Chapter 0076 Ritual at the Mall
My heart was in my throat. I was practically screaming in my head: Just eat it! Stop hesitating! After a few seconds of agonizing doubt, Sun Xicai finally shoveled a spoonful of wonton and soup into his mouth. Arjan Somchai's disciple clapped his hands softly, a small smile appearing on his face.
However, the girl sitting nearby had stopped eating and was staring intensely at Sun Xicai. He hadn't even finished chewing when he noticed her gaze and looked back, confused. The girl said something to him and pointed toward the direction where Frank Fang had just disappeared. My heart sank. Wang Jiao whispered urgently, "Brother, that girl told on us! What do we do?"
Sun Xicai immediately spat the wonton back into the bowl, followed by several more frantic spits. He lunged to his feet and scanned the area. I saw Frank Fang, who had been waiting by the escalator, walking back toward us with his sleeves rolled up. It looked like he was ready to use force. I steeled myself—there was no turning back now—and told Wang Jiao, "Stay here!" then rushed forward to back him up.
Sun Xicai spotted me, and his face twisted in terror. He grabbed his bag to run, but just as he kicked his chair back, he suddenly froze. His eyes went glazed, and his body began to convulse violently. Passersby, thinking he was having an epileptic seizure, scrambled out of the way.
Arjan Somchai pulled an amulet from his pocket and hurried over with his disciple. Sun Xicai managed a few stumbling steps and grabbed onto a middle-aged woman, who shrieked in terror. Her companion stood frozen in shock. The Arjan's disciple grabbed Sun Xicai by the collar and yanked him away as the woman fled. Arjan Somchai swiftly hung the amulet around Sun Xicai's neck.
The disciple and I each grabbed one of Sun Xicai's arms, pinning him down. Frank Fang joined in to help. Sun Xicai's shaking grew more violent, and a thick, black liquid began to leak from his nostrils. Standing nearby, Wang Jiao turned pale. "Brother, what's happening to Xicai?"
Arjan Somchai pressed his left hand onto Sun Xicai's forehead and began chanting. The crowd backed away further. Two security guards approached to investigate, but Frank Fang pushed them back. "He's having a seizure! Don't get close, he might bite!" Terrified of being bitten by a "madman," the guards stayed back.
Arjan Somchai opened the plastic casing of the amulet and struggled to hold Sun Xicai's thrashing head still. He allowed several drops of the black liquid to fall onto the amulet before quickly snapping the casing shut. He gripped the amulet tightly in his right fist, sat cross-legged on the mall floor, and pressed his left hand over his fist.
Suddenly, Sun Xicai's body lurched forward. His hands and left leg left the ground, leaving him balanced only on his right foot—a physical position impossible for a normal human to maintain. Arjan Somchai struck him hard on the back of the head. Sun Xicai slammed face-first into the floor and went completely still.
The disciple quickly picked him up and told Frank Fang and me to carry him out. The three of us lugged Sun Xicai's limp body out of the Xinglong Mall under the watchful eyes of security and diners. We reached the intersection at Middle Street, where Wang Jiao hailed two taxis. We stuffed Sun Xicai into the back seat of the first one with Wang Jiao in the front. Frank Fang, the Arjan, the disciple, and I took the second car and sped back to the amulet shop.
The Aftermath
Back in the bedroom, Arjan Somchai held up the amulet stained with black fluid. "The Male Undead is now bound to this plate. I must take it back with me. Its Yin energy and resentment are extreme; it will require a long period of blessing to pacify." I thanked him profusely. Wang Jiao was only concerned with when Sun Xicai would wake up. Frank Fang translated the Arjan's response: "When the Male Undead left, it took his soul with it. Keep him in this room, draw the curtains, and keep him out of the sunlight. He will wake in seven days. Once he opens his eyes, he can see the light again."
"Seven days?" I asked. "Won't he starve to death?"
