcends into the next phase of existence, that is to say, death, their spiritual forms will reflect the type of person they were and still are. His appearance as a tree-like ghoul is no coincidence, nor is it intentional on his part. There is nothing to defend, as the shape of his spirit has already said everything that needs saying."
Nobody said anything for several seconds, digesting what the medium had said. Hattori in particular looked contemplative.
"I think… should we go then?" asked one of the other cops.
"If you so wish to continue turning a blind eye to the state of your own world, then be my guest," said the huli jing.
The captain eyed the fox. "What does that mean?"
"You are giving a press conference later, aren't you?" Masako said. "You have the power to bring the world to a new paradigm shift."
"But is that really a good thing though?" Mai countered. "One of Lin's shiki mentioned that humans aren't really good at sharing."
Masako shrugged. "I cannot say what revealing the spiritual world will do to the world of the future. All I know is that, so long as the official world decides to pretend the spirit world does not exist, this won't be the last time someone uses the spirit world to manipulate the waking world for their own benefit. It will be up to you to decide whether crimes committed in an unregulated plane of existence are still crimes."
Curiously, Hattori put a hand on the captain's arm. The captain glanced at him quizzically, but Hattori said nothing. The SPR could only speculate on what silent conversation they had just had.
The fox flared out its tails, a pulse of wind hitting everyone present. The call for silence was unmistakable. The trees disobeyed, still rustling and creaking, bending so as to reach their old enemy.
The Earth dragon let out a snarl, whiskers whipping around its face.
The Water dragon barked, a strange braying noise that was more suited to a mule than a dragon.
The Wood dragon just chirped.
From the treetops flew down the Japanese crane. It was now suddenly six feet tall, much larger than it had been just half an hour ago. Its stern eyes leveled with Lin's. Its voice echoed around the clearing, despite never opening its beak.
"It is time."
Lin hesitated. Did that mean what he thought it meant? Sensing his confusion, the crane looked up at the branches. Oh. It wasn't requesting to be tethered yet. It was talking about the tree cleansing.
Lin turned to his three shiki. Earth, Water, and Wood. He knew asking Fire to burn through the trapped branches was anything but helpful. Instead, he decided to take a page from Ayako's book at focus on the roots. He stepped down from the witness post. Fusei swung its third arm at him. He simply ducked out of the way. A fiery tail whipped forth, grabbing Fusei's straying arm and restraining the ghoul. As Lin approached the base of the largest tree in the clearing, Fusei began to struggle, grunting and groaning. Uneasy glances were shared among the police. The SPR were experienced enough to remain composed.
Lin knelt down. He touched the dirt between the roots, letting it pass between his fingers. As he meditated on this feeling, reading the flow or lacktherof of the spiritual elements, a picture began to form in his mind. The Wood had been choked by Fire and rotted away by Earth. As Wood was already weakened and dominated by its neighboring elements, Lin decided the best course of action was to literally wash it away. He inclined his head.
At once, Water stepped forward. It bowed its head and then dove into the ground beneath them. Blue ripples of light pulsed away from its diving point. Nobody moved for a moment. Lin listened. The rustling of trees slowly became less agitated. The forest was changing. He took in a small breath. Was it just him, or was the air itself less oppressive?
Nevertheless, he wasn't done. He had to restore the natural flow within Wood itself. Even though the trees themselves were without a spirit of their own, their bodies could still function mechanically. Like using electricity to stimulate the muscles of a corpse, the natural veins of the trees could be reopened. He nodded to Moss, who dove into the ground just as Water had. Moss entered through the roots that Water had washed. Both shiki let their energies flow up, through the veins of the trees, and then back down into the ground.
Again, Lin listened. All the trees around them began to rumble. It was not an earthquake-like rumble. It was more akin to the sound of water rushing deep below the surface. The tops of the trees had stopped rustling altogether.
Finally, Lin turned to Earth, letting it dive into the ground. The flow of earthly energy into the tree forced everything else out. At the first nudge of blocked energy, the metaphorical dam cracked.
At once, everything stopped. What was left was not peaceful—far from it. Instead, the clearing was waiting on baited breath. Even Fusei had stopped moving. Their only clue that something big was about to occur was the slow receding of the huli jing's tails from around Fusei's form.
A massive boom shook the ground. Lin felt his stomach leap to his throat. It felt as though a half-a-million ton weight had fallen from the sky, landing just outside the clearing. The police began crying out in alarm, several of them losing their footing. Naru called for everyone to be still, but that didn't help whatsoever. The forest floor was still wracked with tremors. The ground peeled back to reveal a mass of amalgamated spirits, all of them bathed in a furious, glowing red hue. Their forms were melted into each other. It was impossible to tell where one spirit ended and another began. Mouths fused to eyes; hands came shooting out from in between half-faces. All of them were reaching and grasping for whatever they could gravitate toward.
"Get back! Back!" Naru ordered.
Nobody needed to be told twice. Everyone made a break for the edge of the clearing, including Lin's shiki, which flew from the ground back to their master. Several flailing hands and gnashing teeth made an attempt to reach for passing prey, but they all eventually homed in on Fusei's ghoul. The ghoul arched backward, bellowing out an inhuman cry of pain. Hands were pulling at it, melting into it, burning it and tearing it apart. The air was becoming thick and hot. The smell of burning wood and melted tar assailed the nostrils of the living. The amalgamation of spirits rose out of the ground like a well of lava, enveloping Fusei's ghoul from the bottom up. Faces bubbled and popped. Once Fusei was completely submerged, the giant, fleshy, melted mass began to slowly collapse toward the forest floor.
Lin couldn't help but wrap his arms around his torso. He knew firsthand what it felt like to be pulled apart and covered in hot tar. This was the same fate to which his previous Wood shiki had succumbed. He knew in his mind, this was the best way out. Better Fusei than anyone else.
In less than a minute, the burning pool of spirits sunk back into the earth, as if they had never been there in the first place. All was quiet, save for the natural rustling of leaves in the wind. In one final cascade of events, every last spirit connected to Site 387 was gone.
Welp. Ghostly climax over. Time to wrap this up. Maybe in a few chapters.