Taboo Mage - Chapter 163 - The Evil Deity Emerges

I was standing in the corridor, not having finished my cigarette yet, when the doctor came over with a medical chart and asked who among us was related to the person in the ward.

I waved, saying I was his brother. The doctor gave me a cold look and immediately said, “He’s in such a state and you only bring him to the hospital now? What, is there some brotherly inheritance drama going on at home?”

I chuckled, intending to brush it off. Glancing at the nametag on the doctor’s chest, I said, “You must be joking. My brother came back from outside in this condition, and we have no idea how it happened.”

The doctor gave me a puzzled look before explaining a bunch of important notes, which I nodded along and memorized. I then watched as the doctor walked away.

When I turned around, Chi Rui was pushing the door open and called out to me, “Come over here, Zhou Qifang is asking for you.”

“He’s awake?” I asked in surprise. The doctor had just made it sound like he was on the verge of death, and now he’s already awake?

Chi Rui glared at me, stepped aside, and went to the bathroom. I frowned; such a blatant attempt to avoid suspicion-does he think I can’t see through it?

I pushed open the door to the ward, and sure enough, Zhou Qifang had already awakened. He looked quite pale, bandaged all over like an Egyptian mummy, except for his still-attractive face.

“How are you?” I asked, pulling a chair over to sit next to him.

Zhou Qifang shook his head, “I won’t die. How’s Du Jun?”

“He’s doing well,” I replied, then fell silent, not knowing what else to say.

After a moment of silence, Zhou Qifang slowly spoke, “I should thank you today. If you hadn’t held off the Bull-Horn Monster, we might have all died in that room.”

“What exactly happened… Oh, right, what’s the deal with that evil spirit? It was so powerful, and you even handed your weapon over to him?” I asked as the thought struck me.

Zhou Qifang shook his head and coughed hard a few times before saying, “That wasn’t an evil spirit; it was an evil deity, King Cipiluo.”

“Evil deity?”

I stared in astonishment as I suddenly recalled that when I first received Du Jun’s Buddha amulet, Jue Chi had mentioned that the entity within the amulet was a very powerful evil spirit, possibly even connected to an evil deity from Thailand.

I hadn’t expected it to actually be true…

I asked Zhou Qifang, “What exactly is this King Cipiluo you mentioned?”

Zhou Qifang explained that when Du Jun had initially approached him to acquire a Buddha amulet, he had refused. He had used the Zhou Family’s Yin-Yang Life Amulet Technique to read Du Jun’s fortune, and it didn’t indicate he was destined to become a star.

But Du Jun insisted that he was willing to do whatever it took.

So Zhou Qifang decided to use the Bull-Horn Monster as the spirit to change his fortune and infused it into the Buddha amulet. The Bull-Horn Monster, however, was the mount of King Cipiluo.

Now, with its mount being mistreated and its superior being an evil deity, King Cipiluo naturally wasn’t going to let it go, and came directly with the Bull-Horn Monster to cause trouble.

Zhou Qifang could barely handle one of them, but against King Cipiluo, he was utterly powerless.

Hearing this, I couldn’t help but ask, “If you knew you couldn’t handle it, why did you agree to help Du Jun get rid of the evil spirit?”

Zhou Qifang gave a bitter smile and said, “I thought once we were outside Thailand, King Cipiluo wouldn’t be able to follow, but I didn’t expect it to reach China and still be so formidable.”

I sighed, realizing that no matter where an immortal comes from, leaving their home country doesn’t diminish their power by much.

Zhou Qifang continued, “I offered the vajra whip in exchange to spare our lives. The vajra whip was actually something I had obtained from another evil deity, and only after King Cipiluo accepted the vajra whip did he release us.”

“You’re foolish not to have said something earlier; maybe if the two of us had joined forces, you wouldn’t have had to give up your weapon.”

I knew I was being a bit of a Monday morning quarterback, but seeing Zhou Qifang lying there half-dead and weaponless left me feeling unsettled.

Looking back, if I had stepped up and helped at that time, maybe he wouldn’t have ended up in such a sorry state, nearly losing his life.

Zhou Qifang didn’t say much more, just mentioned he was tired and suggested we head back to rest.

I nodded, thinking he seemed alright. Just then, Du Jun walked in, carrying something. I suggested Zhou Qifang eat a bit before we left, promising to bring him some clothes later so he could rest comfortably at the hospital for a few days.

Du Jun, seemingly a bit guilty, quickly put the food on the table and followed me out, saying he’d drive me back.

Knowing he was worried that Zhou Qifang might hold a grudge against him, I took the opportunity to say that it would be great if he could give me a ride, as I had some things I wanted to discuss with him privately.

As we walked to the parking lot, Du Jun kept thanking us for saving his life.

I corrected him, saying it was Zhou Qifang who saved him, not me. This seemed to put a damper on his enthusiasm, and he fell silent, like he’d just swallowed a fly.

“Du Jun, be honest with me. Why did you originally go to Thailand to get a Buddha amulet?”

As we passed a traffic light, I couldn’t hold back any longer and asked him. This question had been on my mind for a while, but I hadn’t asked before because it wasn’t my responsibility to handle the situation.

However, given what Zhou Qifang just explained-that Du Jun wasn’t destined to become a superstar, yet still insisted on going to Thailand-I couldn’t believe it was just because of his ex-girlfriend.

Sure enough, when he heard my question, Du Jun’s expression shifted slightly, and he pressed his lips together, staying silent.

I chuckled coldly, “Du Jun, I don’t care who you are-I just want you to understand. Whether it’s a Thai Buddha amulet or a Chinese Yin-Yang life amulet, it’s all dependent on the life fate of the amulet master. Every time we make a life amulet, we face backlash ourselves. You’ve seen how much damage Zhou Qifang took for your amulet. If you have any conscience at all, come clean about the situation. Otherwise, you might make everyone unhappy, leading to an even worse outcome.”

After I finished speaking, Du Jun’s face turned quite ugly. I knew he was intentionally hiding something from us. While he could choose not to say anything, I had no qualms about dealing with a bit of backlash myself to craft a life amulet that could give him a hard time.

After all, those who know me understand just how petty I can be.

Du Jun slammed on the brakes, stopping the car right on the bridge over the river. The wind from the river blew in through the window, chilling us to the core.