Ghoulies Abroad - Julie Steimle (great novels to read txt) 📗

children.”

Rick shuddered. He had lost a family steward during a full moon once. The man was murdered by an SRA hunter trying to frame Rick, and if there ever were Gui po, that man would be one.

“The Nü gui, the vengeful feminine ghost who is usually dressed in a long white dress. She is a bit like a succubus, according to this site, as she appears in dreams in order to seduce men, usually through sexual activity. The male counterpart is the Nan gui—an incubus.”

“Creepy…” James muttered, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

Eddie nodded.

“The Ri ben Gui bing, which are the spirits of Japanese soldiers from world War Two, said to roam still in uniform carrying katanas.”

Chen flinched as if having a bad memory.

“The Ying Ling—the spirits of dead fetuses or Infant Spirit Ghosts, actually of Japanese origin. The site says these are the ghosts of unborn persons or fetuses linked to abortion, spontaneous or not. Apparently this tradition came over to Taiwan when the Japanese had invaded.” Daniel sighed, peering down the list as he continued to read. “The Jian, the ghosts of ghosts. These ghosts cannot reincarnate and regular ghosts are scared of them. This is a Taoist thing. And apparently Taoist magicians somehow created these with talismans or something like that. And that sums up the ghosts I found. Now onto the monsters…”

“There’s more?” James stared at him.

Daniel shrugged. “Of course. You know there are about a billion types of demon out there. Thousands of way to sin. Only one right way to live. That’s how it works.”

“So, what about the demons?” Andy asked.

Nodding to him, Daniel went down the list. “You’ve got their version of zombie vampires—the Jiangshi, and—”

“If we meet a jiangshi, how do we kill it?” Semour asked, his eyes intense as his mind was planning ahead.

Nodding to him Daniel looked at the screen to find the way.

“You can drive it away with the hoof from a black donkey,” Chen said. “A rooster’s call and a mirror can do the same thing.”

“Won’t a stake in the heart do?” James asked, glad Chen knew something.

Chen shook his head. “Only if it is wood from a peach tree.”

They nodded.

“We gotta find a peach tree then,” Semour said to the others.

His friends agreed.

“Then there are weretigers,” Daniel said. He nodded to Rick. “I can assume they have the same weaknesses as you?”

Rick shook his head. “Nope. Werewolves and weretigers have different origins. I have been researching this for my blog—”

His friends snickered.

With a dry look, Rick continued. “—And unlike werewolves, weretigers are not bound by a moon-hunt or our allergies. They might have some allergies and some kind of seasonal trigger, but I don’t know it. Just assume they are dangerous tigers, and we will have to meet some.”

The Seven cringed.

“I’m going for the garlic anyway,” Semour muttered.

“Jade,” Chen said.

Everyone turned to him.

“Jade would be deadly to them like silver is to Rick,” Chen explained.

They all nodded. This was useful.

“And I would not count out honey either,” Chen said. “And I would be cautious around the New Moon.”

So he did know a few things.

“Ok…” Daniel looked at his pad again. “The next one is Shen. This one is a little confusing as it is a clam monster, but the site also said it was a shapeshifting dragon or a sea monster believed to create mirages, and it is associated with funerals. Then there is Ao Yin, which is a white bull with four horns, always looking for people to feed himself.”

Everyone nodded, glancing to Chen to see if he had anything to say. He didn’t.

“Then Bao Xiao—an animal that has the body of a ram, a lion’s head, the sharp fangs of a tiger, human nails and—get this—the ‘unique physical characteristic of having eyes in the armpits.’ It eats only men, and his voice is similar to the cry of a newborn. After that there is Ben—”

“Is that a thing or a name?” James interjected, chuckling.

“Yes,” Daniel replied shortly, “Ben is a white magpie with three eyes, six legs and a glittering red tail. I could not find what it does, but it is apparently nasty. Then is the Bibi, which is a winged fox whose presence heralds drought. He sounds like the quacking of wild geese.”

“So the fox says quack-quack.” Tom snickered.

“Geese sound like honk-honk though,” James called up to him.

Tom nodded pointing back. “I sit corrected.”

Andy chuckled, losing some of his peevish mood. Tom had that way with those he was with. Rick was even gladder he came along.

“After that is Bo, which is kind of like a unicorn. A white horse with a black tail and a horn on its forehead. It’s got sharp teeth and tiger paws. It feeds on tigers and leopards… so it might be hunting those weretigers you mentioned.” Daniel looked to Rick. “It also says here it that eating its flesh can protect you from wounds inflicted by sharp weapons.”

“That’s useful,” Semour said, raising his eyebrows.

Eddie nodded.

“Then there is the Changbi and the Changgu. These are two populations supposedly found in China who are like Japanese Tenaga. The Changbi have long arms for catching fish. And the Changgu have long messy hair and long legs.”

“I wonder if they are still around,” Chen murmured mostly to himself.

“Why wouldn’t they be?” Eddie asked.

Looking to him, Chen said, “Because of the Cultural Revolution. In Mao’s China, the Red Army destroyed anything having to do with ancient China—and I would assume that also included people. That witch who stole me away and took me to China Town in New York said she was saving my life. She said modern China has no place for the supernatural.” He then looked to Daniel, nodding for him to continue.

