Chapter 26: Bewitching Union Curse

Pangzi's first flower‑sending operation was just this unspectacular start and a bland failure. Even if the story of a tiger sniffing roses is beautiful, it cannot be used to interpret the good meaning of this naturally dim‑witted Pangzi.

He kept pulling me aside and asking nonstop: Why exactly did I fail? Why is Sister Jingjing angry with me? How did I end up failing?

In response, I could only roll my eyes and reply, "Go ask your sister."

Bored and hungry, I went to the school's noodle stall and bought a bowl of pork offal noodles for three dollars, filling my five viscera. Pangzi kept muttering to himself about how unreasonable and unfair it was, completely ignoring my feelings as a bystander.

In the evening, I and Pangzi walked around the school playground, and unexpectedly we actually ran into an acquaintance.

This acquaintance turned out to be the feisty girl from our class, Yao Yirong.

That man looked somewhat handsome, with a middle‑parted bangs, his face paler than an average woman's. He followed Yao Yirong closely like a flower‑guarding envoy.

However, this middle‑parted guy didn't seem to be welcomed by Yao Yirong; although he meant well, she appeared to dislike him intensely, walking while turning back to point her badminton racket at him fiercely, muttering some threatening words.

Perhaps the middle‑parted guy was scared off by Yao Yirong's scolding and stopped following her. Yao Yirong, meanwhile, simply sat down on the lawn and chatted with a few girls, completely ignoring the middle‑parted guy.

I asked Pangzi beside me, "Who's that guy?"

Pangzi curled his lip: "Ou Yaoyang, just a spoiled rich kid." After saying that, he added, "A spoiled rich kid who looks like a pig but wants to butt in on flowers."

Look at his eyes, hear his tone—obviously naked jealousy that someone else is more handsome than him.

Pangzi and I simply sat down on the grass, watching the bustling students on the playground—some reading, some playing ball, some strolling.

By now it was evening; the sun gradually sank westward. The sunset always spreads its last faint glow—not hot, but very poetic.

I watched the basketball game at the other end of the playground, while Pangzi kept his eyes on the girls playing badminton. It's hot summer now; the female students mostly wear short sleeves and shorts, their graceful figures unmistakably on display, letting groups of lechers feast their eyes.

"34.85.92…" Pangzi muttered, pinching his fingers.

I turned my head to look at him, puzzled, and asked, "Pangzi, what are you doing?"

Pangzi flicked his hand: "Don't bother me—I'm casting a divination with these girls' measurements to see how deep our fate is!"

I… Plum Blossom Divination, is this what you're doing to ruin it, you dead fatty?

I curled my lip, turned my head away to ignore that dead fatty. But the instant I turned, a sight caught my eye and made my gaze sharpen.

The middle‑parted guy whom Pangzi called Ou Yaofeng quietly scattered something behind Yao Yirong's back; it was too far for me to see what he scattered, but I could be sure those things landed on Yao Yirong's shadow.

Next, Ou Yaofeng pulled something out of his pocket, making me suck in a breath of air.

In Ou Yaofeng's hand was a nail that, in the sunset's glow, emitted a white cold light.

A human‑bone nail—this nail Ou Yaofeng holds is definitely made from human bone. Yes, I can be absolutely certain: as a disciple of the Yinshan Sect, we naturally like to cultivate in graveyards using bones and other yin‑magnetic things; if anyone knows this stuff well, apart from the Mountain‑Moving, Sea‑Splitting adepts, it's none other than our Yinshan Sect.

"Pangzi, look quick!" I shoved Pangzi hard twice.

"Damn, don't mess with me, I'm annoyed," Pangzi casually flicked his hand—bang! It hit my brow bone squarely. Instantly tears streamed from my pain. The brow bone is one of the most fragile parts of the human body, and with this dead fatty's huge strength, I couldn't even open my eyes from the pain for a moment.

When the pain subsided and I opened my eyes, I saw Yao Yirong marching toward us, furious, with Ou Yaofeng trailing behind her like a porter, holding her badminton racket and clothes.

As she passed by us, Yao Yirong glared at me and Pangzi twice and snapped, "What are you looking at?"

I looked up to the sky and said leisurely, "Strange, how can a pig talk to me?" This made the little hussy's face turn deathly pale; she stamped her foot and cursed, "You've got guts." Then she turned and stormed off.

Ou Yaofeng seemed to be coaxing this feisty little princess; when Yao Yirong scolded her, Ou Yaofeng wore a fawning smile, but I saw him pluck a hair from her head when she wasn't looking.

