Hello, fellow disciples! Today, we bring to you the second-place story by TanHongLynn, for The Banishing writing challenge!

You can check out TanHongLynn's winning contest entry here ➟➜

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Chapter 1: Wu Shu Qing

"Qing! Qing!!!!" I heard my sister's voice calling me from the living room. Ouch! My neck hurt. I tried very hard to open my eyes. Damn. I fell asleep on my table with all my papers on my desk. My hand scrambled through the piles of notes to find my spectacles. I found it and put it on immediately. The sun was up. I looked at my watch and gasped. Half an hour to eight. My first exam paper was at 8a.m and I was late.

I immediately got dressed up. Luckily I packed my bag yesterday night. I ran out with my bag and passed by my sister.

"Qing... Take your breakfast," said Yan, Qing's eldest sister. I grabbed the bento box from her and slipped into my pair of shoes.

"Cycle slowly and be careful!" warned Yan. I waved back at her while cycling to my school. I put the bento box and my bag in the front bicycle basket. I looked at my worn ragged shoes. I came from a poor family. I studied very hard to make sure my family lived a better life. Life has not been easy on us. My father hardly earned from his business. Mother is a housewife. We hardly had any decent food. My younger brother, Wai, always complained about the leftover food from the night before. My sister, Yan, was lucky enough to get a scholarship to college in the city.

A week ago...

I was walking to the bicycle shed to get my bicycle. Suddenly, I was down on the tar road. Ouch! My knees were bleeding and my spectacles fell off. I heard laughter from behind. It was Su and the gang. Su, the well-known mean girl of the school. She always picked on me. I quickly picked up my spectacles seconds away from being stepped on by Su.

"You and your old torn clothes. Go away!" Su teased me and walked away with her gang.

I got up slowly and limped to my bicycle. I watched them laughing and made gestures about my spectacles and how I fell.

Someone tapped on my shoulder. I turned around and it was Liang. The boy I had a crush for years. My heart stopped. He handed my water bottle that fell off from the side of my bag.

"Th..Thanks.." I took the water bottle from him and put it in my bag. Embarrassed to look at him, I kept my head down.

"Qing...You shouldn't let this happen again. This is a bully. Come with me. Let's report to the discipline teacher," demanding Liang. He held my hand.

"N---No.... Please don't. They will mark me," I begged. I got loose from his grip and walked to my bicycle limping.

Liang frowned. "So you will let it be?"

"Y--Ye..Yes," I rode on my bicycle and sped off.

I could feel Liang staring at my back. My knees were hurting as I cycled. It started to rain. I wept quietly. Liang was the only one who cared about me. Maybe that was the reason I fell for him but I could not bring myself to tell him. Nobody will like a girl like me. I am shy, nerd and socially awkward. I always hope that one day I would have enough courage to walk to Liang and confess to him.

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Chapter 2: The Accident

Sigh. I continued cycling to my school which is only a few blocks away. I made a quick turn at the corner and I did not see a car in front of me. Ahhhhh! I screamed. My body was flung up to the sky and I heard a loud thud. I felt extreme pain on my head before I passed out. I could hear the muffled sound of passers-by and slowly I fell unconscious. It was like a dream but it felt real.

I saw someone walking in my direction but I could not see who. There was mist everywhere. As the shadow was nearer, I saw a man with a horse mask and he was holding something like a tuning fork. I gasped. It was Horse-Face (Mǎmiàn) who was one of the infamous guardians of the underworld. I knew it from the Chinese films my father has been watching every weekend. No! I am not dead!

I ran away from him as fast as I could. I looked back while running and when I turned to the front, the Horse-Face was in front of me. I could not stop in time and knocked into him. I lost my balance and I fell. Gosh. I was so clumsy.

He started dragging my legs. I screamed and kicked him.

"Let go of me you idiot!" I screamed on top of my lungs. "Hey you, speak to me!" I continued struggling to be free.

He stopped at the edge. I looked down and it was a complete darkness. I knelt and begged him.

"Please let me go...I don't want to die," I sobbed in between tears.

The Horse-Face did not utter a word. He held on to me and jumped into the darkness.

"You bastard!!!!!!" I yelled as loud as I could. We were spiralling down into the darkness which seemed forever. I could hear my echoes and felt a pit in my stomach. I missed my family. I wanted to go back to them.

I looked around the darkness and I could see skeletons hanging on the wall. It seemed like we were falling into some kind of deep dark well.

"NOOOO! Let me go!" I kicked him continuously. He did not seem to be bothered at all.

