Taboo Mage - Chapter 48 - Inviting Trouble

I still hadn’t recovered from the shock of what had happened by the time we left the police station.

Lin Huan followed behind me, dusting off his clothes and spitting in disgust, cursing that he should have checked the almanac before leaving home today because of this bad luck, which had totally ruined his mood for fishing.

I teased him, saying that he was just there for the fun of it anyway, considering how sloppily he dressed; fishing, a social activity, really wasn’t for him.

Lin Huan just laughed it off and dragged me to the car.

All afternoon, my heart pounded for no reason, and images of that crying child and the sullen-faced middle-aged woman kept flashing through my mind.

Chen Li couldn’t make it due to some last-minute issues, and without him, I was hardly in the mood. After spending an entire afternoon in the sun at the fishing spot, I dragged Lin Huan back home before dinner.

We parked the car in front of our store and I was about to head to the supermarket next door to buy a pack of cigarettes when a sudden cold breeze brushed past my ear.

I instinctively turned around to see the middle-aged woman from earlier suddenly appearing behind me.

She grinned at me and then suddenly sat down on the ground, clinging to my legs without letting go.

Startled, I tried to pull my leg free, but her hands clung to my pants like clamps. Frustrated, I was about to kick her in the stomach when she suddenly looked up and cried out, “Help me! Save my son, please! I beg you!”

“What the hell do you want? Just speak up!” Already agitated by her, my tone was far from friendly.

Lin Huan, who had been waiting for me for a while, came over to the supermarket entrance only to find this woman clinging desperately to my legs and crying miserably. That heartless kid just leaned against a lamppost and started laughing uncontrollably.

I gestured for Lin Huan to pull her away as people around us began to stare. I was worried that if this kept up, someone would call the police and accuse me of abducting a woman.

After I brought the woman back to the store, Lin Huan poured her a glass of water. I sat on the sofa, waiting for her to regain her composure before asking what exactly had happened and why she insisted on seeking my help.

The woman, her eyes swollen like two large walnuts from crying, told me intermittently. She used to sell vegetables at the market next door. Her husband had died in a car accident while out buying supplies some time ago, leaving just her and her son.

She could barely make ends meet by selling vegetables, but since last week, she discovered that her house seemed to have been burgled. Every day, the things she arranged before leaving would be completely messed up by the evening, and her son also started crying whenever he saw her.

Clasping my hands, I wondered who could be so senseless as to steal from such a poor family.

The woman continued sobbing and said, “But yesterday, when I talked to people at the market, they told me that for many days now, I’ve been leaving less than an hour after arriving in the morning. But I clearly remember staying at the market all day…”

At that moment, I couldn’t think of what might be happening, but it sounded very much like the cases of split personality often encountered in the criminal investigation department.

After crying herself out, the woman took a few big gulps of water, then wiped her mouth with her wide sleeve.

“You should probably go to the hospital to get checked; it might be an illness,” I suggested gently, tugging at the corner of my mouth.

The woman shook her head, then leaned closer to me, whispering mysteriously, “My son told me last night that he saw my dead husband.”

“What?”

I raised my voice, looking at her in astonishment.

She nodded firmly and repeated the statement.

“Where did he see him?” I realized the seriousness of the situation. It might not be a case of split personality affecting her, but rather something possessing her.

Sniffing, the woman said, “My son told me that my husband was lying right beside me, even smiling at him.”

Typically, it is well-known that children can see things that adults cannot, which is attributed to the physiological changes adults undergo influenced by their environment as they grow.

The younger a person is, the closer they are to humanity’s original, primal state, a time when humans and ghosts could communicate openly.

I inquired further into the recent bizarre occurrences and became more convinced that his son was not afraid of the middle-aged woman, but rather his deceased Father who had returned and possessed her.

Lin Huan was astounded by this revelation; I had to call his name several times without a response, and eventually, I had to stand up and kick him lightly to get his attention, then sent him to fetch the child while I took the woman to the ancestral hall.

Once inside, I first tied an Array with a red string to ensure that her body would remain uncontrollable for the time being.

After setting everything up, I returned to the living room just as Lin Huan brought the child back; they were happily playing on the sofa.

I crouched down and asked the child if he had seen his dad recently.

Absorbed in his toy, he didn’t look up and simply responded, “Yeah, Dad comes back every night and holds me.”

“Do you like your dad?” I continued, holding a toy car.

“I used to, not anymore.”

“Why don’t you like him now?” It was strange, considering the child seemed to have had a good relationship with his Father, but now he cries uncontrollably whenever he sees his mother, who is possessed by his Father.

The child lay on the floor and suddenly threw his toy car, chasing after it on his short legs.

Then, he suddenly turned and smiled at me.

A wave of inexplicable fear surged from my feet, making my legs go weak, and I sat down on the floor. His smile was eerily unsettling, continuously echoing in my mind.

Thinking my eyes were deceiving me, I rubbed them vigorously and looked again. The child blinked his beautiful, clear eyes, resembling spring water, and smiled warmly at me.

I reassured myself that it was just my nerves making me see things; after all, he was just a lovely child with nothing to fear.