Taboo Mage - Chapter 78 - Netherworld

Holding the red string in my hand, I crouched down and walked back. Mr. Cao approached, curious about what I was doing.

I tied one end of the red string to the wooden armrest of a chair before explaining, “This is to create the illusion that Liu Hong is still alive. Think about it, if a murderer thought their victim was dead but then suddenly discovers they are alive, wouldn’t they come back to check?”

“That makes sense,” Mr. Cao nodded, though he still looked puzzled. “But what’s the purpose of this?”

I continued, “Exactly, ghosts are formed after a person dies. If people react this way, ghosts would too. If they sought revenge and thought they had killed someone, but then discovered that the person is still alive, they’d have to come back to check, right? Just in case they messed up?”

“So, you’re saying if that thing shows up tonight, it’ll prove that Liu Hong’s death was related to it, and if not, then Liu Hong was murdered by someone else?”

Mr. Cao stroked his chin, his eyes twinkling with excitement.

I nodded, “Smart!”

“Enough talk,” he said.

We were enjoying our discussion and were about to delve deeper into the topic when Jue Chi turned his head towards us with a cold gaze and spoke in a stern tone.

I immediately shut up, gripped the peachwood sword in my hands, and stared unblinkingly in the direction of the fast food restaurant.

The moonlight was good tonight, bright and clear, but within ten minutes, a large mass of clouds swept in from Southern China.

It didn’t take long for them to cover the fast food restaurant completely, blocking out the moonlight and causing the few street lights to flicker intermittently, barely lasting a few more minutes.

A sense of urgency gripped my heart, my sixth sense telling me that tonight would be another tough fight.

Suddenly, the red string tied to the wooden armrest trembled. I looked up towards the entrance of the fast food restaurant, where the bright red puppet began to sway slowly.

Both Jue Chi and Mr. Cao noticed this and their eyes widened in anticipation, watching to see what would happen next, while also looking for the right moment to act.

The puppet began to sway faster, and the amplitude of the red string’s trembling increased as well. On this chilly autumn night, a cool breeze was blowing, but I felt my back was already soaked.

With a snap, a cold gust swept by, and suddenly, the puppet fell to the ground!

I quickly turned to look at the red string at my hand, which shook a few times before it abruptly snapped.

Cursing under my breath, I rummaged through my bag for a bottle filled with Ox tears and smeared a layer over my eyelids, then handed it to Mr. Cao standing beside me.

When I opened my eyes, I was shocked, my eyes widened, and I couldn’t control the trembling all over my body.

Have you ever seen the scenes of the Netherworld…

“Ah…”

Mr. Cao must have seen the same scene; his eyes widened, and he uncontrollably started to shout, but I quickly reached out and firmly covered his mouth.

Previously, I never believed in the existence of the Netherworld. Back in my hometown, every year during the fifteenth day of the first Chinese Lunar Calendar month, a tent would be set up at every crossroad. The tent was covered with cloth, displaying a painting of the Netherworld, with a fire basin and a table on the ground, attracting a steady stream of people offering incense daily.

As a child, not knowing any better, I found the creatures in the painting terrifying. Whenever I passed by, seeing the light from the tent from afar, I would always choose to walk around it.

I still remember, in that painting, two netherworld enforcers¹ with horns were frying a dead person in a large pot, flipping them like lamb skewers, while others were depicted having their legs chopped off…

Now, facing the scene before me, I suddenly realized that the creatures in those paintings were indeed made less frightening to avoid scaring people too much.

In front of the fast food restaurant, around the puppet, numerous wandering spirits gathered. Some had only one leg left, some had half their heads shorn off, and some dragged their decaying legs across the ground…

I had never seen so many wandering spirits at once-there were about forty or fifty of them. My hands clenched together uncontrollably, trembling, even my calves were quivering. After swallowing, I turned to look at the two people beside me.

Even Mr. Cao, who had witnessed numerous murder scenes, now had uncontrollable shaking in his legs, his eyes wide open, and his right hand, unconsciously placed on his knee, was covered in cold sweat, soaking my pants.

Jue Chi’s brows were tightly furrowed, and the muscles on his cheeks were visibly trembling, unclear whether out of fear or excitement…

“What the hell is going on here?” After holding back for a long time, Mr. Cao finally growled in a low voice.

I glared at him and shook off his hand that was on my knee. “If you’re scared, go back. With the way things are right now, there’s no telling whether we can handle this.”

“What do you mean? Didn’t you say it would be no problem!” Mr. Cao suddenly raised his voice, then seemed to realize something and shouted in a suppressed tone.

I snorted, “Why don’t you try it yourself? I can’t guarantee anything even with one ghost, and now there are so many of them. Have you ever seen a ghost bring their family to a fight? It’s a mob!”

Mr. Cao was stunned by my shout, staring with wide eyes for a long while before finally managing to curse.

“Jue Chi, what exactly is going on here? Why are so many targeting Liu Hong? Even if Liu Hong was a serial killer, it wouldn’t justify killing so many people,” I said, furrowing my brows and turning to look at Jue Chi.

This situation was really tricky, and I had no confidence; all I could hope for was that Jue Chi would tell me that everything was under control.

Jue Chi curled his lips into a bitter smile and shook his head.

On the other side, dozens of Resentful Spirits surrounded the puppet, as if they wanted to tear it apart alive. Within minutes, an arm of the puppet had been torn off and thrown aside. It seemed that these Resentful Spirits really mistook the puppet for Liu Hong.

But what kind of deep hatred could cause them, even in death, to become Resentful Spirits collectively seeking revenge on Liu Hong?

“I think I know…” Just as I was at a loss, Mr. Cao suddenly said softly beside me.

“Stop wasting words, just tell me!” I growled through clenched teeth.

“No wonder the first time I saw Liu Hong’s body, it looked familiar. It turns out, I had seen that man before.”

Footnote:

1. Netherworld Enforcers(鬼差):In Chinese mythology, netherworld enforcers are supernatural beings tasked with capturing and guiding the spirits of the dead to the afterlife.