Taboo Mage - Chapter 10 - Deciding to Call It Quits

I raised the life amulet in my right hand and threw it towards Liu Yineng’s head. To my surprise, the amulet stuck firmly to his forehead.

He trembled uncontrollably, and the sharp scream of the woman pierced through my eardrums once again. I hadn’t expected her resentment to be so intense; the entire room seemed to shake as if in an earthquake.

Seeing the red string Array in front of me becoming increasingly chaotic, I stood up, holding the cinnabar plate in one hand. I bit my finger and dipped it into the cinnabar plate, then swiftly walked over to Liu Yineng. I touched the tiger head eyes on the life amulet with my bloodstained finger.

Suddenly, it felt like thousands of needles pierced through my limbs and bones. An inexplicably powerful force pushed me far away, and I fell to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood with a “splash.”

The blood landed right on Liu Yineng’s chest. As soon as it did, Liu Yineng roared and fell straight backward.

The tiger head life amulet fell to the ground with a clang.

The soul summoning was successful; the disturbance of the tiger head life amulet ceased.

Ah Biao, who had been standing aside all this time, was stunned for a moment by what had just happened. Then he gave me a thumbs-up.

“Brother Gu, does your blood have that kind of power? Next time, give me a bowl of it to ward off evil.”

As he spoke, Ah Biao helped Liu Yineng up from the floor.

I laughed and spat on the ground. “Do you think it’s as easy as milking a cow? Give you a whole bowl?”

Truth be told, many people believe that since my family is in this business, we must have something special. Most people imagine that the blood of those in my family can ward off evil spirits.

In reality, it’s nothing so complicated. The only reason my blood works at all is that I’m still a virgin at this age, so my blood slightly retains its potency.

If you were to grab a ten-year-old boy, his blood would be much more effective than mine!

Ah Biao helped Liu Yineng to the living room couch, where Liu Yineng finally regained consciousness after lying there for a while. I handed him the tiger head life amulet and told him to avoid anything bloody for the next two months. Only then was this troublesome matter completely resolved.

As Liu Yineng was leaving, he casually tossed me a Gucci bag. I couldn’t help but wonder if he really thought a designer bag was enough to settle this.

After he left, I opened the leather bag, finding it crammed full with a thick stack of RMB. A quick glance told me there was at least a hundred thousand yuan in there.

Suppressing my excitement, I took out Fatty Ling’s commission from the stack.

I was just about to close up the shop and deliver it to him when I remembered that this whole mess with Liu Yineng was Fatty Ling’s fault. I almost lost my life dealing with it. Considering the blood I had just vomited, I wondered how many bowls of chicken soup it would take to recover.

Thinking about this, I weighed the envelope in my hand and decided to head back. Grabbing the Gucci bag and the envelope, I went straight to the hospital.

With the money for Mother’s surgery and the next two rounds of chemotherapy, I felt a mix of excitement and relief. On my way, I stopped to buy a bunch of nutritional supplements.

As soon as I got to the hospital, I ran into Mother’s attending physician. Thanks to my prompt payment this time, Dr. Duan seemed quite pleased. He chatted with me for a bit and then went on his rounds.

I opened the door and walked in. Mother was already awake, leaning against the wall and chatting with a fellow patient. Seeing me, she invited me to sit down, smiling warmly.

I unpacked the nutritional supplements, presenting them to Mother as if they were precious treasures.

Unexpectedly, Mother’s expression darkened the moment she saw what I was holding.

“Where did you get the money?”

I pressed my lips together, unsure how to respond, and could only chuckle awkwardly. “Just from working.”

“Where exactly are you working? What kind of job pays a student this much?” Mother pressed on, determined to find out where the money came from.

Since I was a child, Mother had been against me learning those skills from Father. Grandfather had died horribly from the backlash of the life amulet, and Father had also died tragically in a car accident. I understood Mother’s concerns.

Now I am her only family. She would rather something happen to her than to have me involved with life amulets again.

Seeing my hesitant demeanor, Mother probably already guessed what was going on. She sighed softly and held my hand. “Qing Shu, that thing is cursed. You must not touch it!”

“I know.” I squeezed her hand in return and gently patted her back to comfort her.

Mother, seeing my nonchalant expression, struggled to sit up from the hospital bed and slapped me hard across the face.

The crisp sound echoed through the ward. The patient in the neighboring bed quickly found an excuse to leave. I sat there, gazing down at the floor, stunned and silent.

“Kneel!” Mother commanded sternly, then grabbed her chest and coughed violently.

I hurriedly slid off the bed and knelt before her with a thud.

“Please, don’t get agitated. I’ll do whatever you want!”

“I want you to swear, right now, that you’ll stop all of this and never touch another life amulet again!” Mother shouted, tears brimming in her eyes.

I awkwardly wanted to get up and help wipe her tears, but her resolute expression kept me firmly kneeling.

“Swear it! Swear it now!”

“Alright! I swear! From now on, I will never touch a life amulet again!”

I raised three fingers in a solemn oath, then bowed my head to the ground three times.

Seeing this, Mother burst into sobs, repeatedly blaming herself for holding me back. I quickly stood and spent a long time consoling her. In the end, I had to call a nurse to give her a sedative injection before she finally calmed down and fell asleep.

Watching her slumber, her earlier cries echoed in my mind. I bitterly smiled and sighed.

Leaving the hospital, I headed over to Fatty Ling’s shop. I told him I had decided to call it quits and that he didn’t need to bring anyone to me anymore.

Fatty Ling nearly jumped off his couch upon hearing this, complaining about me cutting off his income stream.

That’s when I realized, after the incident with Liu Yineng, word had spread on the street. People were now approaching Fatty Ling, asking him to introduce them to me.

Fatty Ling was gearing up for a big opportunity, so my quitting left him understandably upset.

I spent a long time comforting him, explaining that making money wasn’t a one-day task, and it wasn’t worth damaging our brotherly bond over a little cash.

Having reassured Fatty Ling, I headed home. Midway, my phone rang.

Pulling it out, I saw Xu-Jie’s name flashing on the screen.