Chapter 142: The Identity Of The Snow Woman

Chapter 142: The Identity Of The Snow Woman

The room, about 33 square meters in size, was completely dominated by the Snow Woman before us.

Her adept offense and defense were like an impregnable fortress.

In fact, I couldn’t even get close to her.

And the unidentified psychic power was strong enough to momentarily immobilize both Senior Fuma and myself.

Truly a formidable foe.

“Kim Yu-seong, I’ll help you.”

Taking a short rest, Senior Fuma seemed to have recovered a bit and interjected with those words.

“Are you okay?”

“I think I broke a couple of ribs from that last attack, but I can still move. The problem is the Snow Woman’s ability.”

Certainly, Senior Fuma seemed to be thinking the same as me.

She spoke, emitting a yellow electric light from raikirimaru.

“Among demons, there’s a technique called ‘wordbinding,’ which involves imbuing words with power like a spell. What she used just now felt similar to that.”

“But your body stopped without her saying anything.”

“Perhaps it’s stronger when spoken directly?”

It did sound convincing upon hearing it.

After all, Senior Fuma was an expert in this field, so she probably had better analytical skills than me.

“So, the plan is a joint attack. We must prevent the Snow Woman from focusing on any one of us.”

“Understood.”

I decided to follow Senior Fuma’s tactical instructions.

“Hooooo.”

I took a deep, strong breath.

The fundamentals of the Eight Trigram Palms, taught to me by Mei Ling, were contained in both Direct Thrust and True Stance.

After she returned to China, I looked up various videos on my own, but they were all just scratching the surface.

So, rather than superficially learning various techniques, I thought it better to focus on one. Consequently, I consistently practiced Direct Thrust and True Stance at the local park whenever I had time.

The fruits of that practice are being revealed here and now.

“Huff!”

I widened my eyes and took a big step forward.

True Stance was not just a stepping technique.

But because it involved rolling the feet forward strongly, the recoil allowed for covering a short distance in an instant.

One step.

Perhaps due to controlling my strength, the floor didn’t shatter like before.

However, the impact seemed to travel through the floor, slightly shaking the bed where the Snow Woman was sitting.

Two steps.

Maintaining the kinetic energy generated by the True Stance, I moved forward.

It was a very short distance, and only in a straight line, but it was sufficient for the current situation.

Three steps.

The energy generated in my lower body traveled up through my waist and concentrated entirely in one fist.

Then, it became a sharp Direct Thrust.

Bang!!

My thrusting fist pierced through the thick ice wall that had sprung up right in front of the bed.

“!”

The Snow Woman looked at me with a surprised expression.

Just before she could react, Senior Fuma, having learned from the earlier incident, threw shurikens and throwing stars from a distance.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

“Aaah!”

Even though they only grazed her skin, the Snow Woman screamed and curled up her small body.

I immediately reached out to subdue the Snow Woman, but once again, my body did not move properly.

As if my limbs were frozen in the cold of a snowy mountain.

While not as uncontrolled as before, causing my entire body to radiate orange light, I was successful in achieving a sensation similar to that time.

It was a power I hadn’t felt in a very long time.

“Hooooo.”

To cool down my heated body, I took a deep breath and looked at the girl ghost before me.

The girl ghost, seemingly startled by my sudden transformation, widened her eyes but soon made a venomous face.

“So, you’re not planning to leave?”

I loosened my fist, filled with yang energy, and replied,

“If that’s the case...”

“Then we’ll settle this with strength.”

Hooooo!

A breath of ice, resembling diamond dust, burst out in front of me.

“Breath! Dodge it! To the corner!”

As I said that and looked back, Senior Fuma quickly rolled away to the back.

In contrast, unable to dodge in the narrow space, I was directly exposed to the icy breath.

Sssshhhhhh!

However, unlike before, instead of freezing, my body emitted strong steam.

According to Senior Fuma’s explanation, the opposite of yin energy was yang energy.

This meant that by unleashing the yang energy within me, I could counter the overwhelming yin energy of the girl ghost.

I threw an equal-rights punch at the startled girl ghost.

“Oof!”

The girl ghost bent over at the waist in a ‘ᄀ’ shape, having taken a punch to the abdomen.

I tripped her with my leg, and then pinned her down with my large body so she couldn’t move.

“Aaah! Let me go! Get off!”

The girl ghost struggled with her arms and legs, trying to escape, but it was futile.

Even though she possessed overwhelming spiritual power, her stature and strength were nothing compared to mine.

From the moment I could strike with my bare hands, the outcome was determined.

In this situation, I asked Senior Fuma,

“Senior Fuma! How do we lay a bound spirit to rest?”

Senior Fuma, with a stunned expression at my subduing the girl ghost, answered after a beat,

“Spirits that remain in this world even after death usually have some lingering attachments! Resolving those attachments naturally makes them disappear!”

I asked, incredulous,

“How do we resolve that right now?!”

“A bound spirit’s attachments are actually simpler than a wandering spirit’s! It’s just strong obsession!”

I looked down at the girl ghost, who was still trying to escape from me by any means possible.

“Get off! You pervert!”

Now completely hostile, it seemed unlikely she would answer any questions willingly.

Wondering if there might be a clue in the room, I glanced around and noticed a frame that had fallen to the floor.

It was the same photo I had seen on the first floor, but with an old photograph sticking out behind it.

Instinctively feeling it was a clue, I reached out for it.

“No! Not that!”

The girl ghost hurriedly reached towards the photo, but sadly for her, my arms were much longer.

I looked at the old photograph, which bore the marks of time.

It was a birthday photo of the girl, much younger, making a V sign with two other children her age.

And I was momentarily in disbelief at what I saw.

Because the faces of the other two children in the photo were strangely familiar.

A boy with spiky orange hair and a girl with a somewhat defeated look.

It was Sakamoto Ryuji and Yaguchi Maiya.