Chapter 72

Chapter 72 Josh Runs Into A Ghost Again Lilly forcefully dragged Josh to a sprint.

The blazing sun still hung overhead. The trees in the school grove weren’t particularly short but provided just enough shade.The moment he set foot in the grove, he noticed Cheryl there with her head hanging low. She looked downcast.

She sluggishly looked up to stare at him when he approached.

He could feel every hair on his body stand on end.

Lilly turned around. “Are you scared, Drake? You can head back if you are!”

Josh was ready to leave but stayed out of stubbornness. “…Real funny. You think I’m scared?”

Calm… I have to calm down.

Nothing in the world scares me.

A resounding scream tore through the air just as he was thinking. “Ah!”

Josh jumped. “Eek!”

That startled Lilly who chased after the boy who began to run wildly. “That’s Polly, Josh!”

Polly was sitting in the school bag singing. “….Take the red string of fate… You and I… Ah…”

The bird couldn’t reach a higher octave leading to a hideous scream.

Josh was rendered speechless.

He wanted to weep so badly.

That was when Cheryl began to take light, mincing steps toward them.

“You’re here, Josh.” She giggled.

The subject of affections had been shocked stupid. “…”

His tears stopped and a chill ran down his spine.

Cheryl had a pale complexion with eyes bruised and sunken in.

Her features were stiff, leading to her efforts in smiling leaving everyone unnerved.

Josh felt numb. “Uh…”

Lilly got in Cheryl’s way and started with a frown, “Stop scaring him!”

She wore a serious expression on her chubby, child-like face.

“Master… Master?” Lilly looked around.

Where is he?

Pablo drifted close. “I’m here.”

The man in white robes had deep-set eyes, a tall nose bridge, and rouge red lips. His appearance made him look demonic.

“What is it this time?” Pablo indifferently patted the girl’s head.

Lilly threw him suspicious looks.

What’s wrong with my master?

He got bored while I was forced into a timeout and left the school to go take a walk.

He came back while I was in class then left again.

He was nowhere to be found…until now!

That was the least of their problems. Lilly asked, “What’s wrong with Cheryl?”

She was puzzled.

According to Pablo’s teachings, the vanity spirit shouldn’t have been able to overtake Cheryl’s body yet but Lilly no longer felt Cheryl’s “presence”.

Pablo narrowed his eyes. “This is a phenomenon known as the ‘spirit substitute’.”

“Possession and spirit substitute sound similar but they’re completely different. Possession implies the ghost attaching itself to a host and influencing them. Spirit substitute is when a ghost is trying to manipulate the host physically without fully occupying the host’s body.”

Lilly nodded vigorously. “Oh! So that’s a spirit substitute.”

Josh had turned ashen. “W-What do you mean ‘spirit substitute’?”

The unapproachable boy who thrived on logic was reacting just like a normal kid would.

Lilly began to explain what she learned from Pablo to him. “Spirit substitute, huh? Look over there, Josh…”

She pointed at Cheryl standing on her tiptoes. “A spirit substitute is a ghost trying to manipulate its host. There’s a ghost behind her right now. Its feet are padding Cheryl’s own. That’s how she’s moving right now…”

“Huh?!”

He was afraid but found himself unable to look away.

Cheryl was indeed on her toes but the back of her foot was straight. That wasn’t how an ordinary person stood at all.

He was more than ready to make a run for it.

Lilly talked him down. “Never run when facing a ghost! A human can’t outrun a ghost. Running will also reveal one’s sole of their feet to the ghost, allowing for easier possession.”

Josh was speechless.

How was he supposed to leave now?

He could hear a tiny part of his subconscious begging for help!

Lilly was speaking with great earnest. “The soles of our feet cannot leave the ground. We cannot move away, jump, or walk backward.”

She tilted her head and pondered a way out of this. There was only one way to deal with it.

“Of course, our best way out of this is to defeat the ghost!”

Josh chose to cling to Lilly’s arm instead.

She was taken aback. She gave him a reassuring pat. “You’ll be okay, Josh. I’m good at what I do!”

“A ghostie like that is not enough to scare me away!”

Lilly dispelled his fears by patting herself in the chest. Her hair ties tied to the top of her head fluttered in the breeze.

The vanity spirit couldn’t help but snicker at the child’s words.

Her alone?

The only thing I’m afraid of is Pablo!

She took control of Cheryl’s body and asked, “And what are you planning to do?”

Pablo leaned against the tree and said leisurely, “Nothing. This is my student’s practice run.”

“We can also settle the matter of the eighteen lives who were crushed under the playground.”

The vanity spirit’s expression twisted. She barred her fangs and viciously lunged at Pablo.

“Mind your own business and stay in your lane! We’re all ghosts here…”

Lilly grabbed the ghost by her feet and flung her back!

“Yeah, you’re both ghosts but Master is not some malicious spirit!”

Pablo was shocked. “…”

Is this what it feels like to have my young pupil defending me?!

Stubbornness flitted across his face. “Get her, Lilly!”

“Okay, Master!”

She answered as she looked back. “You have to let go of me first, Josh.”

Josh had long been stuck in a stupor.

Lilly cast the vanity spirit out. A gigantic female ghost as large as a sumo wrestler appeared before him.

“Huh?!”

A… A ghost?!

Lilly had just pushed him off, leaving him unstable on his feet and needing to lean against a tree to support himself.

The moment he looked up, he was greeted by the sight of a deathly pale, young man clad in robes and red lips standing by the same tree. He had no legs…

The man gasped when their gazes met. “You can see me?”

“Ahhhh!”

With a flick of Pablo’s finger, he sent a charm to seal Josh’s mouth.

“Shh… Watch.”

The vanity spirit was stupefied by how Lilly had sent her flying.

She was… sent flying by a four-year-old?

She clambered to her feet and stared at Lilly.

“What kind of thing are you…”

“I’m a person. Not a thing…. Wait, no. I’m a person, a thing… Eh?”

Lilly’s cheeks puffed up in indignation when she realized her words weren’t coming across right.

The vanity spirit scoffed. “Oh, is the little thing angry?”

That had Lilly bristling.

“You’re the thing here!”

She suddenly grabbed the spirit’s leg, picked her up as if she were a sack of flour, and hammered her to the floor with a dull thud.

The vanity spirit was stunned. “…”

“???”