Taboo Mage - Chapter 192 - Return to the Theater Stage

In the distance, those lights looked like fireflies, but everyone understood they were “will-o’-the-wisps.” However, under the scrutiny of modern science, such phenomena are not frightening.

I pulled my gaze back and suddenly heard a crisp sound. Since I needed to keep an eye on the road at night, I could only glance around briefly but didn’t manage to pinpoint the source of the sound.

Inside the dark compartment, Zhou Qifang opened his backpack and pulled out the cloth bag I had seen during the day. He opened the bag to reveal a small, exquisite wind chime.

“What is this?” I couldn’t help but pick it up, curious.

Zhou Qifang fully took out the wind chime and hung it on my rearview mirror, saying, “This is something I found in Bangkok. I don’t know what material it’s made of, but the most special thing about it is that if a person’s blood is dripped onto it, whenever the wind chime encounters that person again, it will make a sound.”

“Are you kidding? The wind chime would ring if it catches a breeze or is touched by someone. How can you tell which sound is the one that means it found the person?”

I was a bit skeptical. The world indeed had many strange occurrences, but until I saw it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it. After all, I was born in the New China and raised under the red flag, molded by scientific thought.

Zhou Qifang didn’t speak further, just leaned quietly against the seat, clearly not wanting to explain too much. I forced a smile and didn’t ask again.

Upon entering the village, I parked the car in front of an old theater stage. The front had just been renovated, and even from afar, I could smell the fresh paint.

Behind the theater stage, crossing a grass field, lay the old theater stage. It was quite dilapidated. While researching during the day, I had come across information about this stage. It had existed since the Song Dynasty.

As time passed, it survived the ravages of war and demolition and, miraculously, remained standing. A few years ago, the stage was designated as a municipal cultural relic and was further protected.

The reason for choosing this place was that buildings of greater age were more likely to harbor spirits.

I still couldn’t confirm what kind of spirit was within the soul-capturing bottle, but since it appeared here, it had to be related to this village.

And within this village, the only place that could give birth to spirits was probably this theater stage.

I parked the car outside the new theater stage and strapped my backpack on, waiting for Zhou Qifang to come out. Together, we walked towards the old, dilapidated theater stage behind.

The theater stage at night felt particularly desolate. As I stepped onto the grass field, I noticed that since it hadn’t been maintained, the weeds had grown wildly. I could feel the cold seeping through the soles of my shoes, causing my toes to curl involuntarily from the chill.

“What kind of ghostly place is this? It’s filled with Yin Energy,” I frowned, glancing around. Aside from a few households in the distance with lights on, everything else was enveloped in complete darkness, making me feel a bit anxious.

Zhou Qifang remained silent, gently holding the wind chime as he walked ahead. I then noticed that ever since it chimed earlier, it hadn’t made another sound. Curiously, I felt a cool breeze on my cheeks, yet the wind chime remained completely still.

We stopped in front of the old theater stage, and I set down my backpack. I pulled out the red string, wooden amulet, glutinous rice, and black dog blood. As usual, I tied the red string into a hexagonal dharma array in front of the stage, placing a basin filled with glutinous rice in the center of the array before taking out the soul-capturing bottle and the wooden amulet.

I tied one end of the red string to the wooden amulet, then opened the soul-capturing bottle and began to chant the incantation. A bluish glow leapt within the bottle for a moment before it traveled along the red string and entered the wooden amulet.

This was to guide the spirit into the amulet, allowing the life amulet to locate the spirit’s place of belonging. After that, I adhered the yellow talisman paper with the talismanic incantation onto the wooden amulet and recited the incantation to imprison the spirit within the life amulet.

Once everything was prepared, I inserted the life amulet into the glutinous rice and turned to look at Zhou Qifang. Before we left, we had agreed that during our nighttime operation, we would each focus on our respective tasks.

I was in charge of discovering where the spirit came from, while Zhou Qifang would use soul summoning techniques to determine whether Jue Chi was alive or dead. If he was deceased, we needed to know whether his spirit resided in this place.

At that moment, Zhou Qifang placed the wind chime he had been holding on the grass and took out his water cup from the backpack. I blinked in surprise.

Why did I remember that the cup was filled with hot water he had gotten from the hotel front desk? Now it had turned blood-red!

“What is that?” I frowned and couldn’t help but ask.

Zhou Qifang lowered his head, opened the cup, and poured the blood-infused glutinous rice water over the wind chime.

“This is glutinous rice water mixed with Jue Chi’s blood,” Zhou Qifang said casually as he tossed the cup aside.

I stared at him in disbelief, my eyes widening. “Why would you mix Jue Chi’s blood into the glutinous rice water?”

“Because Jue Chi’s Taoist cultivation is stronger than mine. If Jue Chi is already dead, when I attempt to summon his soul later, I can’t be sure I’ll be able to control it,” Zhou Qifang explained matter-of-factly.

I quickly walked over and grabbed Zhou Qifang by the collar, demanding angrily, “What exactly do you intend to do with Jue Chi’s soul?”

In that moment, I didn’t realize that deep down, I had already accepted that Jue Chi was dead.

All I could think was that a high monk like him should never have his soul used for evil deeds.

Zhou Qifang shot me a cold glance but didn’t resist. Instead, he spoke in a low voice, “Don’t you realize that after a person dies, their soul is no longer the same as the person they once were?”

“What do you mean?” I asked sharply.

Zhou Qifang locked eyes with me and replied solemnly, “I want to tell you that while a person is alive, they exist because of the breath of life. When they die, that breath is gone. The soul after death should not be considered the same person. Since life depends on that breath and the spirit has none, why do you believe that this soul is still the original Jue Chi? What if it’s his dark side instead?”