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The sound when the starlight twinkled and then dimmed.

A sound that suddenly emerged from the dark night sky, asserting its presence.

The sound of flowing water.

The noise of water grinding against stones and trash, carving away at objects.

The sound of water foaming.

The noise of water splashing into the air and then falling to the ground like rain.

The sound of droplets forming on a withered and bare branch before falling.

The sound of a bell in Jinseong’s hand, swaying rhythmically and producing sound.

The slow scraping sound against the ground, splashing muck, scraping trash, and cutting away.

The sound.

Sound echoes.

All sorts of sounds can be heard.

Rustle.

Rustle.

In response to the noise from the trash island, sounds are felt coming from afar.

The sound of footsteps coming here, guided by the sound of the bell and the starlight.

Those steps resemble those of a person, but they are so light they cannot be human. They carry an instinct suggesting animal traits but are tainted by blatant hatred, making it unclear what they really are. Simultaneously, they lack the breath of the living, and without a body, they cannot belong to the dead.

Just by listening to the sound, it fogs the human mind and, in an instant, creates a horrifying malice that leads one toward death.

This sound is the sound of a ghost’s footsteps.

Without legs, it produces footfalls, floating and swaying its arms side to side, unable to step on the ground any longer, deceiving human eyes and mimicking sounds to yearn for the times when they were alive.

What good is that yearning?

With no body, no soul left, and consciousness fading away.

Only malice against the living remains, such is the ghost.

Rustle.

Rustle.

Having no body, it deceives the senses and creates an illusion of existence, and this is the evil spirit.

Attempting to shape a body to tear a person apart, this is the evil ghost!

Each step is crooked, wicked, and horrifying.

“Come here, my self. You spirits on the shore, step into the water and walk here. Break through the currents, overcome the water energy that weighs down souls, and come to me.”

Ding-dong—

Jinseong shook the bell while observing the gathering swarm of spirits.

With a small shake, he entranced the evil spirits, and with another small shake, he lured the evil ghosts. It was akin to letting a starving person smell roasting meat or offering a flower’s fragrance to someone suffering from a foul odor.

That was the sound that seduces the spirits, a whisper they could not help but follow even with a dulled mind.

If they had reason, they would be unable to withstand the weight of Jinseong’s ritual and take their place; if their reason was blurred, like animals ruled by instinct, they would take their place before Jinseong.

This is the evil summons.

The power of邪魔外道, living more familiarly with spirits than humans, and the vision of the necromancer and possession sorcerer exploring death.

Bringing the hidden spirits right before him.

This is the beginning of controlling spirits.

Ding-dong—

Upon reaching the water’s edge, the ghosts began to stir in response to Jinseong’s whisper.

With bizarre figures, they flailed and threw themselves into the water. Evil spirits floated through the air, hesitating to enter the water, while evil ghosts barely maintained their human shapes as they plunged into the depths.

Splash—

Splash—

The sound of ghosts diving into the water.

Like moths drawn to a flame, they leaped into the liquid and melted away.

The evil spirit, trying to fly above the water, could not cross the amplified water and dark energy from Jinseong and fell into the water, melting like a snowman exposed to hot water. Swept by the water, the evil spirit melted away, only to gather its shape again once the waves reached the shore.

Splash—

The same went for the evil ghosts.

Though they jumped into the water as if enchanted, the evil ghosts could not cross.

The water melted their forms, trapped them in ice, and scattered them like phantoms. The water was a natural barrier, while the amplified water energy rejected the evil spirits and their diseases.

Thus, the ghosts melted, melted, and melted some more.

They melted like candle wax, like snowmen, and like crumbling sandcastles, losing their forms utterly.

Yet upon arriving at the shore, their shapes returned, and those restored spirits leaped back into the water.

Thus, the ghosts continued to melt and regenerate, endlessly repeating their futile attempts.

Ding-dong—

According to Jinseong’s intent.

Unable to resist the allure of the ritual he performed.

So, the ghosts were suffering an eternal agony.

But then, an abnormal occurrence happened.

Bubbling.

Splash—

The river boiled, and in the middle of it, someone splashed and stirred up water.

