In the middle of the night, Heng dreamt of himself being strangled by his late father. He is weak and the recurring voices of the dead drive him to the brink of madness. He wants his father to stop but doesn't know how. An uncontrollable, unfeeling, and devilish grin fuels his burning fear.
"Stop this," He begs his ghastly father, who is consumed by dark blood flames. "You're not this kind of person."
The strangling stops but it doesn't mean the end. When his father was about to gouge his eyes out, Heng woke up in cold sweat. His heart thumps through his chest, his breathing quick and shallow, and his mind shatters with uncanny visions.
"What the hell?" He thought.
Unable to fall asleep, Heng decides to check the earrings. Taking it out of the bag, Heng is surprised to see chandelier earrings. Expensive and fetching, it is something only a rich person can afford. The emeralds glint at the slightest contact of light.
Heng tiredly puts it on his desk and wears his multi-purpose goggles. He lays several tools nearby and is ready to start appraising the jewel. He carefully picks it up with tweezers and cleans it, making sure to use the right chemicals (water+alchohol).
"Huh? The gold is pretty good and the gem is firmly in place. There's literally no problem with this." Heng rotates the earrings around in hopes of spotting any deformity but to his surprise, it is pretty well-kept.
"What are these strange symbols?" Heng thought as he sees carvings of eyes all around the jewel. When he zooms in, it looks like the eyes are following him. "creepy,"
Heng steps back as a vision flashes before his eyes. A humanoid, probably female, with long black hair covering its face stands in front of him. Its pale skin is covered by a thin sheet of white cloth and has black sludges smeared all over it. The 'ghost' as Heng thought resides firmly next to the earrings.
"What the hell did I get myself into?" Heng grabs his sword, "That's not a Jorani, is it?
Heng's teeth grind from the freezing air. For warmth and for defending himself, Heng activates his sword and begins striding toward the limp creature. With each step, he could hear his heartbeat and breath getting louder.
"Okay good, that's not a Jorani" Heng examines the creature's height, its skin, its hair, and its cloth. He realizes it doesn't react to anything he does, "Residual natural energy. *sigh* it seems Pich got her earrings cursed."
Heng begins recalling what residual natural energy is. He knows you can't touch it, it can't hurt you, and you can get rid of it via a purger. The worst case he has ever read about is the natural energy attaching itself onto one's soul.
"I'm shaking." Just the thought of it, Heng doesn't want to lose his body. "I wonder how much a purge will cost if I bring this thing there."
Suddenly, the figure raises its hands to befoul Heng but its ethereal body goes through him, exactly like how ghosts in movies phase through walls or people. Despite not feeling anything, this malignant gesture causes Heng to dash back frightened.
At the same time, the ghost lunges at him. It opens its hands to reveal claws before swinging at him. Dashing around the small workshop, the ghost chases Heng by climbing on walls, jumping on tables, and hanging off ceilings.
"What the hell is with this thing?" Heng dodges again and again without letting it touch him once. Striking it many times with his sword, Heng learns that it is ineffective against an intangible body. When dodging becomes impossible due to exhaustion, Heng lets it slice him by putting his arms to guard.
"Argh!" Heng's arms began bleeding and at the same time, he felt weakened. Surprised at this pain, Heng rushes toward his room to lock himself in but to no avail as the ghost simply phases through his door. His door paid no attention to it and his walls have no power to it.
Throwing another swing of his blade, Heng misses the ghost completely as it has learned how to dodge (Which is kinda odd). Heng tries to keep his distance but the ghost grabs his Achilles tendon. As its ghostly claws seep into his flesh, Heng's tendon rips out and into a bloody mess.
Spraying his life force everywhere, Heng tries to calm down but his breath is out of control. As the nullifier activates, Heng bites down into his teeth shattering the enamel, "I'm gonna die to a curse that's not even placed on me!"
"ENOUGH!" Furious, Heng tries to use his natural energy. As he expected, nothing came out of his hand. Then, the ghost starts chewing his fingers and having its claws aimed at Heng's cornea. The sharp keratin is separated by half an inch of space.
"Shit I'm gonna lose consciousness," Heng's body begins to give up due to the constant electric shock. "I'm gonna get taken over!"
"Breathe, I need to breathe!" Heng thought but couldn't exercise it as his lungs are paralyzed from the muscle contractions around his chest. Who thought it was a good idea to shock kids with a few thousand voltages as punishment?
As the ghost enters Heng's body, primarily his chest, the nullifier stops. On the other hand, Heng loses consciousness and enters a pseudo-coma. The young man lets go of his sword as he tumbles and falls.
Moments later, the ghost burst out of Heng's body in a forceful manner. It begins moving sporadically around the place, going in and out of Heng's room in a fit of rage. Heng wakes up and notices his body is still in control.
His hands are glowing dark red and in a split second, the ghost is apprehended. The ghost becomes unable to phase through objects nor levitate anymore. In its weakened state, it tries to crawl to Heng, who has no idea about what just happened.
"Why does a brat like you possess that!" The ghost screeches as it no longer could move. Heng is clueless but all he knows is that the red light that shines out of his fingers and palms is his weapon.
As Heng approaches the ghost, it squeaks like it is terrified of him. The moment Heng's fingers touch the body or clothes of the apparition, it begins to disintegrate into a pile of smoke and dust. As great as this looks, Heng realizes he can't undo what has happened to his fist.
"What in god's (Buddha) name am I witnessing?"