Daniel did, but he appeared a degree disturbed. “There is the Changcheng, which is a leopard that can take humanoid form with a tail, but he has no spots. And the Changfu a rooster with three heads, six eyes, six legs and three wings. The Changyu, a monkey like a macaque with four ears, whose sound resembles a human groan. He announces floods. The Cheng huang, who is similar to a fox with numerous horns on the back like a ridge, but there is one with the same name that is a kind of horse with dragon wings. The Chen Yang, which is goat with a ponytail. The Dai an owl with—”

“Can you just name the dangerous ones?” Eddie asked with a moan. “This list is long.”

Shooting him a sharp look, Daniel said, “I am naming them all, as we have no clue what is dangerous and what is not. Anyway—the Dai has three eyes and three ears. Its scream sounds like a deer—”

“What does a deer scream sound like?” James murmured.

“They’re really quiet, aren’t they?” Eddie replied, glaring with annoyance back at Daniel.

“—like a deer,” Daniel said again, irritated. “If you eat its flesh you cannot drown.”

“I wonder if that is true,” Andy murmured. He looked to Chen.

Chen shrugged. “Never heard of it. They’re probably all dead. Eaten.”

Tom snickered, nodding.

“The Di, which are a people with a fish body and a human head.”

“Is that the same as a mermaid, or is it just the head that’s human?” James asked.

“It doesn’t say,” Daniel replied. “And then the Dong Dong—”

Tom cracked up. He fell off his seat, or rather slipped off as he didn’t hit the floor hard or even actually strike it.

“—which is a hybrid between a ram and a unicorn with a single eye behind one ear.”

“Eyes on the back of its head,” Semour murmured. “Cute.”

“The Fei, which is a bull with a serpent’s tail and a white head with one eye in the forehead. This one is particularly evil. According to the site, wherever it steps nature dies. He appears when misfortune comes, like a bad omen—though to me he seems to be the embodiment of a bad omen. Then the Fei Huang, a fox with a horn on its back. The Fei Yi, a snake with 4 wings and six legs—”

“Can it be a snake if it has legs?” Eddie asked no one in particular.

“The Fei Yi is also a bad omen. It is also a snake with one head and two bodies.” Daniel scrolled down for more information. “Then the Fei yu—an animal with the body of a pig covered in red spots, with the head and fins of a fish. Eating this one’s meat give you protection from lightning and sharp weapons.”

“Another one to find,” Semour murmured seriously.

“Unless they are dead already,” Chen replied.

“And that’s all the monsters,” Daniel said. “Now to the demons.”

“They have a separate category for demons?” Eddie complained almost with a whine.

“We do,” James said, poking him in the head.

Daniel read down the list. “The Yougui are the most common demon. These are either fallen deities or pets of deities. They acquired powers through the practice of Taoism, according to this site—”

“They’re just magic,” Chen interjected. “The Taoist part is just a style of magic borrowed from them. It’s the same as witchcraft here. They’re just demons.”

Daniel nodded. “Got it. Anyway, it says that the yougui are pretty wicked. There are fox demons who are shapeshifters who usually take the form of women. There is a thing called the Bai Gu Jing, which is a walking skeleton demon. And there are the Mogui, which is what the gremlin movie was based off of. Some say they are spirits, but after reading about them, I think they are demons.”

“They are demons,” Chen replied. He looked to Tom and Rick. “You remember that one who came to the school. That was a mogui called Nian.”

Rick paled. “The New Year’s demon?”

“The boogieman?” Tom also went ashen.

“Woah, woah, woah. What are you talking about?” Andy looked to them all, his eyes lastly resting on Rick. “What boogieman?”

Rick cringed. “Way back when I was still at Gulinger Private Academy, the second year Chen was there, this demon broke into the school to hunt down Asians for food. Chen and I fought it, but Chen defeated it.”

“Nasty shapeshifter,” Tom said, nodding vigorously. “A boogieman. It feeds off of fear, and it eats imps for breakfast.”

“It is the one that gave me that big scar on my shoulder,” Rick explained.

His friends in the Seven stared. That one scar was huge. People who saw it often asked if a wolf had done it, though the claw marks were much larger than what a wolf could do. At the time, the demon had been in the shape of an enormous bear and Rick had been a wolf.

“How did you defeat it?” Andy earnestly asked Chen.

Chen shrugged. “I turned into a sky dragon and bit out its neck.”

Daniel visibly shuddered, his lips going pale. He looked like he needed to sit for a minute.

“You can become a dragon?” Eddie gasped. James and Semour leaned in. Andy stared wide.

Chen glanced to Rick and Tom, nodding. “Yes. But really, it was defeated when they set off fire crackers. The nian mogui hates the color red and loud noises.”

“We blew it up with a cherry bomb,” Tom said with a shrug. “But after Chen bit it to pieces.”

Daniel instinctively shifted back from Chen. Rick wondered why. Chen was their ally. He also was not the kind of guy who would hurt anyone… that is, unprovoked.

“O—kay…” Daniel turned his eyes back to his list. His hands seemed clammy and shaking. “Um… I think that is all the demons. Uh… lastly, we have the supernatural beings.”

“Elves,” James said, tossing out a hand.

Nodding, though wearily, Daniel said, “Yeah. But there are a few particular ones we should be aware of. In Chinese mythology, they have a lot of dragon kings. There was this one guy called Ao Ping who was the son of the dragon king Ao Kuang. But according to the site, this one was defeated, tricked into becoming a blue snake and taken captive. And then there are guardians to the path of this place called Diyu, which is basically the Chinese spirit world,