After they walked away, I then gave Pangzi a hard push.

"Cut it out, Pangzi, there's a situation."

Pangzi stared at me, astonished, and asked, "What situation?"

I told him Ou Yaofeng was going to cast a spell on Yao Yirong; Pangzi didn't believe me, saying I was spouting nonsense. I repeated what I'd just seen to him, and Pangzi still half‑believed, half‑doubted, saying "Impossible!"

So I led Pangzi to the spot where Ou Yaofeng was standing.

Upon looking, I was stunned—there were rings of white petals on the ground; Ou Yaofeng had actually been scattering flowers onto Yao Yirong's shadow.

Pangzi curled his lip: "I told you you're being paranoid; maybe he was just scattering flowers to create a romantic atmosphere."

I don't believe Pangzi's explanation; to me it sounds far‑fetched. Even if he wanted to create romance, there's no need to use a human‑bone nail, and why did he pluck Yao Yirong's hair just now?

I crouched, picked up a petal and smelled it; after identifying it, I found it was actually an eggplant flower. People might not know the eggplant flower, but the name Datura is familiar to many—the petals Ou Yaofeng scattered were indeed Datura petals. Moreover, those Datura petals carried another scent.

I closed my eyes and inhaled carefully. The petals contained corpse oil, mulberry twigs, and a wine fragrance…

Bewitching Union—Ou Yaofeng actually intended to cast a Bewitching Union on Yao Yirong; at that moment I was startled by the thought that popped into my head.

Seeing me startled alone, Pangzi gave me a nudge and asked, "What's up?"

I extended the petal in my hand toward him so he could smell it himself.

Pangzi sneezed, frowned, and said, "Corpse oil."

I shook my head and said, "It's not just corpse oil; it also has mulberry twigs and wine fragrance."

Pangzi sniffed again more carefully, said, "Yeah, there really is," and asked me, "What is Ou Yaofeng using this stuff for?"

I told Pangzi, "If I'm not mistaken, Ou Yaofeng is casting a Bewitching Union on Yao Yirong. Corpse oil extracted from corpses is said to be love oil. Datura also has an aphrodisiac effect; what Ou Yaofeng just did aims to bewitch Yao Yirong's soul and place her under a Bewitching Union."

At dusk, when yin and yang intersect, the yang energy gradually wanes. Folklore says a person's shadow is the soul. Ou Yaofeng chose this moment to scatter petals onto Yao Yirong's shadow, aiming to bewitch her soul. I dare guess this because the petals contain mulberry twigs and wine fragrance.

Mulberry trees, which symbolize funerals, are yin wood just like locust trees. I've seen in ancient texts that to make a ghost get drunk, you stir yin wood into the offering; after drinking, the ghost gets as drunk as a person. Wang Pangzi often used this despicable method to tease Little Fat, so mixing yin wood with wine can indeed intoxicate a soul—this is indisputable.

Now, Ou Yaofeng scattering these petals, by means of the human‑bone nail dispersing Yao Yirong's yang energy, aims to let yin energy erode her soul; combined with corpse oil and Datura's effect, it gives him an aphrodisiac boost.

This method is a type of Bewitching Union technique; its origin also comes from altering the Harmony technique.

Speaking of the Harmony technique, it was originally a proper Daoist art, mainly by invoking the Two Immortals of Harmony to increase affection and resolve discord between couples and relatives, smoothing out their conflicts. Thus if a couple has a minor quarrel or a father and son a slight argument, using the Harmony technique can quickly restore them to their original harmony, with no side effects; Daoists are willing to perform it. Because these are proper affinities, their disputes stem from yearly fortunes; when Daoists help them reconcile, they are also accumulating merit.

However, the Harmony technique, after being tampered with by interested parties, evolved into Bewitching Union. Though Bewitching Union comes from Harmony, their natures are completely different. Bewitching Union mainly binds two people who have no affinity—or rather, a karmic grudge—into one. Such people are either home‑wrecking mistresses or act out of selfish desire. Practitioners usually have to pay a huge price. Moreover, this Bewitching Union is rather useless; it requires periodically feeding the other partner talisman water. If the talisman water is cut off, or the target backlashes, the accumulated resentment will erupt doubly. Those who rely on Bewitching Union to maintain feelings usually end badly.

