Chapter 87: The Ghost's Tale
After successfully scaring the sea turtle so it retreated into its shell and refused to co out, it was Ella who coaxed it out with a few carrots.
Ella also began to understand why animals gave Beihai a certain respect. After all, when Beihai played, he had absolutely no consideration for the animals' feelings.
After lingering in place and confirming the old witch's location, if nothing unexpected happened the main quest would be resolved soon. But as the classic saying goes, when nothing unexpected happens, sothing unexpected often occurs.
While hurrying along the road, Beihai encountered a little ghost. It wasn't a ghost in the true sense, but soone who had draped a rags over themselves. The rag had two holes for eyes so they could see.
The little ghost was squatting against a wall, appearing to beg, but everyone around seed to hate it. The little ghost could only pick up rotten apples and scraps from the roadside to eat.
Beihai stared at the little ghost for a long ti. There was sothing about the creature that inspired an inexplicable disgust, though that feeling soon faded. The impression the little ghost left on Beihai was one of pure kindness.
This kindness and the appearance of evil were deeply contradictory. Beihai couldn't help but walk up and offer so food.
"If you eat those things you'll get diarrhea. I have clean food here, have this first. Also, I feel sothing is off about you."
When the little ghost refused, Beihai pushed the food forward again.
"Eat it."
"Re—really?"
"That's right. Take it, eat."
The little ghost finally accepted the bread.
"I've never eaten anything so good, and it tastes amazing, completely different from what I used to have."
The little ghost wanted to put it in its mouth, but first it needed to take the rag off. That was awkward.
"Um, could you step back a bit? You can't look at . I'm too ugly. If you look, you'll scream."
"It's fine. I'm not looking at your appearance. I'm looking at your kind heart."
The little ghost hesitated, but in the end pulled the cloth off. The expected screams, fear, and beatings did not co.
Beihai just looked, even reaching out to rub his chin. He seed to have an inkling of how malice and kindness could be intertwined.
As for the face, it was indeed hard to praise.
At least in this world, nobody would accept it. But in Beihai's world, co on—what was that in comparison? During the Information Explosion era, what hadn't he seen?
Flayed corpses, xenomorphs, tentacles, swarms of insects crawling over bodies—these were the basics. Seeing the little ghost's appearance as if skinned, it was no wonder it needed sothing to cover itself.
Most likely this had been caused by a bargain with sothing. The situation reminded him of Dororo from his previous life, if that was the right na. The child's father traded with ghosts and gods, and the spirit took everything from the child. This little ghost had clearly been part of a deal;
sothing had taken the child's skin.
Facing such an evil bastard, Beihai's hands itched to strike and vent!
But watching the little ghost nibble the bread in small bites, he still extended a hand in invitation.
"Help with so chores from now on, and I'll pay you."
"Pay?"
"That's right."
Beihai smiled warmly, giving off no sense of danger and actually seeming very friendly. There were similarities between them, but also major differences. At least facing such pure kindness, Beihai felt a little ashad.
He handed the little ghost a gold coin and told it to do small errands.
After a day of work he handed it another gold coin. Watching the little ghost happily run back into the forest, Beihai secretly followed.
Ella refused to be left out and followed as well, seeming curious to see what would happen.
"Have you ever heard a story, Ella? A story about a little ghost."
The most beautiful princess in the world gave birth to a baby. The king believed the most beautiful baby had been born.
But things went wrong. The baby grew up looking terrifying;
the old midwife who delivered the child was so frightened she died on the spot.
The queen wanted to see the child, but everyone advised against it. The queen insisted anyway.
As expected, the scream ca. The queen's shriek echoed, and the king was so frightened he flew into a rage.
The malford infant was abandoned. News didn't spread because the king silenced every courtier who had seen the child. The baby was thrown by a stream.
Because of the baby's frightening appearance, even wild beasts refused to eat it. The baby suffered no injuries and received no care.
The baby crawled around alone, ate earthworms, learned from bears how to move, learned to mimic human speech from parrots. Slowly the baby grew into a child.