Arjan Somchai shook his head. "Until his soul returns, his body is in a state of half-Yin, half-Yang. Do not worry." Frank Fang told me to have the payment ready the next morning before they headed back to Thailand. Wang Jiao asked how much it was. I told her there was a 30,000 yuan balance for the ritual and about 10,000 for the flights. She dug through Sun Xicai's bag, found 50,000 yuan in cash, and handed 40,000 to Frank Fang.
Frank Fang frowned. "Not enough. Add another 5,000."
I was confused. "Wasn't the price agreed upon?"
"Bullshit," Frank Fang snapped. "I've been running around for you, making all the arrangements. Do I not deserve a hardship fee? Even brothers keep clear accounts—and are you even my brother?"
I was speechless. "Of course not."
"Exactly," Frank Fang said. "So, the hardship fee stays. I saved your life. Next time you're in Thailand, don't forget to treat me to drinks and a sauna." I realized I had to pay him and thank him at the same time. Wang Jiao quickly handed over the extra 5,000. Frank Fang tucked the money into his bag with a satisfied look.
I was hit with a wave of regret. I had delayed this for so long because I didn't want to spend the money. I had assumed that if I fronted the cash, Sun Xicai would never pay me back, and Wang Jiao would side with him. If I had known that the ritual would leave him unconscious and Wang Jiao would be this generous, I wouldn't have waited!
Recovery and Resolution
The next day, Frank Fang and the Arjan left for Thailand via Beijing. Wang Jiao and I stayed at the shop for the full seven days. She was too scared to sleep in the same bed as the "corpse-like" Sun Xicai, so I put her up in a small hotel across the street. Sun Xicai was perfectly still, save for his breathing—no different from a dead man, though his body was warm. On the evening of the seventh day, his fingers finally twitched. Wang Jiao screamed, "Brother, he moved! Look!"
Half an hour later, Sun Xicai went from squinting to sitting up. He was incoherent and couldn't get out of bed. For several days, he suffered from severe diarrhea—sticky, black discharge that ruined the bedsheets and smelled horrific. The hotel owner gave us a piece of his mind, and we ended up paying 1,000 yuan in damages.
By the next morning, Sun Xicai looked much better. Wang Jiao helped him outside for a walk. The owner of the neighboring grocery store asked with concern, "What happened? Did Sun Xicai have surgery?"
Within a week, he had fully recovered. Curiously, he had no memory of the past few months. His memory stopped at the day the human trafficker from Guizhou called him. We had to explain everything that had happened.
After the ordeal, Wang Jiao had lost all affection for him and insisted on a breakup. Sun Xicai knelt on the floor, sobbing and clinging to her legs. When she wouldn't budge, he begged me to intervene. I couldn't stand the scene, so I helped him up and asked Wang Jiao to give him one last chance.
Wang Jiao sighed in frustration. "Fine, for my brother's sake, I'll forgive you this once. But if you ever pull another greedy, backstabbing stunt like this, we're through, and you can get the hell out of this shop!"
Sun Xicai nodded frantically. "I promise! I'll listen to you and Brother Tien from now on!"
The nightmare of the Male Undead, Zheng Yonggui, was finally over. I felt lighter than if I had found a pot of gold. Looking back at the chaos that started with those second-hand urns, I warned Sun Xicai: "Stick to selling regular amulets and Kuman Thongs. Don't you dare source your own stock again, or you're on your own." He agreed, and Wang Jiao even made him sign and thumbprint a formal letter of guarantee at the art shop next door. Only then did I finally feel at peace.
With the Sun Xicai mess settled, I flew back to Thailand to relax with Frank Fang in Pattaya. One night, we were drinking in a bar downstairs. The place was packed with young people dancing in a blur of neon lights. Usually, Frank Fang would be out on the floor looking for women, but today he sat on the sofa, drinking with me.
Maybe it was the weight of everything that had happened, but I got half-drunk after just a few bottles. Frank Fang looked at me with a smirk. I knew he was laughing at how my greed had almost gotten me killed.
I leaned back and mumbled, "If I'd known Wang Jiao would cover the costs, I wouldn't have waited... Sigh. This business is too exhausting. I don't even want to do it anymore."