Taboo Mage - Chapter 49 - Two Ghosts

ou know, I just went to their house, and the moment I stepped inside, I got goosebumps all over.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know! It was creepy, like falling into an ice hole.”

As Lin Huan spoke, he rubbed his arms. I nodded, instructed him to keep an eye on the child, and then returned to the ancestral hall.

In the ancestral hall, a woman, bored out of her mind, had fallen asleep. Looking at the person lying there, I thought for a moment, then took out some yellow talisman paper and glutinous rice and sprinkled them around her. I then took out a spare life amulet I had prepared earlier, carved a dog on it, and placed it in front of the woman’s feet.

Everything was ready; all that was left was to wait for nightfall.

Lin Huan was resting with the child in the guest room, while I sat cross-legged on the couch, surrounded by a previously arranged bell Array.

As I began to doze off hazily, my head nodding closer to sleep, suddenly, a tinkling sound grew from faint to loud. I abruptly opened my eyes, my right hand instinctively reaching down to touch the peachwood sword on the couch.

A chill wind blew through, and the front door of the shop burst open. I stood up quickly, the bells tied together with red string ringing more urgently around me.

I threw the glutinous rice water, which I had already mixed with black dog blood and rooster blood, towards the center of the Array.

Of course, it also contained my Child’s Urine¹.

The water, mixed with all these ingredients, had just splashed onto the red string when a burning scent quickly spread through the air.

Holding the peachwood sword, I stared unwaveringly at the swirling mass in front of me, my left hand clutching the yellow talisman paper, ready for whatever was approaching.

“You finally came back, huh!”

Suddenly, a wailing sound came from upstairs. I looked up to see that the middle-aged woman had woken up and was rushing down the stairs, her hair disheveled.

With tears streaking her face, she looked just like a female ghost.

“What are you doing! Get back!”

I yelled in anger. I had gone to great lengths to protect her, and couldn’t believe she had rushed down herself, rendering all my efforts futile.

If that male ghost possessed her, expelling it would become even more difficult!

The woman, as if she hadn’t heard, frantically charged into the center of the Array, spreading her arms as if to embrace the air.

Suddenly, she stood frozen in place.

I cursed under my breath, realizing that the worst scenario had unfolded.

I only saw the woman slowly turn around, her face, once rosy, now a ghastly purplish hue, with darkness engulfing the area beneath her eyes and her forehead turning black.

She was possessed.

“Who are you?”

Her voice was low and rough as she began to speak slowly.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to remain calm, “You are her Husband, aren’t you? Since you have already passed on, why come back? Isn’t your own death enough? Do you also want to drag your wife and child down with you?”

“You’re talking nonsense!”

The male ghost suddenly yelled out, lunging towards me. I rolled aside, catching a glimpse of her limping on her left leg.

When the woman had entered, she had been unharmed, but now she dragged her left leg. It seemed the male ghost had broken his left leg in a car accident.

With this in mind, I pulled out a human-shaped yellow talisman paper from my pocket, quickly wrapping the limbs with the red string, then reciting an Incantation.

The talisman paper seemed to come alive in my palm, standing upright. I tied the red strings around its arms together and pulled.

As if sensing something, the male ghost’s hands were pulled up into the air, hanging suspended.

I temporarily restrained the male ghost with the red string, but to fully exorcise him, I would need to go out and invite Jue Chi. Otherwise, I could only perform a forceful exorcism, which would result in his complete obliteration, preventing any chance of reincarnation.

This was not the outcome I wanted to see.

Because of the loud noises downstairs, after I had controlled the male ghost with the red string and glutinous rice water, Lin Huan, holding the child, stood at the staircase and asked me how things were going.

I briefly explained the process, then warned them both to keep their distance.

However, the child suddenly bit down on Lin Huan’s arm, causing him to cry out in pain and release his grip, allowing the child to run down.

“What are you doing? Stay away from her!”

With quick reflexes, I grabbed the child to prevent him from getting closer.

Yet, the child suddenly looked up, pulled the soul-capturing bottle from my arms, and charged toward the male ghost.

“Not good!”

I shouted and chased after him.

Just as the mouth of the soul-capturing bottle was about to align with the male ghost, I leapt forward and snatched the bottle from the child’s hands.

“Give me the bottle.”

As I sat on the ground, catching my breath from the shock, the child suddenly curved his lips into a sinister smile and coldly laughed.

That familiar, eerie sense of fear suddenly enveloped me, and I flipped over and jumped back, warily watching the child from a distance.

“This child…”

Lin Huan hurried over, cautiously holding my arm and asked.

I clenched my teeth, realizing that I had indeed brought this trouble upon myself. If I’m not mistaken, this child is also tainted.

How could I only remember that children can see unclean things and forget that they are also the easiest to attract them?

The child, glaring with his Eyeballs, stepped toward me, reaching out for the soul-capturing bottle.

I clutched the bottle tightly in my arms and raised the peachwood sword, “What are you?”

“Give me the bottle.”

The child kept repeating these words, each time more sinister and deeper than the last.

Gritting my teeth, I slowly retreated towards the door with Lin Huan.

“Xiao Tao… Xiao Tao…”

Just as I reached the doorway, the male ghost, bound by the red string, suddenly looked up and called out in a mournful voice.

I froze in place.

This sudden turn of events was so unusual that I was momentarily unable to react.

So, what exactly is going on? Are there really two ghosts in my house?

Dealing with one ghost was already tough, let alone now with two, and these ghosts even knew each other! How is this different from me fighting a group?

“Xiao Tao, don’t hurt others…”

I quietly took out the yellow talisman paper controlling the male ghost, planning to eliminate him and reduce the number by one.

Footnote:

1. Child’s Urine(童子尿):This is a traditional Chinese medicinal ingredient, typically referring to the urine of young boys. In ancient Chinese medicine and folk remedies, it has been believed to have certain medicinal properties and was used for various ailments.  Additionally, it was sometimes thought to have the power to ward off evil spirits and bad luck.