Tae Kuo did not answer, he ran to Kevin’s side to observe the dle ihe ntern. The dle flickered and popped a few times. Then all of a sudden, green and purple fmes shot upward, almost scorg his and Kevin’s eyebrows.
“You go help him, I’ll take care of this.” Tae Kuo let out an exhale of relief and took the ntern from Kevin’s trembling arms. It was heavy and hot, the “weight” of the malevolent spirits, or at least their temporary projes onto the poor young officer.
An injury from an artifact sometimes render a person more susceptible to spiritual possessions and influence. Usually it was due to incorrect use of talismans, toug the sacred and blessed trees iemples or being burned by rger inse burners. Bagua mirror was a very “sharp” artifact that could in theory injure a person if not used carefully, but it was also widely distributed and cheaply manufactured, which meant there were not many authenties out there that could really work.
“Thunder, fire and the righteous Qi of the world. Purge the un and poisonous ill will that lingers.” Tae Kuo uttered a prayer as he ran his fingers along the upper rims of the ntern, theuro Keryn, who was staring at him with a surprised look on “her” face.
“Furnace Lantern. ” “Keryn’s” voice was a bit more serious than before: “Looks like I uimated you - who made it? Where did you get it?”
“It’s in the family.” Tae Kuo narrowed his eyes at Keryn: “Now I ask once again - who are you? And what do you want?”
“Tell me the truth on who made that ntern, then I’ll tell you.” “Keryn” responded, leering at Tae Kuo and his ntern: “Or else - ”
“Or else yonna stay inside her forever. Yeah.” Tae Kuo took a deep breath, as he reached his hand into the o pick up some melted wax from the short but girthy dle. “But - I think I already know who you are - or who you once were.”
“How?!” “Keryn’s” eyes opened wide: “How could you know anything about this pce here?!”
“Because I am not a half ass exorcist.” Tae Kuo stood up straight, his right index finger holding the little droplet of dle wax. He walked over to Keryn and dropped it on Keryn’s forehead: “It’s very obvious, you are everyone who’s been here, and you’re also no one.”
This answer left everyone, including Marcus and Gloria, silent. Marcus and Gloria exged looks as they both strengtheheir grip quietly. Kevin gasped, but then immediately started pulling Mick away.
“You are not ONE person, or ONE spirit.” Tae Kuo tinued: “You are a pieemory, a or stone formed by all those who could not make it out. You are not ‘you’. You don’t even know what you are.”
“You’re lying! You’re fug lying!” “Keryn” screamed: “I am here! I was here! I was alive and I erson!”
“Yeah, no. Ghosts, even those who died in horrible byrinths like this, don’t tend tet about who they are.” Tae Kuo shook his head and poured some rice wine on his still bleeding right index finger. He hissed once again, then proceeded to write on his left palm just like he did before exorg Mick: “You want out. You don’t know who you are. But you know enough about the outside world to know about Furnace Lanterns and to ask me who built this ntern. This points to only ohing - you, are not a single person. You are a piealgamated memories.”
“Keryn” lowered her head slightly, as if she was really p Tae Kuo’s words. But Tae Kuo did not give her too much time or any kind of window of opportunity, he poured some rice wio his mouth, blew it onto Keryn’s body and smmed his left palm on Keryn’s forehead.
Keryn’s head and neck began shaking, with an almost inhuman frequency. A deafening high pitched scream exploded from her throat. Tae Kuo grimaced and stepped back for a moment, but it did not stop him from drawing a symbol in the air with his right index and middle fingers. With the silent t of an are spell, Tae Kuo tapped Keryn’s forehead with his two fingers, swung his hand around and poi the ntern on the ground.
Gray mist and dust was knocked out of the backs of Keryn’s shoulder and neck. Before long everything began taking shape. As Marcus fixed his eyes on it, it was a human-shaped blob of twisted faces, eyes, nostrils and mouths. All of these shadows of humaures were held together by dark threads and the crooked teeth in those gray mouths biting into different spots.
“tinue holding her! Don’t let go!” Tae Kuo dropped some rice wio his right hand, then spshed the wine on Keryn’s body before mumbling another spell. As he swung his hand and poi the ntern once again, the shadows were sucked into the ntern just like those before. The dle cracked and popped, dark green fmes fred and shot into the air, almost burning off the paper exterior.
Keryn struggled for a brief moment before settling down. Her breathing soothed, but she was still not scious.
“Calm her down. Keep holding her.. ” Tae Kuo took a few deep breaths before sitting down, looking at the ntern: “And - we should get outta here soon. This ntern is very old and I’m afraid it won’t st ary. We must get outta here.”
“How - do you know?” Kevin asked as he checked Keryn and Mick’s pulses and breathing: “I - I don’t think we should go dowairs again. Something’s nht - every time we go down, something around us gets grimmer and darker.”
“Yes, everytime we go down, there’s more voices, and they grow louder as well.” Mick’s face ale, there was barely any color on his lips.
“I think I know what to do - luckily I brought just about the right stuff for this - I was kinda thinking that they wouldn’t be useful.” Tae Kuo sighed and reached into his backpack. After a few seds he took out a small red cloth pouch, from which he pulled three dirty, dull nails - wooden nails.
