Page 14 of Between Ghosts and Gods

A small house on the edge of an apple orchard. The smell of blossoms perfuming the air. Someone waiting for her to come home.

Whenever Kasu dreamed of being reborn, she dreamed of those few, simple things. She would never achieve them if she let her body fade away into nothing.

“But isn’t it better to be a bit floaty? If you have bodies, can’t you get hurt?” asked Arun.

“Are you trying to find out if you can get rid of me?” Kasu eyed the hilt of his sword. “We can burn up our qi to heal from most injuries, although if we use too much we’ll fade away. There are also certain blessed weapons forged in the heavens that can harm ghosts.”

Arun looked thoughtful as he took a bite out of a chicken leg. “Aren’t you going to eat too?”

Kasu picked up the pot of rice and spooned some out into an empty bowl. “I don’t eat meat; it’s against the Heavenly Principles. I also don’t eat food that contains too much spice, salt or sugar,” she added when Arun attempted to push the salted eggs towards her.

Arun looked aghast. “Really? What do the Heavenly Principles have against flavour?”

“Food is fuel for the body. It serves a functional purpose. Eating for pleasure distracts the mind from greater things.”

That was Heavenly Principle number two hundred and three.

Kasu decided to ignore Arun’s scandalized expression in favour of taking another bite of her rice. The path of the Heavenly Principles was a difficult one; Kasu didn’t expect others to understand her extraordinary devotion to the noble way.

But Arun’s mother must have been even more extraordinary. She had told herself that she just wanted to keep Arun safe, but she was curious about his mother too. How could someone ascend and fall so quickly? Against her better judgement, and the warning of Heavenly Principle ninety-three – Do not insert yourself into affairs that do not concern you – she wanted to know.

“How did you become a ghost, anyway?” asked Arun.

Kasu looked at him as if he had just asked her what colour her underwear was. “That’s a personal question.”

He raised his hands in the air. “Well, forgive me for wondering why a ghost and a demon are helping me. Most of the stories I’ve heard about you lot aren’t exactly about your mercy and generosity.”

“Ruo isn’t a demon; they’re a curse,” said Kasu.

“What’s the difference? Or is that a personal question too?”

“A demon is a human who has committed an unspeakable sin. A curse is a type of spirit born from a human heart.”

“I am a being made from the purest refinement of human hatred and resentment. Lowly demons look upon my beauty and tremble!” Ruo cried. Burnt flakes fluttered from the piece of fish hanging limply between their fangs. The speckled pupils that dotted the cat’s eyes spun in different directions, a handful coming to rest where Kasu and Arun were sitting while the remainder traced the movements of a small cockroach scurrying along the wall.

Many demons found Ruo unsettling. Or disgusting. Curses were not common in the under-realm. There was something primal and fearsome about them.

If only those demons knew that the most Ruo had ever terrorized was a family of three-legged crows nesting under the eaves of Camellia House.

“So a curse and a ghost.” Arun took another bite of his chicken, but his gaze never left Kasu. Perhaps he thought that she was trying to gain his trust only so that she could devour him later. Kasu pushed the memory of that fresh bread and sweet sugar scent out of her head.

“Ghosts come to Camellia House from all over the city, and here gossip flows as freely as wine. Come to the gambling parlour tomorrow morning and you might hear something that will lead you to your mother. Give this to the bouncer and he’ll let you in.”

Kasu stood and handed Arun a tightly wrapped bundle of human fingers from the kitchen.

“Just remember one thing,” she said. “No matter what you do, never ever take off your mask.”

Chapter Nine Kasu

Morning in Ghost City was simply the time when the red mist that filled the streets was the thickest. The shadows were not as deep as they were at night, but it was nevertheless dark outside. Dark enough that the lanterns hanging from Camellia House’s tiered rooftops burned at all hours. When Kasu arrived, Banse and Manzu were already stationed by the doors, ready for the first patrons of the day.

“You’ve got a line.” Banse gestured to the ghosts gathered at the foot of the steps leading up to Camellia House.

“Already?” Kasu said, as though she couldn’t clearly see the crowd with her own eyes. The group of ghosts looked more haggard than her usual customers. Some of them were even turning transparent – a sure sign that they didn’t have the energy to maintain their physical forms.

And once the physical form starts to fade, next comes the forever death.

Banse sniffed the air, likely trying to figure out which of the ghosts had brought bribes. “They’re from Lord Onyx’s domain. Poor souls. I don’t know what’s going on, but I heard that Lord Onyx has been absent for a while and no one is overseeing the fighting pits in the northern quarter. All the demons and ghosts that make their living in the arena have lost work, and I’ve lost my favourite source of entertainment. The Pale Lady’s theatres are too highbrow for me.”