Taboo Mage - Chapter 75 - Nightmare

Lin Huan is essentially a very kind person. This was evident from his willingness to get up in the middle of the night to find ancient books for me, lured by the promise of a raise.

I asked Lin Huan to send the ancient books to me as quickly as possible, anticipating that I might need to stay at the service area for another two days. I gave him the address and instructed him to avoid smaller courier services, which are too unreliable to deliver to such a remote place.

Lin Huan quickly found a company online willing to make the delivery and excitedly sent the ancient books overnight.

After briefly updating Lin Huan, I returned to consult with Jue Chi. Jue Chi had already returned to the train car, where Mr. Cao was pulling him into an analysis of the case.

“You’re back, how did it go? I heard there was a bit of an incident, what do you think?” Mr. Cao moved over to make room for me as soon as he saw me. I sat down next to Jue Chi, and they briefly shared their analysis with me.

After thinking it over, Jue Chi had clearly explained the phenomenon of the ghost wall, which was essentially unclean forces preventing us from discovering the truth behind Liu Hong’s death.

But why would these forces not appear earlier or later, but exactly when we were going to find Li Jianjun, creating that barrier?

I raised this question, and Mr. Cao was at a loss, merely frowning at us both.

Jue Chi bowed his head in thought for a long while without coming to any conclusion. I too couldn’t figure out the answer, and the issue temporarily reached a deadlock. The sky was already bright outside, and after a night of activity, my mind felt as muddled as if it were filled with paste.

I suggested we should perhaps get some sleep and rest properly. Mr. Cao agreed and lay down directly on the seat. Glancing at Jue Chi, I saw he was stubbornly focused and persuasion was futile, so I just let him be.

When I woke up, it was already noon the next day. I jumped out of the train car, stretched lazily, and looked around. The service area was once again crowded with police officers, and the entire area was under martial law. Passing drivers could only slow down curiously and peer out of their windows.

I found Jue Chi outside a fast food restaurant, arranging an Array with disassembled prayer beads. The prayer beads encircled the restaurant, especially around the entrance, where a Prayer flag filled with Sutras had been placed.

Seeing this, I figured I wasn’t needed for the time being and thought about getting something to eat. Just then, Mr. Cao, holding a basin, turned around and, seeing me, his face lit up with joy. He waved at me enthusiastically, “Gu Qingshu, come here!”

I walked over, peering into the basin in Mr. Cao’s hands, which contained a pool of red liquid. I dipped my finger in it and stirred.

It turned out to be rooster blood.

“You’ve come at the perfect time. Could you help me spread this rooster blood in the back kitchen? Thank you!” Mr. Cao said politely, then, without waiting for my response, pushed the basin into my hands. I shook my head, amused, watching him hurry away.

It was the first time I’d seen a police officer scared of rooster blood.

The glass door of the fast food restaurant had been shattered by Mr. Cao’s kick the night before. I stepped over the door frame to find Jue Chi inside, busy in a corner, doing something.

He looked up, smiled, and nodded at me, then turned back to his task. I glanced at the corner where a ghost had crouched the night before.

Just thinking about that thing made my stomach churn with acid, so I quickly turned away and hurried towards the back kitchen.

Inside, everything was neat and tidy. As soon as I entered, I saw Li Jianjun again confined there. He was sitting on the floor, his hands tightly handcuffed.

Hearing footsteps, he looked up and, seeing me, first stretched his mouth into a smile uglier than crying, then suddenly knelt on the ground and burst into loud tears.

“Hey, what are you doing?!” I was startled and almost dropped the basin I was holding.

Li Jianjun struggled to crawl forward a few steps, clutching at my pant leg, “I didn’t kill anyone! I really didn’t!”

“Telling me won’t help, you need to tell the police.” I tried to back away, but Li Jianjun had a surprisingly strong grip, almost pulling my pants down.

I patiently explained to him that if he wanted to prove his innocence, he needed to cooperate with the police. They had interrogated him all day yesterday, and he had stubbornly remained silent. Now, clinging to me, crying and making a scene wasn’t helping at all!

After hearing my words, Li Jianjun tearfully promised that he had been blinded by confusion yesterday, but that he would definitely behave better today.

“Then let go of me, damn it! How can I call someone if you don’t let go?”

His crying was annoying me, and though I knew he felt wronged, I wished he’d show some backbone. Hadn’t he been all fierce and ready to confront the police just yesterday?

Finally, Li Jianjun let go of me. I put the basin filled with rooster blood on a nearby workstation and turned to go find Mr. Cao.

Half an hour later, Mr. Cao and the young police officer who had taken the statement yesterday sat down across from Li Jianjun again, both glancing at me simultaneously.

I touched my nose and gave Li Jianjun a sidelong look, hoping he wouldn’t spout any nonsense today.

“You mentioned you had something to confess today, go ahead, it’s just us here,” said the young officer, opening his notebook as Mr. Cao began to speak.

Li Jianjun clasped his hands tightly together, cold sweat streaming down his forehead despite the chilly autumn weather.

“I… After arguing with Da Liu yesterday, I went out to use the restroom. When I came back, I was too tired and went back to sleep in the car. In the middle of the night, I needed to use the restroom again. When I got up, I saw Da Liu choking himself, his eyeball nearly popping out. I was so scared, I didn’t even go to the restroom, I just crawled back into the car…”

“You were scared, and then you managed to sleep again? That doesn’t seem logical,” Mr. Cao tapped lightly on the table, scrutinizing Li Jianjun with a piercing gaze.

Li Jianjun shook his head, “I didn’t sleep, I just… had a nightmare about something really disgusting. It had really long hair, one of its eyeballs had fallen out, and that mouth…”