Chapter 1827 - Sorcery

Before Liu Xiang could speak, Guo Xier dropped to her knees before Cui Hantang, overcome with gratitude: "Immortal Elder, Grand Master..."

Though Cui Hantang did not know Guo Xier, he understood she must be Liu Xiang's life secretary or similar. He quickly helped her up: "No need for such courtesy. This is just a small matter."

Liu Xiang's spirit had improved considerably by now. Still feeling many doubts about the matter, he asked: "Daoist Cui, you've seen my living quarters. What exactly is going on here?"

"Be patient. This matter is somewhat complicated. As I said, unless I explain the cause and effect clearly, you materialists will definitely think I'm crazy." Cui Hantang slowly sat down. "Let me explain from the beginning."

He glanced at Guo Xier, who was clearly eager to stay and listen. Liu Xiang quickly said: "Xi'er, please step out first."

Guo Xier answered and reluctantly left.

Lin Boguang said: "Alright then, let's hear it."

"I'll start with the mind curse that Mayor Liu fell victim to." Cui Hantang took another sip of tea and cleared his throat, then began explaining sorcery's "mind curse" at a leisurely pace. "Of course, the concept of 'black magic manipulation' as such only exists in Southeast Asia in the old spacetime. But that doesn't mean this spacetime's China doesn't have similar things. The mind curse, also called spiritual manipulation—a spiritual manipulation master can use their willpower to make victims experience hallucinations, lose consciousness, or do bizarre things. This type of manipulation must be performed with extensive use of talismanic magic. Like the 'talisman immortals' we speak of—their talisman techniques work similarly. The effects are extremely rapid, capable of instantly controlling a person's will and making them do things they originally would not do. Manipulation masters who use spiritual manipulation are usually the most powerful among such practitioners. Whoever cast the spell on Mayor Liu is just such an expert!"

"This isn't scientific. What mental control?" Lin Boguang felt his worldview about to collapse.

"It seems to exist. Some advanced hypnotists apparently can do it. I've seen it on television." Liu San offered.

"Yes, it's similar to advanced hypnosis. The principle is giving the subject a psychological suggestion and making them believe it's real. The effect of mental hypnosis naturally occurs, achieving the goal of controlling life and death." Cui Hantang smiled. "You all remember the premise of The Matrix, right? Fighting in virtual space—even though the body is still in a cultivation pod without any harm, the various stimuli the brain receives in virtual space feed back to the body. When they realize they've 'died,' the real body, even though completely unharmed, will believe the person is dead and cease functioning. This is somewhat mystical, but not without basis. Similar things have occurred historically. When Southeast Asian tribal shamans curse-kill people, they only need to perform the ritual in front of witnesses, then have the witnesses tell the intended victim: 'You've been cursed by a shaman.' Then this person will die after a period of time, even if medically there's no detectable pathology! This is the power of belief. The moment the victim learns the news, their upbringing makes them believe: 'I'm definitely going to die.' So they die."

After this lengthy explanation, everyone finally understood somewhat. Liu San tentatively said: "The other side used haunting to suggest to Liu Xiang: 'You've been cursed.' Liu Xiang believed the haunting, so he was in danger."

"Exactly." Cui Hantang nodded.

Lin Boguang offered a different opinion: "But this kind of mental suggestion actually requires certain environmental factors for support. In other words, rather than being hypnotized, it's more that one subconsciously believes these things."

"You're right. To achieve the goal, first you need an internal cause, second you need environment." Cui Hantang spoke eloquently. "First the internal cause. Black magic manipulation is popular in Southeast Asia. Fox immortals are most efficacious in the Northeast. Many British people today still believe the king's touch can cure disease... Fundamentally, there's a mass foundation, a faith. From emperors to beggars, everyone believes this. Even if you've earned a master's or doctorate degree, won a Nobel Prize—as long as you grew up in this social environment, these traditional beliefs will be rooted in your subconscious. If you use certain techniques to properly trigger them, you'll get twice the result with half the effort." He looked at the Elders with a half-smile. "Everyone present here is a materialist, right? But if you examine your hearts honestly—every time you pass through some not-so-romantic place late at night, don't you still feel a bit nervous and fearful, involuntarily thinking of supernatural things? After watching horror movies at midnight, don't you feel uneasy going to the bathroom? The reason we can disbelieve is because we have reason as a weapon to suppress our inner fear of the immaterial world..."

Lin Boguang cut him off: "Alright, alright, stop rambling on. We understand what you mean. Get to the point."

