All the way back, I wondered what that immense creature could have been.
The darkness had been too deep for me to make out its body. I had seen only those lantern-like eyes.
A pair of eyes was hardly enough to go on.
When I reached Uncle Qiu's shop, he had not returned. The young man was absent too.
The door was locked. Fortunately, Uncle Qiu had given me the keys before leaving. I let myself in and sat, lost in thought.
Since Grandfather's death and my arrival in the city, I had felt that certain things were gradually being set in motion, that the wheels of fate had begun to turn.
It was a subtle feeling, more an intuition than anything I could explain.
Uncle Qiu was the only person I could talk to about it. But he was busy with something else.
I kept waiting for him. By evening, there was still no word. He did not answer when I called. I had no idea what he was doing.
The neighboring shops had all closed. I decided to go to the address he had given me, his home.
By day, the street of feng shui shops had seemed quite respectable. After dark, it was bleak and unsettling.
Some shopkeepers left their paper effigies out by the doors. Awnings sheltered them from the rain.
Under the streetlights, their pale faces and scarlet lips were frightful.
An ordinary person walking here alone late at night could scare themselves witless, even if nothing was lurking nearby.
Uncle Qiu's home was not far. A bus ride of a little over ten minutes brought me there. I opened the door to a tastefully decorated apartment with two bedrooms and a sitting room.
It was very clean, furnished in a traditional style. Every piece had an old-fashioned character, with red lacquer that made me think the wood was red nanmu.
Following his directions, I went to the bedroom on the right.
Inside, everything was already prepared, as if my arrival had been expected. The room was spotless, with fresh bedding and all the things I would need.
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Perhaps Uncle Qiu thought I was still rather young. He had put pictures on the walls. They depicted the Daoist Five Phases and Eight Trigrams, but most were drawn as cartoons.
A desk stood beside the window. On it were Daoist classics, a notebook, and a computer. Everything seemed to have been carefully chosen and arranged.
My nose began to sting. My eyes grew wet.
I was deeply grateful for all he had done. I did not know what debt he owed Grandfather.
But even an uncle of my own blood could hardly have done more for me.
I had just arrived in a city where I knew no one. My beloved grandfather was dead, and my parents were far away.
I had no friends. I was lonely.
Yet Uncle Qiu's care made me feel that I was not alone here. I still had someone I could call family.
I put away my luggage and lay on the bed, quietly waiting for him to return.
By late that night, there was still no word, though I had called several times.
I knew he had gone to deal with the amusement park. I remembered how grave he had looked before leaving.
That was precisely what troubled me. I could not set my heart at ease.
I took out a tortoise shell and a few copper coins, intending to cast a divination for him.
Closing my eyes, I shook the shell. Three coins fell out.
The instant I saw them, I could no longer keep my composure. The divination reading foretold grave misfortune.
I rose from the floor at once and studied the reading closely.
There was no mistake. It was a reading of grave misfortune.
Why? Was Uncle Qiu's life in danger?
My heart began to pound as I stared at the omen.
'What does this mean? Grave misfortune? Is that amusement park so dangerous that even Uncle Qiu can't subdue it? That can't be right. I can tell he's far stronger than I am. I can't even fathom his level of cultivation. If he can't deal with the trouble there, just how dreadful is that place?'
I stood where I was, cold all over. The white light falling on me felt like a bitter wind across snow and ice.
Looking at my own shadow made my skin crawl. When Uncle Qiu first mentioned the amusement park, I had assumed some terrible accident had left vengeful spirits gathered there.
Even if it had, a man of his skill ought to have dealt with them easily. Why, then, had the divination given this reading?
Was there more to the park than I had imagined? Some deeper secret?
I put away the coins and shell, went to my cloth bag, and began packing my ritual implements.
I took my inked marking cord, glutinous rice, a coin sword made from copper coins, my peachwood sword, an Eight Trigrams mirror, and a thick stack of talismans.
I had to go to the amusement park. I had to see whether Uncle Qiu was there.
I could not leave this alone.
I knew going there was hardly the wisest choice. If the danger was beyond Uncle Qiu, my coming would probably make no difference.
But there were things in life you had to attempt even when you doubted you could do them.
He had treated me as his own nephew. Knowing he might be in danger, I could not simply sit and wait.
It was nearly midnight when I stepped into the street. Few people were about.
Uncle Qiu lived outside the city center. At this hour, only an occasional car passed me. Mostly, I had my solitary shadow beneath the streetlights for company.
With difficulty, I hailed several cars. But each time I named my destination, the driver went pale and sped away. They wanted nothing to do with the place.
Not one would take me there.
That only deepened my unease.