Inuyasha’s Journey to Immortal

"Little one, is this where you discovered the Chong Yao Child Spirit?"

One of the clan elders asked.

Li Xia shook his head.

Seeing this, the three elders all turned to look at him with probing eyes.

In that instant, an invisible pressure seemed to rise and settle heavily upon him, making his chest tighten involuntarily.

Feeling the weight of the elders' oppressive and scrutinizing gazes, Li Xia hurriedly explained:

"Honored elders, here's what happened. I came across a golden, extremely docile monster nearby. I quietly followed it and confirmed that the Chong Yao Child Spirit enters this fire-damaged house every night. That's why I brought you here to lie in wait."

"I see…"

The three elders nodded in satisfaction.

As they were heading upstairs, one of the elders glanced with confusion at the messy garden below.

The garden was still a complete mess.

Although the trees and shrubs that had been violently uprooted by Mayu's ghostly power had been cleared away and cleaned, the shallow craters left in the concrete and the holes from the missing plants remained.

"What is it, Chief?"

"Nothing. Let's go upstairs."

The three elders and Li Xia entered the site of the fire that had occurred months ago. They split up to investigate. One elder, upon opening the wardrobe where the little girl Mayu had been burned alive, suddenly turned solemn, his calm expression shifting.

The other two elders, who had been investigating the living room and other areas, also sensed something and hurried over.

The three exchanged glances, their eyes burning with intensity:

"There are traces of a demon lingering from its activity here…"

"Not only that, there's a powerful ghostly aura inside this wardrobe."

"Ghostly aura?

Yes, it's powerful…

Wait, if that ghost was able to attract the Chong Yao Child Spirit, it must have been a child ghost. And the fire here happened months ago—does that mean the child ghost, with the help and indulgence of the Chong Yao Child Spirit, has remained in the living world for several months already?"

The three suddenly realized something, and excitement lit up their faces.

"If it's stayed in the human world for several months, it must have developed and mastered some of the unique abilities of ghosts. Could those signs in the garden downstairs be what it's doing? This child ghost… has great potential."

"Heh heh… Could it be that on this trip to the island, besides securing the rare and precious Chong Yao Child Spirit, we might also capture a ghost child with sentience, an independent personality, and multiple developed ghost powers?!"

You see, ever since the beginning of the Age of Dharma Decline, it's been tough for ghosts to remain in the mortal world for long.

Most of them vanish or dissipate after death.

To exist for several months without disappearing, without ascending to heaven or falling into hell—

All of this pointed to one fact: the little girl Mayu had extraordinary potential.

…

At the hospital.

The little girl had already used her ghostly telekinesis to destroy the window and light fixtures in the hospital room.

Ali and Mayu's mother rushed to the door of the ward.

The moment they entered, outside the window, Mayu's spirit hovered in the air.

"Mayu, don't do this…"

Ali called out to her, trying to explain, hoping to dissolve the misunderstandings between mother and daughter, and between siblings.

For the mother, it was her first time seeing her long-deceased daughter again. Her eyes instantly turned red, and tears welled up.

"Ma—Mayu…!"

"Mama?"

She… she can see me?

The little girl froze, stunned.

Her heart was torn—part joy, part sorrow, and a deep sense of grievance.

Then, seeing her mother's sorrowful and pained expression, her face revealed a trace of hesitation and reluctance.

"Mayu, why?

Xiao Wu is your little brother…"

"Why did you have to do all those terrible things?"

Her mother wanted to stop her daughter from making more and more mistakes, but those words instantly ignited the little girl's anger:

"Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu—always Xiao Wu! I'm so sick of it!"

A blast of ghostly energy shot out like a solid air bullet, slamming into her mother. Mayu, cold-hearted once more, ignored the sight of her mother being hurled out of the hospital room. When she heard the dull thud of her mother's back hitting the hallway wall and her pained groan, Mayu just pursed her lips and hardened her heart:

Her mother was biased!

Her mother only cared about her brother Xiao Wu, never about her! She was just a child no one wanted!

"Auntie!"

Ali gasped in shock.

