could intercept the ghosts. Mulan’s sword and ShiShi’s claws would go right through them.
Whispers still echoed from the knives, word rapidly spreading across Diyu that the “outsider from the real world” had climbed the Mountain of the Knives.
Mulan clenched her jaw. More ghosts flooded the plains, arriving in whirlwinds of pale, glowing reds, yellows, oranges, and greens. The newly arrived ghosts weren’t bandits or murderers tied to the Mountain of Knives. Most were dressed like ordinary citizens. They’d come to witness the spectacle of a mortal making his way up Diyu.
A ghost with iron-rimmed spectacles landed on the grass. Mulan recognized him immediately as one of the ghosts who’d been on the Bridge of Helplessness—the one with the orange aura who’d warned her that he and the others would be watching. Jiao.
Jiao carried a scroll under his arm, and his ghostly fingers were stained with ink. He reminded her of Chi Fu, except without the long whiskers.
Behind his spectacles, the ghost’s beady black eyes narrowed at her. “We heard about what happened with your meeting with King Yama. You should never have crossed the bridge, outsider.”
The others ghosts agreed. “You’ll never get out now.”
Widening her stance, Mulan reached for the ancient sword at her side and unwrapped it. She raised it at the ghosts. “Leave us alone.”
ShiShi leapt forward to address the ghosts. He bared his sharp teeth as he said, “The boy here has an agreement with King Yama. Let us pass.”
“I was there,” screeched one of the ghosts. “He cut the line!”
“I heard what King Yama said,” another chimed in. “King Yama never promised that we couldn’t interfere.”
“It isn’t fair that an outsider is in Diyu,” another ghost murmured. “It isn’t fair he gets to see what awaits him in the afterlife.”
“He must die.”
“We’ll take him to the river.”
“You will do no such thing,” ShiShi bellowed. “Anyone who wishes to harm Ping will have to go through me.”
The ghosts scoffed and did just that. They passed through ShiShi, and the poor lion guardian looked as if he were going to be ill. His fur paled and stood up, and he shuddered.
Shang stepped in front of Mulan, but she shook her head. “Let me deal with this.”
Mulan faced the ghosts with her sword at her side. “I understand you’re all upset with me, but I’m here only to—”
“We don’t care why you’re here.” The ghosts lunged. “No mortals allowed!”
As Mulan instinctively raised her blade to block them, a white, pearlescent light emanated from the sword, so bright the ghosts shrank away.
Mulan blinked, unsure of where the sword’s power had come from. She glanced at ShiShi, but he simply lifted his chin to encourage her. Shang did the same with a nod.
“No sword can harm us,” Jiao reminded the others. He sneered. “We’re already dead.”
At that, Mulan tilted forward. A mischievous grin spread across her face, and the ghosts squirmed. “If that’s true, why are you all so afraid of it?”
One of the bandit ghosts sharpened his knife across his belt and twirled it from finger to finger. “I’ll deal with the boy.”
Mulan arced her sword at him before he dared come close. The ghost leapt back, seeing she had cut through his belt and scratched his arm. His aura flashed a bright, burning red. “What in the—That’s impossible.” He wiped the blood from his skin. It shimmered like the rest of him. “That’s no ordinary sword.”
Commotion ensued as the bandits argued over who would attack her next. Mulan inched away, disappearing behind a throng of green-glowing ghosts. They were calmer than the bandits; they hardly noticed her.
She exhaled, wondering whether she should be thankful the ghosts were so disorganized. There had to be thousands of them here, laughing and gossiping as if this were the site of a village reunion. Most of them floated in the air, completely unaware of Mulan’s presence. Now if only she could get Shang and ShiShi out of here.
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you. Are you staying in Youdu?”
“Not yet. Hopefully in the next century or two. I hear property there has gotten expensive.”
“It has. There’s a war in the living world. Lots of soldiers keep arriving. Some of them are too young to have committed any crimes, so Yama doesn’t sentence them with any torture. They go straight to the City of the Dead. Youdu’s getting so crowded. I think there’s a batch of us scheduled for Heaven later this week, though.”
“Is that the mortal down there? He looks a little