Chapter 60: Witchcraft

“Brother Xiao, what’s wrong?” Xiao Qing saw my face turn pale and followed my gaze to the photo, but she didn’t see anything.
She immediately knew something was wrong.

I subconsciously looked towards the fountain and saw many translucent figures standing in the pool, sneering at me.
Their skin was deathly pale, their Yintang dark, as if a group of corpses had come back to life.

“Ah!!!” I let out a terrified scream.
I felt the ominous aura enter my body, and a flood of illusions appeared in my eyes.
The crying in my ears suddenly became deafening.

I saw many people dressed in mourning clothes, holding black-and-white portraits, kneeling in front of the commercial center’s plaza, crying and wailing.
Then they were pushed and beaten by security guards who had rushed to the scene.

But amidst this crowd of kneeling mourners, I saw an even more terrifying scene.
Among them were some translucent ghosts, mixed in with the crowd and crying along, such as the woman who had jumped off the building earlier, and I also saw the old grandmother.

I saw the old grandmother again, standing in a large hall filled with empty shelves.
On the floor, a pile of incomprehensible demonic symbols was drawn in blood.
Even the walls were covered in them.
Many people were kneeling around, crying.

She had tied a rope into a noose in front of her, put it around her neck, and then kicked over a chair.
She was hanged amidst the cries of the crowd, her eyes still wide open in death, staring at the commercial center outside the window.

I also saw someone repeatedly stabbing a straw doll filled with needles, cursing viciously, “Bastard! Animal! Stealing my business! Your whole family will go to hell!”

The illusions came and went quickly.
After a violent tremor, I sat down on the ground, drenched in cold sweat.
Looking at the fountain again, there were no ghosts, only the golden fountain looking dim and sinister amidst the ominous aura.
It seemed as if blood was spouting from it.

Xiao Qing also swayed and suddenly couldn’t stand steadily.
She managed to steady herself without falling, but she was shivering uncontrollably for no reason.
She reached out a hand to help me up, “Brother Xiao, quick, let’s get out of here. Something is not right here.”

Before leaving, I said, somewhat instinctively, “Everyone, I’m sorry. We meant no offense. We know nothing about the matter between you and the mall. We just wandered in by accident. Please forgive us!”

After saying this, I felt my body lighten, and the surrounding ominous aura also faded a little.
Xiao Qing felt it too and led me away, fleeing the central garden.
Just as we entered the mall, I felt a warmth spread through my body, and the chilling cold disappeared instantly.
At the same time, the noisy crying returned to being faint and indistinct.

“So cold!” Xiao Qing took out the jade ruyi she had placed on her body earlier.
The originally flawless white jade ruyi had become dull and lusterless, as if a layer of dust had been wiped over its surface.

I also took out the jade pendant from my chest.
The jade pendant had dimmed quite a bit, but its aura was still there.
The only thing that hadn’t changed was the hairpin in Xiao Qing’s hand; it still maintained its blood-red glow.
As expected of a Dharma artifact bought for one hundred and seventy thousand yuan, it was quite reliable.

“This is… the Dharma artifacts helped us block a wave of ominous aura from entering our bodies. Otherwise, the two of us would have at least fallen seriously ill. What on earth is in that fountain?” Ou Zhiqin said with lingering fear.

“It’s several ghosts. You captured them in your photo too. I saw them mixed in with a group of living people, mourning at the entrance of the mall. One jumped off a building, one hanged herself, and I also saw someone stabbing a straw doll to curse them. They are all targeting the commercial center. The ominous aura attracted by the Feng Shui formation has all been poured into the pool,” I said, highlighting the key points.

Xiao Qing was frightened and took out the photo to look at it.
I noticed that the ghostly figures in the photo had disappeared, but Xiao Qing still said immediately, “We can’t stay in this commercial center any longer. Let’s go. Let’s get out first.”

Xiao Qing led me out of the commercial center.
Sure enough, as soon as we left the mall, I could no longer hear the crying.
But I could still see the rolling wealth aura being attracted to the mall from all directions.
However, as the sky darkened, the mixed yin and ominous auras became heavier.

On the way, as we walked, Xiao Qing said, “It’s evil arts. Both the commercial center and the competitors it has offended are using evil arts. The operation of that Feng Shui formation is definitely not normal.”

“Evil arts?” I seemed to have heard Yi Zhiqiu mention before that one must never come into contact with evil arts.
The shop owner also said that the Hidden Yin Physique was very suitable for practicing evil arts.

“Using demons, ghosts, or the supernatural to harm people is an evil art. For example, voodoo, curses, raising ghosts, and the like. Evil arts are quick to take effect and easy to get started with, but the risks are great. The most common evil art is like the one you just saw, stabbing a small effigy,” Ou Zhiqin said.

“Easy to get started with?” I asked in confusion.
Things like voodoo, curses, and raising ghosts all sounded very strange and complex.
I couldn’t see how they were easy to get started with at all.

“The simplest evil arts, like writing someone’s name on a piece of paper and stabbing it or drawing circles on paper to curse them, are considered evil arts. It’s just that it’s usually ineffective for ordinary people. But if you’ve studied some theory and know to write the Eight Characters of birth on the paper effigy and stab it with a blood-stained embroidery needle, you can at least make the person’s skin allergic,” Ou Zhiqin said.

“Brother Xiao, I forgot to remind you before. Never tell anyone your Eight Characters of birth. It’s very easy to be attacked by evil arts. Even when you go for a fortune-telling, don’t say it.”

I smiled wryly, “I don’t even know my Eight Characters of birth, not even the hour. I can’t tell anyone.”

“That’s good, in a way. It’s a kind of safety. Although sometimes you need the Eight Characters for blessings, this thing is very important. Brother Xiao, you must remember this clearly,” Ou Zhiqin emphasized again.

“I know, Xiao Qing. What do you make of this incident? What on earth happened at the commercial center?” I asked.
The Feng Shui shop owner had told me that one look at the central courtyard would make everything clear, but apart from seeing ghosts, I didn’t understand what had happened at all.

“The eye of a Feng Shui formation is always the most auspicious place. Now that the ‘Water Overflows Gold Mountain’ formation is filled with overwhelming ominous aura and is haunted, it can only mean that the mall owner has used some kind of evil art to stimulate the Feng Shui formation, forcefully attracting the luck of the surrounding businesses to make money for himself. Even we had our wealth aura absorbed when we entered the mall,” Ou Zhiqin analyzed.

“Then, the surrounding families and merchants who were ruined by the commercial center must hate it to the bone. So they decided to fight it to the death, also using evil arts to curse the mall. Originally, with the protection of the Feng Shui formation, the mall should have been fine, but they used an evil art to stimulate the formation themselves, and now the auspicious and inauspicious have been reversed.”

“Fortunately, this matter has nothing to do with us. The curses of those people were not directed at us, which is why that old grandmother warned us not to get close and not to spoil their plans. That’s how we were able to leave safely. That commercial center is bound to have trouble sooner or later. We should never come here again in the future.”

Listening to Xiao Qing’s words, I looked back.
The commercial center was still continuously absorbing the surrounding wealth aura, and several thick streams of ominous aura from the surroundings were also mixed in with the wealth aura and being sucked in.
Under the night sky, the commercial center felt exceptionally gloomy and terrifying.