Taboo Mage - Chapter 74 - Ghost Wall1

I swept my gaze toward the kitchen area, perfectly square, finding no gaps, a sudden immense fear rising in my heart, but I still asked, persisting in hope.

Jue Chi shook his head, “No.”

“Don’t… don’t be so sure, what if you missed something…”

I chuckled and looked at Jue Chi, who pointed in a direction. I followed his gesture and was instantly frightened almost to the point of collapsing right there on the floor.

In a corner of the fast food restaurant’s dining area, there was a figure crouched down, hands positioned in front of them, back turned to us, seemingly eating something.

I watched as bright red blood flowed in their direction, slowly like a creek, eventually forming a stream that passed right by my feet.

Jue Chi already had a tight grip on his Buddhist prayer beads and slowly walked toward the figure. I swallowed hard, my grip tightening on the peachwood sword, and followed him.

“What are you doing here, late at night?”

As we approached the figure, I noticed the long hair trailing down their back and decided to ask.

Suddenly, the figure’s head turned sharply ninety degrees to face us. My eyes widened!

Their face was a blur of flesh and blood, one Eyeball hanging off the cheek, the other lodged in its socket, the nose reduced to two holes, and the mouth appeared as if it had been forcibly split open with a blunt knife.

Maggots continuously squirmed out of the eye sockets. The sight was as nauseating as it gets.

The figure looked at me, their mouth unnaturally twisting into a split grin, “Would you like some?”

I turned away, vomiting up the instant noodles I had eaten earlier that evening, my head buzzing as if I’d been struck on the back of the skull.

Taking advantage of my disgust, Jue Chi quickly pulled me back with his left hand while his right hand flung a yellow talisman he had been holding.

The rune landed squarely on the ghost shadow’s forehead, producing a crisp sizzling sound. Jue Chi frowned deeply, grabbed my right wrist, and rushed forward.

“Holy shit! Holy shit!”

I cursed repeatedly, gripping the peachwood sword in my right hand, which, under Jue Chi’s control, thrust straight into the ghost shadow’s chest.

The ghost shadow opened its gaping mouth and finally turned fully around, dropping something from its hands to the ground. My eyes quickly scanned over and, to my horror, it was a human head.

I recognized the head; it belonged to Liu Hong, who had just been killed.

As the peachwood sword pierced through, it emitted a strong scent of foreign substance burning. Leveraging Jue Chi’s right hand, I pushed the sword deeper despite the nausea rising within me, until even the hilt was submerged.

The ghost shadow struggled, its sharp fingers flailing at us. I stepped back, reached into my pocket, and pulled out a box. Inside was a copper coin sword.

I glanced at the item left by Grandfather, cursed under my breath about his supposed role as a yin-yang life amulet master, and realized he had left me equipment for catching ghosts! Apparently, Grandfather had not refrained from moonlighting during his lifetime.

But at that moment, I couldn’t afford to think too much. I took out the copper coin sword and, mimicking a scene from a TV drama, bit down hard on my index finger. The bite was fierce, and blood trickled down my finger.

Grimacing in pain, I smeared the blood on the copper coin sword and then thrust it towards the ghost shadow.

Originally, the ghost shadow was entangled with Jue Chi. As I joined the fray with the copper coin sword in hand, the ghost shadow suddenly cried out like a baby and instantly dissolved into white smoke, disappearing without a trace.

I had just pulled out my weapon, ready to join the intense fight, but the enemy had already fled?

I stood bewildered in the now quiet fast-food restaurant, feeling the oppressive atmosphere slowly fading. I turned to look at Jue Chi.

Jue Chi shook his head, indicating he didn’t know what had happened either.

After a brief pause, as we were discussing whether to check the back door, a familiar voice came from behind, in the kitchen.

“Hey! What are you two dazing at! I’ve been calling you for ages!”

Surprised, I turned towards the kitchen where Mr. Cao was escorting Li Jianjun, who was handcuffed and struggling violently, clearly attempting to escape.

For a moment, I couldn’t grasp what had happened. Just before, I had clearly seen with my own eyes that the kitchen was empty.

So, where exactly had Mr. Cao and Li Jianjun appeared from?

“Gu Qingshu! Come help out!”

Mr. Cao bellowed, escorting Li Jianjun towards me. Snapping back to reality, I rushed over to assist without a second thought.

The three of us led Li Jianjun out of the fast food restaurant, and soon enough, undercover police officers who were lying in wait approached and took him away.

Mr. Cao finally breathed a sigh of relief, diving into the car and falling silent, lost in his thoughts.

I pulled Jue Chi to the back of the truck and asked in a low voice, “What exactly happened just now?”

He rarely frowned, responding, “Not sure, but… it must have been a barrier.”

“A barrier? Aren’t those only found in novels?” I frowned, quickly recalling the ancient book my grandfather had left behind.

Jue Chi gently twirled his Buddhist prayer beads and softly replied, “A barrier is typically an alternate dimension created by supernatural beings using their powers to segregate from normal human spaces-what many refer to as a ghost wall.”

I grimaced. Seeing ghosts was bad enough, now there were monsters too?

It was just my luck to encounter such an ordeal on a rare outing.

Jue Chi’s forehead was tightly furrowed as he leaned against the car, his eyes fixed in the direction of the fast food restaurant, lost in thought.

I felt that today’s event was a once-in-a-century occurrence and wondered if I could find any clues in my grandfather’s ancient books.

Unfortunately, in my haste to leave the house, I had forgotten to bring the book. I took out my phone from my pocket and walked towards a corner.

Since leaving home, I had encountered too many incidents and hadn’t had the chance to contact my family. Today, having some free time, I decided to call Lin Huan.

It seemed Lin Huan had already fallen asleep; my call woke him up. The kid yelled into the phone in frustration, and after he calmed down, I chuckled and said, “What? Did a dog bite you?”

“Boss?” His tone shifted to surprise.

Footnote:

1. Ghost Wall(鬼打墙):This term refers to a supernatural phenomenon where a person feels trapped or lost in a familiar place, often believed to be caused by mischievous spirits leading them in circles.