Chapter 9: The Beheaded Ghost’s Power

The Beheaded Ghost stared at Li Si with a wooden expression, its head tilting slightly to the left.

Li Si felt as if he heard a “crack” sound as he saw the delicately carved child’s face slowly turn a deathly green color. The uneven wound on its neck became visible, revealing the spine and blood vessels through the injury.

Li Si wasn’t particularly afraid, after all, the Beheaded Ghost had already signed a contract with him and couldn’t harm him. He looked thoughtfully at the jagged wound on the Beheaded Ghost’s neck.

He recalled a rumor he had heard on Earth about ancient executioners not sharpening their swords. No knife sharpener would help them because they considered the executioner’s blade sinful and stained with human blood. They feared touching it would bring bad luck to their families.

The executioners also felt that the sword had killed too many people and was heavily burdened with sin. Sharpening it would only increase their guilt. So they preferred to take multiple strikes when beheading someone rather than sharpening the blade. It was said that when a certain gentleman was beheaded, they used a blunt great general’s sword, taking over thirty strikes to sever the head, causing later generations to feel heartbroken over his suffering.

Looking at this Beheaded Ghost, Li Si estimated its neck had been struck more than ten times. It was hard to imagine such a seven or eight-year-old child being beheaded, and with over ten strikes at that. One could only imagine the immense suffering it had endured.

With a slight mental effort, the Beheaded Ghost’s information appeared in Li Si’s mind.

Beheaded Ghost

Ghost Level: Low-level ghost

Abilities: Ghost Candle Blowing; Etherealization; Long Tongue;

Current Relationship: Contracted.

Soul Strength: 20

Li Si focused his attention on the words “Beheaded Ghost,” and a line of small text appeared.

Beheaded Ghost: Born into an official’s family, the child of his father’s drunken encounter with a servant, so he was not valued in the family and unknown to outsiders. At home, he was bullied by his brother and elders. The servants didn’t dare bully him but looked down on him, causing him to resent his father. When his father was executed for corruption, to help his eldest son escape, his father cut out his tongue and had him impersonate his brother. In prison, he constantly wished for his tongue to grow back so he could tell others he wasn’t his brother. But even until he was beheaded, his tongue hadn’t grown back. However, one day, his tongue did grow… and kept growing longer and longer…

Reading this, Li Si understood why a Beheaded Ghost would have the Long Tongue ability. He sighed inwardly at the ghost’s tragic past – truly a pitiful life. At the same time, he was secretly shocked by the father’s cruelty. Even tigers don’t eat their cubs, yet this father had treated his son’s life as worthless.

Shaking his head to clear these depressing thoughts, Li Si focused his attention on the words “Low-level ghost” in his mind. A line of small text appeared.

Low-level ghost: The lowest class of ghost creatures, capable of attacking humans, ghosts, and monsters. The higher the soul strength, the easier it is to attack. Cannot invade those with strong yang fire. Current soul strength: 20.

Seeing the last part of this text, Li Si thought about some folk tales he had heard, where humans were said to have three true fires. If these fires were extinguished, it would be easy for evil spirits to invade and ghosts to possess the body.

Li Si recalled how yesterday, when the Beheaded Ghost was staring at him, he had suddenly turned to the left, thus extinguishing one lamp. But that wasn’t quite right – if only one lamp was extinguished, the ghost shouldn’t have been able to kill him.

Suddenly, Li Si seemed to realize something and looked at the “Ghost Candle Blowing” ability. A line of small text appeared.

Ghost Candle Blowing: When a person turns around, the ghost’s head will follow behind their back. When the person stops, or when it catches up to you, its head will fall on your shoulder or head, extinguishing one of your true fires, weakening your yang energy.

He suddenly understood. So that’s how it worked.

He then looked at the other two skills, Etherealization and Long Tongue.

Etherealization: A basic ability of ethereal ghosts, making them immune to mundane weapons.

Long Tongue: A long tongue imbued with resentful energy, capable of coiling around and killing humans, ghosts, and monsters.

Li Si walked to the kitchen and picked up a log as thick as a fist from under the eaves. He said to the Beheaded Ghost following him, “Wrap your tongue around this piece of wood.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a deathly green shadow flashed, and a tongue coiled around the wood Li Si was holding. The speed startled him. Looking closely, he saw a wet, deathly green tongue wrapped around the wood. Surprisingly, the edges of the tongue were very thin, like blade edges.

He recalled the information about the Long Tongue ability, which could coil around and kill humans, ghosts, and monsters.

“Break this piece of wood,” Li Si commanded.

“Whoosh!” With a sound of wind, the wood in Li Si’s hand was instantly cut. A section of wood flew into the air, then fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

Looking at the smooth cut on the wood, Li Si couldn’t help but touch his own neck. He felt a chill run down his spine, and goosebumps rose on his neck.

If he hadn’t quickly signed a contract with the Beheaded Ghost yesterday, his head would probably have been relocated again.

Exhaling lightly, Li Si calmed himself down. This wood couldn’t truly test the real power of the Long Tongue.

Thinking of this, he went into the kitchen and took out a chopping knife. He commanded the Beheaded Ghost, “Break this knife.”

A deathly green shadow flashed, followed by a grating cutting sound. The upper half of the chopping knife in Li Si’s hand fell from the air, hitting the bluestone floor with a crisp collision sound.

Then Li Si tried to touch the Beheaded Ghost with the remaining half of the chopping knife. He found that the knife couldn’t make contact with it. It was as if the Beheaded Ghost was air, untouchable.

After these tests, Li Si now had a general understanding of the Beheaded Ghost’s power. For ordinary people, this type of ghost was basically unsolvable – encountering one meant certain death. The only way was to not let one’s true fire be extinguished, giving the ghost no opportunity. But who could anticipate being targeted by a ghost and be constantly on guard?

With a general understanding of the Beheaded Ghost, Li Si also had some insight into his own current strength. His contracted creature was powerful, but he himself was weak.

He planned to visit Landlord Zhang’s house in a few days to probe the depth of the ghost there and see if he could resolve the situation. As for these few days, he wanted to improve his physical condition a bit. From today’s encounter with the fox spirit, he realized he still had some ability to harm ghosts and monsters.

This was thanks to the protective charm. Not only could it protect him, but if he actively touched ghosts and monsters, they would also be harmed by him.

Of course, this only worked on low-level ghosts and monsters. Against high-level ones, he could only wait for death.

As Li Si was thinking, the effects of the alcohol he had drunk earlier began to set in. With a thought, the Beheaded Ghost transformed into a beam of light and entered the death jade. Then he walked into the bedroom, fell onto the bed, and quickly fell into a deep sleep. Soon, snoring could be heard in the room as he slept soundly. He now had some self-defense ability, had gained 2 soul points today, and possessed a protective charm. For these reasons, he fell asleep without any precautions.

At this moment, a crystal-clear liquid dripped from the ceiling beam, landing on the edge of the bed next to Li Si. Li Si seemed to sense something and unconsciously scratched his face with his right hand, then put his hand down, continuing to sleep peacefully.