Chapter 384: Day 1 (4)
Chapter 384: Day 1 (4)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: DO CHECK OUT THE BOOK TRAILER I MADE FOR THE UPCOMING SEQUEL OF MLC 'DOCTOR DEMON'! AVAILABLE ON MY INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT.
ID: tea_tae93
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Shinjin, Junho, Gayoon and Minho had gathered at the living room to discuss the next stage of the plan.
"So listen up!" Shinjin exclaimed. "The red moon night is exactly four days from today. The Class A demons can be exorcised in only one way."
"We need its name and its weakness," he went on. "And we have both. The name is Anyal and his weakness was Princess Ahin. This is one of the reasons why he can't temporarily possess us because we already have these two. So even if it ends up possessing any of us, we can exorcise it with ease but it won't go away. Instead, it'll go back to the steady body aka Kanji's body."
"What I don't get is why do we need Kanji's body to set him free?" Minho asked. "Casper and Yumi's bodies were also buried or cremated and yet, they still roamed around as ghosts. Casper was able to leave after his wishes were fulfilled. Why is it different for Kanji?"
"They were bound by their unfulfilled desires," Shinjin pointed out. "In order for a spirit to be set free, both the physical and spiritual bonds need to be broken. When I say breaking of physical bonds, I mean the cleansing of a spirit through the proper cremation or burial. While Casper and Yumi's physical bonds to life were broken when their bodies were buried, their spiritual bonds remained. But that's true even if a corpse is not buried or cremated with proper rituals. Then the spirit will still remain even if their wishes have been fulfilled. In short, if either of the bonds remain, a ghost will roam around. Once both are cut, they're freed. In Kanji's case, both bonds are still in place. Once we sever both of them, he can be at peace. Hence, we need to separate his body from the demon."
"But to exorcise it from the steady body, we'll need to first cut off the connection the demon has with its servant."
"The connection with the servant?" Minho frowned.
"The servant gives the demon some of her energy," Shining winced. "Class A demons like Anyal can suck out the energy from the servant. After all, the servants are practicing dark magic and absorb a lot of that aura from the Devil himself. To sustain themselves, the demons also share that aura directly from their leader. However, since Anyal has been banished, he has to get that energy indirectly through his servant. So the connection between him and his servant is sustaining Kani's body, preventing it from rotting off. After all, it's merely a corpse now. It should have started to deteriorate by now but due to that aura the body is absorbing, the process is slow and will take years until Anyal decides to look for another vessel. As long as that connection remains, we can't exorcise Anyal from Kanji's body. Once that connection is halted, we can easily kick that demon out of Kanji's body and reclaim it."
"How are we going to cut the connection?" Gayoon asked.
"Last time we tricked the servant and made her unconscious," Junho stated. "It temporarily halted the power sharing. But Anna is more powerful than the previous servant. She'll be ready for our attacks."
"I think I can handle her," Gayoon said, flexing her knuckles. "I'll distract her for as long as possible."
Junho nodded and turned to Minho. "You'll have to convince Anyal that you're ready to do what he wants," he told his son.
"He won't agree," Minho sighed. "That guy knows that we're going to do something to get rid of him."
"You'll have to try," Shinjin stated. "There's no other way. We can't let him get to Jina so you're his only option."
Minho was not very sure about that part. Anyal seemed hellbent on getting Jina but with the charms put around her, it was nearly impossible for the demon or his servant to go near her.
"I can make a deal," he said slowly. "If he lets uncle Jason go free, I'll open the gates."
"And we'll be ready with the ring," Shinjin stated. "The energy should be enough to open the portal to World of the Dead at exactly 00:04 AM."
Both Gayoon and Minho nodded. Just then, the front door opened and Jina entered the house. Her eyes fell on the adults who were still discussing what to do during the red moon night. They did not not notice her entering so she quietly went to her room and lay on the bed.
Yumi apparated into her room but was immediately hit by the shock of the amulets.
"Ugh!" she scowled. "The amulets are too damn strong! I can't even stay here for long."
"Sorry," Jina mumbled. "I'll put them away-"
"Don't!" Yumi said sharply. "I was just here to check up on you. I'll go back to stalking my idols anyway. How are you doing?"
She stood at a distance but was watching Jina very carefully. Jina forced a smile on her face to hide her dilemma.
"I'm okay," she lied. "Just...bummed out over uncle Kanji. What's aunt going to do once she finds out what happened to him?"
Yumi was saddened by what happened too but she understood Kanji's unwillingness to reveal the truth to Mina. After all, who would want to see their loved ones cry over their deaths? It was painful enough to live as a being which was neither alive nor dead. It was even more painful to see loved ones grieving over the deceased. As a ghost, it was torture for them to witness the sadness and grief they were inflicting on everyone.
"He just wants to spend his last moments on Earth with the woman he loves," Yumi echoed. "He knows that he'll leave soon but that isn't saddening him. What will sadden him, is if the last thing he has to witness is her tears. That will be even more painful for him."
"It's not fair," Jina mumbled. "The way he died. Why did he have to die? I mean...he was about to tell aunt how he felt! They were supposed to be together and live happily, right? That's how it goes on in stories! Aren't the good people supposed to live happily while bad people suffer? Then why did this happen to him?"
"That's the shitty thing about death," Yumi rued. "It comes suddenly. It makes no sense and it's not supposed to be fair. Those of us who have numerous regrets are forced to stay back as ghosts until someday, a sheer miracle happens and our last wishes are fulfilled. But not everyone is that lucky. I've met some ghosts who have been roaming the earth for centuries."
"And uncle Kanji has only four days," Jina lamented. "Four days"
"I guess, he's gonna make sure that he lives a lifetime with your aunt in these four days," Yumi sighed. "Only after death did I realize that life shouldn't be long. It should be lived. Whether you're alive or dead, human or ghost, as long as you're living a big life with your loved ones, you'll be happy. Look at that demon who wasted his long life chasing an useless wish. And look at Casper who, despite the things he did while he was alive, still spent a wonderful time with us after becoming a ghost. So who do you think really lived? The thousand year old demon? Or the simple old ghost who showered love on everyone?"
"But uncle Kanji will still leave" Jina said in a sad tone.
"So it's up to us to make sure he leaves with a smile, right?" Yumi smiled. "And give him a proper goodbye."
"Yumi" Jina began. "What's your last wish? Why are you still here?"
Yumi was quiet for a while, gathering her thoughts to answer that question.
"I want to see my half-sister," she finally revealed. "My mom and dad divorced when I was really young but my mom remarried and moved to another town. I heard that she gave birth to my half sister, Lila, last year. I wanted to meet her but my anger towards my mom for abandoning me took precedence. And now, I want to meet my sister."
She flashed a small smile at Jina. "I hope she turns out to be a good kid just like you," Yumi said.
They were quiet for a while, lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Yumi said, "I should go. Those annoying charms are seriously becoming too much to handle. I'll see you later!"
With that, Yumi vanished in thin air, leaving Jina to her thoughts.
Sending off uncle Kanji with a smile, she thought. She clenched her tiny palms.
Yumi was right. They should send Kanji off with a smile and assure him that he would be in their hearts. And for that, they needed to give him a proper cremation. The only way to do that was to remove that demon from Kanji's body.
"Let's kick that demon to hell, shall we?" she swore, flexing her knuckles.