As An Antique Shop Owner, It's Only Reasonable That I Know A Bit Of Magic - Chapter 29

Su Fan had heard the commotion from the two men and knew they had come to back him up. But there was no time to focus on them now.

Across from him, seated within the array and surrounded by candlelight, was the black nun. She was facing Max, their fingers tightly interlaced. Blood dripped from their joined hands, appearing especially sinister under the glow of the yellow candles.

In the mirror beside them, two souls flickered incessantly. One struggled in agony, while the other continuously shifted—first taking the form of Sister Abigail, then morphing into the appearance of an elderly white woman, until finally settling into the form of an unfamiliar black woman!

Seeing this, Su Fan couldn’t help but frown.

Dark arts were indeed dark arts.

Although the ritual the two were using could successfully swap souls, it damaged the spirit in the process, forcing a partial fusion with the other’s soul. Over time, this would lead to confused memories and a clouded mind for the caster. The victim would fare even worse, potentially ending up in a vegetative state or losing their sanity entirely.

“Did you hear me?! Stop the ritual now!” Su Fan fired a shot into the leg of the man on the ground. The bullet tore through flesh, blood gushed out, and Luke, who was already barely clinging to life, let out another agonized scream.

[Wait, something’s wrong. It seems the ritual can’t be stopped.]

Su Fan noticed the expression of the black woman in the mirror—her face was filled with immense grief, but also with a towering hatred directed at him. Yet, despite this, the ritual showed no signs of stopping.

“Heh… hehehe…” On the ground, Luke’s face was pale, but a mocking smile spread across his sweat-drenched features. “Once the great ritual begins, it cannot be interrupted… and the exchanged souls cannot be restored… Heh, hehe… This is my Voodoo magic. You can’t break it!”

Hearing this, Carl and the detective, who had just rushed over, were furious. “Shut your filthy mouth!” Without another word, they opened fire on the flickering mirror.

But what happened next nearly made their jaws drop. The bullets fired from their guns were halted about two meters away from the mirror, unable to advance any further.

Su Fan’s vision surpassed theirs, allowing him to clearly see the bullets spinning rapidly in mid-air.

On the ground, Luke suddenly burst into maniacal laughter. Despite the blood still trickling from his mouth, he looked utterly triumphant. “So what if you can fight? You still can’t save her! Hahahaha!!!”

Su Fan frowned, kicked him into unconsciousness, and then turned his attention to Max at the center of the array.

With his Tongyou ability active, Su Fan could clearly see Max’s soul separated from her body. She looked at him helplessly, the light gradually fading from her eyes.

[I have no choice but to try it.]

“You two, find a corner and take cover!” Carl was still confused by Su Fan’s words, but the detective was already pulling him down to crouch in a sheltered spot!

In their line of sight, Su Fan raised his arms, took a deep breath, and uttered two words: “Wind Control.”

As his voice faded, nearly all the Qi in Su Fan’s body was drained in an instant!

In the poorly ventilated underground space, a current of air began to flow within moments, quickly escalating into a powerful gust that whipped Su Fan’s clothes violently! Stacked sundries began to shake, and old newspapers fluttered through the air.

At the center of the array, the black nun, her eyes tightly shut, trembled violently at the corners of her eyes, as if sensing an extremely dangerous signal.

The wind continued to intensify, swirling around a central point to form a vortex. Thanks to the dust and debris, Carl and the detective could clearly see the distinct funnel shape—a miniature tornado!

“Go!” Guided by Su Fan’s will, the tornado surged toward the array!

Debris carried by the wind slammed against the invisible barrier. The calmly burning candles began to flicker wildly! It was working!

Firearms packed a powerful kinetic punch, but they were still ordinary weapons without any mystical enhancement. In the end, dark arts had to be countered with divine power!

The cramped basement couldn’t withstand such a collision. The officers waiting outside suddenly felt a violent tremor!

The wooden floorboards of the office were torn apart and sent flying, crashing heavily into the ceiling! “Boom!”

The enormous noise made the officers shudder! One brave soul peeked inside, only to see the expanding tornado! “My God!!”

Forgetting all orders, the officers turned and ran.

Down below, the mirror at the center of the array cracked.

In the air, the soul of the black woman showed terror. But before she could react, cracks spiderwebbed across the mirror’s surface, spreading to the edges until it could hold no longer!

The next moment, the mirror shattered. Simultaneously, all the candle flames extinguished.

The invisible barrier holding against the tornado vanished. In an instant, the tornado tore through all the ritual arrangements, causing irreversible damage to the ceremony!

The two disembodied souls returned to their respective bodies. The black woman’s eyes snapped open, her face distortion with rage! This man had severely wounded her husband, ruined the ritual, and destroyed all the key components! She could no longer extend her life by swapping souls—this would be her final body.

With her dream of immortality shattered, the black woman descended into madness, screaming, “I curse you! I curse all of you! May you all die!”

Her body began to rapidly wither. Her hair fell out, her teeth dropped.

A powerful curse emanated from her decaying form, sweeping toward Su Fan and the other two!

Cowering in the corner, the detective and Carl were terrified. They hadn’t expected the Voodoo practitioners to be so ruthless, cursing them at the cost of their own lives. Su Fan could probably resist dark arts, but they had no mystical defenses. If the curse hit them, death was certain!

Just as they were at a loss, they suddenly felt a cool energy emanating from the protective charms they held. The hate-filled, deathly curse was actually being neutralized!

Witnessing this, the black woman shook her head wildly, letting out a guttural roar. “No… NO…!”

She had offered her life, yet hadn’t harmed them in the slightest. This hopeless reality was too much for her to bear.

But her refusal to accept it changed nothing. The cost of using dark arts would not stop. Before their eyes, a living person rapidly shriveled into a desiccated, skeletal corpse!

One Voodoo practitioner dead, the other critically injured and unconscious.

The dark cloud of conspiracy hanging over the orphanage and the Coleman family had finally dissipated!

Su Fan let out a long breath, leaning against the wall for support. This was the first time he had used Wind Control at full power since his last upgrade. The results were even better than he had expected.

But the cost was immense. He was completely drained of Qi.

Just then, a long-absent voice echoed in his mind:

[You used Baji Quan to severely injure an armed enemy. Your comprehension of the fist technique has deepened! Fist Intent +3!]

[You used the divine power Wind Control, summoning a tornado to interrupt the dark ritual and destroy all ritual components! You seem to have gained new insights into Wind Control.]

[You thwarted the serial killer and the dark practitioners’ scheme. Reward obtained—Dream Illusion!]

[Dream Illusion: Blurring the lines between dream and reality, truth and falsehood. The user can create illusions to confuse others.]