Bewitching Night's Strange Journey [Supernatural]

Tan Sheye once promised Li Shu, "For the favor you showed me on the Golden Terrace, I'll take up my jade-inlaid sword and die for you."

The moment Li Shu rescued him from the village of the dead, Tan Sheye decided: his life belonged to Chancellor Li.

Whoever Chancellor Li told him to kill, he would kill. If Chancellor Li told him to die, he would die.

All he had ever wanted was a single word from Li Shu. He never expected that on the way back from the campaign against Yuancheng, Li Shu would treat him as a disposable pawn. Before he could even dismount, news that he had rebelled had spread a thousand miles.

Li Shu didn't just want him dead. He wanted to destroy him from within, too. For seventy days, he laid siege to him, holding a blade to his throat through seventy nights, until he drove him to rebel for good. His aim was to make sure the infamy of his treason could never be cleared from history.

Even as he died, he couldn't understand why Li Shu had treated him this way.

Why? Why? Why?

Li Shu ordered seven copper nails driven through his body into the bottom of his coffin, binding his soul so he could never be reborn.

His hatred and resentment gathered in the coffin for a thousand years, at last turning him into a vengeful ghost. He broke free of his bonds, and the first thing he did after gaining his freedom was seek out Li Shu's reincarnation for revenge.

Finding one person in a vast sea of humanity sounds difficult. But in truth, no matter where he went, Li Shu stood out to him as unmistakably as ever:

A smiling face, a cold heart, a fickle nature;

Like a spring breeze among peach and plum blossoms, carefree and at ease.

-- Li Shu was exactly the same as before. So why had he turned into a hair salon lackey... a punk... a hooligan?

Tan Sheye: Who are you? Who said you could turn yourself into this... How am I supposed to strangle you now?

Li Shuxing: ?

※

Though Li Shuxing has no memories of his past life in the twenty-first century, he still lives like an untroubled wanderer, drifting wherever he pleases.

He has few ambitions or desires. He makes friends now and then, drinks, gets his hair done, tries new things, and picks up the odd side gig.

-- His side gig is ghost hunting.

Corpses crawling out of security monitors, vengeful spirits hanging upside down beneath beds, fresh meat pickled in earthenware jars...

Those are all bad enough, but what's with this inexplicable vengeful ghost who won't stop haunting him, yet can't be destroyed?

The ghost clearly hates him. It's as if he'd owed the man a fortune in his past life. Without a word, the ghost drove a long nail into him!

The ghost: Since you've forgotten everything, I won't kill an innocent who doesn't know any better. Remember first, then die.

Li Shuxing was speechless!

There are seven nails in all, each carved from the blood and bone of his past life. Every one of them drags him into a world that isn't his own, making him suffer so much he'd rather be dead.

As the nails accumulate, he encounters more and more evil spirits, and his memories of the past gradually return. His life is ultimately drawing to a close.

Once all seven nails enter the body, the soul is utterly annihilated. Not even the person who cast the spell can undo it.

As his fragmented soul returns to his body, Li Shuxing suddenly becomes calm again, as if he has understood something.

He gazes blankly into the vengeful ghost's eyes, warped by a thousand years of hatred, and says softly:

So I loved you once.

※

A beloved tale of angst-ridden love.

A superstitious, mercurial punk gong who works at a hair salon vs. a vengeful ghost who crawled out of the ground after several thousand years to claim the gong's life.

Mainly urban supernatural mysteries. The gong's main job is being a hair stylist, and his side gig is ghost hunting. The shou's main job is revenge, and his side gig is being a lovesick fool. Most likely a fairly lighthearted episodic story. I'll start posting when I have enough chapters saved up.

Theme: Let go of the past and embrace the future.