"Next are the external causes." Cui Hantang continued. "Since everyone has such seeds in their hearts, all a sorcerer needs is to find the right means to make those seeds sprout. There are many such means: words, actions, objects, symbols... all can be used to trigger. Finally making people believe it's real, ultimately 'becoming possessed' and dying."

"That serious? Then why do you say Mayor Liu is fine?" Mu Min asked.

"Because he's a modern person who fundamentally doesn't believe in sorcery. The internal cause is insufficient. Even now, he's only half-believing. The spark of materialism in his heart is supporting him so he won't be scared to death. If it were an ancient person, that would be harder to say." Cui Hantang stroked his chin.

"So I'm fine now?" Liu Xiang incredulously touched his forehead. "But I really don't know what methods they used—I've met quite a lot of people..."

"If I hadn't come to expose it, you really would have had problems, and would have needed treatment. According to scientific research, as long as the curse victim takes large amounts of vitamin B2 complex to strengthen their brain cell activity, they can naturally break free from the caster's mental suggestion. In other words, vitamin B2 complex is the specific cure for spiritual manipulation. In the old spacetime, you could easily buy it at any street pharmacy!" Cui Hantang laughed.

"Vitamin B2 complex? Who would bring that when crossing over? Even if there was some, it would be expired by now!" Liu San said.

"Once exposed, that's really all there is to it. Take your time with psychological counseling for Liu Xiang—for instance, reciting the Golden Light Incantation will work."

Liu San nodded: "What you're doing is actually also a form of psychological suggestion, right?"

Cui Hantang nodded somewhat reluctantly: "Sort of." He stood and paced. "People with hyperthyroidism sleep poorly and easily develop nervous exhaustion—since Mayor Liu entered the city, he's been working heart and soul every day. He looks full of energy, but actually he's strong on the outside and weak on the inside. When mentally weak, it's easy to fall for this kind of trick."

Mu Min interjected: "I don't understand something. How was this suggestion implanted? Liu Xiang's security here was already quite thorough. He doesn't eat food from outside. As for people he meets—they're either naturalized citizens or natives with considerable connections to us."

Cui Hantang nodded: "Speaking of suggestions, this place is already full of them. Take the most obvious one: Prefect Dong's several concubines, children, and servant girls killed themselves in this very courtyard, didn't they?"

Everyone nodded.

"Perhaps these rooms converted into offices and bedrooms—the roof beams may all have had people hang themselves from them. I looked carefully just now. The conference room's beams also have several worn spots."

Liu Xiang said hesitantly: "I'd thought of that too. But I didn't see the scene—by the time I came in, the bodies had all been collected and carried out through the main gate."

"You didn't see it, but you knew it happened, didn't you? Mental visualization is sometimes more terrifying than real scenes." Cui Hantang shook his large head. "I think ever since Mayor Liu entered the city and saw those corpses, you've been subconsciously somewhat afraid. You naturally knew where they killed themselves. But to maintain Elder dignity, and unwilling to arrange 'clean' living quarters for yourself when everything was just starting and you had mountains of work—you essentially forced yourself to live in the old yamen. Actually, in your heart you were still quite concerned. After entering the city, you were consumed with a myriad of affairs and naturally didn't think of these things. But subconsciously, the seed had already been planted..."

Seeing Liu Xiang nod in acknowledgment, Cui Hantang continued: "This evil practitioner also exploited this point. He set up several mechanisms to strengthen the suggestion on you, then used a small spell as a trigger to induce the fear in your heart, thereby throwing you into panic. Then the real killing blow would follow in succession. The opponent has made three moves in total!!!"

"Wait," Mu Min interrupted. "Could you be more specific? For instance, the details of the spells, the arrangement of the killing blow, and so on. This would help with solving the case."

"Alright, I'll tell all I know." Cui Hantang nodded. "The first move is actually very simple: the doors and windows making noise was because someone applied eel blood serum to the doors and windows. At night, surrounding bats would swoop over to lick it, crashing against the doors and windows. This woke Mayor Liu, who was already a light sleeper. When the lights came on, the bats naturally flew away."

"We actually thought of this." Mu Min said. "We roughly guessed similar methods were used. But there were only stains on the windows, no bloodstains."

"If it were bloodstains, that would be too obvious." Cui Hantang said. "This trick is known by many people. Guangzhou is a major city with many Daoist temples. There should be many Daoist masters. To prevent someone from exposing his methods, the evil practitioner used an upgraded version—applying blood serum."

Liu San nodded: "Right! Blood serum is colorless. When applied, at most there are just stains."

"So the evil practitioner also understands hematology..." Mu Min found it somewhat hard to believe.

(End of Chapter)