Chapter 91: Officially Permitted Black Magic

When I walked into the Supernatural Events Department’s public clubroom, Mo Qingyan and the other members were already sitting inside.
Xiao Qing was also there, but Bai Yue was absent.

“Xia Yubing is here too.”
“I heard from Xiao Qing that you were called over by that Yi Zhiqiu?”
“Since everyone is here, we can start our meeting,” Mo Qingyan said.

“Wait a minute, Xiao Yue isn’t here yet, is she?”
“Not everyone is here,” I said.

“Xiao Yue usually doesn’t come.”
“She’s more like a member in name only.”
“Unless we have something to ask of her,” Xiao Qing explained to me.

“That’s right, so we don’t need to wait for Yue’er.”
“If there’s anything, I’ll go and tell her,” Mo Qingyan changed the subject and asked, “You’ve all been inspected by that new Safety Consultant today, right?”

“Yes, he suddenly came to our classroom and said he was conducting a safety inspection.”
“Then he just looked around and wrote some things down on a chart.”
“I don’t know what he was writing,” Xu Shan said.

“He probably inspected every class.”
“Me too.”
“Xia Yubing, do you know what he’s up to?” Mo Qingyan looked at me and asked.

“Uh, he’s checking each student’s physique, whether it’s yin or yang, and which students are carrying what kind of artifacts, the strength and type of the artifacts, and whether they’ve been afflicted by negative energy.”
“It’s all recorded on a chart,” I said.

“I underestimated that Yi Zhiqiu.”
“I didn’t expect him to be so responsible; I thought he was just here to slack off.”
“And he can actually tell a person’s physique with his naked eye.”
“People with a master’s lineage are truly amazing,” Mo Qingyan sighed.

“Right!”
“He found out that there’s something wrong with Xiao Yue.”
“I saw on Bai Yue’s entry that he not only discovered the three artifacts she was carrying, but also found out that she has a Flourishing Yin physique,” I suddenly remembered this matter.

“Tsk, I’ll have to remind Yue’er to be a bit more careful.”
“But even if Yi Zhiqiu finds out that Xiao Yue is a Gu Master, it’s fine.”
“Although Gu arts are a form of black magic, their inheritance is permitted by the authorities.”
“As long as Yue’er says it’s her family’s tradition, Yi Zhiqiu can’t do anything to her,” Mo Qingyan said.

I had suspected it before.
Gu arts were a type of black magic.
After all, the Golden Bee Gu even liked to eat human flesh, and the Gu arts I had learned about from various legends were all terrifying, bizarre, and cruel.
It was hard to associate Gu arts with the righteous path.

Now, Mo Qingyan had confirmed it.
Gu arts were indeed black magic, but their inheritance was permitted by the authorities.
I asked in confusion, “Black magic can also be permitted?”

“Of course.”
“Not everyone has the lineage of a righteous sect, nor does everyone have the aptitude to cultivate Daoist or Buddhist arts.”
“Don’t those monks often say that so-and-so has an affinity with Buddha?”
“What they actually mean is that he has the aptitude to cultivate Buddhist arts,” Mo Qingyan said.

“There are many ghosts and monsters, but very few people who can cultivate true arts.”
“To fight against ghosts and monsters, sometimes one must resort to black magic.”
“Especially some of the well-established systems of black magic that have been passed down from ancient times, repeatedly summarized and verified by many predecessors, such as head-lowering curses, vanquishing sorcery, and Gu arts, are all permitted to be taught and used.”

I had already discovered that Yi Zhiqiu and Mo Qingyan had completely different attitudes and evaluations of black magic.
Yi Zhiqiu almost detested black magic, repeatedly warning me not to touch it.
Mo Qingyan’s attitude was to use it if it’s useful, without any apprehension.

As for me, I’m a pragmatist now.
I’ll learn whatever can protect me from ghosts and monsters.
Unfortunately, no one has taught me orthodox arts so far.
Only Mo Qingyan and Xiao Qing are willing to teach me, so I can only learn a bunch of not-so-orthodox arts.

But now that I heard that the authorities permit the learning of some black magic, I was also relieved.

“Student Xia, what did Consultant Yi call you for?” Jia Cheng asked.
The others also looked over curiously.
They didn’t know Yi Zhiqiu very well.

“He asked me to deliver some school files.”
“He seems to be investigating that hanging Bixian.”
“He also asked for my help in investigating the previous Safety Consultant of Jianlong Middle School, who is said to have mysteriously disappeared four years ago,” I had no intention of keeping it a secret and revealed everything Yi Zhiqiu was doing.

“I think I have heard about it before.”
“There used to be a Safety Consultant at our school, but he disappeared for some reason later on.”
“Many people thought he had just resigned,” Mo Qingyan said.
She had started at Jianlong Middle School three years ago, so there should still have been many students who had seen the former Safety Consultant at that time.

“It wasn’t a resignation.”
“I saw his file in the archives.”
“He disappeared within the school.”
“And he was a professional exorcist who retired to a less active role at the school after being injured during an exorcism and developing a psychological disorder,” I said.

“That should be a pretty formidable person.”
“I don’t think even the resentful spirits under Jianlong Middle School could easily make a professional exorcist disappear without a sound,” Jia Cheng said, stroking his chin.

“No one probably knows the truth of the matter now.”
“After all, the cause was never found back then,” Mo Qingyan said.
She then suddenly looked at me.
“Yi Zhiqiu trusts you a lot, asking for your help right after starting his job at the school.”

“Uh, maybe it’s because I’m the only one he’s relatively familiar with in this school?”
“He doesn’t know any other students,” I told the truth.

“That’s also an advantage.”
“If you can get on good terms with Yi Zhiqiu, won’t you be able to get information from him up close in the future?”
“Then we’ll have a clear grasp of his movements and intentions,” Mo Qingyan said excitedly.

“Huh?”
“You want me to play double agent?”
“Is it that serious?”
Although I could vaguely guess that Mo Qingyan and Xiao Qing were indeed researching some unorthodox arts, it shouldn’t be to the point of direct conflict with Yi Zhiqiu, right?

After interacting with him, I actually felt that Yi Zhiqiu was a very approachable person and also took the initiative to care for others.
He had reminded me several times to be careful of ominous auras and ghosts.

Yi Zhiqiu came to the school to be a Safety Consultant for the sake of the students’ safety.
His serious and responsible work attitude showed that, and our previous conversation also showed that he really wanted to change the current situation at Jianlong Middle School and provide a safer environment for the students.

In that case, he shouldn’t be too harsh on the Supernatural Events Department and the others.
After all, everyone was just an enthusiast, and researching some folk arts was just to avoid being attacked by ghosts and monsters.
Yi Zhiqiu should be able to understand their difficulties and not blame the students.

“This is just a precaution.”
“Besides, getting close to Yi Zhiqiu is also beneficial for you.”
“He cultivates orthodox Daoist arts.”
“If you get on good terms with him, he might teach you a thing or two, and you’ll benefit for a lifetime.”

Mo Qingyan’s words had somewhat moved me.
Even if I didn’t play double agent, just getting on good terms with Yi Zhiqiu would be beneficial.
At least with him around, I wouldn’t have to be afraid of ghosts.

“It seems you’ve made up your mind.”
“Then first, you need to prove yourself useful.”
“Bring Yi Zhiqiu the information he wants,” Mo Qingyan said with a smile.