Chapter 147: Battle
Amidst the conversation, a sudden chilling gust of wind swept past, and the Tall Woman reappeared right behind Fang You!
With a pounce, the Tall Woman grabbed Takaato, her mouth splitting open into a grin of sharp teeth, resembling a ravenous ghoul!
"Finally caught you, hee-hee-hee-hee!"
"Brother!" Takaato's younger sister, Yuka, tried to rush forward to rescue her brother, but the Tall Woman swatted her away with a single fierce sweep of her hand!
"You belong to me!" the Tall Woman cackled, opening her enormous maw wide as if intending to swallow Takaato whole!
"Yin-Yang Master, save me!" Takaato screamed in terror!
"By the decree of exorcism, be repelled!" In the nick of time, Fang You unleashed an exorcism talisman, instantly striking the Tall Woman with a blinding flash of golden light!
A wave of excruciating pain wracked the Tall Woman's body, forcing her to drop Takaato in agony!
"Run, quickly!" Fang You shouted to the two siblings behind him.
Struck by the talisman, however, the Tall Woman grew abnormally enraged. Her body gradually darkened, morphing into a malevolent ghost-like apparition as black mist seeped from her jagged teeth!
"Meddlesome fool!" The Tall Woman lunged straight at Fang You, snapping viciously with her jaws!
Fang You sidestepped the attack with a swift movement. The Tall Woman's bite gouged a deep crater into the ground; had that attack connected, human flesh and bone would have been crushed to powder.
Drawing his peachwood sword and copper-coin sword, Fang You prepared to charge head-on!
Yet at that moment, the Tall Woman's form began to fade once more, seeming on the verge of vanishing before his eyes!
A sudden realization struck Fang You. According to alternative records within the ancient arts of Qimen Dunjia, the Tall Woman was an apparition born of human fear—an urban legend of Tokyo!
The more people believed in the Tall Woman, the more terrified they were of her existence, and the stronger her power would grow!
The sole reason the Tall Woman before him was so formidable was because her strength stemmed from Takaato. The more Takaato feared her and the more firmly he believed in her existence, the more tangible and overpowering she became!
Understanding this, Fang You abruptly turned his head, ignoring the Tall Woman behind him, and instead gave chase to Takaato. "Stop right there, or you will face even greater peril!"
Startled by Fang You's shout, Takaato froze and had just begun to turn around when a figure abruptly materialized behind him!
It was the Tall Woman, once again reappearing right at Takaato's back!
"Ah!" Takaato shrieked in sheer terror!
At that instant, Fang You rushed over.
Much like ordinary vengeful spirits, when the entity sought to harm someone, it first sowed the seeds of fear in its victim's mind.
It fed upon human terror to grow stronger and ultimately claim its prey.
Yet those possessing a righteous spirit, or hardened killers radiating a lethal aura, remained entirely undaunted by ghosts and deities alike.
Against such individuals, even malevolent spirits proved utterly helpless!
Fang You now understood that the Tall Woman's power derived entirely from Takaato's excessive belief and terror; the more frightened Takaato became, the stronger she grew.
At this moment, the Tall Woman grabbed Takaato directly. Yuka attempted to intervene, but the entity snatched her and hurled her viciously aside.
"Yuka!"
"Brother!"
Just as the Tall Woman unhinged her massive jaws to bite down on Takaato, Fang You hurled another talisman. "Stunning Art!"
The talisman flashed with brilliant golden light. However, it was not aimed at the Tall Woman, but rather at Takaato in her grasp!
The talisman struck square in the center of Takaato's forehead, rendering him unconscious in an instant.
Bizarrely, the very moment Takaato lost consciousness and his awareness faded, the Tall Woman began to dissolve and vanished along with it!
Fang You exhaled a long breath. It seemed his deduction was entirely correct!
As long as Takaato lost consciousness, all fear and belief vanished in that instant. Although the Tall Woman was a powerful urban legend of Tokyo, without Takaato's fear and faith to sustain her, she ceased to exist!
In truth, entities like Tokyo's Tall Woman or the Slit-Mouthed Woman owed their existence entirely to human belief and fear!
It was precisely because the people of Tokyo believed in their existence that, once that collective belief reached a certain threshold, the Tall Woman and the Slit-Mouthed Woman truly manifested.
They were born from human fear and belief, and they persisted solely within human fear and belief!
Should people cease to believe, or simply forget the existence of the Tall Woman and the Slit-Mouthed Woman, they would be utterly erased.
With Takaato now unconscious, there was no longer sufficient terror and faith to anchor the Tall Woman's existence, causing her to fade away entirely.
"Brother!" Yuka ran over from a distance, checking on her brother with anxious eyes.
Fang You had no ideal solution for dealing with the Tall Woman. As long as people believed in her, she would persist eternally, impossible to eradicate. After all, such spirits were born from human faith and existed only within the minds of believers!
Fang You could destroy the physical manifestation of a demon, but he could never eradicate human faith, let alone the spirits born from that faith.
With no other choice, Fang You pulled out another talisman, pressed it against Takaato's chest, chanted an incantation, and firmly pressed the paper down.
A second later, the talisman glowed with golden light and sank directly into Takaato's body!
"How is my brother?" Yuka asked anxiously.
Fang You replied calmly, "I cannot sever the Tall Woman's pursuit of your brother, nor can I truly destroy her in the truest sense."
"I have planted a talisman within your brother's body—a Memory-Erasing Talisman of the Taoist arts. Your brother will forget the legend of the Tall Woman. From now on, whenever he hears her name, his mind will selectively and instantly blank it out."
"Since your brother neither believes in nor remembers the existence of the Tall Woman, she will no longer be able to harm him directly. This is an indirect solution."
"If nothing unexpected happens, this will keep your brother safe for the rest of his life. After all, the Tall Woman exists within human belief, and while I cannot purge everyone's faith in her, I can at least erase your brother's memory of her. That should ensure his safety henceforth."
"Brother!" Yuka gazed anxiously at her brother lying on the ground, tears streaming down the corners of her eyes.
Having pressing matters to attend to, Fang You left the scene. Holding the address given to him by Abe Haruya, he continued onward toward his destination.
Though he did not know whom Abe Haruya intended for him to meet, since he was already in Tokyo, if it truly was an old acquaintance, he certainly ought to pay a visit.
Fang You gazed up at the sky bathed in the pale moonlight. The night always carried a quiet intimacy. He lifted his head to feel the myriad things of the world around him—everything was so serene, gentle, and balanced.
"If only I were an ordinary person... how wonderful that would be."