Taboo Mage - Chapter 73 - The Disappearance of Mr. Cao
Above the interrogation room, a swirl of black mist hovered like a vortex.
I stood rooted to the spot, staring dumbfounded at the scene before me, unable to articulate my thoughts. The dark energy, both in its concentration and its breadth, was unlike anything I had ever seen.
Mr. Cao glanced a few times towards the direction of the interrogation room but couldn’t make anything out. He sighed in relief, then playfully punched me on the shoulder, “Who the hell are you trying to scare? There’s nothing there!”
I gave him a cold look, then pulled a small glass bottle from my pocket. I poured some of the transparent liquid onto my finger and instructed him, “Close your eyes.”
Mr. Cao looked at me suspiciously but complied, masking the excitement in his eyes.
After applying the liquid to his eyelids, I said, “Open them now, and see for yourself.”
Slowly, Mr. Cao opened his eyes and followed the direction of my finger. Instantly, he grabbed my arm, his mouth agape and his body trembling, it took him a moment to exclaim, “Holy shit!”
“See it clearly?” I hadn’t intended to frighten him, but by now, I realized that to resolve this matter, Mr. Cao needed to fully understand the environment we were in.
Pressure was necessary to motivate his cooperation.
Mr. Cao nodded, gave me a look, then quickly walked over to Jue Chi, grabbing his arm, “What did you put on my eyes?”
“Ox tears1. It allows one to see things they normally cannot,” Jue Chi said, glancing at him with a serious tone.
I nodded in agreement, climbed into the vehicle, and pulled out my backpack. Then I threw Jue Chi’s backpack to him.
Inside these backpacks were items we usually carried for self-defense. Though it seemed they might not be useful now, having them was better than not.
All we sought was peace of mind.
I squatted on the ground, rummaging through my backpack for a while before putting on a charm that had been blessed in front of the Buddha and a life amulet for warding off evil around my neck.
Finally, when my hand touched the small black box, I hesitated for a moment but eventually took it out and held it in my hand.
On the other side, Jue Chi had already changed into his Kasaya, holding two strands of prayer beads, while Mr. Cao hung a large string of Buddhist prayer beads around his neck, cradling a Sutra that Jue Chi often read.
Seeing his timid appearance, I couldn’t help but shake my head; indeed, humans are naturally reverent of spirits and gods, even those with great power on earth. Once they step away from their foundation and familiar people, they face an unknown world.
And the unknown is the greatest fear.
After checking my gear and feeling no discrepancies, I turned my gaze towards Jue Chi. He nodded at me, and the two of us, with Mr. Cao in the middle, headed towards the interrogation room.
Inside the interrogation room was Li Jianjun, the prime suspect of the case and possibly the only witness; we had to rescue him.
The formation of dark energy occurs under two conditions: one is when too many Yin spirits gather, overpowering the human energy; the other is when a place is completely deserted, hence occupied by Yin spirits.
The extent of the dark energy directly correlates with the number of congregated Yin spirits.
Jue Chi led the way, Mr. Cao was in the middle, and I, holding a peachwood sword, was at the rear, forming a triangle as we slowly moved towards the interrogation room.
I kept a vigilant eye on the surroundings, then suddenly noticed something strange. Normally, where Yin spirits gather, even though Yin Energy concentrates, it should spread over a large area. However, here the heavy Yin Energy was focused just above the fast food restaurant in a small area.
This was completely unheard of. I turned around and relayed the news to Jue Chi, who was behind me. Nodding, he paused, then took out a large string of prayer beads from his backpack and hung them around my neck before we continued on.
It took us about twenty minutes to move from the truck to the door of the interrogation room.
Once we reached the door, Jue Chi leaned against the glass door and shifted to the left, while Mr. Cao quickly pulled out his keys and stepped forward to unlock it. I stayed back, covering the rear.
“Hurry up!”
What was supposed to be a quick task turned cumbersome as Mr. Cao’s hands trembled, struggling to insert the key into the lock.
Feeling the increasingly strange atmosphere around us, I grew anxious and shouted softly.
“Damn it, why doesn’t this thing work when you need it the most!” Mr. Cao roared, stepped back, and with a strong kick, he shattered the glass door.
With a crash, the door broke into pieces. Mr. Cao quickly cleared the remaining shards from the frame, then crouched and rushed inside, cautioning us to watch our steps.
Jue Chi and I stayed at the door, waiting for Mr. Cao to bring out Li Jianjun. After about ten minutes without any sound from inside, I grew nervous and glanced inside. Li Jianjun was temporarily held in the kitchen of the fast food restaurant, which was not far from the entrance. It seemed implausible that it would take this long to get him out.
“Could something have gone wrong?”
Jue Chi looked at me and asked softly, his brow furrowed deeply.
I nodded, signaling for us to go in and check. Jue Chi stepped in first, and I followed closely behind.
The inside of the fast food restaurant was eerily quiet-not the absence of people kind of quiet, but a chilling stillness that made one’s hair stand on end.
I couldn’t help shivering, groping my way further inside. Mr. Cao had turned on the lights in the restaurant when he entered, which was fortunate as it made it easier for us to proceed.
We moved straight through the dining area towards the kitchen at the back. I led the way and kicked open the kitchen door.
It was completely empty-no one was there.
Stunned, I turned to look at Jue Chi, who was just as surprised, his pupils dilated. We stood there, momentarily at a loss.
“Does this fast food restaurant have a back door?”
Footnote:
- Ox tears(牛眼泪): In Chinese folklore, ox tears are believed to have the magical property of enabling a person to see ghosts and spirits.