What seemed like forever ended. We landed at last. The surroundings looked like a court with the other departed souls like me. We were standing on a hanging bridge. I knew we were in hell (dìyù) .They looked lost but calm. Some were old, some were young. Horse-Face walked towards the end at the center and he stood beside Ox-Head (Niútóu). In the middle was a huge ancient chair with gold plated on it and piles of large books on the desk.

I cowered in fear and knelt down.

"Please... let me go. I promise to repay you. I--I will burn more joss papers for you please.." I begged them and knocked my head on the floor a few times. Ox-Head and Horse-Face looked at each other and shook their heads. The rest of the departed souls followed me. They knelt down and begged to be sent back to the living. It was quite a commotion.

Then, there was a bell ringing. We looked up in confusion. I heard heavy footsteps. A big-sized man with a long beard walked towards the chair with an old man with a scribe. Ox-Head and Horse-Face bowed down. It was none other than the King of Hell (Yánluó Wáng) making an appearance at the court. Everyone was afraid and stepped backwards. I could see fears in their eyes. He turned and sat on the chair. Now, I can see him. He had a very stern red face with big bulging eyes.

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Chapter 3: King of Hell (Yánluó Wáng)

"Who is making so much noise here?!!!" The King of Hell banged on the table. Everyone was very quiet. I was shivering.

The scribe who carried a calligraphy brush that followed behind called out names. One by one he read out their names. Each and everyone of them stood out one by one and was judged by the King of Hell whether to go to Hell or the Golden Bridge to Heaven. I was the last.

"Wu Shu Qingggggggg!" the scribe called out my name with a long stretch.

"Please..I am not ready to die. Please..Please give me one more chance. I need to help out my family...." I begged helplessly.

The scribe read out my time of death and I crawled to him pleading with him. It angered the King of Hell. He banged on his table.

"Hey... Behave yourself!" yelled the King of Hell.

I dare not look up. The King of Hell looked at his table and uttered "Hmm... she did not do any bad things in her life nor any good deeds in her life."

The King of Hell was thinking hard and playing with his long beard. I looked at him. He was wearing a large traditional robe and a huge judge's cap.

"Oh, boy... What are you gonna do to me?" I muttered under my breath.

After a long thought, The King of Hell gave me a month to banish evil spirits from the land of living. If I succeed, I will live. If I fail, I will die for real this time.

I gasped. Banish evil spirits? I could not even fight with Su when I was bullied but I nodded with enthusiasm.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face looked at The King of Hell. The scribe walked a few steps front and bowed down his body.

"Your honour, I am afraid it might upset the balance of nature. She was supposed to be dead. Remember The Monkey King (Sun Wukong)?" said The Scribe with a slow worrying tone.

The King of Hell took a long inhale and looked away. I frantically raised my hand and shook in a "NO" sign. "I won't wreak any havoc. I--I won't tell anyone...Pinky promise?"

The King of Hell chuckled and said "Just look at her... She can't wreck any havoc. I will have Horse-Face to escort her for a month and Horse-Face will make sure Wu Shu Qing finishes all of her tasks."

Horse-Face bowed to The King of Hell accepting his task to escort Wu Shu Qing to finish her quest to banish evil spirits from the land of living. "Yes, your honour," Horse-Face said respectfully.

Ha! That dumbass can speak, I thought inside my mind and rolled my eyes at him.

"Okay, then. All sorted out. By the way, Wu Shu Qing...Here is your incentive to work harder," The King of Hell drew a circle with both his hands on his table and pulled out a display.

I gasped. It was like a TV. Except I was the main actress on it. Oh no! I could see I was lying on the hospital bed with my family weeping beside me. I figured out I was badly injured.

The King of Hell then stopped the image.

"Wu Shu Qing... Remember... If you fail, you will die for real this time," warned The King of Hell.

I continued to weep silently. No matter what, I must succeed in this task to see my family again.

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Chapter 4: Cat Spirit (MaoGui)

Without hesitation, Horse-Face walked towards me and pulled me back to the land of living. There were many people in the night market but everyone could not see us. I tried to touch them but to no avail. It was as if I was transparent. I could even walk through them.

"You are neither dead nor alive. So save it. They can't see, hear or touch you," Horse-Face said without looking at me. "Finish your first task. Fail... you are going back to hell," Horse-Face continued.

I clicked my tongue against my teeth and folded my arm. Why did he have to remind me?

"So, how do I exactly---catch evil spirits?"

Horse-Face stopped walking and pulled out a bottle. Horse-Face explained that I need to suck the evil spirits into the bottle by getting near to it at least 1 meter. We reached a dark alley. He motioned me to follow him as he walked towards the alley. My eyes drifted down to Horse-Face's feet then back to his head. That idiot was very tall with a green shawl and chinese red robe.

