Leaving home had put me in low spirits, but the driver's warmth had cheered me considerably.
Before getting out, I folded a protective talisman and handed it to him. 'You're on the road every day, and sometimes at night. Keep this on you. It'll help keep you safe.'
'Didn't expect a young lad like you to believe in this sort of thing. All right, I'll take it.' He gave me a surprised look, but slipped the talisman inside his clothes.
I shook my head and said no more. A few wisps of black energy coiled above his head, though there weren't many.
Something was likely to happen to him soon. Or perhaps he would encounter something.
Giving him the talisman was as much as I could do. If I interfered any further, I might become entangled in the consequences myself.
Only when I looked up did I realize that he had brought me to an old street.
It was lined with feng shui and fortune-telling shops, along with stores selling supplies for weddings and funerals.
As I walked along it, I could see that genuine practitioners and outright charlatans worked side by side.
At last, I reached number 388.
The shop was fairly small and sold funeral supplies: spirit money, paper effigies, and other offerings meant to be burned for the dead.
I went inside. A young man about my age was the only person there, absorbed in a game.
When he saw me, he looked up with a smile. 'What can I get you?'
'I'm looking for Uncle Qiu.'
'He's out at the moment. You'll have to wait a bit. There are chairs over there. Make yourself comfortable.' His smile was friendly.
His warmth put me at ease. I went over and took a seat.
Looking around, I noticed that the merchandise, though apparently scattered at random, followed a particular feng shui arrangement.
It would keep ordinary malevolent spirits from entering.
It would draw in money, too. This Uncle Qiu, whom I had never met, must be a skilled man. Otherwise, Grandfather would never have sent me to him.
I glanced at the young man. He was holding his phone upright, playing with fierce concentration. Rather than disturb him, I closed my eyes and rested.
I had no idea how long I had been sitting there when a powerful surge of yin energy struck me in the face.
I looked up. A woman in red had appeared before the young man and was asking him something.
I frowned. Her face was deathly pale, her lips a vivid red.
They looked as though she had smeared them with blood. Against that white face, they were impossible to miss.
'Miss, what kind of paper effigy are you after? These are all we have. If none of them suits you, I'm afraid there's nothing else.' The young man had noticed nothing wrong and kept talking.
An odd smile appeared on the woman's face.
'You certainly have the paper effigy I want. The question is whether you'll sell it to me.'
As she spoke, her eyes took on a beguiling look. The young man's gaze grew vacant. He was just about to answer.
I clamped a hand on his shoulder and stared coldly at her. 'There's nothing for you here. Get out.'
'Stay out of this, boy!' Her expression turned vicious. She looked ready to rush at me.
A paper talisman shot in through the doorway and struck her before she could move.
It burst into flame. The woman gave a piercing scream and dissolved into thin air before my eyes.
A middle-aged man in a long gown then walked slowly into the shop.
He had a square face, thick brows, and large eyes. His resolute expression marked him as a stern man.
He was not especially handsome, but there was an unmistakable manliness about him.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he approached us.
This must be the Uncle Qiu Grandfather had sent me to find. I hadn't expected him to be so young.
He stopped before the young man, who was still dazed, his senses not yet returned.
His eyes widened. He rapped the young man sharply on the head. With a yelp, the young man rubbed the sore spot and came to himself.
I stared, astonished by what I had seen.
When someone's soul had been bewitched, it took a talisman or an incantation to wake them.
Yet Uncle Qiu had done it with no more than a tap.
'Tell me the truth, boy. Where have you been lately to bring a thing like that here? They don't usually get into my shop. If it could walk straight in, you must have provoked it first.'
Having woken him, Uncle Qiu fixed him with a stare. He did not need to raise his voice to be intimidating.
The young man went pale. He did not quite understand what Uncle Qiu meant, but he remembered something of what had just happened.
He lowered his head in shame. 'I'm sorry, Uncle Qiu. I didn't listen. My friends and I tried calling a pen spirit. I thought nothing would happen...'
'Still lying? Tell me where you did it. Now.' Uncle Qiu looked at him with angry disappointment.
The young man nearly sank to the floor in fright. How stern was Uncle Qiu with him ordinarily, if a few words could reduce him to this?
But I could see faint strands of black energy around him. Wherever he had been, it was no ordinary place.
That energy was pure and dense. He must have picked it up somewhere profoundly ill-omened.
'I... I went to the amusement park on the west side. But I didn't go in. We only called the pen spirit outside the gate.' At last, he stammered out the truth.
Uncle Qiu's expression shifted slightly. Then he shook his head, sighed, and waved a hand.
'All right. Go home. I'll deal with the rest.'
The young man rose, looking ashamed. 'I'm sorry to trouble you, Uncle Qiu... Oh, this young man says he came to see you.'
Before leaving, he remembered to glance my way.
I gave him a small smile.
'And you are?' Uncle Qiu asked. There was a trace of approval in his eyes.
He had evidently seen what I had done.
'I'm Li Buyan's grandson. It's good to meet you, Uncle Qiu. Grandfather sent me.' I took the letter from inside my clothes and handed it to him.
At the name Li Buyan, his stern composure broke. He was visibly moved.
Even his usually calm eyes brightened. He seized my hand so tightly that it hurt.