The child yearned to live among humans, so it left the west and went to a village. The child did not rember ever feeling human warmth and hoped soone in the village would embrace them.
But the villagers not only refused to embrace the child, they hurled stones and waved sticks.
The child crouched on the ground, clutching its head as tears stread down, crying "Don't hit , it hurts, why do you hit ?"
They said, "Because you're a terrifying monster. Just one look will make you vomit."
With no other choice, the child wrapped a rag around itself and looked like a ghost. Everyone called the child a ghost.
Everyone hated ghosts. To avoid people's stares, the little ghost had to hide like a mouse in the village alleys, scavenging trash to eat. That beca the little ghost's daily life.
The ghost only took off the rag to eat. One day in an alley the little ghost t a woman holding flowers.
The woman smiled slightly at the little ghost, and the flowers in her hand instantly turned into an apple.
The little ghost had never seen such a trick and genuinely gasped.
"Wow... so magical. How did you do that?"
"This is called magic. I'm a magician. Deception is my specialty."
The female magician handed the apple to the little ghost. The little ghost couldn't believe it—it was the first ti it had eaten an unrotten apple.
The little ghost wanted to remove the rag to eat, but stopped.
It explained, "You can't look at . My face is too scary. You'd scream."
The magician didn't react—no scream, no turning away, no closed eyes. Her glass-like eyes stared straight at the little ghost.
The little ghost was surprised. "Don't I look scary?"
The magician smiled and said, "Not at all. You're very cute."
The apple slled of flowers. The little ghost's heart pounded—this was the first ti anyone had stared at it squarely.
The little ghost fell in love with the magician.
But the apple wasn't free. The magician said, "Since you ate my apple, can you do a favor?"
The little ghost, naive, answered, "Sure, I can help with anything."
The magician pointed her cane to an old man nearby.
"See that grandfather over there? Go show him your face."
The suggestion made the little ghost hesitate.
"My face? That will scare the grandfather to death, right?"
The magician's eyes crinkled with a smile.
"It's fine. Just give him a fright. For this small favor, you can help , right?"
"Um... yes, of course, Miss Magician."
The little ghost followed the magician's instruction. The old man was so frightened at the sight that his heart stopped.
The magician praised the little ghost.
"Well done, little ghost."
"What's wrong? The grandfather hasn't moved."
The magician poked the old man with her cane and said casually, "He's just fallen asleep from fright. Don't worry."
After confirming the man didn't move, the magician took his wallet from his clothes.
The little ghost was puzzled and asked, "What are you doing, Miss Magician?"
"Collecting the viewing fee. Since you put on a show, viewers must pay."
So that's how it was. The little ghost didn't fully understand, but accepted it anyway.
The magician patted the little ghost's head and warned, "From now on, if you show people your face like this, you'll earn viewing fees. Save up the money and you can beco rich. You can do this small thing for , right?"
"Yes, of course. I'll work hard, Miss Magician."
So the little ghost followed the magician around the village, frightening old n. The magician and the ghost repeated this day after day. The magician profited, and eventually ford a traveling circus. The little ghost joined them.
Whenever they reached a new village, the magician sought wealthy-looking elders and showcased the little ghost. The frightened elderly would have heart attacks and die, and the magician collected viewing fees from their bodies.
Praise for the ghost's performance never ceased.
"Well done, little ghost. Your power grows."
"Thank you, Miss Magician. Among those who saw my monster-like face, only you weren't scared."
"Of course. I don't see you as a monster. To , you're just a kind child."
With her clear, glassy eyes and a copper coin, the little ghost truly adored the magician.
After each show, the ghost would deliver a copper coin to a gno in the forest and chop wood until exhausted. The gno promised to give the ghost a plain human face in exchange for the ghost's money.
"I'll give you my copper coins every day," the little ghost agreed.
So the ghost handed over its only treasure.
But the gno waved a hand and said, "That's not enough. From now on you'll give all your earnings to , and I'll give you an ordinary face."
The little ghost readily complied.
