"Uh—Even if we're not here to mess around with women, why did you bring me to a place like this?" George 'Oxhead' Gu still couldn't figure out what was going on.
"Because Kimiko secretly cast the Shadow Candle Hex on you. The scariest thing about this spell is that it works silently and invisibly. Unless you're a master of Taoist arts, you won't even notice it. We need to break it fast, or your soul will get corrupted by dark energy. Before long, you'll be a mindless zombie, walking straight into the hands of the Nine Chrysanthemums Society as their next corpse puppet!" the middle-aged man said coldly.
"Shadow Candle Hex? What the heck is that? I don't feel a thing—are you messing with me?" Oxhead shot the man a suspicious look.
"Hmph. I know you don't believe me, but you'll start seeing hallucinations soon—that's the first sign the Shadow Candle Hex is kicking in," the middle-aged man sneered.
"Seriously? You watch too many horror flicks, man. Trying to scare me with this supernatural stuff—" Oxhead rolled his eyes, finding the whole thing more and more ridiculous.
The middle-aged man just smirked and said, "You don't believe me now, but you'll see soon enough—I'm not making this up."
As soon as he finished, the man flicked his right hand—"Whoosh!" A faint green glow shot straight at Oxhead's forehead, slipping right between his eyebrows. Oxhead shuddered, his eyes glazed over, and before he could react, darkness swallowed everything around him.
Just as he was about to scream, the darkness suddenly vanished. In front of him stood a dazzling woman in a golden fish-scale miniskirt, her figure smoking hot, her face stunningly sexy. She swayed her hips in a bewitching dance, flashing a smile that could melt hearts. Oxhead couldn't help but walk toward her, his spirits ignited by her sultry moves. When he finally saw her face, he gasped, "May Chan? Is that you? You're alive? What are you doing here? Where the heck are we?"
The gorgeous woman was none other than Oxhead's first love, May Chan. She slid up beside him, draping her slender hands over his shoulders and pressing her cherry-red lips to his. With a mischievous wink, she teased, "Hehe, baby, did you miss me?"
"Miss you? I dream about you every night! May Chan, how did you get so gorgeous?" Oxhead mumbled like he was sleep-talking. May Chan, in his favorite golden mermaid outfit, looked so sexy and enchanting that she was the woman of his wildest dreams.
"Hehe—Isn't this your favorite look, baby?" May Chan giggled, her sexy body slithering over him like a water snake. Her hands roamed his chest while her soft, snowy breasts pressed tightly against him, rubbing and teasing. Oxhead was utterly mesmerized by her expert moves, his eyes glued to her chest and gulping down drool.
"Oh, May Chan, your skills just keep getting better! I want you so bad right now!" Oxhead's lust flared up like wildfire. He reached down, ready to whip out his 'big guy' and pounce.
"Crack!" A blinding flash lit up Oxhead's eyes, making him squeeze them shut. When he opened them again, he was still in the room—nothing had changed. The middle-aged man was still there, shirtless and cold-eyed. In Oxhead's arms was a chunk of black wood wrapped in hemp rope, soaked with his own drool.
"Huh? What the hell just happened? Where's May Chan? Why the hell am I hugging this stupid piece of wood?!" Oxhead yelped, nearly tossing the wood away in panic.
But the middle-aged man suddenly warned, "Kid, you'd better hold onto that wood and not let go, or your soul will scatter! Then you'll turn into a total idiot!"
"No way!" Oxhead shrieked, but he didn't dare drop the wood. He didn't trust the guy, but he definitely didn't want to end up brain-dead.
"That isn't just any piece of wood. It's called Soulwood—made from black sinkwood refined by special methods. Soulwood is mostly used in illusion magic. Kid, did you see the woman inside the Soulwood?" the man asked.
Oxhead nodded furiously, blurting out, "Yeah! Yeah! Wait, you've seen her before? You know her? Where did she go?"
The middle-aged man shook his head. "She's not of this world anymore. She's just a summoned wraith. You were under the Shadow Candle Hex, so everything you saw was just an illusion!"