Chapter 0006 The Negative-Energy Amulet
Curious about the three amulets, I asked Frank Fang what they were. Frank Fang chuckled. "You want to know what these are? Easy, easy. You can ask me. One question costs 100 Thai Baht."
Seeing that he wasn't joking, I found myself laughing despite the situation. He really does have fixed prices. I counted out three 100 Baht bills. "I'll pay, but you can't lie to me. Otherwise, I won't come to you for business again."
Frank Fang smiled, took the money, and tucked it into his shirt pocket. "Frank Fang has been in this trade for over ten years. I'm famously mercenary—I prioritize money over people. If I were going to cheat you, I'd find it a waste of my time!"
I believed him. A known thief is less worrying than a sneaky one. Frank Fang took a deep drag from his cigar and said, "The first one, the spider paired with the Nepalese Bodhi beads, attracts wealth from all eight directions at night. The second one is an Indian sea snake, consecrated with the Naga King's Spell, for safety and protection. The third one is a Yin Tong, which makes me a sex superhuman!"
I was speechless. It seemed he was using amulets for comprehensive protection: making money safely and scoring women. He was invincible.
I asked Frank Fang, "How do we handle Mr. Li's son's case? The Spirit-Luring method you sent me is way too complex. Where do I even find a medium?"
Frank Fang scoffed, "That's your problem. I'm just the matchmaker. Whether the couple produces a baby after the wedding is none of my damn business."
I forced a smile. "I didn't earn a single cent from this deal. Can't you at least help out just for that?"
Frank Fang countered, "You think I drove all the way to Rayong for a vacation?"
I asked when we should start the ritual. He said, "We'll go tonight. It only works after midnight, twelve sharp."
"Brother Fang," I asked, "what's the deal with that amulet? Why does touching it bring bad luck?"
Frank Fang pulled out his phone, brought up the photos I had sent him, and pointed. "The front of this amulet has the black-and-white wedding photo of the bride who was hit and killed on her wedding day. The body of the amulet is made from cremation ground earth. Embedded in it are several Yin materials. The plastic bead is a decoration from her wedding veil's headpiece. The iron nail is a coffin nail from her coffin. And that small bell is from the funeral banner used during her procession."
I felt a chill run through me, but I couldn't resist asking, "W-What about the tiny piece of white gauze?"
Frank Fang leaned close to my face and said expressionlessly, "That's a small piece of the shroud used to wrap her corpse during burial..." I managed to force a weak smile, picked up the glass on the table, and drank the juice, my hands trembling. Frank Fang burst out laughing, looking very pleased with himself.
"So, where do I find a medium?" I asked.
Frank Fang asked, "Are you interested? The process is very exciting—almost like channeling a spirit!"
I immediately objected. I said I'd never seen a ghost and didn't want to. What if I got sick, like Xiaoyong? Frank Fang said, "Being a medium isn't dangerous. You'll just feel groggy and sluggish for the next two or three days, then you'll be fine. If you don't want to do it, find someone else to be the medium. But whoever you find, you'll have to pay them. Think about it."
I had no choice but to agree, but I insisted Frank Fang guarantee my safety.
Starting after dinner, Frank Fang coached me on reciting the Katha. I'm young and have a good memory, so I had it memorized perfectly by the next afternoon. Frank Fang looked satisfied. "We can schedule the ritual now. Did you remember all the steps I told you yesterday?" I confirmed I had. I called Old Li, who was still at the construction site, and told him to prepare for the ritual starting at midnight.
Around nine o'clock that evening, Old Li called me, his voice anxious. "Mr. Tien, I have a bad feeling about Xiaoyong tonight."
"What's wrong?" I asked.
Old Li said, "During dinner, the boy kept looking at me and his mother with such strange eyes. They were intensely cold. He kept making this cold, sneering expression, like we were strangers or enemies. I asked Xiaoyong what was wrong, but he wouldn't answer, just kept smirking while he ate. A little while ago, I saw him playing with a rope on the balcony, wrapping it around his wrist over and over. He's been doing it for over an hour. Could something be wrong? I'm genuinely afraid he might try to hang himself!"
