A chill shot down Old Luke’s spine. His whole body jolted, and he stumbled backward several steps on instinct.

  "Fuck!"Eyes wide with fright, Luke ducked behind John without a second thought.

  "Hey, what’s wrong with you?" John asked, confused.

  "H-he said there’s someone in the corner... watching us."Luke’s gaze darted to the corner of the room—but it was empty.

  "Someone?"John’s brow furrowed, but he remained calm, taking the peachwood sword from Luke’s trembling hand.

  He glanced at the boy on the bed, then followed his vacant stare to the corner by the window.Dusk was settling in, and with no lights on, the corner was swallowed in deep shadow—an eerie, foreboding gloom hung over it.

  Without hesitation, John gripped the sword and strode toward it.

  "Is this the spot?" he asked, turning to check with the boy.

  "He’s looking at you... He’s watching you..." the boy mumbled dully.

  "No kidding. I’m the hottest guy in the room—course he’s staring," John scoffed, pressing onward step by step.

  Suddenly, he froze mid-stride. He frowned, confused, and pressed a hand to his chest.A strange warmth was spreading there, like he’d stuck a heating pad under his shirt.

  He almost lifted his shirt to check, but caught himself—this was someone else’s house, after all. He might be a little messed up, but he wasn’t a creep.

  What John didn’t know was that beneath his shirt, a blood-red, ghostly face was flickering in and out of sight, eerie and menacing.

  Shrugging off the odd warmth, John kept moving toward the corner.

  When he was less than a meter away, a bone-chilling cold washed over him.

  "Hmm?"His expression shifted—but he didn’t back down. He kept going.

  He’d snuck into graveyards countless times before just to test his sanity. A little chill wasn’t going to scare him off.

  But the warmth in his chest was growing hotter by the second. A faint, ghostly outline was even starting to show through his shirt—but he was too focused on the corner to notice.

  John tightened his grip on the peachwood sword and marched forward steadily.

  All at once, the cold intensified exponentially. It felt like icy fingers were trailing down his back, making his hair stand on end.And in his ears, he heard a faint, indistinct whispering.

  "Evil spirit, be gone! Take this!"

  John roared, lunging at the corner with the sword and hacking wildly at the empty air.He couldn’t see anything—but that didn’t matter. Better to swing first and ask questions later.

  But no matter how hard he hacked, the cold lingered, growing thicker and more oppressive. He was left gasping for breath, his arms aching.

  "It’s not working?"He frowned, confused.

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  Just then, the boy on the bed spoke again, his voice still vacant and lifeless:"H-he’s on your back... watching you..."

  "What?!"John’s blood ran cold. He whipped his head around—and locked eyes with a faint, translucent face hovering inches from his own!

  "Son of a—!"

  He reacted instantly, driving the peachwood sword straight at the ghost’s skull.

  Truly a top-tier purchase from the internet, huh?

  It did absolutely nothing.

  "Luke, are you sure this is a real peachwood sword?!" John yelled.

  Luke was rooted to the spot, petrified. He’d thought this was just a silly little job—he never imagined there’d actually be a real ghost!

  John’s shout jolted him back to his senses. "Hold on, buddy! I got more!"

  With that, Luke whipped three more peachwood swords out of his robes and tossed them at John.

  The weight on John’s back felt heavier than ever, and the cold was seeping into his bones—but he forced himself to stay calm. He grabbed the swords and stabbed at the ghost one after another.

  All three swords failed miserably.

  "These are all fake, you idiot!"

  "That can’t be..." Luke panicked. "The seller said ‘fake one, get three free’—they can’t be fake!"

  "???"John spun around, yelling, "Wait a minute—did you only buy one sword? And the other three were freebies?!"

  "Uh... how’d you know? Must be a loyalty bonus for regular customers!"

  "You and your stupid loyalty bonuses!"John’s mouth twitched. This guy was a walking disaster.

  The cold was getting worse, and the ghost on his shoulders let out a terrifying, gurgling growl.

  "Do you have anything else?!" John yelled. If Luke had nothing left, he was booking it out of there.

  "Yeah! Black dog blood!"

  "Also from the internet?"

  "Nope! This is the real deal—brought it from my hometown!"

  "Hand it over—now!"

  "Right!"

  Luke fumbled around in his robes and pulled out a small clay jar. But he was too scared to get close, and his hands were shaking so bad he ended up just hurling the jar at John.

  Smash!

  The jar shattered on the floor, spilling dark blood everywhere.

  "Uh..."Luke stared, dumbfounded. He hadn’t meant to do that.

  "You absolute—"John facepalmed. Of course Luke would mess this up too.

  But to his surprise, the cold on his back eased up a little. And the translucent face hovering nearby looked like it wanted to get away.

  "It works?"

  John didn’t hesitate. He dropped to his knees and coated both fists in the black dog blood.

  "Eat this!"

  He swung at the ghost with all his might—and his fists connected with something that felt like solid ice.

  A blood-curdling scream pierced the air. The invisible spirit was thrown off his back and slammed into the floor.

  Thanks to the black dog blood on John’s fists, the ghost’s form was no longer translucent—it was fully visible now.

  John’s eyes narrowed. He dove at the writhing spirit and started wailing on it with his blood-soaked fists.

  The black dog blood wasn’t that powerful—but John was throwing punches like his life depended on it.

  "Go, buddy! Go get ’im!" Luke cheered from the sidelines, bouncing on his toes like an excited cheerleader.

  The so-called "master" fortune-teller was scared out of his wits—but the kid everyone thought was crazy was fighting like a demon.

  Five minutes later, the ghost on the floor was completely motionless, and the bone-chilling cold in the room had vanished without a trace.

  The boy on the bed blinked slowly. The vacant, dazed look in his eyes faded away, replaced by clarity.

  "Time to finish you off!"John glared at the defeated ghost, wiping his fists in the puddle of black dog blood again, ready to unleash another thousand punches.

  But just as he stepped forward, his chest erupted in searing heat.

  In the next second, a blood-red face—his exact face—burst out from under his shirt!

  "It’s you?!"John’s eyes widened in shock. He recognized that face—it was the same one he’d seen in the mirror last night!

  It really was inside him this whole time?!

  Meanwhile, the gravely injured ghost on the floor saw the blood-red face and let out a terrified, whimpering shriek.

  The blood-red face ignored John completely. It lunged at the downed ghost and sank its teeth into its skull.

  Then, in one swift motion, it dragged the struggling spirit back under John’s shirt and vanished.

  "Cannibalism among ghosts?"John stared, stunned. He hadn’t seen that coming.

  Since the blood-red face had dragged the ghost back into his chest to devour it, it looked exactly like John was the one eating the ghost.

  Thankfully, he was facing away from Luke and the others—so they didn’t see the horrifying spectacle unfolding right under his shirt.

  "Dude, seriously! Don’t have a snack on my chest!" John yelled, flustered. "That’s so rude!"