Taboo Mage - Chapter 242 - Saving or Harming

Now I understand why the previously elegant Feng Suya let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.

“Wow, that’s intense!”

Chi Rui was startled too, momentarily forgetting to maintain his usual composure, shaking his head in disbelief.

Li Mi seemed pleased with our reactions. She withdrew her hand, examining the hair she held with a peculiar smile on her face. Finally, she leaned against the car window, casting a glance back at the upscale neighborhood fading into the distance, then sat upright.

Back at the house, Hu Zhipeng was anxiously waiting. As soon as we arrived, he hurriedly pulled Li Mi aside, asking, “Sweetheart, how did it go?”

Hearing him call her “sweetheart” sent a shiver down my spine. I turned away and sat on the couch, nodding at Zhou Qifang.

Li Mi proudly displayed her trophy once more. To Hu Zhipeng, it seemed like she was holding gold bars instead of hair. He carefully took Feng Suya’s hair, placing it on the coffee table in front of Zhou Qifang like a treasure.

“Mr. Zhou, is this good?”

Zhou Qifang gave it a cold glance. “It’ll do.”

“So when can we…”

“You’re talking too much.”

Before Hu Zhipeng could finish, Zhou Qifang cut him off, standing up from the couch impatiently and heading towards the storage room.

It seemed he intended to wrap this up quickly. I hesitated for a moment but followed him in, with Chi Rui close behind. The living room was left with just Hu Zhipeng and Li Mi.

As I reached the storage room door, I instinctively glanced back. On the couch, Hu Zhipeng was holding Li Mi tightly, their heads close together, whispering about something. Li Mi’s slender arms encircled Hu Zhipeng’s hefty waist. I took a deep breath and entered the storage room.

Inside, Zhou Qifang swiftly gathered everything he needed. I glanced around; many of the items were unfamiliar to me. No wonder he had brought so much stuff when he first moved into my place.

Half an hour later, Zhou Qifang emerged with a pile of items, followed by Chi Rui carrying more. My hands were empty, but I still had a peach tree branch hanging around my neck.

“The creation of your Buddha amulet will take some time. You can choose to wait here or go back,” Zhou Qifang said, placing everything on the workbench I usually used for making life amulets.

Hu Zhipeng immediately decided to stay and wait.

I noticed a fleeting smile on Zhou Qifang’s face, suddenly feeling that this situation might not be as straightforward as it seemed.

This was my first time witnessing the process of making a Buddha amulet. It wasn’t much different from making a life amulet. Zhou Qifang first took out a peculiar Buddha statue from Thailand, placing it in the corner opposite him. Then he had Hu Zhipeng and Li Mi bow to it a few times.

Next, he took out a Buddha amulet shaped like a strange animal, hanging it on his hand. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he had Hu Zhipeng sit opposite him. Zhou Qifang placed several odd items in front of Hu Zhipeng, then sat down, closed his eyes, and began chanting.

I sat on the couch, trying to figure out what felt off. But nothing came to mind, though I couldn’t shake the feeling that Zhou Qifang had been acting strangely lately.

Suddenly, I noticed a dark energy swirling around Hu Zhipeng’s forehead. There’s an old saying in China: “A dark cloud hangs overhead, misfortune looms.”

Seeing the dark energy on Hu Zhipeng’s face, I jumped up from the couch, intending to intervene. But before I could take more than a couple of steps, Chi Rui rushed over, pulling me back.

“What’s going on?” I glanced at Li Mi, who was watching us curiously from the couch, and lowered my voice.

Chi Rui didn’t speak, just shook his head and pushed me back onto the couch.

I frowned, my eyes fixed on Zhou Qifang and Hu Zhipeng. As Zhou Qifang’s chanting grew faster, the dark energy on Hu Zhipeng’s face intensified.

This was a clear sign of impending bad luck, without exception!

The more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt. Zhou Qifang wasn’t someone who acted irrationally. He could have demanded a high fee or expensive artifacts as payment, but instead, he asked for Li Mi’s hand.

And thinking back, since Zhou Qifang arrived in the country, he hadn’t taken on any business. He wasn’t short on money, and by nature, he was a lazy person.

If something didn’t genuinely entice him, Zhou Qifang wouldn’t take action. Li Mi’s initial offer sounded good, but for someone of Zhou Qifang’s wealth, it was a drop in the ocean.

Therefore, from start to finish, Zhou Qifang’s actions were completely against his usual principles.

Something was definitely off!

“Alright, remember, once you leave, the Buddha amulet must be worn close to your body at all times, or I can’t guarantee its effectiveness,” Zhou Qifang’s voice suddenly broke my thoughts. I looked up to see that he had finished the ritual.

As he spoke, he quickly braided a red string with the hair Li Mi brought back from Feng Suya, using it as the amulet’s cord.

Hu Zhipeng took the Buddha amulet from Zhou Qifang’s hand, and without hesitation, hung it around his neck.

The moment the amulet was around Hu Zhipeng’s neck, I saw a black smoke, like a steel wire, emerge from the amulet, circle around him, and finally enter his head.

I stared in shock, not fully understanding why, but I was certain that if Hu Zhipeng continued wearing that amulet, within two years, he’d be bedridden.

Hu Zhipeng clutched the amulet around his neck like a treasure.

Zhou Qifang, satisfied with Hu Zhipeng’s reaction, then approached Li Mi with an identical amulet.

“This is yours. Wear it around your neck and remember, never take it off.”