It turned out the work was easy—the ghost's strength was trendous and she could split logs with her bare hands. She and the magician continued to frighten elders. The magician's circus traveled across the kingdom and the ghost went along.
The magician and the clown slept together in a tent. One night the little ghost overheard strange sounds and slipped inside.
On the bed the magician and the clown were in a violent embrace. The ghost was terrified;
her heart pounded.
She didn't understand what they were doing, but seeing their violent closeness tore at her chest like a ripping pain. The ghost realized the woman she loved had been taken.
The ghost wanted to rush into the tent to separate them.
In the end the clown and the magician lay together chatting.
"How were the takings today?"
"We made a fortune. We scared a noble old man and he scread so loud—you heard him, right?"
"Hehe. From tomorrow on, we'll target both old and young."
"It works on young people too?"
The magician was puzzled until the clown explained.
"Of course. When the ghost takes the rag off, the sight is horrifying. If you saw it, you'd probably have your heart stop."
"Oh, good thing I'm blind."
The magician removed her glass eyes—she was blind.
The ghost lay outside the tent, utterly quiet.
Not at all scary, you looked so cute.
I never saw you as a monster. To you were a kind child.
What a windfall—just shake the wallet and coins fall out. Give the ghost one copper coin and it's enough. She doesn't even know she killed those old n;
she thinks they just fell asleep. Idiot.
All lies. Lies!!
Learning the truth enraged the ghost. Deceived and used, turned into a murderer unknowingly—her heart burned like she'd swallowed a fireball.
The ghost rushed inside. The clown and the magician were stunned.
The clown swung a prop sword. The ghost's strength was enormous;
she broke the blade with her bare hands. The broken sword flew into the clown's belly.
The ghost leapt onto the bed, grabbed the magician's neck, and roared, "Why did you lie to ? Why? I loved you with my seeing eyes, how could you speak lies with blind eyes?"
The power in the ghost's hands increased until she snapped the magician's delicate neck. The ghost killed her.
When the rage subsided, a belated remorse surged.
"What have I done?"
Although the magician deceived and used the ghost, she had been the ghost's only beloved. To resurrect soone, only the gno's magic could do it. The ghost carried the cooling magician into the forest and begged the gno to save her.
"Please save this person. I beg you, I beg you."
"She's a magician. What will you give in return if I resurrect her?"
"Aren't the copper coins and wood I gave you enough?"
"But that's not the price for a plain face."
"I don't need a plain face anymore. If Miss Magician is gone, it's aningless. Please, bring back Miss Magician. I beg you."
The gno calmly toyed with the idea.
"She's a vile human. Even if I resurrected her, she would never love you."
"It doesn't matter because I love her, and I will always love her."
"So far, your coins and firewood don't equal one gold coin. Not enough to bring soone back."
"Then I'll give you all the money I earn in the future. Please."
"No. Even if you gave all future earnings, it couldn't bring her back. But I can save another life. The magician was pregnant. I can only save the fetus."
"Then… please save the child. It continues the life of the woman I love."
So the gno opened the magician's belly and took out the fetus.
It was a boy. The little ghost cherished him in her arms and made a living by chopping wood. She used her strength to earn money and raise the child, handing copper coins to the families of the old n she had frightened to death—this was her atonent. Even though she had acted unwittingly, the fact remained that the old n had died.
Only by raising the child well could she atone for the magician's death. So she poured all her love into the child. Though her life remained enshrouded in darkness, she told the boy of light.
Though she suffered all her life, she gave the child joy. Though she trembled in despair, she gave him hope.
Ti passed. The magician's child grew into a handso and outstanding young man—strong, attractive, and upright. People constantly gathered around him.
Most importantly, he never felt ashad of the ghost who raised him;
he was proud of her.
The ghost feared this. She had killed the young man's biological parents, though he didn't know. Better he hate her than be ashad;
if he resented her, her burden might feel lighter.
Like the youth following his parents, he followed the ghost who raised him, so the ghost feared telling him the truth. Yet she had to be honest;
one cannot hide the past from a loved one. She had learned the pain of being deceived by the magician, and she knew how terrible that was.