She quickly turned to Mayu, trying to reason with her:

"Mayu, think about it carefully—did your mom abandon you? On the day of the fire, your mom didn't even know you were home, did she?"

The little girl froze for a moment at those words.

She remembered that she had put a towel on the heater, which had started the fire.

She also remembered that it was her disobedience that caused her mother to burn her hands trying to save her—and that it left her brother Xiao Wu in a coma. She also recalled how, in her anger, she had taken it out on Xiao Wu's classmates and friends when they came to visit him, and how she had played tricks in the park on kids who still had their mothers' love.

"I've known all that for a long time,"

Mayu muttered in a childish tone, filled with frustration.

She knew perfectly well what she'd done was wrong—and that everything had been her fault.

But she had already lost everything. If everything was already gone, then… what was left to stop her?

"It's all Xiao Wu's fault. All because of him!"

Her ghostly power flared again. The floor of the hospital room cracked and collapsed, and Xiao Wu's hospital bed was flung straight toward the window under her psychic control.

This time, she truly meant to kill him—her killing intent was real and unwavering.

Jealousy leads people astray. Jealousy makes people ugly.

"No!"

Ali screamed.

But the bed was already falling from the sixth floor.

It looked like tragedy was unavoidable.

"Xiao Wu!"

Ali lunged to grab the bed, desperate to save the innocent boy. If he died, she couldn't imagine what her aunt would do in her grief—or how she would ever recover from the heartbreak.

Just then, a voice rang out from the side—clear and piercing like music from the heavens:

"Tch! I couldn't stand watching anymore…"

The voice was familiar.

Ali looked over and was overjoyed:

"Inuyasha? You came too?!"

The half-demon Inuyasha stood there, one hand gripping the Tessaiga embedded in the wall, the other holding the unconscious Xiao Wu.

The boy seemed unharmed.

Ali finally let out a deep breath of relief.

"I told you back there not to stick your nose where it doesn't belong. Look, that little ghost has driven herself into a corner. Even if you tell her the whole truth now, it's too late for her to ascend. And honestly, if she'd gone a bit further just now, you might've fallen out the window along with that bed."

"Falling from this height—yeah, even you would've been in danger…"

Inuyasha grumbled, but his words were laced with genuine concern for the girl.

As he spoke, he stepped quietly in front of Ali, his long silver hair swaying, Tessaiga still in hand.

At that moment, behind the floating Mayu, the form of the Chong Yao Child Spirit quickly materialized from the air into a solid form.

Its eyes were now fully open, glowing a deep, ominous red.

Before Mayu could react, countless red chains shot out from the golden surface of the Chong Yao Child Spirit, wrapping tightly around her, binding her completely—no matter how she struggled, she couldn't break free.

"What… what is this?

Wait, no… please!

Weren't you the one who always stayed by my side, protected me, and helped me?

Why are you restraining me and trying to capture me now?!"

Mayu couldn't understand.

Her eyes were wide with terror.

Under the heavy gazes of Inuyasha and Ali, the little girl was dragged by the Chong Yao Child Spirit in the direction of her old home—the place where the fire had taken her life.

"Inuyasha… you have to help Mayu…"

The commotion naturally alerted the hospital night staff.

So after placing Xiao Wu by his aunt's side and calling over the nurses, Ali immediately had Inuyasha carry her in pursuit.

"I don't know how to deal with ghosts—you'll have to figure that out yourself."

"I know! Grandpa Myōga once said, that as long as a child's soul is guided to ascend before they're taken to hell, they'll be fine. The hell portals that the Chong Yao Child Spirit opens usually appear where the child originally died. So we just need to go straight to Mayu's old house."

There, four figures had already been waiting so long they were practically growing roots.

Just as the three elders were beginning to lose patience—

"Hm? Demonic energy!"

All three turned their eyes toward the hospital several kilometers away.

The three elders couldn't sense from that far.

But the Chong Yao Child Spirit, carrying Mayu's ghost, was quickly closing in.

The moment they spotted the giant, golden, balloon-like monster, their eyes lit up:

"That's the Chong Yao Child Spirit!"

"Good, good! We absolutely must not miss this opportunity!"

(End of Chapter)