"I don't believe you. You are just like them." Abhi made a funny face at the young man.
She didn't want to get into any trouble now. Her fingers were still trembling. She felt weak. So her decision was to stay safe for now.
"Like who?" The young man asked. He was a bit confused.
"No one." Abhi decided to get away.
She got on her bicycle and pedalled away in an instant.
"What just happened?" The boy was still confused.
"Maybe she realised that we are witch hunters." The girl who was in the driving seat replied.
"How is that possible? We had our aura completely suppressed... Don't tell me..."
"Yes. She might be an intermediate witch. So we must get the holy water."
"Who would have thought... It's a good thing we didn't act right away." The girl sighed in relief.
The two young witch-hunters had no idea that Abhi's running away had nothing to do with them.
***
After cycling a bit, Abhi decided to take a shortcut. Her house was on a hillside. The road to her house was long and winding. So whenever she was walking, she took shortcuts that reduced the distance. But taking the shortcut on the bicycle was a bit difficult.
Abhi walked, pushing the bicycle through the narrow pathway. It was already getting late.
"Elder sister... Will you play with me?" A girl of about eight years old stopped her.
She was wearing a simple white dress and had a cute smile. She had black hair and eyes. She was barefoot.
"What are you doing here so late? Go home." Abhi was a bit surprised to see a kid there this late. She berated the child and decided to ignore her.
"But I came to play..." The child was a bit taken aback and replied.
"It's too late. Go home." Abhi walked forward, ignoring the kid.
"No. I will cry. Just play with me for a few minutes, and then I'll go home." The kid was adamant.
Abhi looked annoyed. She was still feeling the effects of using the divine power, and now she had to deal with a child.
"What is your name?"
"Maala."
"Fine. Just for a few minutes. After that, you go home." Abhi parked the cycle and told the kid.
"Huh?" This time, it was the kid's turn to be dumbfounded.
"Are... Are you going to play with me?" The kid asked in disbelief.
"Yes. So tell me what you want to play."
"Hide and seek?" The kid was still sceptical.
"Okay. I'll count. You go and hide quickly."
"Wait a second. Just make something clear... You are walking through a deserted area. It is getting dark. Then a girl wearing white comes out of nowhere, asking you to play with her... And you agree?" The little girl asked as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"Yes. Anything wrong?"
"Hah! Nothing. Elder sister, please count. I'll hide."
Abhi turned towards the large banyan tree. Hid her eyes using her palm and started counting.
"1... 2... 3... ..."
The little girl stared at Abhi with a stupid face. Usually, no one walks on this path alone in the evening. Even if someone comes, they will scream and run away the moment they see her. This was the situation for centuries.
'Is she really courageous or plain stupid? Either way, I'll scare the shit out of her in no time. Let me play with her a bit.' The little girl murmured and floated into the air. She floated like a ghost to a thick branch of the tree. To be precise. She was a ghost.
"23... 24... 25." Abhi finished counting and turned around.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. Instantly, everything around her appeared in her mind. She clearly saw the little girl standing on the tree.
"Hi hi hi..." A suppressed giggling came from the little girl. A small smile appeared on the lips of Abhi. But she suppressed her urge to look up.
'That little girl wants to get caught easily. That way, she can play another round. What an intelligent kid! I cannot fall for her trick. I have to extend this round for a bit more and then I can leave without playing another round.' Abhi was quite proud of her intelligence.
"Where is she?... Where is she?" Abhi talked aloud as she pretended to search for the girl here and there.
'Maybe she is really stupid.' The little ghost girl on the tree was frowning. Throughout her career as a ghost, this was the first time she had met a human like this. She had a hard time controlling her urge to beat some sense into the stupid human.
'Hrumph... I don't believe I cannot scare you. I have a lot more tricks, dumb human. You just watch.' The little ghost girl thought with a smug face. She was clearly proud of the tricks she had under her sleeve.
"Rustle..." A shrub shook.
Abhi knew that the little girl was not there. So she confidently jumped at the shrub. "Gotchaa..."
"Huh? She is not here? Then where is she?" After 'finding' that the little girl was not hiding behind the shrubs, Abhi started searching again.
'Aaawoooo....' An eerie cry came from far away. A bunch of bats suddenly flew close to Abhi, startling her.
"Hi hi hi..." The eerie chuckles filled the area again.
"Not here either. She is really good at hiding." Abhi talked to herself aloud again.
The little ghost girl started biting her lips. She was getting angry and desperate. In her entire career as a ghost, this was the first time meeting someone as stupid as this human.
