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Choi shook his head, dusting off flakes of mud from his pants. “We searched the whole forest and even went past the outskirts of the town, but they seemed to have vanished into thin air. But that wasn’t even the weirdest part.”

Evan cautiously probed. “What was the weirdest part?”

“All types of people of varying ages and sizes visited the oak, but the only ones who disappeared were young lads.”

Okay, someone has a preference.

Considering the circumstances of the disappearances, it could have been the work of a demon. But based on Evan’s personal experience, he concluded that if a demon had sucked the life out of those men, at least their skeletons or tattered clothes should have been discovered. Unless those remains were hidden away for another purpose.

But what demon would try to hide the evidence of the wreckage it caused? These creatures were proud of the chaos they brought about. It would’ve made more sense if bodies were found hanging from the branches of the oak.

“I am not completely sure, but at that time, at least a few dozen men had gone missing,” wrinkles pulled at his face as Choi frowned down at the ground. “And I have a bad feeling that this time, it could be more.”

Evan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You think the loggers’ disappearance has something to do with that old incident?”

For a moment, Choi seemed to have spaced out as he mumbled, “It might have something to do with the Old Oak.”

“Why do you—”

A strong stench wafted into the air.

Evan stilled, the hair at his nape spiked in attention. His head snapped around, catching a glimpse of a figure before it snuck behind a tree trunk.

“Who’s there?” Evan stood up from the tree stool, eyes focused on the tree trunk behind which a figure still poked two wide eyes out to watch him. A creepy shiver crawled up his spine when tendrils of dark energy curled around the figure, wafting off its form like black steam. The stench of its resentment could suffocate a room full of people had it not been in the open.

Evan was about to walk towards the spirit to exorcise it before it could harm anyone when another figure appeared behind it. Evan stopped in his tracks.

Xen had showed up so silently that the spirit didn’t notice him, not until Xen cocked his head and said, “Enjoying the view?”

Before the startled spirit could flee, Xen grabbed it by the scruff and hauled it with him as he returned to Evan’s side.

The spirit was missing half its head, its jaw dangling broken to one side, its spine jutting out from the side of its neck. Yet it flailed wildly in Xen’s grasp, shrieking and wailing.

Xen smiled at Evan as he showed him the piece of human spirit dangling from his left hand, proud of his discovery.

“Evan, look what I found.”

Evan was dumbfounded for a moment, then decided to ignore him and concentrate on the spirit thrashing in his grasp.

Its resentment was heavy but also fluctuating, as if it couldn’t decide whether to seek revenge or pass over to the other side. Evan tilted his head, consciously avoiding its eyes, and studied the missing half of its face, where a few tiny splinters of wood jutted from its skull.

Something clicked in Evan’s mind, and he turned to a confused-looking Choi, who couldn’t see the spirit as he squinted at Xen’s seemingly empty hand. “What did you say Victor looked like? Was he…short, skinny with gray hair?”

Choi blinked, surprised. “That pretty much sums him up.”

Evan turned back to the spirit, then looked at Xen. “Let him go.”

Xen cast a look at Evan, then lowered his head and whispered something in the spirit’s ear. Abruptly, it stopped flailing, eyes bulging out of the sockets, and only then did Xen let go of its scruff. Folding his arms across his chest, he returned to Evan’s side, eyes fixated on the spirit as if making sure it remembered what he’d whispered to it.

“Victor,” Evan said, voice softened yet firm. “Do you know you’re dead?”

One of the main reasons so many souls failed to pass over to the other side was because they were not aware of their deaths. Or refused to accept it. Even though the resentment on the spirit was a testimony of its awareness of its death and the anger was a reaction to it, Evan still wanted Victor to hear it clearly before proceeding.

At Evan’s question, Choi sucked in a soft breath behind him but remained still otherwise. The spirit stared at the ground with a blank stare, hands fisted on both sides. Again, it was difficult to tell whether he was resentful or simply confused.

“I’m sorry for what happened to you. But lingering around your house cannot undo what has happened,” Evan said. “You need to move on.”

Other than the trembling of its fists, the spirit didn’t move or even try to attack. Evan’s brows furrowed, and he moved, eyes shimmering blue as he reached forward to touch the spirit and put it out of its misery. Xen was right beside him, so he didn’t have to worry about getting possessed.