Taboo Mage - Chapter 51 - The Mysterious Man in a Suit

The woman’s situation made me think a lot, and I have always believed that all cause and effect ultimately reverts upon oneself.

But now, I find myself having to reconsider what the true meaning of the Cycle of Cause and Effect really is.

For several days, this question troubled me so much that I couldn’t sleep well. Early this morning, I got up from bed, informed Lin Huan, and headed to Chan Guang Monastery to see Jue Chi.

Jue Chi was as usual, though he seemed even more handsome lately. Perhaps it was due to his years of vegetarianism and devotion to Buddha, he appeared extraordinarily detached and distant.

I knelt on the meditation cushion, offered incense to the Buddha, and devoutly muttered “Amitabha” before sitting up, quietly watching Jue Chi leisurely striking the wooden fish.

After finishing a Sutra, Jue Chi set down his wooden mallet. “Thinking of joining the monastic life?”

“No!”

I rejected the idea without a second thought. Seeing the smile suddenly playing on Jue Chi’s lips, I realized he might be teasing me.

Jue Chi smiled reassuringly at me and asked about the purpose of my visit.

I cleared my throat and shared my doubts with him.

Jue Chi gestured for me to follow him to the backyard, where he handed me a shovel and motioned for me to turn over the soil in the garden plot.

Thinking he was using this task to enlighten me about some profound truth, I energetically dug from one end of the garden to the other.

By the end, sweat was dripping from my forehead, and I leaned heavily on the shovel, gasping for air.

I asked Jue Chi if his point was that persistence would eventually lead to self-realization of the truth.

Jue Chi shook his head, leisurely watering the garden with a long-spouted watering can, and said without looking up, “I’m just tired today and wanted some help with the heavy lifting.”

I almost spit water in his face.

I don’t know who Jue Chi has been learning from. He used to carry himself with an air of profound mystery, but now he’s becoming more and more annoying.

Leaving the backyard, I felt that visiting Jue Chi today was a complete waste of effort. I would have been better off working and making some money.

I was tugging on Jue Chi’s Kasaya sleeve, planning to ask him for some compensation for today’s hard work, when I looked up and suddenly saw someone kneeling on a meditation cushion in the front Buddha Hall.

“Do you know him?” I asked Jue Chi suspiciously.

It wasn’t that I was curious, but Chan Guang Monastery is so secluded that ordinary tourists hardly find their way here. Besides, Jue Chi isn’t the type to receive visitors.

Jue Chi shook his head, a flicker of doubt crossing his face as well.

I stepped closer to get a better look at the person kneeling there. Hearing my footsteps, he simply glanced up faintly at Jue Chi, then his gaze settled on me.

“Are you Gu Qingshu?”

The man blurted out my name, but I was sure I had never seen him before. I looked at him doubtfully and remained silent.

“You don’t have to say anything; I know you are Gu Qingshu, a descendant of the Gu Family.”

The man stood up, even brushing off the dust on his knees, though the meditation cushion Jue Chi cleans every day wouldn’t have any dust on it.

This act was clearly a disdain towards Jue Chi, at least that’s how I saw it.

“You’re looking for me? If so, why not go directly to my shop instead of coming here?”

The man didn’t answer my question, just found a stool to sit on and crossed his legs, sizing me up.

I didn’t like the feeling of being scrutinized and looked back at him. The man across from me was in his thirties, dressed in a crisp suit as if he had just stepped out of a boardroom, especially with those glasses perched on his nose, giving off an air of a scholarly rogue.

“Hello, I’m Chi Rui. You don’t need to know what I do. Just understand that I know you and your family. Your family has been dealing with life amulets for generations, doing the business of defying fate. However, because of this unique ability, the men in your family rarely live to old age; they almost always meet untimely deaths before forty.”

The more I listened, the deeper my frown became. His words, while not entirely unbelievable, each struck a nerve, instilling fear and doubt in me.

What exactly does he want?

Chi Rui shook his head with a smile, “I came to see you not to ask for your help, but to remind you that you are also a member of the Gu Family. The Cycle of Cause and Effect still governs your fate. Although someone has neutralized the Yin Energy within you, if you continue to craft life amulets, the Yin Energy will eventually seep into your bones. When that happens, not even ten Chen Qi could save you.”

When he mentioned Chen Qi’s name, I distinctly felt Jue Chi beside me shudder, his usually gentle gaze instantly turning sharp.

Fearing that the normally mild-mannered Jue Chi might resort to violence, I quickly grabbed him and gestured with my eyes for the man to speak quickly. After he finished, I wanted him to just get out.

The man stood up, dusted off his suit jacket, and walked towards the door.

As he crossed the threshold, he turned back, looked at me, and chuckled lightly, “I know a way that your family can be forever free from the curse of the Cycle of Cause and Effect. If you don’t believe it, that’s fine. But if you do, I’ll be waiting for you on the 15th of next month at the Da Tong store, number 13 Jixiang Street in Shenyang.”

With that, he turned and left without waiting for my response.

I was utterly perplexed, unsure of what had just happened…

But he mentioned breaking the curse of the life amulet related to the Cycle of Cause and Effect? I had never heard anyone in my family say that it was possible. Yet, the proposal was too tempting, stirring a curiosity within me.

Jue Chi brought me a cup of tea and asked, “Thinking of going?”

I nodded, then shook my head, “I don’t know. Even though I don’t believe a word he said, there’s a voice inside telling me that if I go, I might learn things about my family, my relatives, and my future fate that I’ve never known before.”

The thought was both exciting and frightening; it felt like a dozen ants were crawling in my heart, itching unbearably.

Seeing my indecision, Jue Chi sighed softly, his right hand gently caressing the top of my head for a moment before he stood up and continued to strike the wooden fish with a wooden mallet.

The heavy sound of the wooden fish reverberated in my ears, the faint scent of sandalwood lingering around my nostrils. I closed my eyes, and my mind became increasingly empty, unaware of when I drifted off to sleep.