Evil's Mischief

Li Jie had always believed that humans were born with good and only existed to spread kindness. He had lived his entire life believing no one could be greater than the good, hence in his eyes, evil was always inferior.

His theory was proven wrong when he laid on his deathbed and one after another, his own family whispered words that nearly shattered his soul.

"I killed Bao".

"We killed him with our own hands".

"We took his body and burned him alive".

Bao was Li Jie's apprentice, his only student. Bao loved art, he was a very delicate boy, which did not fit right in the social constrict of his gender. Knowing their son would bring shame upon the family, Bao's parents soon abandoned the boy when he was 4.

Lie Jie had found Bao on the brink of death and took him in as his student. However, one day after work, Bao was nowhere to be found. Lie Jie searched and searched for days but Bao became like a dream that was mistaken for reality.

That was until now. Lie Jie's heart trembled in agony, he wanted to cry but tears were soaked by his turmoil. He could do nothing but lie on the bed and await his death. At that moment, he swore that he would take revenge for his poor student.

It was nearly 10 days after Li Jie's passing away when his family had finally stopped grieving. Lie Jie's family only consisted of a younger sister, Shi Mei, and an old grandma, their Ama. Shi mei had always been of a quiet character, she never spoke more than what was necessary and Ama only knew how to love both of her grandchildren unconditionally. Ama's upbringing was exactly the reason that despite not having parents, both Shi Mei and Lie Jie were kind and loving children.

Shi Mei never resorted to evil and just like her brother, she believed everyone only had good within them. After her brother's death, Shi Mei dealt with a big loss and decided to look for Bao as his brother's only wish.

Shi Mei and Bao were never close but even she understood that the sudden disappearance of a child his age was not a good sign. Therefore, only after 10 days after her brother's passing away, she started searching for Bao.

On the other hand, influenced and grieved by Bao's death, Li Jie's soul refused to pass through heaven's gate and instead stayed in the human realm to bring justice to his student.

On the 11th day of his death, Li Jie, a very beautiful soul, stood in his sister's room. He looked down on the peaceful expression of her sister, sleeping, and could not help waver in his intentions. However, Bao's face flashed through his eyes and he felt nothing more than rage.

In the olden times, it was believed that a ghost-filled with vengeance had enough power to solidify its body and perform terrifying acts.

Li Jie knew this well and slowly picked up a piece of Shi Mei's cloth. It was a small and crimson shawl that Lie Jie had himself gifted her sister on her 15th birthday but his rage had stopped his common sense long ago.

He took the crimson piece of clothing, wrapped around Shi Mei's neck and in under less than a minute suffocated her younger sister. Li Jie thought he would feel better after quenching his thirst for vengeance but he felt even more consumed by it so the room he walked towards next was his Ama's.

Ama was sitting in her room quietly, her eyes shut closed and her ears ringing. She had just heard the muffled screams of Shi Mei and knew that she was next. Ama was neither afraid nor in peace.

Lie Jie stood next to her Ama and looked down at her with his deathly pale face, he brought one of his hand towards his grandmother's head and the other tightly against her neck. But before Li Jie could make a move, Ama's lips quivered and she spoke.

"Did you see Bao?".

Li Jie swore he felt his dead heart shake at the sentence. He was grieve stricken once again and memories of Bao flashed through his eyes. He didn't understand why Ama had suddenly said those words.

Ama's heart was in turmoil and she felt helpless as she spoke, "You killed your poor sister because you think she killed your Bao? Oh my poor boy".

Lie Jie didn't understand what Ama meant but he could not reply back to her no matter how much he wanted to. He didn't want to hear any excuses either so he finished his revenge in a split second.

Suddenly a voice spoke up from behind Lie Jie. He felt a cold chill on his back and turned around.

There stood a boy with a cold smile on his face, his eyes leaving traces of blood and his face a colour even Lie Jie was terrified to look at. That was not his Bao, that was a demon.

Lie Jie looked at him and felt pain inside his guts. He knew something wasn't right but was too afraid to face it.

Bao slowly walked towards Li Jie as the latter stepped backwards. Bao felt mischievous and whispered, "Li Jie, didn't you want to see me? Don't be like this or your family would wake up".

Lie Jie felt his heart drop, he finally understood. Shi Mei and Ama had never been cruel to Bao but it was him who had misled Li Jie in the first place.

He stopped in his tracks and waited for Bao to make his move, he knew he could not stop him so he surrendered. After mercilessly killing his family, there was nothing left for him anyway. Li Jie closed his eyes and waited for a second death that never arrived.

After a moment, Li Jie opened his ghastly eyes looked around, but he only saw his dead Ama which sent him into great agony. He looked down at his hands his face changed.

Li Jie had turned back into a human.

He dropped to his knees and cried, he felt his heart burn with misery and guilt. There was nothing left in this world for him, he had killed his own family for evil.

Lie Jie had no choice but to live with this guilt his entire life, his goodness was tainted with evil and his heart became black with his family's murder. He had chosen the path of evil and now he could not turn back.