Chapter 91: The “Eye” of the Blind Spirit

With Li Lan gone, everyone present was in the know, so there was no need to stand on ceremony. Old Yan had called everyone here, including Qi Yan, chiefly for two matters.

First, he wanted to make things clear in detail about the dark shrine and the dark amulet. Li Ruoke had already given a general introduction to such amulets, but hers had been broad and ordinary; it was nowhere near as specific as Old Yan’s explanation. That was also the main reason he had brought Ding Lingzi over today.

“The making of a dark amulet is the act of infusing a spirit into a Buddha amulet. It is essentially placing a wandering soul inside the amulet, then having the ajarns bless it so that it becomes a dark amulet.”

“The ghosts that can be fashioned into dark amulets are all those who died unjustly and cannot be delivered into rebirth by normal means. They cannot attain release on their own, so they have to borrow the strength of the living—that is, the wearer’s power—by helping the living do good and accumulate merit, so that they may be reborn sooner. Therefore, the formation of a dark amulet is not sorcery, nor is it evil; it does not conflict with the Buddhist idea of saving all beings.”

“Of course, this karmic relationship works both ways. The dead borrow the living’s power to gather merit and enter rebirth earlier, while the dead in turn bestow corresponding benefits upon the living, such as protection or fortune. If there is backlash, it is because the living are too deeply attached and cannot resist that tremendous temptation, especially since dark amulets are generally more potent than orthodox ones.”

“There are countless kinds of amulets. There are the famous Kuman Thong and Luk Krut, for instance; those are ghost types.”

“There are also the spiritual-cultivation types. The spirits in those are great ghosts who died unnatural deaths as adults, men and women alike.”

“The effects granted by each amulet are not the same either, and I won’t go on at length about that. I’ll just use your dark shrine amulet as an example.”

“Take the seventh amulet of the dark shrine that you venerate, the one called Mother. Its effect is extremely domineering. If we speak only of offensive power, then even all the other six combined would probably not match it. You know that best yourself. To tell you the truth, for people like us who are especially sensitive to spiritual objects, even being in close contact with you lets us clearly feel the powerful sinister force radiating from the dark amulet on your body...”

Old Yan’s explanation was much the same as the one Li Ruoke had given before. Then he pointed toward Ding Lingzi.

“Ding, take out your dark amulet and show Qi.”

Without saying a word, Ding Lingzi removed from her neck a dark amulet much like Qi Yan’s.

A black obsidian-bead chain pendant, more or less the same, only the shape differed somewhat; hers was triangular.

Qi Yan’s eyes lit up. So it really was true... The instant the dark amulet was revealed, he too faintly sensed a familiar presence, though his perception was not as sharp as Li Lan’s.

“Ding encountered the dark shrine on Similan, in Phuket. As for how she obtained the dark amulet, I don’t need to tell you that, do I? Your experiences are more or less the same, just in different times and places. Hers came before yours; to be precise, two springs ago.”

“Hers is the fifth dark amulet produced by the dark shrine, called Blind Spirit.”

Qi Yan froze slightly.

“Blind... Spirit?”

“That’s right!” Old Yan nodded.

“On the surface it looks like a blind ghost without eyes, and yes, Ding has had eye trouble since childhood and is blind, and this amulet is called Blind Spirit, but its effect is very special... It has no offensive power at all, but its power of perception is exceptionally strong!”

“Very strong perception?” Qi Yan understood the words well enough, but he still did not quite grasp what Old Yan meant.

“Uh... do you mean that when it manifests, it can restore Ding’s sight and make her eyes extraordinarily sharp?”

“Hmph...” Old Yan smiled with some pride.

“You young man... you still underestimate the power of the dark shrine’s amulets. Is it really only that? When Blind Spirit shows its might, what it can see is not merely appearances. It allows Ding to see a person’s strength of aura, their fortune, their health, what they are thinking in their heart, and more...”

Qi Yan could not help drawing a sharp breath. He was truly shocked. Setting aside everything else, just the fact that it could see what was in another person’s heart...

Wouldn’t that make it practically divine?

No wonder, when he first met this girl in Bangkok, she had merely glanced at him from the side, and it had felt as though she could see straight through to his soul...

But Old Yan was still not satisfied with his astonishment, and went on explaining.

“That already seems amazing to you? There’s even more exaggerated stuff. Ding has had the amulet longer than you, and over these past two years, under my careful guidance...”

“Heh heh...” Before he could begin praising himself, Hao Dalong beside him could not help letting out a strangely mocking laugh.

“What are you laughing at? Don’t interrupt!”

“Fine, fine, I won’t interrupt. Please, go on...” Qi Yan and Li Ruoke exchanged an awkward glance, both thinking that these people really were... far too fond of joking around.

Old Yan adjusted his wording.

“Hmm? Where was I just now...? Under my careful guidance...”

“Under your careful guidance...” Li Ruoke reminded him, resting her chin on her hand.

“Oh, right. Under my guidance, she and her amulet now have a very good understanding. The two are becoming increasingly inseparable, and the karmic bond between them is even more stable. So now she can wield the power of her amulet exactly as she wishes. That, Qi, is still far beyond you, isn’t it?”

With his hands clasped behind his back, Old Yan paced slowly around Qi Yan, putting on the air of a self-important expert.

“Actually, it was right for Coco to guide you into accepting your own amulet in the beginning, because as things stand we still don’t know of any way to sever the karmic bond without harming the wearer. Surely we can’t just let the amulet backlash and kill you, and only then bring the bond to an end? Since you can’t rid yourself of it, you can only think of a way to control it, so that you yourself take the dominant position. In that way, when the dark amulet should reveal its power and when it should lie low are both decided by a single thought of yours. That is what it means to control it freely...”

Qi Yan also found himself agreeing at this point. Up to now, he really had been unable to control the power of his dark amulet. There had been several times when it had gone out of control, and the scenes had been utter chaos... One wrong step and someone would lose their life.

He asked a little anxiously,

“How do I seize the dominant position you’re talking about?”

Old Yan raised a hand to indicate that he should not rush him, and continued.

“Listen to me finish first. One thing at a time... To put it more exaggeratedly, the power of the amulet you see now probably isn’t even half of its full strength. Since Ding is now able to control her amulet completely, if she wants to, she can bring its power to the utmost extreme. The ultimate truth of Blind Spirit is that it can see through a person’s past. Do you believe that?”

“What? What did you say? I didn’t hear clearly...!” Qi Yan’s expression changed as he raised his voice, thinking he had misheard.

Old Yan answered with certainty.

“You didn’t hear wrong. That is exactly what I mean. The greatest effect of the fifth amulet of the dark shrine is that it allows its holder to see through the events of a person’s past.”

Seeing Qi Yan’s expression, he guessed that the young man definitely did not believe it, but that was only natural... To see through a person’s past? That single ability alone would be enough to put many fortune-tellers out of business, because he was talking about directly seeing it, not predicting it. There was a difference.

“Heh heh heh... Qi, you... lost your mother when you were young, didn’t you? Was it cancer?” Old Yan asked.

Qi Yan abruptly turned to look at Li Ruoke. What was going on? He had only told her about that.

Li Ruoke was startled and quickly waved both hands.

“I didn’t say it! Absolutely not me, I swear!”