The Deceitful One

Andrew remained in his spot for a very long time. No matter how many times he had done this in the past, it still pained him every time he did it.

Bryan walked to him and patted him on the shoulder, "Are you okay?"

Andrew stood up and smiled faintly, "Yeah, I'm all right."

"So, do you think she's entered the cycle of reincarnation?" Bryan inquired.

Andrew nodded his head, "I guess so. Her soul might perhaps be reborn into a new body. If there is a next life, I hope she leads a life better than this one."

The duo then proceeded to patrol the rest of the cemetery. Sparse trees were planted in various parts of the cemetery, however, during nighttime, they looked extremely spooky.

The moon that kept hiding behind the clouds and the thin layer of fog that covered the sea of tombstones did not help either.

Bryan and Andrew walked in silence along the stone-paved path as both were lost in their own thoughts.

'If there really is a cycle of reincarnation, does that mean my parents have reincarnated as well? Wherever they are, I hope they are happy.' Bryan sighed in his heart.

It was past 5 am in the morning. Since it was nearing the winter season, the time of sunrise had gradually shifted. Now, the sun usually rose around 6 am.

Bryan's eyes were drooping as he couldn't wait to go home and pass out. He asked Andrew, "What are we looking for now?"

"Nothing in particular. If we happen to see any lost spirits then I shall guide them to the afterlife. But if we encounter an evil spirit… hehe" Andrew was back to his usual self as he started to tease Bryan again.

Bryan shook his head and smiled. He was glad that Andrew was no longer as despondent as he was a few minutes ago.

The duo continued to walk through the cemetery, looking for any wandering spirits. After about thirty minutes, both of them had walked a full circle and returned back to the entrance of the cemetery.

Bryan sighed in relief as they hadn't encountered any evil spirits on the way. He definitely did not want to experience that at the moment as he was already half asleep.

"All right, let's go now. I'm too sleepy." He said to Andrew.

Andrew nodded his head, "Hmm, looks like our patrolling for the night is done."

But right at that moment, both of them heard a loud screech from the depths of the cemetery.

SCREEECH!!

The duo abruptly turned around, however, they both had different expressions on their faces. Andrew was excited for some reason but Bryan…

"Fuck my life!" He muttered as a helpless sigh escaped his lips. All his sleepiness now vanished.

The duo started running in the direction of the screech at fast speeds. Bryan turned to look at Andrew and asked, "What was that sound just now? An evil spirit?"

Andrew nodded his head, "Yes, it's highly likely."

Bryan had to try hard to keep pace with Andrew. He inquired again, "How are evil spirits born?"

"Negative emotions!" Andrew replied succinctly.

Bryan didn't ask further questions. In order to not take any chances, he had already begun to construct a spell structure in his mind. Ready to cast it at any moment!

A few minutes later the duo arrived at the source of the sound as they stood around five feet away from each other. Andrew put on a solemn expression as he looked at the thing right in front of him.

Bryan, however, was stunned. He had never seen such a thing before. What greeted his view was a ghastly apparition!

It was a black shadowy figure with only the upper half of the body that had taken shape while the lower half of its body was in a gaseous state as it kept hovering in the air.

This evil spirit's eyes were hollow. That was the only facial feature that was visible. It had a bald black head and no mouth, ears, or nose. Just a pair of hollow eyes.

Beneath the evil spirit were strands of blackish gas that were being sucked out of the nearby tombs.

Bryan gulped involuntarily and asked Andrew, "What is that thing?"

"It's a wraith!" Andrew replied, "And it was born just now. To be more precise, it is still in the process of completing its transformation."

Bryan's eyes narrowed as he continued to stare at the black strands of gas being absorbed by the wraith.

"This is the best time to attack. Bryan, stay right behind me." Andrew instructed.

However, right at that moment, the wraith's hollow eyes shone with a red light as it turned to look at Bryan. The next moment, it flew in Bryan's direction at lightning speed and swung its black claws in a downward motion.

"Fuck!" Andrew screamed helplessly. It would be too late for him to make a move. He didn't expect the wraith to suddenly attack while still in the process of transformation.

The wraith clawed at Bryan as the latter's body was cut in half diagonally, from his right shoulder to his left waist. Blood spurted out from Bryan's torso as the upper half of his body fell to the ground while his lower body remained standing.

Andrew's pupils constricted at this scene. He calmly took out his pistol from his underarm holster. This gun was silver in color and had black runic inscriptions on the barrel.

Without hesitation, he aimed at the wraith and pulled the trigger.

Bang Bang Bang!

The wraith screamed in agony as three bullet holes appeared in its body. The borders of these bullet holes were bright yellow in color as they continued to expand.

Normal bullets or any physical attacks would have no effect on evil spirits. Only spiritual attacks or physical attacks that had Light properties would be useful.

The runic inscriptions on Andrew's gun gave the bullets Light properties, making them extremely effective against dead creatures.

Terrified, the wraith turned around and fled to the depths of the cemetery while howling in pain. Andrew did not follow after the wraith immediately but instead looked at Bryan's corpse.

"You're really good at trickery, Bryan. I didn't even realize until after the wraith attacked." Andrew shook his head and sighed.

The next moment, Bryan's corpse along with the blood dissipated into smoke as the real Bryan appeared behind Andrew.

Rank 0 Spell: Mirage!

"Hehe, what can I say? I like to always be prepared." Bryan chuckled.

Andrew turned around to look at Bryan and smirked, "All right then. Let's go catch that wraith!"