Unable to keep deceiving the young man she raised, the ghost confessed.
"Your parents were the magician and the clown. I personally killed them."
She withheld the magician's cruelty so the youth wouldn't hate his birth mother. She wanted him to resent her instead.
Half the truth revealed, the youth drew his sword and tremulously pointed its tip at the ghost's neck.
"I didn't stab you imdiately because you raised , but don't show your face to again. If I see you again, I'll cut your throat, you monster."
The ghost's heart felt as if a blade had pierced it. Even if others called her a monster, the child she raised had never done so—until now. His words inflicted an unbearable pain because he was leaving.
The ghost withdrew into the forest to live in seclusion.
War broke out with a neighboring country. The youth joined the army to defend his holand. The ghost, hidden in the forest, did not know a war had started.
The one who told the ghost about the war was the gno.
"The magician's son joined the army. He will die in this war."
The gno's prophecies never failed. The ghost knelt and begged him to save the boy.
"Why should I? He's not your biological child. He even called you an enemy."
"But he is the child I raised and love. Even if he abandoned , I will always love him."
"Fine. I can rewrite his fate, but you must pay. Give your eyes."
The ghost, without hesitation, gouged out both her eyes and handed them over. This would save the boy.
She would never see again and could no longer raise him as she once had, but she could still hear his voice. Before she died she hoped to reunite with him even one last ti.
The youth survived the war and achieved glory, becoming commander of the knights at a young age.
One day the gno found the ghost carrying firewood.
"I see a future, ghost. A jealous general hired a witch to kill the knight commander with dark magic."
Firewood spilled and the ghost fell to her knees. "Please stop the witch. Save that child—no, save the commander."
Again, without hesitation, the gno demanded a price: "Give your ears."
The ghost tore off both her ears and gave them up. She would never hear the voice of the child she raised again, but she could still hold his hand. She hoped to reunite with him once more before death.
The commander survived and led the knights to victory after victory. He knew nothing of the ghost who saved his life.
The commander was close to the king—brave, clear-headed, and handso. The king praised him at a banquet.
"I dream of having a son like you. I'm jealous. Who bore such a stalwart son?"
"Alas, I never t my parents;
both passed away."
"Ah, I asked an improper question."
At the banquet the world's most beautiful queen was present. The king, wrinkled with age, was old, but the queen showed no signs of aging—her beauty remained intact.
Seeing the commander's noble bearing and unsatisfied with her aging husband, the queen poisoned the king's wine.
The king died. The queen ushered the commander into the royal bedchamber and eventually placed him on the throne.
The gno found the ghost again.
"The commander has beco king, but the newly crowned are often short-lived. In my vision the king falls ill of a fatal disease."
The ghost, now without ears, had the gno transmit the words to her.
Again she knelt and begged to save the king.
The gno agreed, demanding another price: "Give your hands."
The ghost bit off and tore off both her hands and handed them over. She could no longer hold the son she raised, but she could still stand by him. She hoped to reunite with him once more before death.
The king ruled wisely and reford old systems, bringing prosperity to the people.
But the nobles disliked the new king and plotted rebellion to remove him on the grounds of his questionable legitimacy.
The gno warned the ghost.
"The atmosphere for rebellion thickens. The king will be betrayed by his ministers and die."
Again the ghost begged, and the gno demanded her legs as the price.
The ghost tore off her legs and gave them up.
She could no longer go to the son she raised, but even if they could never reunite, as long as he lived happily, she was satisfied.
Now with only stumps to crawl with, the ghost crawled through the forest eating worms and roots.
People threw stones and mocked her. Though it hurt, she smiled faintly. Crawling to a flower she left behind two words: "Flower fragrance."
The child she raised beca king and lived happily.
"Flowers have blood."
Everything was well. Thanks to the king's good na, the kingdom beca impregnable. Yet the king felt empty and thought every night of the ghost he had abandoned.
He investigated his birth parents—the magician and the clown. Though old, the trail was not hard to track. Their history was full of cruelty. The king was shocked;
his parents were indeed villains.
