«Mr. Brook Lee,» Agent David said, his voice rising with excitement upon hearing Li Yunlong's words. «You mean to tell me you can use your magic-using the mirror as a conduit-to summon the soul of the late Alice? That's incredible! I knew bringing you in on this was the right call!»
«What are you getting so thrilled about?» Li Yunlong replied, shaking his head. «Do you really think summoning a dead person's soul is that simple? The ritual I'm using is an ancient Eastern arcane art. Though we call it soul-summoning, its actual effect is much closer to mediumship.»
Agent David paused, looking bewildered. «Isn't mediumship just summoning the dead?» Beside him, Agent Gillian nodded along in agreement.
Li Yunlong found himself momentarily at a loss for words. In this country, the mediumship portrayed in movies really was just calling up dead spirits so a wizard could act as a telephone between the living and the deceased. «Forget it,» he sighed. «You two don't have any background in occultism anyway, and I can't explain it all to you on short notice. Besides, these theoretical distinctions don't mean much to you as long as we get results.»
Agent David went off to complete the paperwork and retrieved the mirror being held as physical evidence, while Agent Gillian scouted out an empty underground storage room in the police precinct.
«Does the department need this mirror back once we're done?» Li Yunlong asked. «In a moment, when I cast the spell, the skin of my palm needs to be in direct contact with the glass.»
«We have to return it to the precinct's evidence locker when we're finished,» Agent David explained. «Though in truth, it's pretty useless. The forensic team wrapped up their analysis long ago. There are plenty of similar items from other cases. FBI experts analyzed them and found that while the craftsmanship and design look ancient, they're actually modern fabrications. The working theory is that the killer crafted the mirrors by hand. The overall structure isn't anything special, but if you detach the mirror face, you'll find a weird magical array drawn in human blood on the back.»
Li Yunlong had seen photos of the blood-drawn array in the files, but the magic involved clearly belonged to a completely different tradition than what he studied. Even after staring at the photograph for a long time, he hadn't been able to make heads or tails of it. «The files you gave me only had photos,» he noted. «There wasn't a single detailed analytical report. What's the deal with that?»
Agent David shrugged. «Like you saw, all the detailed records regarding the mirror were scrubbed from the file. Those photos you looked at were only obtained because I noticed something off and had someone look into it on my own.»
Li Yunlong understood instantly. It was just the usual internal mess within the FBI-wherever there were people, there was office politics, and more often than not, the knife thrust into your back came from someone on your own side. He had no intention of sticking his nose into their internal drama, nor could he if he wanted to. «Well, surely you had the blood used for the array tested?»
«The test results showed it was from a Caucasian male, Type A blood, estimated to be between thirty and forty years old,» Agent David replied. «Since the results came back identical for several mirrors I sent in, there's a high probability the blood belongs to the killer himself.»
Li Yunlong scratched his head, feeling a headache coming on. «If that's the case, we might be in for some trouble. Human blood is a spirit-attuned material, frequently used across various arcane rituals, which means both its advantages and its taboos are widely known. If the killer had used a victim's blood, he probably wouldn't care much about what happened to it. But since he used his own, there's a strong chance he laid a trap.»
«Why is that?» Agent David asked.
«In occultism, when a living person sheds their own blood, it's viewed as the overflow of their personal spirit force!» Li Yunlong extended his hand, making a gesture as though blood were dripping from it. «Even after it's separated from the body and dried, that blood still retains a portion of their spirit force. If it fell into an enemy's hands, they could use it as a medium to cast a curse. Because of that risk, the arcane world has developed plenty of countermeasures. Our mirror-loving friend very likely set a trap on it.»
«Then what do we do?»
«We deal with it as it comes,» Li Yunlong said nonchalantly. «Worst-case scenario, the spell fails. With my strength, it won't trigger any massive catastrophe, so rest easy.»
Agent David didn't feel easy in the slightest. Yet with things having come this far, he had no better alternative than to trust Li Yunlong and see it through to the bitter end.
Li Yunlong spent nearly an hour turning the mirror over in his hands, examining it from every angle. «Agent David,» he said finally, «I've carefully inspected this mirror. I'm over seventy percent confident I can handle his trap, which looks like a curse attached to the surface. Now it's up to you to decide: do you want me to perform the soul-summoning or not? A word of warning beforehand-this carries a certain amount of physical and mental danger for you.»
«Of course I want you to perform it,» Agent David answered. «But can you spell out exactly what kind of danger I'm facing?»
«To cast the soul-summoning ritual, the first essential component is this mirror,» Li Yunlong said, holding it up. «Not only was it a tool used by the killer, but it was also the last object the deceased touched before dying, which gives it immense significance in occult terms. Second, I need a medium.» He pointed a finger at the agent. «That's right, Agent David-you.»