Horse-Face pointed into the dark alley. "Your first task," he handed me the bottle and pushed me forward.

Hey! I screamed in my mind.

I walked into the dark alley. I bent a little and squinted my eyes. I saw a four-legged creature bending over something. I could not make out what it was. I walked further and examined the creature.

OMG! It was a cat!

Aww. I turned and looked at Horse-Face.

"It was just a cat!" I screamed with enthusiasm. I have loved cats since I was young.

Suddenly, there was a bright light coming from the cat's eyes. The cat noticed me. It had a lot--a lot of blood in its mouth. I realised that it was a dead body that the cat was bending over.

"Capture it. It is MaoGui. Fail...you know what will happen to you," Horse-Face calmly said behind me.

My legs were as if it were glued to the ground. I couldn't move. MaoGui snarled at me. It was ready for a fight like those cats behind my house.

Oh, boy.

I stepped forward and opened the bottle pointing towards the cat. Nothing happened. Shit. I was not near enough. I walked nearer to it. This time, the cat leapt on the right wall and then on the left wall towards me to avoid being sucked into the bottle.

Ahhhhhh! I screamed and ran. When I looked back, MaoGui was right behind me and it scratched on my face. Ouch! I lost my footing and fell to the ground. MaoGui bit my leg. I groaned in pain. I have never been scratched or bitten by a cat my whole life. Never imagined I would get scratched and bitten by a cat when I was dead.

"Wu Shu Qing!" I heard Horse-Face calling my name.

I was in so much pain to react. MaoGui caught me and dragged me by my pants on its mouth. It climbed up the wall. I closed my eyes. Damn!

When I opened my eyes, I realised I was far from the ground. MaoGui kept going up. I was very weak at this point and exhausted. I remembered that I had to capture the evil spirits and put them inside the bottle. The bottle was in my hand. I pointed it at MaoGui. The bottle sucked up MaoGui. Like liquid MaoGui was sucked into the bottle. I was relieved as I finally completed the first task.

But...

I felt my body dropping down to the ground. Oh no! I closed my eyes.

Suddenly, I felt a warm hand wrapped around my waist. I opened my eyes and it was Horse-Face. Horse-Face held me tight.

My heart skipped a beat. I looked at his mask. Horse-Face looked at me. I felt unexpectedly calm and safe with Horse-Face enveloped in his strong arms.

We touched the ground. Horse-Face let go of me. I felt my face was burning. I touched it. My face was burning hot and I could not stare at Horse-Face.

What was that? I asked myself.

Horse-Face cleared his throat. "Y--You have completed your first task. Let's go to the next"

I was still shocked by MaoGui incident and... what was that actually with Horse-Face?

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Chapter 5: Female Spirit (NuGui)

Still shaken from what happened, I took a deep breath. Horse-Face kept looking at his scroll from King of Hell. Horse-Face held on my hand and we were transported to another place. I could see fast flashes of light passing so fast and then I heard a loud thud. Ouch! What the hell! Horse-Face dropped me down on the floor just like that. I laid on the floor while Horse-Face kept studying the scroll. Idiot!

I looked around and this place smelled like a dumpster. It was an abandoned house. I stood up and grabbed the scroll from him.

"Hey! Give it back!" Horse-Face pointing at me with a harsh voice.

I wanted to see what it was. Horse-Face chased me around trying to get back his scroll. I ran fast and tripped but Horse-Face managed to pull me up with one hand. I could feel the spark I felt back then in the dark alley.

Horse-Face cleared his throat and gently held me up. I swallowed my saliva and gave the scroll back to Horse-Face.

"D-don't ever do that again," Horse-Face took the scroll from me.

All of a sudden the scroll was grabbed by dark strands of long hair. We were shocked.

What was that?

Horse-face hurled the tuning-fork like weapon towards it. Both the tuning fork and the strands of hair stuck on the wall. A loud wailing and high pitch sound was let out by the dark figure which slowly transformed into a silhouette human form with long hair. I was extremely scared.

"Wu Shu Qing!!! Now! Catch the female spirit(NuGui)" screamed Horse-Face.

I trembled in fear. I was trying to get the bottle from my pocket when the strands of long hair twirled around my neck. I could not breathe as the strands of long hair curled around my neck. I let go of the bottle. It fell on the floor and rolled away.

Gosh! What the hell was this?! It squeezed my neck so tight I could hardly breathe.

