Taboo Mage - Chapter 154 - Impersonation

Of course, except for me.

I spent days choosing that bracelet, and I know every detail of it, including any crack.

So, who is pretending to be Jue Chi?

The next morning, Chi Rui was the first to wake up, urgently rousing everyone else. I opened my eyes to check the time on my wrist; it was just past eight, which meant I had slept less than five hours.

With the flight at ten, getting up now was just about right.

Sure enough, after I got up, Jue Chi and Chi Rui had already washed up, and even Taka, who hadn’t gone back last night, was sitting on the sofa.

Seeing everyone waiting for me, I felt a twinge of guilt and hurried to the bathroom to quickly wash my face.

When I came out, Chi Rui and Jue Chi had packed their suitcases. A bearded stranger was standing at the door, talking to Taka.

He must be one of Taka’s men. The bearded man glanced at me, placed the two suitcases at the door, and then left.

I signaled to Chi Rui with my eyes, but he just gave Taka a cold snort and said nothing more.

“Alright, if everyone is ready, we can head out. The driver is waiting at the door,” Taka said as he turned to us. I nodded, and Jue Chi stood up holding the little fox. Chi Rui, on the other hand, remained silent, his face sullen as if he was owed something.

The flight from Bangkok back home was just a few hours. As I hadn’t slept well the night before, I fell asleep as soon as we boarded and didn’t wake up until the plane landed.

Having called ahead, Lin Huan was already waiting at the exit with the car. With four people, a little fox, and six boxes, my car seemed insufficient.

In the end, we piled in like a stack of dominoes and finally returned to my shop.

There were originally three rooms and a storage room in the shop. I took one room, Lin Huan took another, and one was reserved for Jue Chi.

Later, Lin Huan cleaned up the storage room for Du Jun. Now that Du Jun has returned to his villa, the room was conveniently taken by Chi Rui who just moved in. But no matter how you count it, we’re still short one room.

Later, Lin Huan cleaned out the storage room for Du Jun, but now that Du Jun has returned to his villa, Chi Rui, who has moved in, took over that room. No matter how you look at it, we’re still one room short.

Although Taka is here to pay his respects in front of the ancestral tablets of the Gu Family, we can’t just let him sleep in the ancestral hall.

Taka’s life amulet technique is profound and mysterious, and I haven’t fully figured him out yet. Plus, he’s not affected by the curse of the Cycle of Cause and Effect. If he were to tamper with something on my ancestors’ tablets, I would become a sinner of the Gu Family.

After thinking for a long time, I decided to have Taka share a room with Chi Rui. Chi Rui’s eyes practically bulged out.

I pretended not to notice and once I was in the room, I told everyone to go back and unpack.

I returned to my room and put my luggage away. Lin Huan quietly slipped in, asking me about the man dressed in strange clothes.

I told him that he’s a famous Buddha amulet master from Thailand. If he’s interested in finding out about his romantic fate, he can ask Taka to calculate it for free.

Lin Huan was skeptical, but hesitantly said that the man looked too clean-cut to be trustworthy.

I laughed, thinking it’s one thing for Lin Huan to be unattractive, but he shouldn’t hold it against someone for being good-looking.

Lin Huan rolled his eyes and said, “That guy doesn’t look like a good person. Look at Du Jun… Hey? Where is Du Jun? Didn’t he come back with you guys?”

I was momentarily stunned. “He… should have come back by himself.”

Honestly, I felt a bit guilty saying that. I was so preoccupied with Taka this morning that I didn’t notice where Du Jun went.

But then I thought, he’s a grown man; he can’t possibly get lost…

Reassuring myself, I turned back to organizing my things while Lin Huan, already on his phone, ran out shouting, trying to call Du Jun.

Once everything was sorted, everyone naturally gathered in the living room. I asked Chi Rui when he planned to return to Shenyang, and he replied that he still had unfinished business here and would be staying for another month or two.

Hearing that gave me a bit of a headache; it seemed like he would continue rooming with Taka. However, leaving Taka here still felt somewhat impulsive.

I’m not one to beat around the bush, so I directly asked Taka how he planned to ensure that he wouldn’t mess with anything while staying at my house.

“You can set the terms; I have no objections,” he said casually, making me feel a bit fussy. I scratched my head and said reluctantly, “Alright, I know of a life amulet technique that lets us sense each other’s actions. If you don’t mind…”

“I don’t mind. When do we start?” Taka agreed so readily that I was taken aback. I responded directly, “As soon as we have everything ready, we can begin.”

I’ve always had my doubts about Taka following us back so easily. It either had to be part of some scheme or he had other intentions. It certainly couldn’t be as simple as finding a way to lift a curse.

Perhaps I was being a bit distrustful, but for the sake of the Gu Family’s future, I had no choice.

Jue Chi remained silent, but Chi Rui seemed particularly enthusiastic. “Just tell me what you need, and I’ll have someone take care of it right away. It’s the first time I’ve seen the only two major life amulet families in the country collaborate on creating a life amulet.”

After saying that, he dragged Lin Huan along to prepare the materials.

I asked Taka if he had heard of this life amulet technique, and he nodded. “I’ve only heard about it from my family, but I don’t know the specifics. Also, now that I’m back in the country, the name ‘Taka’ is too attention-grabbing and might cause trouble. So from now on, just call me Zhou Qifang.”

I nodded and suggested he take a rest for now. Then, I took the little fox to my room. The ancient books were always left in my room. If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t worry since they couldn’t understand them.

But Taka-or rather, Zhou Qifang-is different. As a yin-yang life amulet master, the contents of those ancient books wouldn’t be just paper to him.

After closing the door, I set the little fox down. It instinctively ran to the third drawer of my bedside table and pawed at it.

I’ve placed a restriction on the third drawer; only a spirit fox’s paw could open it, making it a sort of fingerprint lock in the world of life amulet techniques.