Compared to the average ghost, this human-sized one was clearly something else.
It wasn't just her size, which matched a person's, but her whole look was... distinctly non-human. She was a full-blown mythical mermaid—fish tail and human upper body, with translucent scales dusted around the corners of her eyes, long pointed elf ears, and hair that spilled down to her waist.
Jiangxia Tongzhi stared at her for a moment, his heart stirring slightly.
…Such a big ghost.
I want it.
The mermaid sat atop the torii gate, gazing down at him coldly. The scales near her eyes shimmered like slivers of ice.
Jiangxia took another step closer.
The mermaid frowned and swiped at him with her tail again.
This time, Jiangxia didn't dodge.
He raised a hand and grabbed her tail, yanking it hard.
Before the mermaid could react, she was pulled clean through the torii gate and slammed to the ground with a wet thud.
...Well, what can you do. A ghost without a proper murderous aura as fuel is just a pretty face. No power to back it up.
Jiangxia stepped forward and pinned down the flailing mermaid. The more he looked, the more satisfied he felt.
As expected of his ghost. Even after mutating under the influence of local legends, she still made the aesthetic choice to evolve into a hot mermaid instead of a deep-sea dugong or some cursed barnacle creature...
He pulled his hand back just in time to avoid another angry bite from the mermaid, then extended it again—this time with sincerity. "Come sign a contract with me."
The mermaid bared her fangs, furiously trying to lunge at him. "#&%@*!"
Jiangxia nodded solemnly like he'd understood every word.
There were still people passing through the area every now and then. If someone saw him apparently chatting up an invisible mermaid like this, it'd be awkward.
He let go, stood up, grabbed her by the tail again, slung the ghost over his shoulder like a sack of mackerel, and walked toward a more secluded place.
On the way, Jiangxia heard Xiaobai whispering in his ear, grumbling that the mermaid had taken the chance to bite him a few more times.
Luckily, no matter how fierce a ghost might look, if its energy bar isn't full, it can't do much to the living. At most, the bites felt like mild tickles on his back.
Jiangxia entered the woods behind the house, set the mermaid down, and tried to initiate friendly negotiations again.
But the mermaid wasn't having it.
She was clearly a legend-infected ghost, much like the Tengu—except she'd gone a step further. Not only had her appearance changed, her personality had soured into full-blown grumpy mode.
Jiangxia studied her as she glared and gnawed the air at him. Then he glanced over at the Tengu ghost floating nearby and casually patted its tail. Why is the Tengu so well-behaved, and this fish so extra grumpy?
Maybe the monk's power smoothed out the murderous aura or something?
Jiangxia sighed at the mermaid flopping angrily in front of him, refusing to communicate.
Still, becoming a ghost meant she had some intelligence—and probably retained a few memories from her living days.
He figured he'd help her recognize the current situation.
Based on the ghost's timeline, he guessed she was probably Naoko Shimabukuro—the one who burned to death in the warehouse three years ago after playing adult mermaid.
So he leaned in and whispered like a demon: "Your daughter is going to get arrested."
The mermaid froze mid-flop.
Jiangxia sensed that he was getting through. "The Mermaid Festival is not going to continue after this year."
The mermaid's long ears twitched, and her crystal-clear, bone-shaped earrings clinked faintly.
Jiangxia pressed on. "Once the festival ends, those things will definitely happen."
The mermaid growled and bared her fangs again, but this time, after a moment of glaring... she shut her mouth.
Jiangxia nodded, satisfied. Yep. Communication achieved.
He explained the current situation and Shimabukuro Kimie's plan.
Then he made an offer. "Treat me like a wishing machine. Make a reasonable wish. If I fulfill it, you'll sign the contract."
With ghosts like this, you had to get the terms down first. The wish itself would act as a limiter—once the psychic met the requirement, even if the ghost still had lingering obsessions, she'd be forced to become "willing" as promised.
The mermaid glanced at him, clearly thinking hard.
She had her own little abacus going.
The vaguer the wish, the easier it was for the medium to weasel out of it. If she said "make the Mermaid Festival last forever," this cunning guy might just throw together some cheap knockoff like "Merman Appreciation Day," slap it on a calendar once every few years, and call it a job well done.
But if the wish was too specific, like "make sure the Mermaid Festival on this island happens every year, same scale and format forever," that might be too demanding. The medium could just shrug and say no.
Still, the mermaid wasn't clueless. She knew Jiangxia could forcibly collect ghosts. He was just choosing the path of "eliminating obsession" to get the best outcome.
But if her conditions were more trouble than he was willing to take on, she might not even get a chance to make the deal. He could simply toss her aside like a defective product. And for her, that could mean getting directly obliterated.
So the mermaid quietly stewed in thought—and slowly, a dark gleam entered her eyes.
She wanted Jiangxia to kill the three people who set the fire.
From her point of view, if they died, Kimie would have no one left to hate. She wouldn't go down the path of becoming a murderer. The shrine would get passed on, the festivals would continue, the island would survive on tourism, and her daughter could live in peace.
Also… petty revenge. They'd burned her.
Naoko Shimabukuro, when alive, might not have dared ask someone to kill for her. But after burning to death, her principles were a little... well done. Not to mention the posthumous effects of the island's legends—the mermaid here wasn't exactly known for being sweet and gentle. More like a vengeful deity who'd rain calamity on anyone who disrespected her or lost her holy knick-knack.
Under her hopeful gaze, Jiangxia raised a brow.
"You want me to kill someone?"
Psychics who killed with their own hands ran serious risks. Especially in this messed-up world where everyone's got an obsession quota. If he accidentally deleted a major posthumous boss-level soul, that could get real annoying.
He didn't say all that out loud, though.
Instead, he looked at her and asked, "You seem pretty pissed at those three. Since you've got that much resentment… why don't you do it yourself?"
The mermaid blinked.
She touched the scales under her eyes thoughtfully, almost swayed.
Then she frowned and gave her broad fish tail a smack against the ground—only for the dry leaves beneath it to stay perfectly still. She couldn't interact with reality. Too little energy.
She was just a ghost flopping at air.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 12/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*