'It's getting late. I should send her home.' Abhi finally decided to end the game.
"Gotcha..." Suddenly, Abhi looked up at the girl on the tree.
"Eeekkk..." The little ghost shrieked. She never expected the stupid human girl to look at her without any warning.
"Come down. It's not safe to climb such tall trees." While pretending to be searching for the girl, Abhi was constantly keeping an eye on the little girl. She was worried the girl might fall from the tree. Abhi was well prepared to support her using the divine power if that happened. But that would be damaging to her as she was already shivering from the overuse of divine power.
The little ghost girl was a bit taken aback. She climbed down the tree like a monkey. It was no difficult task to her, considering that she could fly.
Abhi extended her hand and tussled her hair. The little girl obediently put her head under her palm and let her do it. But then she suddenly remembered something and jumped backwards.
"Go home now," Abhi ordered.
"Will you come tomorrow?"
"No. What is your family name? I can visit later."
" ... " The little ghost girl went silent.
"Go home. It's getting dark." Abhi ordered again.
"Ok. I will see you later." The little ghost girl ran away.
Abhi followed her with her eyes until the little girl disappeared. She murmured, "What a cute kid!"
Abhi got her bicycle and started walking faster. It was getting dark and her family might be worried. But it wasn't a big issue as she usually had private tuition after class. Staying awake in regular class was difficult, so Abhi had decided to stop going to private tuition. Her family didn't know that. She had decided to keep it a secret until the term exams were over. That way, she could use the grades to convince her parents.
Once Abhi left, the little ghost girl appeared again.
"I couldn't sense even a bit of fear from her. She must be very stupid." The little ghost girl murmured. She subconsciously raised her hand and touched her hair.
"The last time someone showed kindness to me was that man who sealed me all those years ago. Now there is someone else."
She looked at the banyan tree. To be precise, at a rusted nail on the tree. The nail was so rusted that it could turn into dust from just a nudge. The little girl looked a bit melancholic. No one knew what she was thinking.
But her expression changed in an instant. A naughty smile appeared on her face. "Next time, I will truly scare you."
***
While the little ghost girl was scheming, Abhi reached her home. Fortunately, she didn't get scolded or punished.
Abhi didn't forget to show her affection to Mom. She also petted Dong.
Then she went to her slimy little sister who was walking around dragging a stuffed animal. Abhi couldn't help but pinch her chubby cheeks.
"Maaa... She pinched me..." The little devil screamed.
Abhi laughed. She gave a small slap on her buttocks before running away.
"Ammaa..." She started crying and complaining to her mother.
Abhi just laughed and went to her room. Unknown to her, her shivering had stopped at an unknown time.
***
"God of Death is missing?" Alen asked in disbelief.
"Yes, your highness. She had been missing for the last two days. We don't know what happened. All that we know is that some unnamed Gods were behind it." A small creature that was kneeling before Alen answered.
The small creature had the face of a human. But its body was that of some kind of insect with an exoskeleton. There were two pairs of thin wings on his back. Its skin was pure white. It was an eerie creature.
"Continue," Alen said.
"We are using all our resources to make sure that the rebirth cycle of the underworld is not disturbed. The Gods agreed to take care of the God Realm and the Middle Realm... "
"We are also investigating in full swing. But you see, we do not want to die in the Middle Realm. Since the Gods are controlling the rebirth cycle of the Middle Realm, dying here could be extremely bad."
The little creature finished its report. While the creature tried its best to be respectful, it failed many times. At one point, it even berated Alen. But Alen didn't mind.
"Ahh... Just when I was having a good time." Alen lamented.
"You should stop playing around and return." The little creature failed to be respectful again.
"I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult your highness. It was my tongue talking. Stupid tongue..." The little creature started flicking its own tongue as if it was punishing it.
Alen watched the scene with a smile. "Stop. The innocent can be stupid. No need to punish the stupid. Keep an eye on the situation. Just report to me as I have instructed you earlier."
Alen dismissed the creature. He didn't mind the disrespect from the creature. It was a life form with a horrible brain. Sometimes, it would be extremely intelligent, and sometimes, it would be plain stupid. Alen got it when he was a kid. Originally, they had a prey-predator relationship, with their roles constantly reversing. But later, the creature became his loyal friend and follower.
Alen started massaging his temples. It looked exactly like how King did.
"God of Death must be gone temporarily. Otherwise, the Gods would have started wars already. This is not such a bad thing. If we can keep all the 14 worlds and three realms running without her, then we will have answers to many unsolved questions, and we will be closer to solving the puzzle." Alen murmured before falling asleep.
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