"I see the future, ghost! The king will be devoured by a giant wolf."
"Please, gno, I'll give you everything I own. Stop that wolf."
"Look at you—no eyes, no ears, no hands, no legs. You have nothing left to pay. I won't stop the wolf. Let the king be eaten."
The ghost's heart tightened. The gno's prophecies never erred. If nothing else was done, the king she loved would be eaten by a wolf.
The gno wouldn't intervene, so the ghost had to act herself. She began crawling toward the royal city.
The king sat on his throne, thinking. He rembered all the care the ghost had given him—worry, love, embraces.
Light, joy, hope—everything he knew ca from the ghost's teachings. She had given him everything without asking for reward, yet he had betrayed her and called her a monster.
When the king realized the magnitude of his mistake, he rushed to the forest to find the ghost and confronted a giant wolf.
anwhile, the ghost had not yet left the forest. Without eyes, ears, hands, or legs, crawling did little;
her body was shredded and bloodied, nearly dying, but she crawled on with the thought of saving the king.
She slled a heavy stench of blood: the royal guards had been eaten, the king was fighting the wolf and could not hold it off. The ghost crawled desperately to the wolf's feet.
She pulled off the rag and revealed a visage so horrifying it could stop a heart. What had been a twisted curse that ruined a person beca, in that instant, a blessing that could save the beloved.
Thus the wolf was driven off, but the ghost was near death. The king approached the ghost. Her face was terrifying.
He did not scream, turn away, or close his eyes. With tears in his own, he looked straight at the ghost.
"Your Majesty."
"I'm not speaking as a king. I'm speaking as a son. It's too late. I'm too late. I'm sorry, Mother."
A faint smile appeared on the ghost's face. No eyes, no ears, no hands, no legs—just a heart that conveyed aning.
"I'm not your mother. I'm the ghost who loved your mother. Even though I'm shaless, I wanted to be your mother. I've never nursed you, never called you son. This frightening form only brought trouble. I'm sorry."
The king held the ghost and sobbed.
"No matter what you look like, you're my mother. I love you, Mother. I always will."
Thus the woman called the ghost passed away.
At that mont the gno stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, leave this fearso woman's body to . I must take her heart."
"You want to take Mother's heart? Why?"
"Decades ago the queen asked to grant her the world's most outstanding beauty and eternal youth. I fulfilled her wish, but the price was everything borne by her firstborn. The first thing I took from the baby was appearance. So the ghost was born grotesque. I took her eyes, ears, hands, and legs in sequence. Watching her struggle to save you was truly amusing.
"Now the last thing I want is her heart. Though it cools and becos valueless, I still want it."
Enraged, the king drew his sword and stabbed the gno in the chest. Yet the gno was unhard and sneered that re humans could not hurt him.
"If you resist, then so be it. This is all a bargain. You gain and you lose—that's the law of heaven and earth. No one can bind or punish . Everything I did is justified. I did not wish harm on a monarch, but I must kill you."
At that mont the dead ghost lunged at the gno. She beca a true ghost. The duel was not for revenge against the gno's interference, but to protect the one she loved.
In the end the gno died.
Simultaneously, all the spells were lifted. The queen reverted to an old, ugly woman—the old woman—and the ghost returned to her original form.
Her missing body parts were restored;
the hideous exterior peeled away and her true beautiful face returned. Yet her flesh disintegrated into dust—this was the price of transforming into a true ghost to fight.
The king wept. In her final monts the ghost handed him a flower, comforting him.
"Don't cry, child."
There was a unique tradition in the kingdom: every year on the ghost's anniversary, everyone in the city would wrap themselves up like ghosts and parade through the streets. The king, wrapped in cloth like a ghost, would walk the streets too.
To find the true ghost among the countless false ones, Mother, if you visit the kingdom on the ghost's anniversary, try to find two ghosts embracing among the many ghosts. Mother and son, silently shedding tears, hold a story you will understand.
The Ghost's Tale
（Rough summary: didn't expect it to be so long）
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