Another strand of long hair was fighting with Horse-Face. I tried to reach the bottle but the female spirit held me higher up from the ground. Damn it! Horse-face used his weapon to wind up her hair and pulled it. The female spirit dropped me down on the floor. I was gasping for air. She used the hair to hit on Horse-face and the mask dropped. When Horse-face looked up, I could clearly see his real face. Oh my... He looked dashing with big brown eyes and a high bridge nose. He looked like a movie star.

"Wu Shu Qingg! Take her now!" Horse-Face used his weapon to pin down the female spirit.

I got up and ran towards the bottle. I gathered all my strength and pointed the bottle at the female spirit. The bottle sucked the female spirit inside while I stole a glance at Horse-Face. I was totally taken aback by his good look. He was quite tired from fighting with the female spirit. When the female spirit was finally sucked into the bottle, I closed it.

Horse-Face came and held my hand. "Wu Shu Qing! You...Be alert, next time."

I nodded and looked into his worried eyes. His Horse-Face mask was broken into pieces.

"Your mask..." I pointed over to his broken mask. "Will you be punished?" I asked him curiously.

He looked at the mask and bit his lips.

"No matter. Let's go. You have another mission," he held my arms and we both vanished into the thin air.

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Chapter 6: Water Ghost (ShuiGui)

We landed on the mountain cliff. I looked down and let out a scream. I held tight to Horse-Face. My heart was throbbing fast. I could feel he was anxious too. He held me tight in his arms like before. I really liked it a lot. I never felt this way with other guy. Not even with Liang. It was like there were so many butterflies in my stomach that were rushing to come out. I felt so protected by him.

"You never tell me your name," I asked coyly.

"Huh?" Horse-Face stammered.

"Name...Your name...I am Wu Shu Qing...and you are?" I asked impatiently. I wanted to know more about him. I wanted to know more about this ancient mythical creature that had creeped into my heart.

He looked to the east and pointed "That way. We are heading that way."

Without warning, he grabbed on my waist and we flew into the thick clouds. We reached the river side and he slowly let go of me. We exchanged eye contact. I knew he felt the same way as I did.

"Our next mission is here," he looked away and rubbed his hands.

I walked to him wanting to ask more about him when I heard a familiar voice. I stopped. I turned around. To my surprise, it was Liang and his father on a boat. I looked at Horse-Face and told him he was my classmate. I smiled. I was happy to see a familiar face. But, wait!

"Why are we here?" I asked Horse-Face anxiously.

"To catch the water ghost. It was a fierce one," he answered slowly.

"Then we have to stop Liang and his father!" I cried out loudly looking at Liang and his father.

Horse-Face stood there while I frantically screamed at Liang to ask him to turn back his boat. Then, I realised Liang and his father could not hear me nor see me. Suddenly, there was a human form woman in the river heading towards Liang and his father's boat.

I gasped. No! The water ghost was approaching them fast. Without hesitation, I jumped into the water and to my surprise, I could fly. It must be a gift granted by the King of Hell. I stretched both my hands out to catch the water ghost. A purple electric current was flowing along both my arms.

Ouhhh! I have an idea. I stepped on the rock and channeled the electric current to the tip of my finger. When I had enough, I struck the electric current into the water. The water ghost was flung up by the force of the water. The force gushed up the water as high as a ten story building. That was cool! I managed to have the water ghost's attention. It was furious and started charging at me.

I used my inner energy to create a long electric current and whipped the water ghost. The water ghost fell back into the water. I pulled it out from the water and quickly opened up the bottle to suck it in. Mission accomplished.

"Liangggg! Lianggg!" I rushed to his boat. Liang and his father were chatting and laughing happily, not knowing the danger before. He could not see nor hear me.

"You know him?" a voice suddenly at my back. It was Horse-Face. I nodded. I told him Liang was my schoolmate and everything about him while looking at them in the boat.

When I looked back at Horse-Face, he seemed---unhappy. I chuckled.

"Are you jealous of him?" I asked bluntly.

Horse-Face looked away and said "Why should I?".

Obviously he was. I wanted to go back to the land of living. What if I never see Horse-Face again?

"You did a really good job in banishing the water ghost," Horse-Face said softly.

I smiled happily. 

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Chapter 7: Chinese Vampire (Jiangshi)

Three weeks had passed. I spent three weeks with Horse-Face to hunt down evil spirits and banish them. I might have developed some deep feelings towards him. I knew he did too but for some reasons he might not be able to express his feelings.

This would be the last week to hunt down and banish evil spirits. I could not let these moments pass by without telling him how I felt. After the accident, I realised life is really short. Not wanting to waste anymore time, I confessed to him. He just stood there looking at me. We were staring at each other for some time.

Three weeks ago...

