Soon, I returned to the room next door where we were staying and took out the three charm pouches from the cabinet. Only then did I realize that when all four pouches were placed together, they formed a complete labyrinth-like pattern.
On the north side of each charm pouch, embroidered with red, black, and purple threads, was a series of different runes. I could only wait until night to ask Serena Chen about them. Now that all four pouches were gathered, at least we could figure out how May Shaw and the others got in, and what these ritual techniques on the pouches really meant.
That night, we enjoyed a delicious fish dinner, then played a few rounds of Gomoku in the room. By 9 p.m., I had gone out several times but hadn’t seen Serena Chen. After 10, May Shaw went to bed, and I walked down to the riverside with some peanuts and wine, quietly waiting for Serena Chen to arrive.
Staring at the wine in my glass, a bitter smile crept onto my face. Wine truly is a remarkable thing. I’ve grown to like its taste—the transition from bitterness to sweetness. I enjoy sipping it in the stillness of the night, my mind overflowing with memories of the past.
But the past is gone forever.
I sighed helplessly. Just then, a flash of white caught my eye. I looked over—Serena Chen had appeared. She walked slowly toward me and sat down across from me, her gaze lingering on the four charm pouches I’d laid out. She looked puzzled.
"Not Fourfold Yin, but Sixteenfold Yin."
My eyes widened as I stared at Serena Chen, who was clearly confused. She carefully examined the labyrinthine embroidery on the charm pouches. Serena then rearranged the four pouches in different ways—three outside and one in the middle, in a straight line, staggered. To my astonishment, the embroidered threads formed different patterns each time.
"Whoever created this ritual technique is truly formidable. I’ve never seen such intricate ritual work—sixteen similar structures, each producing a different effect!"
I had no idea what the interconnected embroidery on these four charm pouches meant. This maze-like pattern—what did it really represent?
Serena Chen began to explain. This ritual technique seemed simple, but creating it was anything but. At first, when she saw the Five Elements, Yin-Yang, and Eight Trigrams on the ritual, Serena thought it was a Fourfold Yin technique. But once all four charm pouches were gathered, it became clear—it was Sixteenfold Yin.
The three-colored embroidery on the ritual represented sixteen different forms of Yin. As these sixteen forms merged, they relied on various ritual structures, evolving into sixteen distinct configurations—resulting in the complex array we saw now.
What stunned Serena most was what these sixteen forms of Yin corresponded to. She speculated that the charm pouches contained sixteen cold, Yin-infused items—serving as the array’s medium and foundation. By using these items as the medium, combined with the Five Elements and Yin structures, a new ritual could be formed. Its power remained unknown, but most who practiced such dark sorcery would personally experiment, gradually swapping mediums, rewriting structures, and refining the ritual’s incantations.
The resulting dark sorcery would always have some flaw—a necessary risk, a gamble with death. After casting such sorcery, most practitioners suffered backlash within a short time, the severity depending on the ritual’s power.
If the sorcery was cast on a person, the stronger its power, the harsher the backlash. Most practitioners, when creating new dark sorcery, would intentionally leave flaws in the ritual. If they couldn’t withstand the backlash, they’d destroy the sorcery to save themselves.
Even if one tried to transfer the backlash to another, if the recipient couldn’t endure it, some of the backlash would still return to the caster. Leaving flaws in the ritual was a common survival strategy among practitioners—a double insurance, so to speak.
Most users of dark sorcery were frail, having suffered the consequences of backlash. The saying goes: those who harm others will themselves be harmed.
But what amazed Serena about the charm pouch ritual was its lack of flaws. A ritual’s flaw usually appeared as an unclear part of the structure. Even if the ritual could be completed, some structures or runes would be roughly sketched—so long as Yin and Yang could circulate, the ritual would work. A missing stroke or a hastily written rune—such imperfections were the ritual’s flaws.
The more refined the ritual, the greater its power—this is common knowledge among practitioners. Those on the righteous path are meticulous when constructing rituals, choosing the best mediums and repeating the structure over and over to avoid the slightest deviation. Writing runes also requires years of practice to prevent errors during ritual use.
I understood what Serena meant. When my father made me practice Hades' Paper Spirit Art, folding and cutting paper was a long, arduous process. I remember starting at five or six, and only by my teens did I become truly skilled—finally able to use my own blood and silently recite incantations to animate the paper spirits, letting them become my eyes.
The endless repetition was tedious and frustrating. More than once, I wanted to give up, but my father’s relentless threats and persuasion forced me to continue. I had no confidence in any of it—three years of practice, not a single result. I couldn’t animate even one paper spirit.
Paper was the medium for the Paper Spirit Art, and my blood was the link between myself and the spirits. This ritual had no formal structure—the structure was the years spent folding and cutting paper. I could proudly make a thousand identical origami cranes, or cut a thousand matching animal silhouettes.
"Though this ritual is considered dark sorcery, what amazes me is its lack of flaws. The sixteen structural forms exist in mutual restraint and coexistence. Imagine—a ritual not only with effects, but with backlash absorbed or offset by other effective parts of the same ritual. It’s ingenious—a tiny ritual with a hidden world inside."
I let out a sigh.
So what is the purpose of this ritual?
I asked. Serena Chen nodded.
"Soul Shift, Soul Graft, and Life Drain—for now, those are the three effects I know of."
"So the other side used this ritual to let the four girls in? Something like Soul Shift or Soul Graft?"
Serena Chen shook her head. She explained that Soul Shift didn’t mean moving souls in the general sense, but rather shifting the birth date and time.
I stared at Serena Chen in disbelief. "You can really change someone's birth date and time?"
"You can change someone’s birth date and time?"
Serena Chen shook her head and continued explaining.
Soul Shift doesn’t mean altering the soul itself, but shifting one’s birth date and time—moving it forward or backward. This ritual can siphon or increase a person’s life force, causing the birth date and time to shift. That’s why it’s called Soul Shift.
When someone’s birth date and time shifts, their soul senses it. Soul Shift is an intricate technique—many in the field know of it, but few can use it. Most practitioners won’t use it on themselves; it’s only used to change someone else’s fate. But the caster is also affected by the change.
I asked, and Serena Chen smiled.
"So what does Soul Graft mean?"
I asked. Serena Chen smiled.
"Soul Graft means forcibly linking things that are completely unrelated. I suspect these four girls weren’t close at all, but now they’re best friends. If you don’t believe me, go ask them yourself."
I nodded, but May Shaw was already asleep. Helpless, I returned to the room. After waking May Shaw, she looked at me with discomfort.
"What's wrong, Roxie?"
"How long have you known the other three girls?"
I asked immediately. May Shaw sighed.
"Not long. We met when Serena Chen invited us out to eat. She took us to get our fortunes told, and after that, we started hanging out together often."
I swallowed. May Shaw looked guilty. I comforted her with a pat on the shoulder, still unclear about what the caster of this dark sorcery was after. After talking with May Shaw, I left the room—Serena Chen was still carefully studying the ritual.