Tokyo: My Hundred Demon Scroll

Gu Yun learned the purpose of this spell.

Humans age, and the body suffers from various drawbacks as it gets older, such as reduced agility and poor motor skills.

This will still exist even if one becomes a spirit.

It's not that ghosts get tired, but rather that a special kind of psychological suggestion binds the mind and perception of the spirit.

Now, through astral projection, Grandpa is able to recreate his spirit as he was when he was young.

In this way, even if his physical body is old and frail, Grandpa can still fight enemies in his spirit form, regaining his former fighting abilities and reaction speed.

"Sometimes you'll encounter monsters that are very skilled in physical combat. They are very fast and like to bypass shikigami and attack the sorcerer directly."

Grandpa wasn't used to being young, so he reverted to his old-age appearance: "In this situation, an aged body is easily targeted."

It's much easier to fight with a young spirit than with a decaying body in your seventies or eighties.

If one day in the future, Gu Yun's body is injured.

So when he encounters trouble, he might need to fight his enemies by leaving his body.

The physical body is gone, but the immense spiritual power remains unchanged.

"Okay, let's go."

"where are we going?"

Kamakura.

Is it that far?

Many people believe that becoming a spirit allows one to pass through walls at will and go wherever one wants.

In fact, this idea is wrong.

Because ghosts cannot enter the doors and walls of inhabited houses.

Every building has its own 'feng shui energy field,' which is an invisible barrier that can block spiritual entities.

Only with the owner's permission can you disregard this obstacle and come and go as you please.

Gu Yun and his grandfather were highly skilled sorcerers, so they could ignore this weak barrier. However, the straight-line distance from the Iijima family mansion to Kamakura made it impossible for the two of them to rush over directly.

"I have come to summon Xiao Kong's divine chariot."

"Oh, wait a minute."

Grandpa stopped him, saying, "This time, let's use the conventional method."

"The conventional method?"

"Without shikigami or divine chariots, how can an ordinary sorcerer travel to the underworld in a spirit form?"

The ordinary sorcerer that Grandpa mentioned would probably make Mr. Daomo cry in the toilet.

A bald man retorted: "Do you think all warlocks can just leave their bodies like you guys?!"

"it is good."

Gu Yun is now a sorcerer apprentice following his grandfather's side, and he follows the old man's instructions in everything.

After leaving the Iijima family home, the grandfather and grandson, unlike ghosts, did not float in the air but stood firmly on the ground, which puzzled Gu Yun.

He jumped up and down, but found that he didn't feel as light as a swallow.

"If my soul leaves my body, why can't I even fly?"

When Gu Yun asked this question, his grandfather explained, "We are not truly dead, so we are still bound by the laws of this world."

"If you want to fly, you can take a look at 'The Art of Divine Travel' when you come back."

Spiritual travel is an ancient art form originating from the East, divided into daytime travel and nighttime travel, collectively known as the art of spiritual travel.

"Is it the one in the study?"

Gu Yun thought of the magic books he had seen in his grandfather's collection, which included the method of traveling day and night in spirit.

However, because his grandfather had collected so many spells and the use of spirit travel was so limited, Gu Yun hadn't had a chance to read the book yet.

"With your talent, Gu Yun, you'll probably learn it in no time."

Grandpa stopped walking as he spoke.

Gu Yun looked around and found that the two had already passed through the woods outside the old house and arrived at a roadside road along a field ridge.

"Warlocks can fly through the sky by astral projection and spirit travel."

The speed isn't particularly fast, but it's not slow either; it's definitely more convenient than a car.

"What I need to do now is to show ordinary people how to obtain things from various places in a spiritual state."

As the old man spoke, he stretched out his hand and chanted incantations, as if summoning something.

"Hu~hu~~"

Soon, Gu Yun saw two bright car lights approaching from afar at the end of the once dark road.

"This is…"

Gu Yun was currently in a spirit form, so he could clearly see the eerie spiritual energy emanating from the strange bus: "Is this some kind of ghost story, Grandpa?"

"Ah."

In Japan, there are many urban legends such as hearses drifting, ghost buses heading to hell, and taxis that kill people at midnight.

These urban legends will continue to generate all sorts of hearses.

The hearse itself has no combat capability.

However, due to the characteristics of hearses, they can travel quickly to various places, which is very convenient.

"Most hearses are not dangerous; the probability of an ordinary person encountering one is about the same as winning the lottery."

Grandpa looked at the ghost bus that had stopped in front of him. There were already some people sitting inside, and their eyes were lifeless and their faces were pale, which was very strange.

“But a hearse is still a hearse,” Grandpa said. “Sometimes, if you’re not careful, you might be taken to the mortal world or the realm of ghosts.”

Is it that dangerous?

"Therefore, one needs to have a wealth of knowledge about ghost stories."

Grandpa said, "You need to understand the origins of these hearses and the reasons for their creation."

"Forehead…"

Gu Yun asked, "But Grandpa, didn't you say you didn't know anything about ghost stories?"

"You brat, don't you know whose territory this is?!"

Grandpa may not know, but surely he wouldn't be unaware of the strange tales around his own home?

"That's true, haha."

Gu Yun smiled and scratched his head, then quickly followed his grandfather and boarded the ghost bus with him.

Are these all ghost stories?

"not all."

Grandpa ignored the driver, whose face was covered in blood, and calmly handed two bills to the ticket seller.

Yes, the ticket seller was also a pale-faced female ghost.

"The drivers, passengers, and ticket sellers here are all wandering ghosts who, for various reasons, are unwilling to go to the underworld."

Grandpa and Gu Yun found a seat and sat down, then began to chat as if no one else was around.

The ghosts seemed to know that the two were not to be trifled with, and made no attempt to scare or provoke them.

"This hearse ghost story, to be precise, only involves this bus."

"So what's going on with them?"

Gu Yun asked, "If it's a ghost, aren't you afraid of being devoured by ghost stories?"

He had previously seen the Slit-Mouthed Woman and many pitiful souls bound to the realm of ghosts by supernatural tales.

But now, ghosts coexist with the Ghost Bus...

Are they bound by this hearse ghost story?

Gu Yun asked, "Should we help them?"

“No need,” Grandpa said. “Besides, they weren’t tied up by the hearse.”

The relationship between humans, ghost stories, and ghosts is extremely complex.

Ghost tales devour humans and torment souls.

But if a person has already died and become a ghost, then they are no longer afraid of ghost stories.

"What ghost stories really need are the various emotions of living people."

Grandpa: "However, ghosts rarely evoke strong emotions. In the context of ghost stories, they are considered useless and unappetizing."

This is why ghost stories treat the living as food, but avoid touching the ghosts and vengeful spirits that have already died.

"Moreover, one of the prerequisites for the strange tales surrounding this bus is that 'living people ride it at night'."

Please note that the term "living person" is specifically used here.

After all, if a horror story created by humans features a ghost as the protagonist, is there any sense of immersion in it?

You're trying to scare the living, not the dead!

As we all know, almost every urban legend involves a 'person' who encounters various supernatural events and then disappears without a trace.

How could there possibly be such a bizarre idea as a ghost waiting for a bus at night?

Even if ghosts are involved, it must be that they encountered strange tales while they were alive, and continued to suffer after death.

Anyway, Gu Yun had never heard of a horror story where the protagonist is a ghost and then encounters strange tales.

"The reason why ghost stories continue to torment the souls of the dead after they have devoured the living is because..."

"First, it's to extract their remaining value," Grandpa said. "Second, it's also because these victims don't know they're dead."

Only these kinds of 'wandering souls' can retain the emotions of a person in life and continue to provide nourishment for ghost stories.