Taboo Mage - Chapter 196 - Late Night Heart-to-Heart

Zhou Qifang didn’t say a word; he simply opened the driver’s door and climbed in. I stood frozen in place, my mind a jumble.

What on earth is going on? I felt more and more confused.

It wasn’t until the car’s headlights shined directly into my eyes, making it hard to see, that I realized I had been standing in this spot for quite a while in the dead of night.

The two of us returned to the inn, and Zhou Qifang tossed his bag aside and lay down on the bed. I had some things I wanted to say to him, or perhaps it was more accurate to say that I wanted to hear his opinions on a few matters.

But looking at Zhou Qifang’s back as he faced away from me, wondering if he might have already fallen asleep, I lay down on my bed as well, pondering the events of the day.

Earlier, in the cold wind, Zhou Qifang had bombarded me with questions. At this moment, I felt much clearer-headed than before, and my thoughts were not so chaotic.

According to Zhou Qifang, I had been freed from the Illusion by Jue Chi. If what Zhou Qifang said was true, then it was certain that Jue Chi was very aware of the nature of his surroundings.

Similarly, Jue Chi knew that the being he was with day and night was not human at all.

But if that was the case, why would he willingly create a barrier to lock himself in with that Mummy?

Could it be that Jue Chi really had feelings for that being?

This seemed like the most unlikely possibility, yet it was the only possibility left.

Didn’t someone once say that when you eliminate all other possibilities, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth?

“If you’re not going to sleep, just go outside. Don’t keep tossing and turning,” Zhou Qifang’s voice suddenly interrupted my thoughts.

I stopped moving and replied to him, “Are you not asleep?”

“With a spinning top beside you, try to see if you can fall asleep,” he said with a hint of a chuckle. I laughed lightly; it’s my habit to roll around when thinking. It seemed I had disturbed Zhou Qifang’s sleep.

However, his tone held no trace of sleepiness, and given the significant events that had just occurred, I didn’t believe he could still be asleep.

“Zhou Qifang, what do you really think about Jue Chi?”

I sat up and looked in his direction in the darkness.

Zhou Qifang suddenly turned over to face me directly and said in a serious tone, “What is there to think? It’s like a cactus blooming, and it’s flowering a man-eating flower.”

“Do you really think that Jue Chi has something going on with that female ghost?” I furrowed my brow.

In the darkness, Zhou Qifang suddenly let out a cold laugh. “Aren’t you thinking the same thing? What’s with the act of innocence in front of me?”

I couldn’t help but curse him in my heart. Why couldn’t he just talk to me properly? Would it kill him to be a little nicer?

Had he forgotten that he was the one in need of my help?

“Alright, it’s late now. There’s no point in thinking about anything else. Get a good night’s sleep and we can talk in the morning,” Zhou Qifang said, turning away to resume his sleep. I shot up from the bed and rushed over, leaning in close to his ear, chuckling softly.

The sound came out a bit eerie, especially in the pitch-black room, combined with the ticking of the old clock on the wall.

It felt just like a scene from a creepy horror show.

Zhou Qifang cursed under his breath, threw the covers off, and sat up. He reached over to press the light switch on the wall, instantly filling the cramped room with brightness.

“What exactly do you want?” he growled, suppressing his anger.

I noticed the veins popping out on his forehead and felt an inexplicable surge of joy, which made me unable to contain my laughter.

Zhou Qifang pressed his lips into a tight line, bent over to pick up the slippers from the floor, and threw them in my direction.

I dodged quickly with a grin, saying, “Sorry, it’s my fault, my fault. Here’s the thing: I didn’t mean to keep you awake. It’s just that tonight’s events are so strange that if I don’t figure them out, I won’t be able to sleep.”

“If you don’t sleep, then why let others sleep? Gu Qingshu, have some shame!” Zhou Qifang shouted out of frustration.

I gave him an apologetic smile and continued, “Just now, while I was lying on the grass, for some reason, I suddenly got sucked into the Illusion. In there, I saw Jue Chi getting cozy with a woman, but then I realized that the woman wasn’t even human. It was so ugly that I couldn’t bear to remember it. We talked about this earlier, but I still find it puzzling.”

“What’s so strange about it?” Zhou Qifang asked, looking at me with cold eyes.

It seemed that Zhou Qifang realized that if we didn’t sort all this out tonight, he wouldn’t get any sleep either. So, he sat up, crossed his legs, and took on a posture that indicated he was ready for a long talk.

I sorted through my thoughts and continued, “What I find strange is that I was clearly trying to find the spirit’s resting place, and you were looking for Jue Chi, so why is it that I ended up getting pulled into the Illusion?”

“Perhaps it’s because you have a better relationship with Jue Chi, so he wanted you to keep him company,” Zhou Qifang replied with a slight smirk.

The more I looked at that smile, the stranger it seemed.

As expected, Zhou Qifang continued, “Maybe that woman took a liking to you, which is why she pulled you in, making you and Jue Chi share in the joys of family life with her.”

“Shut up!”

This guy was clearly resentful that I disturbed his sleep, and all he could do was spew nonsense. Obviously, a dog’s mouth can’t spit out ivory.

I shot Zhou Qifang a glare, yelled at him to go to sleep, then turned off the light and lay back down.

In a half-sleep state, I thought I heard Zhou Qifang’s breathing and some indistinct talking, but I quickly drifted back to sleep.

When I woke up the next morning, Zhou Qifang was already gone from the room.

I rubbed my eyes and got up to wash my face in the bathroom. In a small place like this, the bathroom was just a rough sink and a squat toilet-there was no hope of taking a shower.

After washing my face, I stepped out of the room and ran into Zhou Qifang, who was just pushing the door open with breakfast in hand.

“I bought it outside. Hurry up and eat. We still need to head back to the village,” he said.

I nodded and opened the packaging to find porridge and steamed buns, along with a small bag of pickled vegetables. I had already felt a bit hungry, and seeing the food I liked made me sit down and gobble it all up in a few bites.

On the way back to the village, I asked Zhou Qifang, “Didn’t we agree yesterday not to go into the village during the day?”