Taboo Mage - Chapter 156 - Binding Life Amulet Technique

I handed the list I had just written to Lin Huan and asked him to check it, while I pulled Jue Chi upstairs.

Lin Huan looked at me with a puzzled expression, but he resignedly carried the items to verify them. I led Jue Chi upstairs, and as we reached the stairway, the door of the storage room below suddenly opened. Zhou Qifang stood in the doorway, looking up at me.

In the past, I could look back at him indifferently, and even glare. But now, every time I think he might be secretly in love with me, my throat tightens with acidity, and goosebumps flare up on my arms.

Jue Chi suddenly laughed, and I quickly dragged him upstairs, rushed into a room, and closed the door, finally feeling relieved.

We discussed the matter further and both agreed that the other party might have additional motives, which we hadn’t considered yet.

I nodded, and as we were discussing, Chi Rui’s voice came from downstairs. I glanced at Jue Chi and went down to prepare the life amulet.

First, as usual, I placed a finished wooden amulet into glutinous rice soaked in black dog blood. According to what was recorded in the ancient books, I made a cut on my arm with a knife, caught some blood in a small bowl, and then tossed the knife to Zhou Qifang.

Zhou Qifang followed suit, and I mixed our blood into the glutinous rice. After that, I pulled a few hairs from both of our heads and braided them together.

Chi Rui stood quietly watching, and when he saw me braiding the hair, he suddenly asked, “Are you two getting married?”

“Shut up!” I glared at him while quickly lighting the yellow talisman paper inscribed with runes and threw the braided hair into the fire. The ashes from the burning were also mixed into the glutinous rice.

With everything prepared, I instructed Zhou Qifang to use a red string to form the dharma array. I sat in the center, cross-legged, holding a peculiar dharma formula with both hands while silently chanting the Incantation.

The Incantation is the key to crafting the life amulet, so I wasn’t worried about others learning the other preparatory steps. While silently reciting the Incantation, I closely observed the reaction of the amulet placed in the glutinous rice.

Everything started off normally, but as I reached the end of the Incantation, faint white smoke began to rise above the amulet. I frowned, not recalling anything in the ancient books mentioning that smoke would appear during the crafting of the binding life amulet technique.

“Qingshu, is something wrong?” Jue Chi, having noticed the anomaly, frowned and asked me.

I shook my head, “I don’t know. I followed the ancestral methods exactly, without any error.”

Zhou Qifang, who had been sitting silently in the center, suddenly stood up and walked towards the amulet. Before I could stop him, he had already reached into the glutinous rice with his hand, and silently muttered something with his eyes closed.

I frowned at him, and after his influence, the white smoke around the amulet quickly dissipated, and the originally wooden-colored amulet turned a faint crimson.

“How did this happen…” I asked in confusion, frowning at the transformation of the amulet.

Zhou Qifang retrieved the amulet, “You forgot the most important component.”

“What?” I asked in confusion, while mentally reviewing everything recorded in the ancient books to ensure I hadn’t overlooked anything.

“Although I don’t know what’s needed specifically for this amulet, the principles are the same. Fundamentally, crafting an amulet requires a spirit to activate its effects. Gu Qingshu, you forgot the essential spirit.”

As Zhou Qifang spoke, he turned and gave me a calm look.

I was suddenly at a loss. Of course! How could I forget the spirit in crafting the amulet! I’ve really embarrassed the Gu Family in front of Zhou Qifang.

Fortunately, Zhou Qifang didn’t say anything further. He simply handed one of the amulets to me, “Luckily, I carry some spirits with me. This time, I can help you. But if you’re careless like this again, no one will be able to assist you.”

Embarrassed, I took the amulet and hung it on my wrist.

Once the binding life amulet was completed, Zhou Qifang and I planned to discuss going to Beijing to find that person. I suggested we hold off for now.

According to Zhou Qifang, that person has been hiding in Beijing for quite some time. Even though Zhou Qifang is in Thailand, he’s kept a close watch on domestic affairs, yet he’s been unable to locate this person for years. This suggests that the person has been deliberately avoiding detection. If we rush in, we might alert them.

Zhou Qifang agreed with this assessment.

Seeing his nod, I continued, “How about this: the Chi Family has a considerable influence within the country. We can have Chi Rui make a public effort to find this person, creating a distraction, while we quietly infiltrate Beijing and conduct a covert search. With this two-pronged approach, even if the person has many hiding spots, we’ll dig them out.”

This time, Zhou Qifang didn’t respond verbally but turned to glance at Chi Rui. Chi Rui snorted, nodded casually, indicating he had no objections.

“Alright, let’s proceed with this plan for now.”

With the plan set, it was time for execution. I had Chi Rui arrange for people to handle the public search, while Zhou Qifang and I were discussing potential operatives to stealthily enter Beijing.

Jue Chi, who had been observing for a while, seemed to feel he wasn’t much use at the moment, so he got up to excuse himself.

I had a few things I wanted to discuss with Jue Chi, but it didn’t seem like the right time or setting, so I just nodded and saw him and the little fox out.

Returning to the room, I found Zhou Qifang looking at me strangely. I tentatively asked him what was on his mind, but he just shook his head without saying anything.

The search was not something that could be rushed either, so after a brief chat with Zhou Qifang, I returned to my room to rest.

In the evening, I planned to take Zhou Qifang out for dinner. After all, it was his first time back in his hometown after many years away, and as his host, it was only right for me to extend some hospitality.

While we were in the living room discussing where to eat, someone suddenly pushed the door open and barged in.

Annoyed, I glanced at the unexpected visitor and thought to myself that I’d have to place a restriction at the door tomorrow. If this continued, my place would turn into a playground where anyone could come and go as they pleased.