Taboo Mage - Chapter 12 - The Spirit of the Wutong Tree

Getting into a good university means securing a better job and bringing honor and recognition to one’s family. Therefore, the official rank amulet is the most suitable.

The process of making an official rank amulet is quite similar to that of making a peach blossom amulet. Both require finding the right tree and its spirit.

I encountered some trouble in selecting the tree spirit. Normally, if the goal is to attain power and wealth, common bamboo would suffice. However, Li Mi’s situation was a bit different. Her goal was to get into a good university.

I spent an entire morning flipping through ancient books on the shop’s sofa before I found the most suitable tree: the Wutong Tree.

The Wutong Tree is where the phoenix rests, and it symbolizes rebirth from the fire.

But now it was June, and where could I possibly find a Wutong Tree? Moreover, it had to be a tree that had nurtured a spirit for many years.

While I was pondering this dilemma, the shop door opened. I thought it was Fatty Ling coming to chatter again, and I was just about to scold him when I looked up and saw Li Mi in her school uniform, standing at the door and smiling sweetly at me.

“Li Mi? What brings you here?” I was surprised, but seeing a beautiful girl early in the morning certainly lifted my spirits.

Li Mi had shed the timidity she showed yesterday. With a pure smile on her face, she jumped down the steps with a big backpack and sat beside me with practiced ease.

“I came to check on you. I worried that you might have forgotten about my matter after one night!”

“How could I!” I jokingly replied.

After that, the atmosphere suddenly became quiet, oddly quiet, making me feel a vague sense of awkwardness I hadn’t felt in a while.

Sensing the awkwardness, I cleared my throat and tried to find a topic to ease the tension. I mentioned my struggle to find a Wutong Tree.

To my surprise, Li Mi burst into laughter, rocking back and forth. I looked at her, puzzled, not understanding what was so funny.

After she had laughed enough, she pointed at me and said, “Brother Gu, are you out of your mind? You’re looking for a Wutong Tree, not its leaves. You don’t need to wait till autumn for that!”

Li Mi’s words enlightened me, and immediately, my face felt like it was burning with embarrassment.

I couldn’t believe that I had been looked down upon by a young girl.

What she did next made me wish I could dig a hole and hide in it. She patted me on the shoulder and said consolingly, “It’s okay. Even the smartest people can make mistakes, and besides, you were never that smart to begin with.”

I coughed a few times and stood up from the couch, telling her that making the life amulet was urgent, and there was no need for any more nonsense.

The Wutong Tree is both easy and hard to find.

There are no Wutong Trees planted along the main streets of our city; all of them are within Forest Park. Most of these trees were planted to cater to officials’ tastes, making it almost impossible to find an old Wutong Tree that has nurtured a tree spirit.

Li Mi insisted on coming to Forest Park with me; she wanted to see the process of making a life amulet with her own eyes. Unable to refuse her, I had to agree.

Forest Park is located on a mountain in the outskirts of our city. The distance is not far, but it’s still a bit tight to make it there and back in a day, so I booked two hotel rooms online just in case.

As expected, there was heavy traffic, and by the time we arrived at Forest Park, it was already evening. Li Mi then mentioned she was hungry, so I took her to eat something at the foot of the mountain. By the time we officially entered the scenic area, the sun had already set.

But this was just as well, since tree spirits have stronger spiritual energy at night, making them easier to find. It was a small stroke of good luck in an otherwise unlucky situation.

After dinner, I first took Li Mi to the hotel I had booked beforehand, which was conveniently located halfway up the mountain. We rested briefly before heading out to search for the Wutong Tree.

That’s when I realized how impractical it was to bring a girl along for such a task.

Li Mi treated it as a sightseeing trip, happily running around and asking me to take pictures of her with her phone. All I could think about was finding the Wutong Tree Spirit quickly and getting back to the hotel for some sleep.

When Li Mi asked me to take her picture for the umpteenth time, I finally lost my temper.

Li Mi glanced at me resentfully, then silently walked ahead. Realizing that I might have been too harsh, I considered comforting her. But I feared that if she thought I was being too soft, she might take advantage of it and become even more demanding.

So, I resolutely kept a stern face and followed her as we climbed toward the Wutong Tree Scenic Area at the mountain’s peak.

The Wutong Tree Scenic Area is at the top of the mountain, right next to the campfire party hosted for night hikers. I told Li Mi to stay put and not move, then I began testing the Wutong Trees by pressing dharma seals and placing my palms on each tree one by one.

After trying more than twenty trees with no results, I suddenly felt a surge of inexplicable frustration. I sat down on the ground, hanging my head low, trying to control the sudden burst of anger.

Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed a tree deep inside the area, adorned with countless red silk ribbons. Though the distance made it hard to see clearly, I vaguely remembered that it might also be a Wutong Tree.

Realizing something, I quickly got up and rushed toward the tree with the red ribbons.

Sure enough, it was a gigantic Wutong Tree, so large that it would take three people to encircle it. Its branches were densely covered with red silk ribbons. I casually took one off and saw it had various blessings written on it.

Filled with anticipation, I placed my palm on the tree and started chanting the Incantation. Almost instantly, a powerful chill surged through my palm, spreading through my entire body.

“I found it!” I shouted excitedly.

I then asked Li Mi to get the glass bottle from her backpack. With the bottle opening facing the tree, I held it against the bark while forming a dharma seal with my other hand and chanting the Incantation. Almost immediately, a bright yellow light spot emerged from the Wutong Tree, jumping into the glass bottle.

I quickly sealed the bottle, and it felt much heavier than before.

Finally having found the Wutong Tree Spirit, I felt a huge sense of relief and walked back to the hotel, filled with joy.

Back in the room, I took a shower and comfortably settled into bed for a good night’s sleep.

In the middle of the night, I suddenly sensed something moving by my bedside. I woke up abruptly from my dream and saw a mass of dark hair swaying at the edge of the bed.

With a scream, I bolted upright and reached for the light switch on the wall. In my heart, I cursed myself for leaving all the protective items in Li Mi’s backpack, leaving me without even a single tool for courage.