Divine Level Witch Doctor

Hearing the scream, the villagers immediately rushed to Widow Ma’s house. Since the courtyard gate was locked tight, a few young men scaled the wall to get inside and open it. A crowd of people then flooded into the bedroom, where they saw a sight they would never forget for the rest of their lives—Mage Zhang was kneeling naked before the bed with a pistol in his mouth. The back of his head had been blown open, and blood pooled on the floor. And Widow Ma was huddled in terror at the foot of the bed against the wall, trembling violently.

The villagers were quite the gossips and immediately started chattering amongst themselves.

”I didn’t hear anything about Widow Ma seeing someone. Who’s this guy?”

”Exactly! Ever since her husband died, plenty of people have tried to set her up with someone, but she turned them all down. Where did this guy come from? And how did he die?”

”From the looks of it, it’s suicide by shooting himself in the mouth! But why would he kill himself? And where did the gun come from?”

Someone recognized the dead man as Mage Zhang and gasped, ”Good heavens, isn’t that Mage Zhang from Shangxian Village? My god, doesn’t he have a wife and kids? When did he get involved with Widow Ma? And he killed himself? What on earth happened?”

Someone with the latest news chimed in curiously, ”That’s not right. I heard Mage Zhang was arrested and taken to the town police station for preventing the villagers from Xiaoqiao Village from getting medical treatment. When did they let him out? And why did he die here in Widow Ma’s house?”

Just then, a sharp-eyed individual spotted a confession letter in the pool of blood. Mustering their courage, they edged closer for a look.

Although the confession letter was stained red with blood, the words were still legible. After reading a few lines, the person’s expression changed dramatically. ”Good god, so this Mage Zhang was just a monster in human skin! And to think I actually believed he was an enlightened Master!”

The others immediately crowded around, all asking at once, ”What’s wrong? What does it say?”

The man pointed at the confession in the pool of blood. ”It’s all written on that paper—every single crime he committed! This despicable bastard didn’t just swindle people out of their money, he murdered them!” Filled with righteous anger, he spat at Mage Zhang’s corpse.

A few more of the bolder villagers edged forward. They didn’t dare pick up the blood-soaked confession, so they craned their necks to read it.

After reading it, they also started cursing him. The list of vile crimes recorded in the confession was simply too shocking. The villagers came to a consensus: Mage Zhang must have been struck by his conscience and decided to take his own life. As for why he chose to do it in Widow Ma’s house, that remained a mystery.

Right away, someone in the village called the town police station. About half an hour later, the police arrived in force.

When the call came in, the police were in the middle of a manhunt for the escaped Mage Zhang. Even after they arrived at Widow Ma’s house and saw his body, they couldn’t figure out how the man had managed to smash a hole through the wall of his holding cell and escape. They also couldn’t understand why, after going to all that trouble, he would then commit suicide. And then there was the question of the confession letter—was it authentic?

After some examination and questioning, the police confirmed the handwriting on the confession letter was Mage Zhang’s; it matched the style of his written statement from the police station that very afternoon. Furthermore, confronted with the confession and police interrogation, Widow Ma admitted that after their affair was discovered, she and Mage Zhang had conspired to murder her husband.

Because this particular murder hadn’t involved a Paper Mache Man or Xiaoyang, the process Mage Zhang described in his confession was the real one, matching Widow Ma’s account perfectly.

Based on these two points, the police concluded that the contents of the confession were likely authentic and launched a formal investigation based on it.

For her part in the murder of her own husband, Widow Ma was taken back to the town police station for further investigation. As she left the village, she was met with the scorn of every resident.

For years to come, Mage Zhang’s death and the mountain of crimes he committed in life remained a popular topic of gossip for villagers for miles around. Several provincial and city television stations even ran series of reports on the case, and one even produced a TV drama about it.

But one thing people never understood was, if Mage Zhang was so remorseful, why didn’t he just confess at the police station? Why escape, write a confession, and then kill himself?

The matter was destined to remain a mystery.

Meanwhile, after rushing out of Longmen Village, Zhao Yuan didn’t return directly to Xiaqiao Village. Instead, he headed for Shikan Cave.

It was a large cavern deep in the mountains, a place few people ever visited.

According to what Mage Zhang had revealed, Xiaoyang usually hid out in the area around Shikan Cave. Whenever the Mage needed its help, he would bring live animals as an offering to ask for its assistance.

Because of the Bronze Ring, Xiaoyang rarely refused his requests. But the spirit never knew that Mage Zhang was completely incapable of using the ring; he was just bluffing, borrowing its power.

In Zhao Yuan’s hands, however, the Bronze Ring was a different matter entirely.

Zhao Yuan was confident he could use it to bring Xiaoyang completely under his control. Since that was the case, there was no need to exterminate it. It would be better to keep Xiaoyang alive and have it work for him.

His task now was to go and recruit this Mountain Spirit as an underling.

As he ran, Zhao Yuan inspected the Wish Power he had just obtained from those souls.

Perhaps because he had fulfilled the Ghost Souls’ lingering wishes and avenged their deaths, the Wish Power they gave him was not only exceptionally pure but also quite substantial.

But what truly surprised Zhao Yuan was that this Wish Power was different from the kind he had received from living people in the past.

After some analysis, Zhao Yuan reached a conclusion: the Wish Power from Ghost Souls was the complete opposite of that from the living in terms of its properties. And yet, they were somehow complementary and interdependent.

The feeling was very similar to Yin Yang Qi.

’Could it be that Wish Power is also divided into Yin and Yang?’

Surprised, Zhao Yuan hurriedly searched the Information Leaf for an answer.

After a great deal of searching, he finally found a relevant entry. He was right—Wish Power was indeed divided into Yin and Yang! The living provided positive Wish Power, while the dead provided Negative Wish Power.

’Since Wish Power is divided into Yin and Yang, it means I’ll have to keep them balanced from now on. Otherwise, an excess of either will be detrimental to my cultivation and my body.’

Zhao Yuan suddenly recalled something he’d read on the Information Leaf: a Witch Doctor could not only heal the living, but also treat Ghosts.

’It seems treating Ghosts is the way to acquire Negative Wish Power.’

’Looks like in the future, I’ll have to not only heal people but also treat Ghosts. Hmm, no, that’s not right. I don’t know how to treat Ghosts yet. What I did for those Ghosts today was just help them fulfill their lingering wishes and use a Witchcraft Secret Technique to help them pass on. Perhaps, until I learn the proper method for treating Ghosts, helping Ghost Souls fulfill their wishes and move on is another way to obtain Negative Wish Power.’