Taboo Mage - Chapter 191 - Where the Spirit Comes From

“Our Zhou Family’s life amulet technique uses Qi as a medium, while your Gu Family relies on spirits. Don’t you know that?”

I shook my head, “From the moment I was born, your Zhou Family was already in Bangkok. My grandfather never mentioned your family, so how could I know?”

I couldn’t help but feel a bit aggrieved as I shouted.

Zhou Qifang seemed to know our Gu Family inside out, but I had no understanding of the Zhou Family at all. The only person I was familiar with was Zhou Qifang.

Zhou Qifang asked me to recount how I found the soul-capturing bottle again. I carefully recalled from the moment I woke up to when I saw Zhou Qifang at the supermarket entrance, detailing everything.

Zhou Qifang listened attentively. When I finished speaking, he rested his chin on his hand, and after a long pause, said slowly, “So, someone already knew in advance that you would be here, which is why they placed the soul-capturing bottle in that supermarket.”

“It seems… that’s indeed the case.”

My expression instantly turned grim. This meant someone had been monitoring me from start to finish, and they predicted my every move.

Who could it possibly be, to know me so well?

Could it be…

No, that’s impossible! Jue Chi couldn’t orchestrate something so complex. That monk is very straightforward; if he wanted to do something, he would quietly go about it himself.

Even if he needed my help, he would say so openly, there’s no way he would resort to such tricks.

Zhou Qifang seemed to guess my thoughts; he shook his head and spoke slowly, “It can’t be Jue Chi. Then who else knows you so well?”

“I don’t know.” I pondered carefully.

The people who know me well are just those close to me-either family or friends. Since my parents have passed, I’m an orphan now. Among friends, the only ones who could understand me to this extent would be Jue Chi or Lin Huan.

“Could it be Lin Huan?”

I said this reluctantly, realizing that it might be the only possibility given the current situation.

As soon as I spoke, Zhou Qifang shook his head immediately, “It can’t be him.”

“Why not?” I frowned. I couldn’t guarantee my own actions, how could he know so much?

Zhou Qifang clearly had no intention of answering my question. Instead, he glanced at the soul-capturing bottle on the table and said in a deep voice, “There’s also another possibility.”

“What?” I looked at him expectantly, waiting for Zhou Qifang to make some surprising statement.

Zhou Qifang reached out to grasp the soul-capturing bottle, his eyes fixed intently on the spirit inside it as he slowly said, “That person… has been investigating you since the moment you were born.”

A chill ran down my spine. Someone had been watching me from the moment of my birth?

It felt as if this presence was as pervasive as the air itself… This realization sent shivers all over my body.

“Do you not believe me?” Zhou Qifang looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

I shook my head, then immediately nodded. In the end, I didn’t even know if I was shaking my head or nodding.

The possibility was far too frightening, and I didn’t want to believe it, but evidence suggested that the least likely scenario was, in fact, the most plausible one.

Suddenly, I remembered that when I decided to start practicing the life amulet technique, the very first client I received was Xu-Jie.

After Xu-Jie left my place with the life amulet, I felt as if my life was being controlled by an invisible hand.

I was like a puppet on strings, acting according to the predetermined movements dictated by that unseen person.

“Zhou Qifang, are you saying… someone has been watching me since I was born?” I asked in a daze, hoping to hear a denial from him.

Zhou Qifang said nothing but gave me a deep look. “Gu Qingshu, I’ve been much luckier than you. From the moment I was born, I’ve been free from the troubles of curses and the dangers that might come my way. But you are left with this burden; you are destined to bear the full Cycle of Cause and Effect that comes with the life amulet abilities.”

I listened to Zhou Qifang’s words in a daze, my mind blank.

Suddenly, many thoughts rushed into my head-about the Grandfather of the Zhou Family, my own Grandfather and Father, and that person who turned the tables for the Zhou Family, the one hidden in Beijing.

Everything had been predetermined from the moment I was born.

So why was it not possible that even my birth was part of a preordained scheme?

I took a deep breath and lay down on the bed. “I’ll sleep for a bit; call me when it’s night.”

This time, I fell into a deep, steady sleep. Perhaps my inner self had finally accepted the idea of this impossible situation. The nightmares I had often experienced vanished this time.

For the first time in a long while, I slept soundly.

When I woke up again, it was past nine in the evening.

Zhou Qifang was sitting on the bed next to mine, engaged in an unknown activity. From my angle, I could only see his silhouette.

I silenced the alarm clock and sat up, instinctively glancing over at the table. With the arrival of night, the blue spirit inside the soul-capturing bottle seemed to glow even more brilliantly.

“Are you awake? I was just about to call you. It’s time to get up and prepare to leave,” Zhou Qifang said as he turned around.

I then noticed he was holding something round in his hand, covered with a black cloth bag.

“What is that?” I asked while bending down to put on my shoes.

Zhou Qifang placed the black cloth bag inside his backpack without answering. He then stood up and went to get a water cup.

I rolled my eyes. He was always so mysterious. We were both life amulet masters; what was there to hide?

Having finished putting on my shoes and organizing my belongings, I saw Zhou Qifang return just as he had left, holding a cup full of water.

He placed the cup into the backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and headed toward the door while urging me to hurry.

I glanced at the time-it was almost ten o’clock. If we didn’t get moving soon, we might be late.

As usual, we drove back to the village. After nine o’clock, the village had become quiet. Aside from the streetlights along the roads and the occasional barking of dogs, the entire village was eerily still, as if no one lived there.

The lack of sound made the atmosphere extra eerie.

I drove slowly and, as we passed the cemetery, I instinctively turned my head to glance inside. I saw a faint green light floating in the air.