Chapter 30: In Principle, It Is Not Permitted

Chen Fan shook his head slightly.

"Why go to such lengths?"

He was not speaking to Ma Yangxia, but to the spectral shadow. When a person dies and becomes a ghost, their inner obsessions and dying hatred are amplified infinitely, eventually turning them into a malevolent spirit. Ordinary people do not know this, which makes them more prone to becoming such entities. Feng shui masters, however, possess powerful souls capable of resisting these amplified obsessions, allowing them to refuse such a fate. Yet, the feng shui master before him had ultimately become a malevolent spirit and had even uttered such words. Was he so willing to throw away his chance at reincarnation?

"Kekeke! You still want to torment me?"

"You still want to torment me?!"

Hearing the hideous screeching of the shadow, Chen Fan tossed the Yaoan Iron Finger-Cuffs to Ma Yangxia.

"Put them on," Chen Fan said calmly. "You may strike him twice with your own hands. But since you are not a feng shui master, any more than three strikes will drain your own vital energy."

Ma Yangxia said nothing, silently putting on the iron finger-cuffs.

Chen Fan looked at Song Hong and said, "Go get a fresh black carp and prepare a few red candles. Be quick."

"I-I understand!"

Song Hong, already thoroughly terrified by the scene, nodded and turned to leave, closing the door behind him. He looked at the security guards at the entrance and said in a deep voice, "Do not disturb whatever sounds you hear from inside!"

"Understood!"

Song Hong did not need to be reminded. Inside the room, Chen Fan had already cast a Taoist technique—the simplest, yet highly effective "Ghost Wall." Beyond keeping irrelevant people out, it could also prevent any sound from escaping.

Wearing the Yaoan Iron Finger-Cuffs, Ma Yangxia stood indignantly before the shadow.

"Kekeke! You think you can hurt me with just that?!"

"You are only an ordinary..."

Before the entity could finish, Ma Yangxia’s hand, clad in the cuffs, smashed fiercely into the shadow. One punch after another. He seemed to have completely forgotten Chen Fan’s warning, driven only by the need to vent his inner rage.

"Argh! Aaaargh!"

The shadow shrieked hideously, its form trembling as its black mist grew increasingly faint.

Ma Yangxia was not faring much better. His naturally burly, fleshy frame now looked as if it had undergone a radical transformation, leaving him as thin as a bamboo pole. He had lost dozens of pounds in these dozen or so strikes. While the weight loss was rapid, it came at the cost of his core vital energy. If one had a full tank of one hundred units of energy, normal exertion might lower it to fifty, and it could recover to one hundred later. But the Yaoan Iron Finger-Cuffs drained the energy to fifty, and it would only ever recover to ninety. That was the price of over-expending one's vitality.

Chen Fan stepped in front of the shadow and caught Ma Yangxia’s next punch. With a clean and decisive motion, he pried the man’s palm open and retrieved the iron finger-cuffs.

"Huff... huff..."

Ma Yangxia collapsed backward, weak, and nodded slightly at Chen Fan. "Thank you... this is the most worthwhile hundred million I have ever spent."

Chen Fan looked at the soul, which was on the verge of dissipation, and raised an eyebrow. The soul of this would-be malevolent spirit had been beaten into a vegetative state. Without three to five years of careful nourishment, it would never recover. And Chen Fan would certainly not give it the opportunity to use feng shui to gather yin energy and restore itself.

"Master Chen! Master Chen! I have brought what you asked for!"

Song Hong hurried in, carrying the candles in one hand and the black carp in the other. He froze upon seeing Ma Yangxia slumped on the floor, having withered away to a fraction of his former size.

"Boss Ma?! What happened to you?"

"It's nothing, I just haven't felt this refreshed in a long time!" Ma Yangxia laughed heartily.

Chen Fan wasted no time. Taking the items from Song Hong, he arranged the candles into the shape of the Seven-Star Lamp array. As he chanted an obscure and rhythmic Taoist incantation, the lively black carp in the bag instantly turned stiff and straight. Chen Fan took the fish out and placed it in the center of the array.

"Soul lost, searching for flesh; flesh trapped, locking the soul..."

"Come!"

Chen Fan raised his hand, reaching out into the air toward the thinning shadow. A second later, the dazed spirit was pulled by Chen Fan’s influence and flew into the center of the Seven-Star Lamp array. The moment it arrived, a glimmer of clarity returned to its eyes, and it shrieked in terror!

"No..."

"Lock!" Chen Fan commanded.

In an instant, the seven red candles, which had been burning with faint light, flared up with a violent surge of flame! The shadow shrieked hideously as it began to slowly vanish.

"This... Chen Fan, what is this?" the young woman with golden hair watched, her eyes filled with profound shock. Everything she had seen today had completely overturned her worldview!

"Hmm... if I were to explain it in terms you would understand..." Chen Fan paused, then said, "It is much like the Frog Prince in a fairy tale. The witch turns the prince into a frog. I have turned this malevolent spirit into a fish."

As the flames vanished, the stiff, straight black carp on the floor suddenly began to thrash about, bringing his vivid metaphor to life.

"This? It's that powerful?" Zhao Chenxi asked hesitantly.

"Master Chen, has it really turned into a fish?" Ma Yangxia stood up, looking at the black carp jumping on the floor with a complex expression.

Song Hong swallowed hard. He was incredibly grateful now that he had not offended Chen Fan! He certainly did not want to turn into a fish or some other ghostly thing!

Chen Fan nodded slightly. "You had best take it back and keep it quickly; otherwise, if the fish dies, its soul will perish as well. I have locked its soul within, so it is yours to deal with."

Ma Yangxia said nothing more, simply cupping his hands in a salute to Chen Fan. "Master Chen, thank you!"

"Don't thank me just yet. I still have something I need your help with." Chen Fan said calmly, "I want to know who consigned these iron finger-cuffs for auction."

"This..."

Ma Yangxia and Song Hong both paused for a moment. A second later, Ma Yangxia signaled to Song Hong.

"Master Chen, you know..."

"Disclosing client information is, in principle, not allowed..."

Song Hong reached into his pocket and deliberately dropped his phone on the floor. "Oops! Why did my phone fall?"

"I certainly wouldn't say that the passcode to my lock screen is..."