Taboo Mage - Chapter 77 - Puppet

The presence of a nightmare ghost implies the existence of Resentful Spirits around.

This conclusion sent a shiver down my spine. Could it really be that I’ve stumbled upon a scenario where a fierce ghost commits murder and then frames the living?

This seemed far too fantastical, something even the zombie films of the 1980s Hong Kong wouldn’t dare to depict!

I pondered the most likely possibility: a fierce ghost had possessed Li Jianjun, and then, without his awareness, killed Da Liu.

But even the most ferocious fierce ghost wouldn’t kill without reason. Could it be a ghost that held a significant grudge against Da Liu?

I shared this thought with Jue Chi, who after some consideration agreed it was possible. After finishing their meal, they went to Mr. Cao to suggest he explore this angle further.

However, to my surprise, Mr. Cao took a deep drag on his cigarette after hearing this and said, “What relationship that fierce ghost had with the deceased, I really don’t want to know.”

“What? Don’t you want to clarify the cause of Liu Hong’s death?” I frowned, my regard for Mr. Cao dropping instantly.

Mr. Cao shook his head, his cigarette hanging from his lips, his calloused hands rubbing his face as he looked up at me with bloodshot eyes.

“Even if I find out which ghost killed Liu Hong, what good will it do? Can I arrest it? Can I bring it to court? Since I can’t legally punish it, why should I waste my time on something utterly meaningless?”

“You…”

Seeing the expression on Mr. Cao’s face-more serious and forlorn than ever-I lowered my head, unsure of how to respond.

Mr. Cao was right; in matters like these, humans simply lack the capability to resolve issues with their professional skills.

“What do you plan to do?” Jue Chi asked quietly, his face unreadable.

Mr. Cao stood up from his chair, patted Jue Chi on the shoulder, and said, “The old way, tough job for you.”

I watched as Mr. Cao left and turned into the temporary interrogation room, my mind brimming with curiosity. What did he mean by “the old way”? And it sounded like Jue Chi and Mr. Cao had collaborated on these matters before?

I turned around, and Jue Chi had already stood up from his chair. “Curious, aren’t you?”

He suddenly looked at me with a mischievous grin, a stark contrast to his usual demeanor of calm detachment. I nodded, pressing him to explain what Mr. Cao had meant.

Jue Chi shook his head, moving forward. “There’s a saying, ‘Curiosity killed the cat.'”

That bald monk, now he’s started to banter with me too! I wondered where he picked up such bad habits.

Throughout the afternoon, Jue Chi locked himself inside the car, busy with god knows what. I carried a basin filled with Rooster blood, sprinkling it around the entire perimeter of the fast food restaurant, not sparing even the smallest corners of the bathrooms.

In the evening, I had Mr. Cao gather all the police officers required to attend, instructed them to change out of their uniforms into plain clothes, and then cover their uniforms and hats with black cloth. I also distributed the evil-warding amulets I had prepared earlier.

The group, unfazed, did not ask any unnecessary questions and swiftly carried out my instructions. Watching so many police officers follow orders so obediently filled me with a sense of pride.

After all the preparations were complete, Mr. Cao directed the other officers to drive to a nearby hiding spot and stood outside the truck in his police uniform.

I carefully checked my own equipment, making sure everything was in order, then knocked on the car’s door. Jue Chi opened the door, now dressed in his Kasaya, holding prayer beads in one hand and an alms bowl in the other.

The three of us exchanged glances, then silently moved to sit on chairs nearby, quietly waiting for whatever might happen tonight.

After nearly three hours of waiting, close to midnight, Mr. Cao could no longer contain his impatience and asked, “Are you sure we can resolve this tonight? I’ve promised the leaders that we’ll handle it by tonight.”

“Don’t worry, but I’m curious, how did you explain this to your superiors? Did you directly tell them that the murderer was a ghost?” I comforted him, patting his shoulder.

Mr. Cao chuckled softly, stretching leisurely at the waist. “How could that be? We have a standard explanation for these kinds of things internally. As for how to handle it, that’s our worry. You, on the other hand, just need to help me clean up these dirty things quickly.”

Knowing this matter involved secrets, I chose to keep quiet to protect my own safety and turned to look at Jue Chi.

Jue Chi was unusually quiet today. Although he is always the quietest when we encounter issues, today he seemed completely different from before.

How does that saying go? Like an angel who has fallen to earth, a deeply spiritual Master, turned into a poor guy eating instant noodles.

“It’s almost time,” Jue Chi said softly, his grip tightening on the alms bowl, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

I took the peachwood sword out of my bag and exchanged a look with Jue Chi, then pulled a puppet carved from a locust tree out of my pocket.

The locust tree branch was prepared when I left home, intended only for emergencies, but it indeed came in handy.

The name Liu Hong was written on the top of the puppet, and his birthdate was marked beneath with cinnabar.

I placed the puppet on the ground and reached out to Mr. Cao, who cautiously took out a plastic bottle from his pocket and handed it to me.

I opened the bottle, which was filled with half a bottle of blood-the blood of the deceased, Liu Hong. Pouring this blood on the puppet marked with his eight characters could create an illusion.

The illusion of the dead being revived, of course, this trick would only fool ghosts.

I poured Liu Hong’s blood into a bowl, then submerged the puppet into it. As the puppet’s head dipped into the blood, it incredibly stood up in the bowl.

“Wow!”

Seeing this, I whispered, taking the puppet out of the bowl. I then placed it at the entrance of the fast food restaurant, tying a red string around the puppet’s neck, then crouching down, I pulled the other end of the string back to me.

Revenge by a Resentful Spirit comes with significant limitations.

Firstly, a Resentful Spirit only targets those it harbors resentment against, posing almost no threat to others. Secondly, after its death, the spirit is trapped in the place it departed from and cannot leave unless it uses a human body or some other object.