Under the advice of The Xia Yus, Evil Spirit Xia Yu quickly came to his senses. He wasn't some global policeman; why bother sticking his nose into everything?
Right now, the only person he cared about was Yotsuya Miko, and perhaps those close to her by extension. As for the Shrine Mountain God and the two fox girls bound by it, although he had the power to save them now, it would only lead to even greater trouble.
Those two fox girls were indeed pitiful, but Xia Yu didn't consider himself noble enough to face massive trouble just to save them.
Besides, decades had already passed; a few more years wouldn't make a difference. Once he became stronger in the future, he might show some mercy, deal with the Mountain God, and rescue them.
He could choose to help others because he didn't want to witness suffering, or he could choose to stand by for profit, or even resort to some underhanded tactics.
To follow his heart's desires without overstepping the bounds—this was his personal code of conduct. Of course, the "bounds" were his own rules, not those set by others.
Having cleared his mind, Xia Yu felt relieved. Why bother getting involved in the plot? He didn't have a system that gave rewards for following the storyline anyway.
Besides, the plot had long since been altered by him. In the original story, Miko remained a defenseless high school girl until the latest chapter.
"Mr. Xia, you seem to be in a very good mood today?" Yotsuya Miko, who was walking home with Xia Yu, suddenly tilted her head slightly and asked.
"Oh? You actually noticed." Xia Yu gave Miko a smile.
"Mm..."
Miko didn't reply. In her eyes, Xia Yu's tentacles were exceptionally active today. Although they were usually active, today they seemed to be influenced by his mood, waving about so happily.
If translated to human terms, it was like someone in a good mood whose very gait had become much lighter.
"Mainly because you did a great job today. It gave me the feeling of raising a Pokémon. Hmm, I choose you, Yotsuya Miko!"
As he spoke, Xia Yu used a tentacle to tip his head, as if he were wearing the hat of a certain Super Rookie from Pallet Town.
"..."
Yotsuya Miko's face was covered in black lines. How did she become a Pokémon? Wait, Mr. Xia actually knows about Pokémon?
"Mr. Xia, you know about Pokémon too?"
"...I'm not some shut-in old fossil," Xia Yu said speechlessly. "I used to be a human, so of course I know about these things."
"Then... Mr. Xia, how old were you when you became a spirit?" Miko asked in a low voice.
She had originally wanted to ask when Mr. Xia died, but felt that would be impolite, so she rephrased it.
"Hmm... Not much older than you, I suppose."
He wasn't even married when he transmigrated—he didn't even have a girlfriend. Based on his life trajectory before transmigrating, he probably would have become a Great Mage in a few more years.
Tsk, I wonder if I can shed the status of a Great Mage after I manifest a physical form.
Speaking of which, he didn't even have a physical body now. Even if he could manifest a form, could he still do that? Sigh... why did he have to transmigrate as an evil spirit of all things?
Xia Yu fell into an existential crisis, while Miko, beside him, suddenly felt a bit melancholy.
Not much older than her... that meant Mr. Xia was still a young man. He clearly had a limitless future ahead of him, yet he had encountered some unknown tragedy and ended up like this.
Maybe the other ghosts were like that too. Should she try to face them properly?
Looking at Xia Yu beside her, Yotsuya Miko stared at him intently, as if trying to see through to his very essence.
This intense gaze made even Xia Yu feel a bit uncomfortable. He looked at Miko strangely and said, "What are you doing? Staring at me like that is making me really uneasy."
"Ah." Yotsuya Miko snapped out of it, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, I just wanted to take a good look at Mr. Xia and try to face all of you properly."
"Then you should be looking at them, not me. I'm not scary-looking."
Hearing this, Miko silently glanced at Xia Yu's waving tentacles and said nothing.
Seemingly reading Miko's thoughts, Xia Yu pointed not far ahead and said, "Look over there. That's the kind of thing you should be facing."
Hearing this, Miko followed the direction of Xia Yu's extended tentacle. What met her eyes was a bloated evil spirit clinging to a vending machine. It looked like a giant white radish, with a pair of jeans sagging loosely around its swollen knees.
The evil spirit had its head pressed against the vending machine's glass, and on its back were seven or eight short, thin trunk-like tentacles.
"Cold... Chilly..."
"Slurp... Slurp..."
Noticing someone was watching, the evil spirit pulled its head away from the glass with a wet pop.
"Cold..."
Seaweed-like trunk tentacles extended from its mouthparts, waving wildly in the air as viscous liquid dripped from them onto its bloated body.
Its height of about three meters was extremely oppressive, leaving Miko expressionless.
"Well? Weren't you going to face them properly?" Xia Yu gloated from the side. This kind of thing didn't gross him out.
Yotsuya Miko's mouth twitched as she looked away. "No way... how is anyone supposed to face that thing..."
"Can you see me?"
Suddenly, as if the evil spirit had heard Miko's words, the skin on its face began to peel off starting from the mouth, as if the flesh inside was being forced out, revealing the viscous meat beneath the skin.
Seeing this, Miko's face darkened again. Looking at such a thing was truly a form of mental torture.
"Can you see?"
The skinless evil spirit, dripping with viscous liquid, walked toward Miko step by step. With a look of disgust, Miko formed a sword finger gesture and launched an attack at the evil spirit.
A battle between a psychic and an evil spirit began.
To outsiders, however, it looked like a young girl had suddenly pressed Two Fingers together and started waving them at a vending machine, appearing somewhat chuunibyou.
A moment later, with Xia Yu's assistance, the evil spirit was riddled with holes from the attacks. Finally, it crashed to the ground with a thud and died, turning into dispersing yin energy.
This yin energy was absorbed into the mark by Miko. Attacks consumed energy, so naturally, it needed to be replenished.
"Not bad, not bad. Your attack speed is just a bit slow. If I hadn't been assisting you, you'd probably still be awkwardly attacking while running away," Xia Yu commented after the battle.
"Whew, I understand."
While answering, Miko panted to recover her strength. She then bought a drink from the vending machine, opened it, and gulped it down.
"That thing was just licked by that evil spirit. You can still drink it?" Xia Yu suddenly spoke up nonchalantly.
"Pfft... Cough, cough!!"
At the thought of the evil spirit's appearance just now, Miko spat it out and coughed uncontrollably.
Once she caught her breath, she gazed at Xia Yu resentfully. "It was clearly licking the glass and didn't touch the drink at all. Is teasing me really that much fun, Mr. Xia?"
"Yes, it's fun," Xia Yu nodded with a serious face.
Miko: "..."
Mr. Xia is so annoying!
If I don't get involved in the Shrine plot, then this world is basically over. The plot for that Lovecraftian stalker girl isn't finished yet, and I'm afraid of the author backstabbing me, so I won't write it for now. I'll write two or three more chapters and then switch worlds.
Originally, I planned to make this world a Tokyo Ghost Mashup, but I haven't watched many horror movies or played many horror games, so I can't write much. Once I know more later, it won't be too late to write about this world again when I return to it.