443: 8.43 Forbidden Magic

8.43 Forbidden Magic

"Soul swapping…" Lu Yizhou muttered out loud without realizing, his brows creasing into a deep frown.1

"What?" Three heads turned to him in inquiry. It was Ji Yan who spoke. He craned his neck to see the book Lu Yizhou was holding. "Did you just say something like soul swapping, Miss Irene?"

Olivia rolled her eyes and shoved Ji Yan's face away. Because she was the one sitting closest to Lu Yizhou, she could immediately make out the words printed on the cover. "Is that the one?" By now, she did not doubt Lu Yizhou any longer. Her tone was filled with calm acceptance and trust. 

The change was so drastic that Lu Yizhou couldn't help but raise a brow. He was secretly amused. Was this the power of being the most useful in the team? Lu Yizhou recalled how she had treated Ji Yan yesterday when she knew he was the most experienced among the five of them. But look at them now. They resembled a cat and dog who would find an opportunity to quibble over the smallest problems. In exchange, Lu Yizhou, whom she had treated like a whore, ended up being put on a pedestal while she kicked Ji Yan to the curb. This female protagonist was quite… amusing.

"I think so." Lu Yizhou did not expose the presence that guided him. He was 80% sure that it was Ellie, but why didn't she say anything? He stole a glance toward Ailín. Did he not have the skill card to detect supernatural being's aura? He did not look like he had noticed something amiss. Instead, his face was normally curious. Lu Yizhou furrowed his brows and shoved his doubt for later. "But I can also be wrong."

"No, based on the result you have shown us, I trust you a hundred percent," she declared confidently.

Ji Yan piped in, "Me too! Me too!" 

Ailín nodded in agreement.

Lu Yizhou heaved out a sigh and put the book in the middle so everyone could see better. It was a very thin book, like a pamphlet that only contained less than 10 pages. No name of the author could be found. However, just the title alone was already enough to give everyone goosebumps.

In the next few minutes, they familiarized themselves with the text. 

Forbidden magic was called forbidden because it always demanded a great price in return, or in other words sacrifice, whether it was willingly or not. Soul Swapping Ritual was an ancient magic used by dark witches to switch their soul into a new body. It was the method they used to remain young forever. As soon as their old vessel deteriorated, then they could seek another body — young, pure, and powerful — and swapped their soul into it. Doing this again and again would make them nearly immortal, but in exchange the period of time they could stay in one body became shorter and shorter. Their vessel would wither quickly, demanding them to seek another again… and again… 

It was really like a lethal drug. Once you had dipped your nose in it, you would become intoxicated and unable to pull yourself out anymore.

Ji Yan's eyes widened in realization. "This must be about the lady in black who came to the Knox Family ten years ago! She's a black witch and even now, she is still here! But because of her dark magic, we will not know whose body she is currently residing in now!"

[[Main team quest[2/2]: Find out about the lady in black who came to the family ten years ago. Progress: 68/100%]]

"Oh yeah!" Ji Yan pumped his fist to the air and swiped his nose proudly. "This is easy, man!"

Olivia rolled her eyes and turned the page. "Keep reading, dumbass. We're not done yet."

There was a great price to pay for every forbidden magic. As for the Soul Swapping Ritual, it depended on how many times the dark witch had performed the magic. At first, they only needed a small bowl of blood from a virgin lady to draw the array, but the more they did it, the magic would get entangled deeper into their soul and in exchange, required more virgin blood to activate the array. 

There was no specification as to how much blood it would need after the nth times, but Lu Yizhou suspected that the array did not merely require blood anymore.

It started to demand lives. 

His mind drifted to how doctors would always disappear after their visit to the Knox Family. Did it have something to do with the ritual? What if… the purpose of having doctors come to this residence was not to treat the Madam and Miss' illness, but to gather more sacrifice to activate the ritual? But if that was so, then why did the doctors disappear after the stay and not during the seven days they were here? More importantly, what were Ella and Ellie's involvement in this whole scheme?

Lu Yizhou tapped his fingers on his arm in contemplation. Then he suddenly asked, "Are you guys a virgin?"

"Wha—" Ji Yan choked on nothing and started to cough until his face turned red. "What did you just say?!"

"I am." Olivia replied in a grave tone. She cursed under her breath, frustrated. "Damn it, I did not expect that being a virgin one day could put my life in danger!"

"I have a wife and son." Ailín said smugly.

"Um, guys…" Ji Yan showed a crying look. "How can you talk about something like this without batting an eyelid?"

"Just by looking at you, everyone can tell that you're a virgin," Olivia offered him a derisive glance. Ji Yan sputtered, speechless with his face turning even redder. Satisfied that she won in this round of argument, she turned to Lu Yizhou, "How about you?" Her eyes narrowed sharply. "You look like someone with a lot of experience…"

Bingo, Miss Olivia. 'Lu Yizhou' and 'virgin' these two words could not be put in the same sentence together. Ever. He opened his mouth to agree with Olivia's statement but then, he recalled that the one who was not a virgin was 'Lu Yizhou' not 'Irene'. He froze. In this world, his true identity did not matter because he was taking Irene's body but she… how about Irene herself? Could she be a virgin?

[666: Host, that's quite a difficult question to answer… *cough*]

'Daddy, after what you did with Mommy last night, can you still be considered a virgin?' Ozzie asked innocently. 

Lu Yizhou was rendered speechless by his daughter's question. 'Ozzie…' he said helplessly. 'Please don't drop such a bomb out of nowhere, okay?' Last night, he and Ellie did nothing more than kissing, cuddling and some petting. Lu Yizhou did not even take off his undergarments! So in other words, he might still be a virgin… 

"Irene?" Olivia waved her hand in front of his face. "You zoned out a second there. Is that question so difficult to answer? It's not like I asked you how many guys you have been with—"

"I might— no, I am still a virgin." Lu Yizhou coughed and hastily answered before Olivia could blurt out anything blasphemous. He knew Ellie had ears everywhere in this house. Who knew what would happen if she caught wind of it? 

To Lu Yizhou's relief, Olivia sent him a dubious look but then she chose not to say anything in the end. "Alright, so that means except for Ailín, all of us are qualified to be the black witch's sacrifice?" 

Her question received a series of solemn nods. 

"I think…" Ji Yan spoke out tentatively. "We should stay in one room from now on. We have lost Diana… and I don't want to lose any of you either. What's more, Miss Irene is staying alone. It makes her even more vulnerable. It's not like Baines will check our room one by one. This way, we can watch each other's back in time of need. What do you guys think?"

Olivia and Ailín nodded after a second of contemplation. "That's a great idea."

"Okay!" Ji Yan clapped twice. "That's decided then!"

Lu Yizhou: "..."

Wait. Lu Yizhou stared at the three people in front of him, dumbfounded. What about his opinion?! Three against one, he was in utter disadvantage from the start. Even if he were to protest, his words would definitely fall into deaf ears! Damn it, how was he supposed to do his own investigation from now on?!

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