He never had a plan, he just went with the flow

Chapter 4

Wei Ying stood in shock as he looked over the crowd of ghosts. How could so many ghosts gather together without devouring each other? Wait- no, they aren't resentful ghosts. They're ordinary ghosts. So, the question should be, what's keeping so many ghosts from passing on?

The first ghost said, "Hey, can you see us?" He nodded, about to ask his question when the other ghosts started talking over each other. "How can he see us? Is he a ghost, too?"

"Of course not, he's still alive!"

"He doesn't feel alive."

"But living things can't see us!"

"They can't, so maybe he's not alive."

It was like he was back in the Burial Mounds with the Yin Tiger Seal, so he reacted on instinct. "Hey, hey! There's no need to shout over each other. I have a few questions to ask." The ghosts went silent as the first ghost stepped closer and raised her hand. "I can speak for all of us. What do you want to know?"

"Okay, firstly, you guys aren't resentful ghosts but normal ones, right?" She nods, "So, why haven't you moved on?" She and the ghosts share a sad look. "We can't. None of us knows why. We didn't die with any regrets or grudges." Wei Ying looks down. Why can't they move on? They should be able to, according to the ancient texts.

"Now, can you answer our question?"

"You mean the one about whether or not I'm dead?" They all nod in unison as he shivers, which is creepy as hell. He takes a moment to consider their question, "I'm...not sure. I died but came back in a weird form, so I guess you could say I'm dead in a way."

"Why is your hair white? You look fairly young," The lead ghost asked. "Ph, thank you! I think it's white because of the yin energy-.....That's it!" The ghosts flinch, and he turns to the lead ghost, "Would you mind giving me your hand? I want to check something." The lead ghost hesitated before another ghost left the crowd. It was a muscular man who stopped beside them. "You can use me instead."

He nodded because it didn't matter who he scanned. Once he grasped the man's hand, his theory was confirmed. He opened his eyes. "I thought so." He muttered as the ghosts looked at each other. "What did you find?" the male ghost asked, crossing his arms.

He took a deep breath before answering, "I had a theory after I mentioned the yin energy. I only found you guys because I sensed a large gathering of resentful energy. But neither of you is a resentful ghost, and after scanning you, I realized that you guys must each have tiny traces of resentful energy despite not being resentful. That might be what's keeping you from moving on." He paused to gauge their reactions. Discomfort was written all over their faces.

"Then what do we do?" The lead ghost asked. He thought about his previous method of using resentful energy. He would suck the resentful energy out of ghosts, forcing them to move on. "I can absorb resentful energy, so maybe I could try absorbing your resentful energy."

"And how could you be sure it would work and not cause us more harm?"

"Well, there's this lovely thing called trial and error, which means we'll never know if it works until we either fail or succeed. So, I would like to try it on one of you first."

"Well, then try it on me again."

"Dage!" The lead ghost glared at the muscular man as he shrugged. "I don't mind being used as an experiment; if it works, we can pass it on. If it fails, we've been here for eight hundred years already. What's a couple more?" Dang, that's a long time.

The lead ghost sighed, "You sure this won't kill him more?"

"Yeah, I used to do this for other ghosts, but this is my first time doing it as a non-human." He grabbed the man's hand and closed his eyes as he tracked down to where he felt the resentful energy before. It at first shied from his touch before he grabbed it and slowly drained it from him.