Chapter 0078 Kanzy
Master Chen Gui smiled. "There are indeed many, and they are major stars. If I mentioned even one name, you'd be stunned. But I cannot tell you. Even the celebrities themselves must keep it a secret, or they will face dire misfortune. If I spoke out, I would suffer for it as well."
Frank Fang was somewhat disappointed, and simultaneously skeptical of Master Chen Gui's words. If he was truly such a powerful and famous master, why would he live in such a remote, dilapidated place, not even mending the holes in his clothes? Master Chen Gui seemed to read his thoughts, but he only smiled and said nothing.
Back in the village, Frank Fang couldn't stop thinking about the celebrities paying huge sums for luck-boosting and cursing rituals. There was a young man in the village in his twenties named Kanzy, who idled away his days and had no proper job. He complained of exhaustion even when cutting grass, preferring to lock himself away to study Taoist arts and sorcery. Everyone viewed Kanzy as a lunatic, including his parents. They found it embarrassing to live with him and refused to let him stay in their three-story house, instead relegating him to a few crumbling old rooms nearby.
Kanzy made a pittance doing odd jobs for the villagers, using the meager coins to buy rice and vegetables. Frank Fang occasionally ran into him and would chat for a bit. Kanzy's talk was always erratic and nonsensical, and everyone mocked him. However, Frank Fang had a nose as sharp as a dog's; he felt that he could extract some useful intelligence from this fellow.
One evening, Frank Fang arrived at Kanzy's dilapidated house carrying fresh fish and pork. Kanzy was tall and thin. The weather was sweltering, so he sat shirtless at the table, shoveling noodles into his mouth while intently reading a book. Old books were piled everywhere on the table and floor, and the room smelled of mold. Kanzy was surprised to see a visitor. Once Frank Fang explained his visit, Kanzy understood. He pulled two books from the pile, frantically flipping through them. "Sorry, Mr. Fang, I never have guests. Master Chen Gui is of the authentic Maoshan Sect. It's written clearly in these books: a Maoshan practitioner must wear tattered clothes and live in a broken house for life, otherwise, his magic will fail."
Frank Fang didn't understand. "The point of learning Maoshan arts is eventually to make money. What's the use of wearing rags and living in a shack?"
Kanzy replied, "The grimoires only say you can't live in a good house or wear fine clothes. They don't say you can't eat good food, smoke fine tobacco, or drive a luxury car! Hahaha!"
Now Frank Fang understood. He noticed Kanzy's left arm was covered in densely tattooed symbols and remarked, "What are those? They're hideous. Look at mine: the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, and Vermillion Bird—and I have Guan Yu on my back." Kanzy laughed. "These are Pali incantations. They are specifically for warding off ghosts and evil spirits. When practicing the Black Arts, you must understand the chants to avoid being harmed by the spirits you summon. Many masters tattoo the spells directly onto their bodies so they don't have to recite them; it protects the physical vessel eternally."
Frank Fang looked impressed. He told Kanzy to stop eating noodles, pointed to the fish and meat, and gave him money to buy liquor. Delighted, Kanzy ran out and bought a bottle of white spirits. The two began cooking the fish and stewing the meat, feasting in the old shack.
Finding a friend who didn't treat him like an outcast, Kanzy spilled everything: how the village head had slept with several local women; how a local gentryman had hired a sorcerer to kill his young aunt's husband; how the township chief kept a Kuman Thong (child spirit) in his home; and how many Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrities sought Master Chen Gui for spirit-binding and cursing rituals. Frank Fang wondered how he knew all this. Kanzy grinned. "Most people treat me like trash, an idiot, or a psycho. In reality, I see everything clearly. Nothing stays hidden from me."
Before they knew it, night had fallen. Kanzy mysteriously led Frank Fang to the attic, climbing a ladder into the crawlspace above the old roof. He opened a battered camphor wood chest and pulled out a human skull. Frank Fang jumped back, asking what it was. Kanzy said, "This is a Nang Paya (Lukyee). I dug it up from the neighboring village's cemetery a few years ago. The owner of this skull was like Master Chen Gui—a practitioner of Southeast Asian dark arts. Someone in the township trusted him and paid him to curse an enemy, but his skills were lacking. The curse backfired and killed him instead. Even years later, people still tell his story as a joke, but I stole his skull to use for my studies."
