Lingxu looked at the corpse in front of him. The blood vessels already burst and blood was flowing into the circle he carved on the ground below. When he saw that it was full, he walked forward and lit three incenses.
"O you resentful soul, lost soul who can't enter the path of reincarnation. Do not forget, do not forgive, give them no bliss. Drown in your anguish, savor the resentment, awaken!"
As he said this, he also made hand symbols and his thoughts swirled around, reenacting the motion of pulling out something from the corpse.
When the ghost came out, it was exactly the same as when it died, with cloth straps and silk threads binding the body, blood flowing down from the burst veins.
He said slowly "You shall be born, born anew with the hatred in heart and mind. Remember it, serve me, your master" he said, while cutting his wrist and pouring blood into the vessel "I shall help you show the world your anger, kill Mo Lingxu, your murderer and avenge you.
Are you willing to serve me for eternality?"
The ghost was moving around a bit, confused yet also determined. A ghastly sound came, but no words left. Heaven and earth shook, a purple thunder seemed to strike above the clouds while the earth below opened a portal, black light forming.
The ghost and the corpse were pulled into the portal. Seconds and minutes passed before a ghostly-white sphere came out.
It came in front of Lingxu, who felt as if it was his turn to pay. He nodded slightly to the portal and hit himself in the abdomen, then he spit it into the black hole. A small piece of soul power was pulled out of his sea of consciousness.
The soul seemed unwilling and unrelenting, but he forced it with his newly found cultivation. Finally it was pulled together with the blood into the black portal. After shaking a bit, the portal closed.
The light of the candles lit up and the sphere shook a bit, taking on several forms until it stopped and became a little black cat with flesh and blood. The evil spirit was basically already in the last form of the spectre embryo, using the master as the anchor to transform. Even if it died, as long as the master lived, it would revive. This is why there is only one evil spirit.
Looking cutely, the cat rubbed against Lingxu's leg, purring. Lingxu heard a voice in his mind "Master!"
He was surprised – usually, only high-level evil spirits would be have such high spirituality right after the ritual.
"Little spirit, is that you?" he asked in his mind
It nodded and said "Um um, it's me, master!"
He smiled and said loudly in his heart 'Hahaha, it seems it worked!' then he focused on the link in his mind to talk with the evil spirit "Quickly, tell me, what are the abilities you got? What is your specialisation? What kind of beast are you?"
The cat nodded slightly and a voice came to his mind "Master, I was born with three abilities. Like all evil spirits, I have the ability of a doppelgänger. I can fully transform into a second you for as long as I expend spiritual power. Based on my current situation, I can do so for ten hours straight.
My second ability is called 'Shadow Whisper', I can communicate with anyone as long as I entered their shadow once. The third ability is 'Shadow Bind' I can summon straps from the shadows of people that can bind them.
I took the form that is the inner wish of master… my origin is that of a shadow yin beast of the netherworld and that is also what I am specialised in."
After finishing, it purred again, wishing to be carried. Lingxu deigned and picked up the cat, patting it with a huge grin on his face. The abilities were exactly what he wanted, while the doppelgänger was even more powerful than the strongest recorded one.
He was sure there were others who were similar to him, but an inheritance of a clan would never record things that were against the unity of the clan.
The real bonus was that it was a shadow beast – they were a kind of beast that lived in the netherworld. This is why evil spirits are called spirits and not ghosts, because the spirit doesn't have to be a ghost. Like spectres, they are also nether beings but not ghosts.
He thought of something and said with a soft voice "From now on, you shall be named after me. I am Mo Yue Lingxu, so you will be Mo Yue… Mingxuo, the Nether Scholar." he supressed the thought that he hoped this little cat would learn mind manipulation to influence everyone with its shadow whisper 'small steps, small steps' he muttered.
After smiling for a bit, he looked around. He realised that basically everything was cleaned up, the blood and body was taken, the cloth straps came with, now, there was only an upright sitting table and a few symbols on the ground that didn't fully disappear.
"Ah well, this place… I won't miss it, and it wasn't a good place either, saying anymore would only be hypocritical." He left the room and threw in a small stick. This was the incense he lit at the beginning, after it fell into the room, it quickly contracted the remaining cloth straps that weren't used.
The fire began to spread while Lingxu was watching this from the side. It was a small corner of the wall, no one looked here usually because no sun fell, it was only a shadow, hidden even further by a few pots of plants.
Lingxu patted the cat that was watching this with a funny expression, as if the fire was a toy and it wanted to play with it, but rather than the fire, it focused on the big shadow that moved around on the ground.
Soon, some people saw it and arrived, screaming things such as "Fire! Fire!" or "Get some water!". At least they tried screaming, but when they actually opened their mouths, there seemed to be an invisible piece of cloth blocking it, making them seem like pantomimes.
"It does look a bit funny, no wonder people are entertained by them" he commented in his mind. When Mingxuo asked what he meant, he just explained it as an entertainer "they act without talking, as if there were structures only they can see. The act of being surrounded by walls is a common one."
Mingxuo listened and acted upon it, soon, the people felt as if straps formed all around them, slowly coming closer and closer, pushing their body into one point, they had shocked faces full of tears and snot, begging for help with their mouths.
The cat thought it was funny too, but at the command of Lingxu, it stopped giving them some space.
Soon, others say the fire as it continued to spread to the young master's mansion… not Lingxu's, but Lingyun's mansion. The guards who were still sleeping soundly woke up quickly, wanting to alert the person inside. Unfortunately, they were bound too, unable to move as the fire slowly approached them, first it was warm, then it became hot. Their clothes were burned and soon their hairs burned.
Even when their eyes burned, they didn't die, instead, they experienced being burned all across their body, until finally only some ashes remained.
Usually, the fire wouldn't be so hot, but Lingxu added several kinds of oils into it. He himself didn't expect the fire would be so strong.