Agent David blinked, thoroughly bewildered. «Don't mediums need to be wizards? I don't possess any mysterious powers, so what's the point of having me communicate with the dead?» Watching someone else play around with spiritual stuff was thrilling enough, but when it came to dealing with a dead ghost himself, even someone like David, who had several human lives on his hands, couldn't help feeling apprehensive.
«I already told you, this is an ancient Eastern arcane art-soul-summoning! It's not the same as Western mediumship you see in the movies. Sure, I could act as the medium, but then who's going to cast the spell? You?»
With no way to back out now, Agent David gritted his teeth and quickly weighed his options. Li Yunlong probably wouldn't use this chance to stab him in the back, and besides, he had killed several living people himself-what was there to fear from a dead one? «Mr. Brook Lee, what do I need to do?»
«Just follow my instructions,» Li Yunlong said. «Do whatever I tell you to do.» Turning to face Agent Gillian, he added, «Agent Gillian, please hold out your left hand, palm facing up.»
He grabbed her offered wrist and held his index and middle fingers together on his right hand. Hovering about three millimeters above her palm, he traced a talisman in the air. After roughly thirty seconds, he stopped and released her hand. «I've placed a protective charm on you. It'll last about two hours. During this time, ordinary lesser ghosts and spirits will fear you and won't dare come near.»
Li Yunlong's flashy display didn't rattle Agent Gillian. After all, as an elite FBI agent, her composure and decisiveness far exceeded that of ordinary people, regardless of her gender. She flexed her hand, intrigued, sensing an invisible yet gentle aura wrapping around her body. «Do you need me to do something, Mr. Brook Lee?» She was no fool; Li Yunlong was clearly preparing to make use of her, or he wouldn't have bothered granting her protection.
«Stand behind Agent David,» Li Yunlong instructed. «If he shows any abnormal behavior-like if his legs go soft, or he collapses to the floor, or he suddenly goes wild-handle him immediately. Protect him from harm, and protect us from being harmed by him.»
«Got it,» Agent Gillian agreed.
«Can't you put a protective charm on me too?» Agent David asked.
«You're acting as the medium,» Li Yunlong replied. «If I place a protective spell on you, how are you supposed to channel the spirit?»
In truth, Li Yunlong's current situation made him little more than a rogue practitioner. Not only was his cultivation system incomplete, but many of the underlying theories guiding his practice were riddled with gaps, and his defensive methods were pitifully scarce. Being short on resources, he had no choice but to improvise with whatever he had on hand. Through his study of traditional medicine and pharmacology, he had naturally gravitated toward arcane alchemy. Ever since the Song Dynasty, Daoists had placed immense emphasis on alchemy, cultivating the Golden Core internally while relying on various external alchemical methods for support. Historically, no fully realized Daoist master was ever someone to be trifled with; they were adept in both civil and martial arts, capable of taking a beating as easily as handing one out, and external alchemists were no exception. Their famous combat-alchemy techniques were unique to their tradition, making them far more formidable than Western alchemists.
Li Yunlong hadn't been studying for very long, so crafting high-grade external elixirs was out of his reach for now. However, in actual battle, he possessed two massive cheats: his sensory control ability and his extraordinary vital energy. When applied to himself, his vital energy strengthened his body and suppressed all manner of evil; when projected outward, it could commune with the vast forces of heaven and earth to erode and neutralize all forms of magic. Combined with the informational advantage provided by his sensory control, Li Yunlong could employ the technique of turning qi into elixirs-a core method within combat-alchemy.
In Daoist thought, the qi of the world was calculated by a single foundational unit, comprising one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred distinct varieties of qi from which all things in existence were formed. Refining many of the elixirs in external alchemy required rare, costly ingredients that were exceedingly difficult to gather. Thus, the ancient masters developed the method of refining qi into elixirs directly from the atmosphere, eliminating the need to search for precious herbs. This innovation also added a whole new arsenal to their combat-alchemy repertoire.
Although refining qi into elixirs possessed countless advantages, it carried a high barrier to entry and demanded an immense level of skill. Even within the realm of external alchemy, it remained a niche practice that had never gained widespread popularity. Had it not been for his sensory control ability acting as a golden shortcut, Li Yunlong wouldn't have dared to choose this path; the information advantage it conferred was simply overwhelming.
The gesture Li Yunlong had performed over Agent Gillian's hand looked like tracing a talisman in midair, but in truth, he was using her body as a vessel to refine qi into an elixir on the spot, instantly manifesting all sorts of subtle protective effects. However, Li Yunlong had no intention of revealing these intricacies to the two agents. As the old saying went, a loose tongue bared secrets and brought ruin. Since these nuances concerned the core of his personal power, he kept them carefully hidden, confiding in no one. Besides, the two agents didn't care about the underlying process anyway-all they needed were the results.