I consulted Frank Fang, who said, "Tell the clients to lock the child in the bedroom. Don't let him out. Clear everything out of the room, especially dangerous objects like weapons or ropes. We'll talk when we get there."
Around eleven o'clock that night, Frank Fang and I arrived at Old Li's place. Thailand is in the tropics; it's summer from March to November. It was September, so the evenings were hot and muggy. In Frank Fang's old car, which didn't even have AC, we were both melting. We got to Old Li's apartment, went upstairs, and knocked on the door—no answer. We took turns banging hard on the door. After a long time, the door still hadn't opened, but we managed to wake up three sets of neighbors. Old Li's apartment, however, remained silent. I asked, "Could they be asleep?"
Frank Fang shook his head. "We already warned them. And no one sleeps that soundly. This old apartment building has terrible soundproofing. If the neighbors can hear it, they definitely can."
I thought for a moment. "Could it be carbon monoxide poisoning?"
Frank Fang and I exchanged nervous looks, neither of us certain. I knocked a few more times, then pulled out my phone to call the police. Just then, we heard the sound of the lock turning inside. I quickly said, "Listen! There's a sound, someone's opening the door!"
The door slowly opened. Xiaoyong stood in the room, staring at us expressionlessly. I asked, "Xiaoyong, where are your parents?"
"They're sleeping in the room..." Xiaoyong replied.
Frank Fang looked annoyed. "Seriously? Someone sleeps sounder than a dead pig!" Once inside, Xiaoyong quietly opened the refrigerator, poured us two glasses of juice, put them on the table, and stood silently nearby. We were both hot and thirsty, so we grabbed the juice and drank it immediately. Frank Fang sat on the sofa, drinking his juice. He saw the small red cloth bundle on the cabinet, opened it, and confirmed it was the Negative-energy Amulet.
I leaned closer to look. Frank Fang said, "Go wake up that couple quickly. We're running out of time. You can look at it later." I went to knock on the bedroom door—no response. I pushed it open and saw Old Li and his wife lying rigidly in bed, covered by a thin blanket, seemingly fast asleep.
I called out a few times, but they didn't wake up. How could they be sleeping so deeply? And there was no smell of gas. I walked to the bedside and tried to push them awake—still nothing. I pulled back Old Li's eyelid. His eyeball felt heavy, and his pupil was slightly dilated, looking exactly like the symptom of drug poisoning. I helped Old Li up and lifted the thin blanket, only to discover that both his hands and feet were tightly bound with ropes!
I was horrified and quickly started trying to untie the ropes. That's when my head began to spin. I couldn't even lift my arms. I knew something was wrong. I struggled to run out of the room. Frank Fang was holding the Negative-energy Amulet, but his head was slumped to the side, his eyes half-closed. I managed to get to the table and sink into a chair. Frank Fang was completely still, seemingly unconscious.
At that moment, Xiaoyong slowly walked over and stood in front of me. He reached out, took the Negative-energy Amulet from Frank Fang's hand, and said calmly, "Can you help me?" The voice that came out of his mouth was that of a mature woman.
"Help you with what..." I managed to force out a few words.
Xiaoyong said, "I want to go home, to find my husband. He's been waiting for me."
I quickly asked, "Who exactly are you?"
Xiaoyong began to sob. "On my wedding day, our wedding car was hit. My husband was critically injured, but I died. Why me? And why on the day I got married? I'm unwilling! I'm unwilling!"
My soul flew out of my body in terror. My mouth was barely working. "Th-That wasn't o-our fault."
Xiaoyong grew angry. "I wanted to go home, but someone used a dark spell to trap me here and forced me to serve him, saying it would help me accumulate merit... I believed him. But after he succeeded, he abandoned me and threw me by the roadside. This annoying little boy picked me up and wore me around his neck, so I had no choice but to possess him."
I replied, "I think I can help you, but w-why did you do this? Did you... drug us?"
Xiaoyong smiled. "That couple was too dishonest. I begged them many times to take me home, but they wouldn't. Tonight, they even said they were going to find a master to lock me back into the amulet. I don't want to go back to that Arjan's place. I want to return to Chiang Rai. That is my home!"