Folk customs begin with the entire funeral procession

Chapter 182 Winning Techniques

“If it happened two months ago, it’s really hard for us to investigate. If she finds any clues, Chen Miao, you can have him contact me. I’ll find some time to go there and see if we can catch him.”

Qi Ning frowned and said.

The Shannan City Administration has fewer than 100 investigators. Every day, they not only have to handle suspected cases from the surrounding areas of Shannan City, but also send people to reinforce areas within Shannan City's jurisdiction that have sent reinforcement requests.

Generally, requests for reinforcements take higher priority than investigations of suspected cases. The need for reinforcements indicates that a real paranormal event has occurred.

However, now that Chen Miao has spoken about it, it means that this incident did happen, and it is very likely that it was deliberate!

Then it's definitely necessary to make a trip there. If Qi Ning finds any clues while following up, it will be easier to apply for the bureau to send someone.

Although the process is cumbersome, it is the optimal solution after years of optimization by the Administration.

Chen Miao nodded.

"Okay, I'll let them know about it later."

At this moment, Zhong Cai put down his wine glass, looked at Chen Miao with a slight hint of drunkenness, and said:

"Spells are a broad term, referring to many things."

"As far as I know, powerful spells like the Five Thunder Spell and Golden Light Spell of Taoist practitioners are spells; spells like the Suppression Spell and the Head-Locking Spell, which use objects to curse people, are also spells; the Corpse Transformation Spell and the Tortoise Breath Locking Yang Spell are spells; the Great Compassion Mantra in Buddhist practitioners for the salvation of ghosts is also a spell; even the Feng Shui arrangement that gathers evil energy and causes certain harm to the human body can be considered a kind of spell!"

"From what you just said, it sounds like a curse or black magic, a method of using objects to curse people."

Chen Miao's eyes lit up.

"Brother, you know all this?"

After a moment of silence, Zhong Cai nodded.

"I've only seen people perform the 'suppression spell,' but as for the 'black magic,' I've never seen it. I only know the general idea, but its principle should be similar to the 'suppression spell' in some aspects."

"Whether it's a curse or a black magic, the target is mostly people, not ghosts! Curses are a bit better, as some can even be used to ward off evil spirits, but black magic is purely used to harm people."

“There are three types of amulets: architectural amulets, object amulets, and human amulets.”

"Architectural suppression" refers to the practice of burying auspicious or inauspicious objects during the construction of a house to complement the overall energy field of the building and thus have a positive or negative impact on the people living in it.

Chen Miao suddenly realized something and asked, "Brother, isn't this the same as feng shui?"

Zhong Cai nodded.

"Some feng shui arrangements are combined with architectural techniques to suppress negative influences. Such arrangements may result in good fortune inside the house but misfortune outside. However, feng shui arrangements have a wider range of applications."

Chen Miao nodded and asked another question.

"Dude, what do you mean by 'aura'?"

Zhong Cai gave a wry smile.

"I can't explain it either, just like I can't explain why the Turtle Breathing and Yang Locking Curse can put me into a state of suspended animation."

"Some say that suppressing an aura is suppressing a person's energy, while others say it's suppressing their fate. These are just different interpretations that have been passed down through generations."

"In the end, we low-level cultivators are only at the level of 'using techniques.' If we can understand the principles of techniques, we won't be far from creating techniques."

Chen Miao nodded, signaling Zhong Cai to continue.

"Another method is the use of objects to suppress evil spirits. This involves modifying certain objects to make them a carrier or medium for suppressing evil spirits, thereby giving these objects a certain aura."

"In fact, in many rural areas, people know some ways to ward off evil spirits, such as hanging a mirror on the door, putting a pair of scissors under the pillow, or burying ancient copper coins under the threshold."

"These are all techniques that people secretly learned from observing others performing divination and that have been passed down through generations."

Chen Miao was surprised.

"Are these all effective?"

Zhong Cai smiled and said, "It depends on how you interpret it." "If you're asking whether it can ward off evil spirits, my answer is no."

"If you ask me if it can put people's minds at ease, my answer is yes."

Chen Miao understood; it was purely a psychological comfort.

Come to think of it, if you could learn it just by watching, then what would be the point of passing down talismans? Anyone could probably draw one just by copying it.

"The medium for casting a curse is only one aspect; the core lies in the incantation itself, which I am unaware of."

"Then there is the method of personal amulet, which is very similar to black magic. Both methods use a person's personal belongings to perform the spell."

"For example, hair, blood, clothes, combs, etc."

"When I was young, I saw someone use a curse to torture the target to death."

After taking a sip of wine, Zhong Cai reminisced about the past.

“That time, I was accompanying my master to escort guests home. After we dropped them off, before we left, someone came to my master seeking help, saying that someone in their family had encountered trouble.”

"Although my master mainly deals with corpses, he can also handle minor matters, so he agreed to go and take a look."

“But that time, I followed my master and didn’t see the enemy’s shadow or find any ghosts from beginning to end. But that person’s body just inexplicably developed nail marks and knife marks in front of us, and finally his neck was strangled and he died in front of us!”

"Later, a master intervened and captured the evildoer. Only then did my master and I learn that the other party had used a curse technique."

"All you need is the target's hair, blood, and birth date to use a curse to kill them!"

"That was also the first time I realized that these things cannot fall into the hands of others so easily."

"After that, my master took me to visit that master, and from him I learned some more information about the art of warding off evil spirits."

"Some simple curse spells can even be successfully cast using only personal items."

"For example, it can cause nightmares, illnesses, or mania, etc."

"Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, do not give away your personal belongings. If they fall into the hands of someone with ill intentions, trouble will ensue."

Seeing Chen Miao's furrowed brows, Zhong Cai smiled and said, "Don't worry so much!"

"The more lethal the curse, the more mediums are needed. You can't just curse someone to death with your hair, can you? Who would dare go to the barbershop then?"

Seeing Chen Miao breathe a sigh of relief, Zhong Cai continued:

"Actually, this casting medium has conditions; it can't be used on just anything."

"When things like hair and blood are away from your body for a long time, they lose their effectiveness. Similarly, things that are close to you but are away from you for a long time are no longer close to you."

"In terms of aura, it means that after leaving you, the aura that belongs to you on those objects gradually disappears. However, the aura of things like hair and blood lasts longer."

"But no matter how long it takes, it can't be more than a day."

Upon hearing this, Chen Miao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's alright, otherwise, if someone who knows curse techniques wanted to cause trouble, they could just go to a junkyard. There are old things there, so they could curse whoever they wanted."

Zhong Cai smiled again.

"I forgot to mention that curses cannot be cast multiple times in a row, and I suppose the same applies to black magic."

"It might be fine to cast it once, but if you cast it two or three times in a row, you might die before the target is even killed by the curse."

At this point, Zhong Cai thought of the incense-burning technique that Chen Miao had used in Fengmen Village.

Speaking of which, Chen Miao's incense burning technique is a special kind of magic. Does it not have a limit on the number of times it can be used?
……

(End of this chapter)