Sensing something was wrong with himself, Richard decided to use the power of the Phantom Haunting Spirit. As his consciousness sank, experiencing a sensation akin to drowning, his spirit resurfaced on the "water's surface," and Richard found that his spirit had already left his body.
Richard's perspective completely changed as he transformed into the Phantom Spirit Body. The clear sky was gone, replaced by a swarm of black, twisted Vengeful Spirits circling like a storm, seemingly enveloping the entire world and confining him within this cage built of malice.
The mournful wails he heard were not illusions but the malicious roars of the souls of humans and beasts who had died tragic deaths. The coldness came from the Vengeful Spirits of those who died unjustly, whispering their pain against every inch of his skin and licking his pores, begging for a crazed mercy.
Those chaotic Evil Spirits lunged forward like they had spotted a delicious lunch. They didn't bite; instead, they whispered incessantly in one's ear, driving you insane and tempting you to fall into depravity. Ultimately, like the protagonist in that story, you would be driven to a dead end, voluntarily sacrificing your precious body to them and becoming one of them in soul.
Richard threw a punch at one of the hideous Evil Spirits, but the dispersed spirit turned into pure power to nourish the other malicious souls. It was like hungry sharks; once the impulse for gluttony took over their instincts, they would resort to cannibalism, regardless of friend or foe.
Seeing this, Richard knew that simple killing wouldn't solve the problem; instead, it was like helping to cultivate a venomous Gu. Setting aside whether he would die of exhaustion from killing them one by one, if he accidentally raised a Ghost King, wouldn't that just increase the "difficulty level" for himself?
One Henry was already enough of a headache; he still didn't know how to kill him. After all, the entire Upside Down was under his control, so he absolutely couldn't afford to create another enemy he couldn't handle.
Thus, Richard tried another way to "subdue" these Evil Spirits.
Richard's Phantom Spirit Body took a deep breath and reached out with both hands. Two black holes opened, and the tens of thousands of foul-smelling Vengeful Spirits, like a school of fish smelling food, swarmed into the black holes one after another.
With every bit he sucked in, Richard's Phantom Spirit Body expanded. He grew larger and larger, like a balloon.
This was one of the powers of the Phantom Haunting Spirit. The so-called black holes actually led to Richard's Mental Space. The Phantom Haunting Spirit's fusion with Richard's spirit meant that his Mental Space had become another "1408 Phantom Room." Since the Phantom Room could accommodate the souls of the dead, Richard's Mental Space naturally could as well, though there was a limit to the quantity.
"Are you done sucking yet? I can't hold on much longer." Richard gritted his teeth. His Phantom Spirit Body had already swollen to the size of a three or four-hundred-pound man.
Fortunately, Richard ultimately withstood the pressure and absorbed nearly three-quarters of the Vengeful Spirits present. He didn't intend to absorb the rest; the mental pain made him incredibly irritable, and he smashed the remaining spirits one by one until not a single one was left.
Being out of his body for too long was bad for his physical health. In the afterglow of the setting sun, Richard's spirit returned to his physical body. Instantly, he felt a chill envelop him, as if he had been frozen for over an hour and just stepped out of a freezer. His whole body was icy, his limbs were stiff, and every breath he exhaled was several degrees below zero.
Richard felt like he was about to freeze to death, but this was the result of forcibly absorbing Vengeful Spirits into his Mental Space—the pressure reflecting onto his physical body.
He had to find a place to house them as soon as possible... Richard limped down the mountain, gasping with every step, looking like an elderly man with mobility issues or a glitched penguin.
After finally making it back home, Richard collapsed at his doorstep. Unable to control himself any longer, he released the Vengeful Spirits from his Mental Space.
A violent wind swept through Richard's living room and bedroom. It wasn't a natural gust clearing the clouds, but hideous Vengeful Spirits sizing up their new home.
Looking at the tidy, hundred-square-meter residence, the Vengeful Spirits seemed... very satisfied.
Richard didn't release all the vengeful spirits; he stopped once he had freed enough to reach the current capacity of his Mental Space. Although these spirits were evil, they weren't entirely useless.
Activating Spirit Vision, Richard's heart was filled with complex emotions as he faced the "black wind" filling the house. He watched helplessly as the Evil Spirits took over his home, each finding a section of wall or an object to inhabit.
Needless to say, from then on, his house was a bona fide Haunted House, even more fearsome than those seen in typical movies. At this moment, almost all the souls who had died on this small town's land over the past centuries had decided to live here. Among them were many Evil Spirits with extreme resentment and crazed obsessions; their numbers were hard to estimate, and every single one wanted the lives of the living.
Even if there were real Exorcists in this world, they would likely feel hopeless and powerless upon seeing the state of this home.
"Holy crap, don't inhabit my personal belongings, especially my textbooks and homework!" Richard barked at a group of Evil Spirits trying to move into his school supplies. If these damn things moved in, who knows when he'd end up with a tragically dead Spanish Teacher, the cause of death being grading This fellow Li's homework.
All along, the Spanish Teacher had complained that reading his Spanish essays felt like enduring the tortures of hell, and just now, that had almost become a reality.
The Evil Spirits who heard Richard's words glared at him with hideous expressions, but they still obeyed and possessed other places instead. Finally, when there were truly no more nooks for some spirits to squeeze into, they could only let out vicious shrieks and wander around the house.
"Tomorrow I'll buy some dolls for you to live in," Richard sighed, appeasing the irritable Evil Spirits. He rolled up his sleeves and showed his fists. "If you don't behave, I have a very good and easy solution right now."
At those words, the snarling Evil Spirits instantly quieted down and squatted in the corners, looking harmless.
Richard: "...It seems I can't have guests over for a while. I'm afraid someone might die in my house."
With that thought, he called his friends one by one, telling them not to come to his house for the time being. His reason could be summarized in eight words: 'House is haunted, don't come, you'll die.'
Richard's friends were all bewildered upon receiving the calls, and the Intelligence Agent who had been intently wiretapping his phone line was even more stunned.
"What the hell? Haunted?" Robin was the most confused; having grown accustomed to staying at Richard's house, she found it hard to accept.
"I'm not rejecting you; I'm just telling the truth. Once some time has passed and I can barely control them, I'll invite you over again. Um... next time, I'll let you sleep in the bed." Richard apologized somewhat sheepishly to Robin, who had just arrived at his door. Right now, just standing at the doorway, it was difficult for him to control the Evil Spirits that had the urge to attack her.
Hearing Richard's words, Robin seemed to think of something, and her fair face flushed like a brilliant sunset. She grumbled, "Pah, pah, pah! In your dreams! I won't give you the chance to do anything bad and ruin our pure... pure friendship."
"It's late; let me walk you back." Richard stepped outside and quickly locked the door, as if the monsters inside would burst out if he were a second later.
Robin pouted and muttered a few things like a goldfish. She expertly jogged a few steps, caught up with the slowly starting bicycle, and hopped onto the back seat.
"Do you want to grab something to eat in town before going home? My treat." Richard glared at his bicycle, warning the Evil Spirit inhabiting it with his eyes, and spoke to Robin with a dry laugh.
"Mm." Robin pressed her burning face against Richard's back, her ears flushing crimson as she responded with a voice as soft as a mosquito's hum.