With a loud pop echoing like someone hitting the surface, droplets scattered in all directions, and reeds briefly surfaced before disappearing again.

Splash—

Splash!

Splash!

And such incidents began to happen everywhere.

In a place where it was impossible for ghosts to melt upon contact with water.

They began to make splashes as if something existed in that place.

With black tendrils twisting like reeds, they approached the surface, rising with their crowns held high. Their eyes peeking above the water brimming with a foul odor, and their papery skin looked so fragile, it would melt away if merely touched.

Yet what glimmered in their eyes was malice.

What could be so resentful, that their eyes were besmirched with hatred and obsession towards humans? Did they despise the ghosts that obstructed their rest? They stared fiercely at the shore.

Squirm.

Water ghosts.

They were water spirits that died in water, unable to flee from that place.

These wicked spirits believed they needed to fill a spot with a person to ascend to the sky, ensnaring not just foes but also the innocent, yet remaining unsatisfied, they haunted the area to lead more to their demise.

Having died with the frigid dark energy, they were far too potent to be driven away by normal methods, treating the inhospitable water as their home, making them incredibly difficult to deal with. Moreover, their obsessions were so horrifying and tenacious that finding ghosts as wicked as only those who died in water is a rarity throughout time and across cultures.

These malevolent spirits were drawn to the sound of Jinseong’s bell, to the vibrations made when he stomped his foot, and thus revealed themselves upon the surface.

Instead of waiting for living beings from the riverbed to emerge, they followed their instincts and disclosed themselves.

The revealed ghosts silently watched the other ghosts attempting to enter the water.

Those ghosts melting and reconstructing again.

And Jinseong said.

“…A disciple asked the master: Master, spirits are born from the death of a person; is there a reason their form resembles that of humans? Is it because they long for their past lives, or is it merely a mimicry of the living like a mirror?”

Ding-dong.

“Then the master replied: My disciple, you should understand this. Those you see may take human forms, but in truth, they do not exist as such. Spirits have no fixed forms or shapes; they are everywhere and ever-changing, from beasts to trees. So be careful, and do not be easily deceived by my words…”

With delight in the standoff of the two ghosts, he swayed his sword and bell.

Ding-dong.

The sword cutting through the air, the bell trembling once more producing strange sounds.

The jangling sound, interspersed with a hollow tone.

A subtle presence felt as if air shimmered when disturbed.

Yet distinctly existing with a bizarre sense of detachment.

The bell moved brilliantly, creating sounds recognizable to spirits, and responding to those sounds, the ghosts began to rearrange themselves as per Jinseong’s will.

[Graahh!]

[Hey there! The island folk are thriving to eat good from good eats. Share some of that cornmeal with me… just a spoonful…]

The ghost screamed wordlessly, overflowing with malice.

But what could possibly be so unfair?

It was they who came drawn by the sound, and it was they who flocked intending to harm a person.

Therefore, they too must understand and accept being assembled by Jinseong’s magic.

Splash.

Splash—

Once again, the ghosts leaped into the water.

As expected, they melted right away upon contact, yet this time it was a little different.

Even when the waves rose to send them back to the shore, they couldn’t regain their original forms.

The ghosts became lost, unable to revert back to their silhouettes, drifting in a state where they melted into the water, being molded this way and that under Jinseong’s hand, losing their very identities to take on specific shapes.

Those shapes were reminiscent of water lilies or balloons.

They inflated like humans, appearing as if air had been filled into chunks of meat, complete with facial features, arms, and legs.

Their sizes varied from the size of a human head to that of advertising balloons, but what they had in common was that they were the spirits floating on the water.

“O pitiful beings, as you suffer in the water, I shall use my strength for you. With the touch of Mara, I formed your shapes, ensuring you do not dissolve in the water, allowing you to drift above it; thus, you shall weep and praise me. Praise me again and again, until your spirits wear thin, and you are to act under my authority to gather the lost and spread malice.”

Jinseong laughed as he watched the floating spirits on the water.

“Now, spirits.”

In a twisted time, resembling those afloat in the seas of the Korean peninsula.

“Let’s go.”

To the sea.

 

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