Chapter 385
Chapter 385
Holding our flashlights, Seventh Master and I entered the villa.
The estate actually contained three buildings.
One was this villa. Another was a smaller villa, less than half its size.
The final building had only one story, and its ceiling had collapsed.
Without question, the largest villa had been the Tan family’s primary residence.
It was large but not absurdly so. The interior was almost as corroded as the outside. All the plaster had fallen away, exposing the walls, but the structure remained solid and showed no cracks.
A house built privately by a wealthy family was naturally several times sturdier than anything built by a developer.
After the Massacre Case, Mr. Tan’s parents had only come to collect a few important belongings. They left every other appliance and piece of furniture behind before emigrating.
Historical legal problems made the estate impossible to sell. Thieves eventually emptied it of valuables and appliances, leaving only some furniture.
That furniture had nearly rotted away and was covered in spiderwebs.
The enormous interior felt unnaturally empty.
A ghost suddenly appearing would not have frightened me, but the vast darkness left me deeply uneasy, as if I stood inside a gigantic cave.
I stayed close to Seventh Master and did not dare separate from him.
After inspecting the surroundings, we lit candles to push back as much darkness as possible.
Once more than a dozen candles were burning, the abandoned villa no longer seemed completely black.
Only then did I notice Command Flags and other ritual tools arranged on the floor.
Seventh Master had clearly placed them in advance.
He had said he would recreate the past, but I did not understand how, so I asked.
Instead of answering, Seventh Master asked, “Have you heard of ghost soldiers passing through?”
I thought for a moment. “I read about it in a tomb-raiding novel…”
The principle resembled a mirage. Under the influence of a magnetic field, events occurring at the time could be recorded. Sometimes the field captured images, and sometimes sound.
When the field later became active at a matching frequency, those images or sounds could reappear.
Mysticism collectively called this phenomenon ghost soldiers passing through.
“We don’t know whether the magnetic field was chaotic or normal during the Massacre Case. If it was normal, it could not have recorded what happened, and without a recording, nothing can reappear,” Seventh Master analyzed step by step.
“But if the field was already chaotic, scenes from that night may have been recorded.”
“I arranged an Array here. Once activated, it will accelerate the magnetic field throughout the estate. The activity will peak around this villa. But even that won’t be enough to create a Spectral Replay.”
“That’s where you come in. Once the Array activates, do what you used to do when making ghosts reveal themselves.”
Most of his explanation went over my head, largely because I had never studied physics properly.
Still, I could not help thinking that knowledge truly was power.
I had not understood much, but I understood the final instructions.
Once the Array activated, I would immediately use the Soul-Reflecting Mirror from the Hexagram Art. If the magnetic field had recorded the past, the Soul-Reflecting Mirror might create a Spectral Replay just as it made ghosts appear.
After all, a ghost was also a type of magnetic field.
“All right. I understand!”
Seventh Master put down his backpack, removed two Command Flags, and immediately began the ritual.
He formed hand seals and performed ritual steps while pointing the two Command Flags in different directions.
I had inherited the Ancestral Master’s teachings but learned few actual skills, relying almost entirely on the Hexagram Art.
Traditional spellcasting involved many different procedures. Every step had to be performed correctly to ensure success.
I did not understand the underlying principles. The Mystic Sect could not be explained in a few words. Sometimes, even Seventh Master could not explain why certain actions were necessary or what reasoning lay behind them.
When the ritual was complete, Seventh Master threw the two Command Flags. They landed upright on the floor without support.
He scattered a handful of rice, then formed a circle with his right thumb and index finger and pressed it over his right eye.
“Ignite!”
At his soft command, the scattered rice suddenly erupted like gasoline. A fierce tongue of flame swept across the floor, lighting nine Everlasting Lamps before igniting the two Command Flags.
Only then did I notice that the nine Everlasting Lamps formed a circle. The Command Flags stood opposite one another on its left and right, like the yin and yang fish of a Taiji diagram.
Together, they formed a complete Taiji symbol.
The Array was active.
The magnetic field here was truly abnormal. I sensed the changes around us almost immediately.
A magnetic field was supposed to be invisible and intangible. Yet now, it had become visible!
It possessed no defined shape, instead manifesting like gas.
“Chen Mo!” Seventh Master suddenly shouted.
I had no time to study the field. I immediately formed the Daoist finger sign and cast the Soul-Reflecting Mirror.
The moment I finished, an inexplicable panic rose inside me. My feet felt as though they stood on cotton. The ground itself had not changed; something had happened to my body.
Seventh Master and I staggered and fell to the floor.
The magnetic field was affecting us!
It interfered with our brains and destroyed our balance.
The sensation did not last long. The darkness before us suddenly turned bright, then painfully dazzling.
After steadying ourselves, Seventh Master and I slowly raised our heads. The surroundings had become so bright that we could barely see, forcing us to shield our eyes.
At the same time, indistinct voices rustled around us. Several people were speaking, not just one. The sounds grew clearer and clearer, as though others were inside the villa.
As the glare faded, we stood and opened our eyes again.
The scene had completely transformed. The ruined villa was now a magnificent residence.
Yet it felt unreal. Every illuminated object produced a double image, and nothing cast a shadow. Even Seventh Master’s shadow and mine had disappeared.
This was a Spectral Replay…
Without pausing to marvel, we followed the voices from the living room to the dining room.
A family of seven sat around the table.