Taboo Mage - Chapter 9 - Soul Summoning into the Amulet

It seemed that the vengeful spirits inside the life amulet were becoming restless since they had left their host.

Liu Yineng, who killed without hesitation, had a naturally menacing aura that managed to suppress the more than fifty vengeful spirits. However, the life amulet had been away from Liu Yineng for so long that the entities inside were likely becoming uncontrollable.

I placed the life amulet back in front of Father’s ancestral tablet. As I turned to leave, my glance swept over Father’s tablet, and I could almost feel as if he was about to lift the coffin lid down in the underworld to scold me.

I gave a bitter chuckle and shook my head helplessly.

It’s not that I don’t want to follow your advice, it’s just that this mess was left by you. I could just run away, but what about my mother lying in the hospital…

Sensing the disturbance in the life amulet, I decided not to delay any longer. The next morning, I called Ah Biao and asked him to notify Liu Yineng.

Sure enough, just after lunch, a group of people gloomily pushed open the door of my shop.

Leading the way was naturally Liu Yineng. He found a place to sit as if he were at home, followed by Ah Biao, whom I hadn’t seen in a while.

“I heard about the life amulet. Have you found a solution?”

Liu Yineng held a cigar in his hand. I hadn’t seen him for more than ten days, and his face seemed significantly aged. I secretly wondered if he had encountered some issues, which made him so anxious to push me to resolve the matter of the life amulet.

“I found a method, but there’s still a problem…”

I held the tea, crossing my legs. Though I wasn’t vindictive, I also wasn’t extraordinarily magnanimous; I held a grudge from the last time he threatened me.

Moreover, anyone in business knows that having leverage means you have room to negotiate-it’s a seller’s market. This time, I had spent too much time and energy on Liu Yineng’s issue, and if I didn’t make a hard bargain, even my deceased father wouldn’t be pleased.

Sure enough, hearing my words, Liu Yineng’s face showed a hint of displeasure. Nevertheless, he leaned in and asked, “What is it? Tell me.”

“If you want to deal with the vengeful spirits in the life amulet, you’ll need a ghost with even greater spiritual power to suppress them…”

“You mean, you want me to find a ghost for you?” Liu Yineng’s brow furrowed deeper, and his tone instantly became sullen.

I quickly waved my hand. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to handle that part. I’ve already secured a ghost for the suppression. But to transfer the spirit into the life amulet, we’ll need someone whose eight characters¹ match as a medium.”

“Tell me who is suitable, and I’ll send someone to bring them immediately.” Liu Yineng slammed the table and stood up, with Ah Biao stepping forward, ready to take orders at any moment.

I took a sip of tea and smiled. “This person is not far away, but right in front of us.”

Hearing my words, Ah Biao paused for a moment, looking at me with some confusion.

I remained silent, simply watching Liu Yineng sit back down. He was a smart man and naturally understood the implication of my words.

“The life amulet needs a matching eight characters, and so does the ghost for suppression. Do you think that’ll work?”

“Is there no other way?”

Liu Yineng rubbed his hands together, seemingly hesitant.

I exaggeratedly sighed. “This is the only way I know. If you think it won’t work, then you’ll have to find someone more skilled. Even if you kill me, I don’t have another solution.”

My tone was resolute. Liu Yineng lowered his head and thought for a long time before suddenly looking up at me with a vicious glare.

I was taken aback by the sudden change and couldn’t figure out what was happening when Liu Yineng suddenly leapt across, pouncing on me. In an instant, a dagger was pressed against my throat.

I was scared stiff, my hands frozen in mid-air, not daring to move an inch.

“Brother Liu, what does this mean?”

“You’re playing me?” Liu Yineng’s fierce expression revealed his anger, and he pressed the dagger closer to my throat.

I swallowed hard and managed a helpless smile. “Brother Liu, how would I dare deceive you? This really is the only method I could come up with! I swear!”

The atmosphere instantly became tense. Sensing the situation going south, Ah Biao, though not daring to defy Liu Yineng, hesitated for a moment before stepping up to speak a few good words on my behalf, considering the times we’ve been through thick and thin.

I hurriedly echoed his sentiments and repeatedly swore that if I were lying, my wife would cheat on me and my children would take someone else’s surname…

Liu Yineng’s eyes, sharp as an eagle’s, stared at me for a long time before he finally let out a cold snort and withdrew the dagger.

“When can it be done?”

Liu Yineng sat back down, composed, and casually sipped the tea I had poured for him.

I touched my neck, which had a small cut, gritting my teeth internally but still smiling as I said, “Right away!”

Soul summoning into the amulet isn’t necessarily a difficult task, but it’s not simple either-especially when dealing with a ghost that holds a deep grudge against me. To minimize the attacks and backlash from this spirit, a substitute is necessary.

And that person, I chose, was Liu Yineng.

By evening, I had closed the shop and accompanied Liu Yineng and Ah Biao into the ancestral tablet room, leaving the others waiting outside.

As soon as he entered, Liu Yineng saw my father’s ancestral tablet and even asked if he could offer incense. After I agreed, he actually took out three incense sticks, knelt on the meditation cushion, and respectfully kowtowed three times.

I clearly saw the smoke from the incense in the censer curve slightly before straightening and drifting towards the ceiling.

Then, at Liu Yineng’s urging, I retrieved the red string I had used at the dormitory building last time. In the middle of the room, I formed an array, setting the life amulet and the glass bottle containing the female ghost in place-one at the center of the array and the other in front of me.

Following my instructions, Liu Yineng sat cross-legged and shirtless between the glass bottle and the tiger head life amulet.

I knelt on both knees, hands clasped together, and began chanting the incantation. Before long, the glass bottle in the center of the array started to vibrate.

I instructed Liu Yineng to open the glass bottle in front of him. He hesitated for a moment but eventually reached out and removed the lid.

Suddenly, a wisp of white smoke emerged, swirling wildly toward the ceiling.

I switched to a dharma seal with my hands and, clasping them together, pointed towards the white smoke, shouting, “Go!”

The white smoke swiftly drilled into Liu Yineng’s body. He had been bowing his head, but now he suddenly looked up, a trace of sorrow and allure flashing in his eyes.

I quickly averted my gaze, dipped my fingers in the cinnabar plate in front of me, and swiftly drew a mark on the tiger head life amulet.

Footnote:

Eight Characters(八字): In Chinese astrology and fortune-telling, the term ‘Eight Characters’ or ‘Ba Zi’ (八字) refers to a person’s birth data, which includes the year, month, day, and hour of their birth.  Each of these four elements is represented by a pair of Chinese characters-one for the ‘Heavenly Stem’ and one for the ‘Earthly Branch’-totaling eight characters. These characters are used to create a natal chart that can reveal aspects of a person’s destiny, personality, and life path.