Following the trail of water, the trio caught up with the water ghost who was stuck at exactly the mid-point of the passage between the funeral home and the bookshop; Jongdae nowhere in sight.

“So the barrier does work,” Jongin grunted, staring at the water ghost that was violently hitting the barrier.

“Baek you go after Jongdae and keep him occupied. He’s probably in Naesae now,” Chinsun ordered Baekhyun, using her body to separate Baekhyun from the water ghost. “We’ll deal with the water ghost.”

Baekhyun hesitated, but seeing the determination blazing in Chinsun and Jongin’s eyes, he did as he was told and forged his way forward, grateful that the water ghost showed no interest in him whatsoever and only cared about breaking through the barrier.

Jongin reached for his trusted kīla only to grasp onto thin air. He then mentally cursed, remembering that he had taken a shower before dinner and had left the tool in his bedroom. Meanwhile, Chinsun traced her tattoo, confused as to why there was no reaction to the water spirit.

The water ghost harshly hit the barrier, the sheer force with which the spirit hit it ricocheted and sent Jongin and Chinsun stumbling back. Unable to cross over, the water ghost emitted indecipherable wails. Blocking her ears, Chinsun’s eyes widened when she saw Jongin position his hands ready to attack. Instinctively, Chinsun threw herself onto Jongin, pushing him against the wall and stopping him.

“You can’t possibly think that we can talk it out with her?” Jongin growled at Chinsun. “She doesn’t have rationality.”

“But my tatt—”

Chinsun was interrupted by the increasingly loud agonising cries of the water ghost who had been incessantly banging her hands against the invisible wall, splashing water everywhere in the process. The rising anger from her inability to break through the barrier caused the water ghost to become exponentially agitated, and something flicked inside her. Finally, Chinsun felt her tattoos tingling.

Before Jongin could step forward, Chinsun extended her left arm to grab the water ghost. The moment they made contact, Chinsun felt as though a chain of ice had been injected into her bloodstream, draining all colour from her face. At the same time, the unrecognisable screams produced by the water ghost seemed to make sense in Chinsun’s mind just as she tumbled onto the ground.

“He must be saved!”

In an instant, the barrier cracked, sending invisible shards flying everywhere and cutting the water ghost who completely ignored the pain inflicted upon her and simply marched forward towards where Jongdae went.

“,” Jongin hissed.

Pulling Chinsun up, Jongin wasted no time to chase after the water ghost. Dashing out of the kitchenette, Chinsun barely had any time to register everything that was taking place inside the dimly lit bookshop.  Jongdae was on his knees, hovering over Baekhyun who was lying on the ground. Jongin’s eyes zoned in on the water ghost who had just launched herself towards Jongdae and thus grabbed a handful of talismans from under the counter before jumping over to intervene and attack first. At the same time, Chinsun fumbled in the dark before finally switching on the lights and her eyes widened when she saw Baekhyun smacking his hands against the ground as he was being held down by Jongdae who had his hands firmly wrapped around his throat. Black smoke was coming out of Jongdae’s mouth and Chinsun was willing to bet that his eyes were pure back. Jongin however had not registered what Jongdae was doing as he was focused on stopping the water ghost.

“Jongin, no!” Chinsun screamed when realisation dawned upon her that the water ghost was actually trying to save Jongdae.

However, Chinsun’s voice fell to deaf ears as Jongin slapped two talismans on the water ghost — one on her face and one of her chest — while chanting under his breath. The water ghost arched her back and let out one last ear-splitting cry bef