Taboo Mage - Chapter 189 - Finding the Village

I pressed the enter key, and indeed, a whole bunch of web pages popped up on my phone screen.

I scrolled down, my eyes quickly scanning each news headline, until my finger stopped on one of them.

“A major murder case involving dead bodies has occurred in a neighboring village, resulting in three fatalities…”

I didn’t read the lengthy details that followed, but I was well aware that Jue Chi was likely involved in this incident.

Suddenly, the passenger door was yanked open. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed it was Zhou Qifang.

Zhou Qifang was carrying a backpack and had my bag in hand. After getting into the passenger seat, he tossed both bags onto the back seat.

“Did you find the place?” he asked.

I nodded and continued scanning the screen, trying to locate keywords, “I can’t be completely sure, but it should be about right.”

“Let’s check it out. If it’s not the right place, we can look for another one.”

Taking Zhou Qifang’s advice, I nodded and pressed down on the gas pedal. I couldn’t confirm if the location mentioned in the recent news was indeed where Jue Chi would go.

So I sped down the road, hoping to save time. If we ended up at the wrong location, we would still have some time left to search elsewhere.

According to the navigation, it would take a little over two hours to reach that village. Once we got on the expressway, Zhou Qifang fell asleep in the passenger seat. Feeling bored on my own, I pressed play on the car’s music.

It was an audio recitation of the Zhuangzi. I had met Jue Chi because of making a life amulet, and he had specifically recorded the Zhuangzi for me. I would always play it whenever I drove out.

Listening to the monk’s voice seemed to be enough to calm my restless mind.

Three hours later, we arrived at the entrance of the village. I parked the car by the roadside and gently shook Zhou Qifang awake, then gestured for him to look at the nearby area.

There was a cemetery. According to Chinese tradition, in the northern region, burials were typically done in the ground. Initially, most villagers would hire Feng Shui masters to find a suitable burial site for their deceased loved ones.

However, due to the uncontrolled practice of burials, many prime Feng Shui spots ended up occupied by graves, leading to a waste of land.

Consequently, the government later designated a unified cemetery within the village for the deceased.

And this village’s cemetery was right at the entrance.

This was a modern village. After getting off the expressway, we could reach the village via a brand-new cement road.

Even though we hadn’t entered the village yet, just standing at the entrance, I could see rows of two-story buildings nestled among the fields.

While on the way, I did some online research. The village had two entrances, just a few kilometers apart, and the cemetery we were looking at was located right between the two entrances.

Due to its convenient transportation, the village had many young people in addition to the elderly. There were a few who went away for work, but they were not common.

Zhou Qifang stretched lazily and adjusted his seat back. He rolled down the car window and glanced outside. Just one glance was enough for him to furrow his brow and exclaim, “Damn!”

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem with the cemetery?” I widened my eyes and looked in that direction as well.

“No! How could there be a problem with such a cemetery?”

“Then why the ‘damn’?” I shot back, frustrated by his unnecessary drama.

Zhou Qifang rolled his eyes at me. “I’m just curious why you parked here. Everyone else seems to avoid the graves, and you’re just driving right up to it.”

I was too lazy to argue with him. I pressed down the gas pedal and turned into the adjacent village entrance.

Inside the village, the roads were crisscrossed, and a statue that was hard to identify stood in the center. I drove straight past it while Zhou Qifang stared into the rearview mirror for a long time, seemingly puzzled.

“What’s the plan now?” he asked.

I drove around aimlessly through the village streets. No matter how developed the village was, there was still a peculiar habit among the residents to gaze curiously at unfamiliar faces.

So, as my car crawled along the street, countless eyes turned toward us, fixated on the taillights.

Feeling a bit helpless, I said, “I don’t know.”

After saying that, I parked alongside the road and pulled out my phone to dial Jue Chi’s number.

I heard a series of beeps, but no one answered after a long wait.

I hadn’t really expected him to pick up, and after a few rings, I sighed, preparing to hang up.

Just as my finger hovered over the red phone icon, the call connected with a beep, surprising me.

I froze for a moment, staring at my phone, unsure of what to do. It was only Zhou Qifang’s sudden push that snapped me back to reality.

“Hello? Jue Chi? Where are you?” I swallowed hard and deliberately asked with a relaxed tone.

“I can see you. Turn around immediately, or I’ll make sure you don’t come back,” a cold and menacing voice emerged from the phone.

My eyes widened in shock, and I asked in a low voice, “Who are you?”

“You don’t need to know who I am. If you want to stay alive, leave here quietly.”

“You… Hey? Hello?”

Before I could finish my sentence, the caller hung up. Furious, I almost threw my phone out the window.

But I couldn’t do that; this phone was my only means of finding Jue Chi.

“Who was that?” Zhou Qifang asked, scanning the surroundings warily.

I shook my head, “I don’t know, but it’s not Jue Chi. He threatened me, saying if we don’t leave immediately, we won’t make it back.”

“Hah! Who does he think he is, acting so cocky? When did the laws in China become this relaxed?”

Zhou Qifang scoffed, but I shook my head helplessly. I considered explaining to him the complexities of Chinese law and the intricacies of social relationships in China.

Then I realized that apart from his name, Zhou Qifang was completely a typical Thai person from head to toe. Could I really expect him to understand the nuances of Chinese society?

I didn’t engage him any further. Instead, I focused on what the phone call meant. Was it merely a threat to keep us from getting involved?

It seemed to me that the situation was unlikely to be that simple. If it weren’t, did that mean there was still a chance that Jue Chi was alive?