After Bewitching Union spread to Thailand, head‑lowering masters altered it, giving it a pleasant name—Love Curse. In truth, it merely uses Bewitching Union to gratify the practitioner's lust and achieve some shady goals. Such head‑lowering sins are deeper, because their targets are often young, beautiful women who have no relation to the practitioner.

There's no doubt that what Ou Yaofeng used is a Bewitching Union Curse; his purpose is plainly to drag Yao Yirong into bed.

After I told Pangzi all this, he was shocked, cursed Ou Yaofeng as a beast, and declared he'd go up and slaughter him.

I rested my chin, pondered for a moment, and asked Pangzi, "What do you think we should do—help or not help?" Frankly, Yao Yirong is indeed pretty. But no matter how pretty, I have no fondness for such high‑and‑mighty people; yet I can't bear to see her bewitched, so I left the decision to Pangzi.

Pangzi hesitated not at all, speaking righteously: "Help—when we encounter something like this we must help. I, Wang Weiqiang, may not be a model gentleman, but I have a heart for exorcising demons and upholding the Dao, righteous and resolute. Faced with this, I naturally must step forward."

Pangzi's words had edge and were righteous‑resolute, almost making me reconsider my view of him. But when Pangzi said…

"Damn, such a fine cabbage—I've never even teased it, how could I just hand it over to someone? Really not worth it."

I… Pangzi is still that lecherous Pangzi; just now I must have been seeing things.

Since we've decided to help, we'll start preparing the equipment, but before that we must first obtain Yao Yirong's birth date and time and home address; otherwise, even if I want to help, I'll be powerless.

"What's so hard about it? Leave it to me, I'll get it done." Pangzi slapped his chest, speaking with conviction, as if obtaining someone's birth date and time and home address were no big deal.

After a while, Pangzi mysteriously produced a small notebook and handed it to me. I asked him what it was. Pangzi bluntly told me: "The birth dates, family backgrounds, measurements, and hobbies of the top ten campus belles are all in here, Yao Yirong's included."

I was speechless: "Pangzi, why are you recording this?"

Pangzi gave a hehe laugh: "I'll just use their measurements and birth dates to cast a hexagram, see which of us has fate!, but…"

"But don't worry, now aside from Sister Silijing, any girl in my eyes is just a pile of skeletons—no, it's dung, absolutely dung." Pangzi slapped his chest explaining, his face not flushed, his heart not racing.

Believing Pangzi's words would be brainless; I have no doubt he tested those beauties and found no affinity with them, which is why he gave up and went after Silijing.

However, now that Yao Yirong's birth date and address have been found, the subsequent matters are much easier.

Pangzi and I rushed home, drew several talismans of my Yin Mountain Sect, grabbed the command flag, and ran out. Asking what I'm going to do? Naturally, to borrow troops from the temple.

The Mihe Unity Technique is within my Yin Mountain Sect's Ghost King Method; the Ghost King Method includes soul-tuning, Mihe Unity, breaking open, summoning souls, driving away souls, locking souls, and so on. The Mihe Unity of other sects in the folk world, the Thai black magic's Mihe Unity, all originated from my Yin Mountain Sect's transmission. Speaking of Mihe Unity, my Yin Mountain Sect is the originator; who in the world can match its Mihe Unity and soul-driving art?

I said without hesitation, in the Yin Mountain Sect's methods there indeed are some exceptionally sinister arts that can put people to death. But I still hold to that old saying: no matter how dark the art, it is merely a method, with no inherent good or evil. Good and evil lie only in the practitioner. Using the art for good is virtue; using it for evil is vice. If one's mindset is not upright, even if they join a major sect or school, whether the divine arts they cultivate are proper or not, they will always serve their own desires and money. A person with a steadfast mind, regardless of origin or what art they practice, can always maintain a heart inclined toward goodness.

Every sect passes down some forbidden arts, but the patriarch transmitted these techniques solely so that disciples could understand their principles; when encountering someone harmed by these arts, they could resolve it according to those principles. Of course, whether it is an orthodox sect or a folk Daoist, there are always some who disregard the precepts, doing things against their conscience for profit.

One cannot judge a sect's good or evil based solely on its arts and name, nor can one draw hasty conclusions about a sect because of a few treacherous disciples. Take note: even in prestigious, high-reputation major sects, there are those who cloak themselves in the guise of guiding goodness while seeking wealth—these so-called 'experts'. Take note: among wandering folk Daoists and Zhu You shamans, there are also nameless individuals who, while exorcising evil and averting disaster for others, lose their lives.