Frank Fang felt deeply uneasy. "Does it work?"
Kanzy admitted, "I haven't tried it. I'm afraid to. If it doesn't work, my years of studying the Black Arts were for nothing. But if it does work, I'm even more scared—what if I kill or maim someone?"
Frank Fang laughed. "In Malaysia, I heard that very few people have the power to cast a death curse. Don't overthink it. Why don't I find a target for you? You cast a curse on him and we'll see if it works. I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong. How about it?"
Kanzy blinked. "Curse who?"
Frank Fang named the bachelor, Wu. When Kanzy asked why, Frank simply told him the whole story; since he wasn't a local, he didn't care who knew. Kanzy smiled. "Fine, I'll try. If it works, you have to provide me with meat and wine for three months. If not, forget it. First, find a way to get his birth date and time—his Eight Characters." The two reached an agreement.
Kanzy noticed the ring on Frank Fang's finger. "Is that obsidian set in your ring?"
Frank Fang looked down and saw that the Five Venoms Oil in the ring had turned as black as ink. He explained the origin of the oil to Kanzy. Kanzy found it miraculous. When the skull was moved away, the oil in the ring gradually returned to its original color. It seemed there truly was a powerful, malevolent spirit within the skull.
From then on, Frank Fang kept a close watch on the bachelor. He would "accidentally" pass by Wu's house, and Wu, thinking it was a provocation, would glare at him. About three or five days later, Frank Fang was carrying fish home past Wu's house again. He saw Wu sitting at his doorway, looking haggard and clutching his nose as if injured. Even stranger, the men who usually drank and chatted with Wu were sitting far away at the street corner. Sensing something was wrong, Frank Fang went over to chat with them. One of them said, "You didn't hear? He caught a weird disease. No one dares go near him."
"What kind of disease?" Frank Fang asked quickly.
Another man replied, "Who knows? First, a huge red boil grew on his nose. When it burst, a bunch of tiny white threadworms crawled out. It's enough to scare someone to death. He's been talking nonsense, too."
The first man added, "I bet he offended the River God. Either way, stay far away from him."
Frank Fang thought to himself: Could Kanzy's curse actually be working? A few days later, Wu stopped coming out entirely. Passing by, one could smell a foul stench wafting from the house. The neighbor's dog barked incessantly at Wu's window. Unable to take it, the neighbor called the village head. The head ordered two young men to break down the door. What they saw nearly scared them to death—Wu was lying on the floor, somehow rotted into a mess of putrid flesh and dry bone, covered in maggots and swarming with flies.
No one knew who tipped him off, but Master Chen Gui from the Dawu Mountains specifically came to the village. He saw the state of Wu's body but left without saying a word. Since no cause of death could be determined—and since Wu had no enemies and no relatives—the matter was eventually dropped. Although the widow had her suspicions about Frank Fang, Wu's death was so bizarre that she didn't pursue the thought.
Frank Fang found Kanzy and asked him what had happened. Kanzy was also very nervous. "I didn't think Wu would actually die. That night, I used the skull to cast an Insect Curse on him. The next day I heard he had a boil full of worms, and I was thrilled—I thought my years of study finally paid off. But... I forgot to learn the counter-curse. By the time I figured it out, Wu was already..."
Frank Fang put on a stern face. "Instead of living a normal life and getting a wife, you're out here following Master Chen Gui into the dark arts, and now there's a body. If I report this to the village or township head, do you think you'd keep your life?"
Kanzy panicked, unable to speak. Frank Fang smiled. "Don't be afraid. I won't report you. I gain nothing from you going to prison. How about this: you focus on studying how to cast and break curses, and I'll find the clients. You help them with curses, breaking spells, or boosting their luck, and we split the profits fifty-fifty. What do you say?"