Horse-Face received order from the King of Hell to bring Wu Shu Qing's soul. He obeyed the order and went to collect her soul. When he reached the realm of the living and saw Wu Shu Qing, he was very surprised. She looked like someone he used to know. Someone in the past. He knew she was not her but he was curious about her. When Wu Shu Qing was hit by the car and was still unconscious in the realm between the living and the dead, Horse-Face bent down to look at her. He tugged her hair behind her ears like he did to the girl in the past. He sighed heavily. When Wu Shu Qing slowly regained consciousness, he hid behind the thick mist before approaching her as Horse-Face.

Truth is, he had fallen for Wu Shu Qing too. It was not because she looked like someone he knew but it was because she was Wu Shu Qing herself. She has fully unlocked his heart.

When Horse-Face wanted to say something, they both heard a loud tapping on the ground.

Thud...Thud...Thud! Horse-Face jumped up and I looked around. All of a sudden, Horse-Face was flung far away. I looked at the creature in front of me. Damn! It was Jiangshi. It was coming for me. I ran far enough to charge the electric current and did a backflip to wrap it around Jiangshi's neck. Then, I flew up and over Jiangshi's head to the front. I pulled it fast and it fell on the ground struggling to get up.

Suddenly, Jiangshi flung itself at me and strangled my neck with both its hands. I took out the bottle to suck it in. Halfway, it used its hand to strike me across the chest. I felt extreme pain. Finally, it was sucked fully into the bottle. I fell on the floor. Then, I heard someone screaming my name so loud.

"Noooooo! Wu Shu Qinggg!" Horse-Face held onto me. He looked worried and there were tears in his eyes.

"The tasks were completed. Y--You will be alright when you get back to your body...and..and...now, we must get back to Hell first," Horse-Face was speaking anxiously and tears kept flowing down his cheeks.

I was too weak to talk and could only wipe his tears. He carried me up and transported us back to hell.

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Chapter 8: Rejoin the Land of Living

The gate of hell opened. Horse-Face carried me and walked into the hall. Ox-Head came and curiously looked at both of us.

"Horse-Face, where is your mask? You will be in deep trouble if the King of Hell sees you without your mask," Ox-Head whispered to him.

Horse-Face knelt down at the centre of the court and gently put me down on the floor.

"You will be alright," Horse-Face gently tugged my hair behind my ears. This gesture was so familiar and I could not recall.

I heard the bell ringing. The heavy footsteps followed. I knew the King of Hell was here without looking up.

"Horse-Face! Where is your mask?!!!!!" the King of Hell yelled at him.

"I am sorry. It is broken. Please...Please send Wu Shu Qing back to her body," pleaded Horse-Face. "Please don't let her soul vanish," Horse-Face continued pleading to the King of Hell. I looked at my hand. I could see through it. I am slowly dissapearing. What is going on?

"She has completed her tasks. Of course, I will keep my promise and send her back to the land of living...But, you...You have a bigger problem," the King of Hell instructed the others to take Horse-Face. Ox-Head stood quietly beside the King of Hell.

"W-Waiiitt! Wait..What are you going to do to him? He lost his mask because of me. Punish me," I gathered up my strength and pleaded to the King of Hell.

"What? N-No..What are you doing, Wu Shu Qing? It is my fault!" said Horse-Face loudly in the court.

"I will sentence Horse-Face to a year of punishment of hot fire on his face.This is the lightest punishment I can give," explained the King of Hell. "Wu Shu Qing, you will go back to the land of the living," King of Hell continued.

"Yes, Your Honour! Thank you, Your Honour!" Horse-Face bowed to King of Hell.

"Is okay, Wu Shu Qing. I can bear it. You must go back. Y--you will be alright once you are in your body..."Horse-Face held me tight.

I held out my hand and touched his face. "If I go back, when can I see you again?" I was in tears knowing we might be parted forever.

"Not for a very, very long time. Have a good life. Go have fun and adventure," Horse-Face said slowly and we both hugged each other. His voice was trembling. "Go love and have a family," he continued. I hugged him even tighter this time. We were both in despair.

"I love you," I wept.

"I love you, Wu Shu Qing. More than nights and days. Deeper than the oceans and higher than the sky," Horse-Face kissed me on the forehead. I held him tightly not wanting to let him go.

I saw flashes of white lights. Horse-Face slowly disappeared.

I found myself in a very different place. I heard familiar voices. It was my parents. They were screaming in joy and called the doctors to check on me.

My mother hugged me. The doctor started to shine the lights in my eyes to check on me.

Tears flowed down my cheek. I was happy to see my family yet there is something missing. I could not tell what is it.

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Thank you for participating in the contest and congratulations on your placement, TanHongLynn!