Ji Dian saw one person across from him take out a straw doll and stab it with a finger-length needle. He immediately had a bad feeling.
This straw doll was a medium used in witchcraft, meant to carry the curser's resentment and malice, while the Silver Needle was the key that triggered this power.
In the Eight Trigrams, the straw doll symbolized the Xun trigram, representing the breath of the soul, light and ever-changing; chanting a spell corresponded to the Dui trigram, symbolizing the power of words, capable of stirring the hidden energies between heaven and earth. Dui metal restrained Xun wood. Once the curse succeeded, the cursed person would often suffer grievous harm in both body and mind, enduring unspeakable misery.
Yet what puzzled Ji Dian was that, under normal circumstances, performing this kind of witchcraft required the cursed person's birth date and time, hair, blood, or other such items as a catalyst before the curse could be accurately inflicted upon them.
This ancient evil art had originated in antiquity and been passed down to the present day. The principles and rituals behind it were often steeped in mystery and strangeness.
Yet the black-robed man before him seemed to have prepared nothing besides the straw doll clutched in his hand and the Silver Needle flashed with a cold gleam. Ji Dian's eyebrows knitted tightly, and his doubts only deepened.
Just as Ji Dian was pondering this, a sudden change occurred.
A Reincarnator standing beside him suddenly turned pale white, as though all color had been drained from his face. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and his body began to tremble violently, as if he were suffering indescribable agony.
The scene came so abruptly that the surrounding crowd was caught off guard. Terrified, they all retreated, afraid