The moment the door clicked shut, Ajarn Ken spoke without preamble: "There is indeed a spirit next door."
Zhi Wei's head snapped up.
The ajarn's gaze traveled slowly from the floor to sweep across the room. "Last night, it came here. Into your space."
A jolt of surprise hit Zhi Wei. Just minutes ago, he'd dismissed this man as a fraud—yet here he was, pinpointing the intrusion with eerie precision. He'd only whispered about it to the property manager during the ritual. No way the ajarn could have heard, not while chanting and pacing the hallway.
Zhi Wei gestured for Ajarn Ken and the property manager to take a seat on the sofa. Once settled, he pulled the blackened talisman from his pocket and handed it over.
"That thing came into my room last night," he said. "Sat right on my bed. I slapped this against it with my eyes shut."
Ajarn Ken flipped the talisman between his fingers once, then tossed it onto the coffee table. "Useless now."
Zhi Wei leaned forward: "So it's really a... ghost?"
"The energy next door... it reeks of Thai sorcery. Something like..." He paused, choosing the word carefully, "...kumanthong."
"Kumanthong?" Zhi Wei and the property manager echoed in unison.
Ajarn Ken ignored the question. He turned to the manager. "When's the owner of 1502 coming back?"
"I called Miss Lim," the manager said. "She won't be back until the day after tomorrow."
Ajarn Ken exhaled through his nose. "So we can't get in yet." His gaze slid back to Zhi Wei. "Want to wait until then for your solution?"
Zhi Wei's jaw tightened. "You can't just deal with it now?"
"Look," Ajarn Ken spread his hands, "I do Thai occult magic, not telekinesis. I can't walk through walls. If that thing won't come out, how the hell am I supposed to catch it?"
Zhi Wei froze, caught between disbelief and awkward silence.
Ajarn Ken chuckled. "Relax, I'm joking." A beat. "First, I'll try luring it out the easy way."
"How?" Zhi Wei demanded.
Instead of answering, the ajarn stroked an amulet at his waist. "Come out."
Zhi Wei and the property manager exchanged glances.
"Who are you talking to?" Zhi Wei muttered.
The ajarn pointed to the empty space before him. "My kumanthong. Want to meet him?"
The manager scrambled backward on the sofa, shaking his head violently.
Zhi Wei, however, leaned forward. "How do we see it?"
"A simple spell. Lets you glimpse the unseen—briefly."
"'Briefly'..." Zhi Wei hesitated. "Any side effects? Like... becoming a ghost magnet afterward?"
The ajarn waved a dismissive hand. "No."
Zhi Wei had never believed in the supernatural before, which explained his usual boldness. The fear of the past two nights came only from being caught off guard—not from any real cowardice.
"If it's not... you know, horrifying, then sure. Show me."
Ajarn Ken's grin widened. "My Thong Thong is adorable." His hand rose to pat thin air—an unmistakable head-rubbing gesture aimed at nothing visible.
The manager practically fell off the couch.
Ajarn Ken pulled a red candle from his LV bag, lit it, and planted it firmly on the coffee table. He stood before Zhi Wei.
"Palms together. Close your eyes."
Zhi Wei complied. The ajarn's right hand pressed against his crown, the sudden chill of his fingertips making Zhi Wei's scalp prickle. Just as Ajarn Ken's lips parted to chant—
"Shouldn't you use cow tears and willow leaves?" The property manager blurted.
The ajarn's head snapped toward him. "This isn't Mao Shan sorcery (Note: A Chinese Taoist tradition specializing in spirit expulsion and talismanic magic). Keep quiet."
Then, the guttural chant began: "Namotasa..."
Zhi Wei felt it first at the base of his skull—a needle of cold burrowing inward along the occipital nerve. The invasion spread upward, seeping through the neural pathways until his sealed eyes ached with phantom pressure, as though the darkness behind his lids had gained weight and mass.
Three minutes later: "Open."
Zhi Wei's eyes flew open. His gaze darted—then locked onto the space beside the manager.
A boy of about five stood beside the manager, his bronze skin and delicate features resembling those of a Thai child. Dressed in an adorable sailor suit and polished black shoes, he smiled, his chubby cheeks dimpling as his dark eyes sparkled with mischief.
"Why you looking over here?" The manager edged away, his face twisting in confusion and dawning dread as he followed Zhi Wei's gaze to the empty space beside him.
Zhi Wei's voice came out strangled: "He's... right beside you."
The manager scrambled backward, his legs nearly upending the coffee table.
Ajarn Ken smirked at the manager's panic, then casually commanded the empty space: "Bpai bâan khâang-khâang, rîak dtua nán maa lên."
The kumanthong—visible only to Zhi Wei and the ajarn—nodded cheerfully. It skipped toward the shared wall with Unit 1502, its polished shoes silent against the carpet.
"What did you say to it?" Zhi Wei whispered.
"Thai. I told it to go next door and invite that one come here to play."
At that moment, the kumanthong reached the wall—and kept walking. There was no sound, no ripple in the air. Its small form passed through the solid concrete as if it were mist, leaving the wall untouched, as though nothing had happened.
Zhi Wei stared, his voice cracking slightly, "It can... walk through walls?"
Ajarn Ken gave a short, almost amused grunt. "For a spirit, what's so surprising?"
"But why last night..." Zhi Wei frowned slightly. "The one next door kept rattling my doorknob... and then opened the door."
Ajarn Ken shrugged lightly, as if the explanation was self-evident. "To make it more atmospheric," he said. "To scare you even more."