It made sense. The slips left a host when they died—Ping Ting proved that. But they also feared water. So maybe they used living aquatic animals as a temporary vessel.
Yi Wansan said, “I was too narrow-minded before. I assumed it could only possess humans. But now it seems, as long as it’s something alive, it can be used.”
Mu Dai laughed. “Well, trees are alive too. Flowers, weeds… what about those?”
Luo Ren nodded. “Possible.”
She had meant to joke, but his serious response stunned her. Then she smelled burning—her shrimp was scorched. The last one had been undercooked. This one? Charcoal.
Luo Ren took the skewer from her and handed over his.
His shrimp weren’t just grilled. He’d removed the heads, shelled them, deveined them, sliced a crosscut on each one, brushed them with oil and salt, and rotated them evenly. When he handed them to her, they were golden with just a hint of crisp.
Mu Dai nibbled slowly, savoring every bite. As she rolled the meat under her tongue like he’d suggested, the salty umami flavor danced across her taste buds like tiny feet tapping piano keys.
That joy, that rush of flavor—it made her want to crack open a cold German beer on the spot.
Meanwhile, Luo Ren continued, “Fish are limited to water, but clams are better—they can go on land too. If the slips are intelligent, they’d fear the Phoenix Lock being restored. It makes sense to scatter and hide. Underwater is better—more concealed.”
Yi Wansan pondered. “So maybe this slip was never planned to attach to a person. But then why kill?”
He’d thought the clam dragged his father under to possess him, but his father drowned instead. The same with his mother and the village elder. The slip had plenty of chances to possess someone but didn’t. So was the killing just… senseless evil?
He felt close to understanding something, but couldn’t quite grasp it.
Luo Ren said, “It’s clever. A clam is amphibious. When it gets bored, it can switch hosts—maybe a drowning person. As for the urn, yeah, that’s possible too. The slip is formless, just energy. As long as it’s inside the clam’s womb, it can influence it.”
Mu Dai said, “If it’s formless, what if it’s in the ashes? I mean, a clam can be burned. But if it’s in the ashes, those are in a box, wrapped in pearls, sealed inside the clam. That’s layer after layer of protection. And maybe that means… it’s inside both the clam and the urn.”
Yi Wansan’s face turned red. He jumped up, yelling, “If it’s in the ashes, how the hell am I supposed to get it out? Huh? How do I take it out of my dad’s ashes?!”
Mu Dai froze. Cao Yanhua and Yan Hongsha looked over, confused.
Luo Ren said, “Yi Wansan, sit down.”
He took a deep breath, kicked at the sand, and stormed off.
Mu Dai looked worried. “Did I say something wrong?”
Luo Ren slowly shook his head.
He suddenly remembered something from the Taoist’s story—the word “guide.”
“I swore to rid the world of a great evil, drawing the seven cursed energies from the oracle bones into seven bamboo slips, and sealing them with the Phoenix Lock.”
He said to Mu Dai, “We may not be saints like Laozi, but we’re doing something similar.”
He explained, “We’re finding the slips. Ping Ting’s situation, the ashes… they’re like vessels for the curse. We’re trying to trap them, or at least keep them from causing more harm. Once we’ve gathered them—and found the Phoenix Lock—the sealing may happen naturally.”
He picked up a skewer and drew diagrams in the sand.
“Right now, one is sealed with Ping Ting. The Taoist is working on something more permanent. Another we just found—in the sea. No plan yet. But I suspect we’ll be hauling back an urn.”
“And all this time, the Phoenix Lock keeps giving us faint clues. Maybe the more slips we find, the clearer the guidance becomes—until we find it.”
It made sense… but felt absurd.
Mu Dai asked, “So we need to find all seven?”
This second one was already so much harder than the first. If they really were alive and could communicate, then the rest would be even tougher. Worse—what if they came to rescue their trapped “friend,” like in Calabash Brothers?
Wait—no, bad analogy. She just compared herself to the evil snake spirit…
Luo Ren corrected her. “Not we. Me.”
“For Ping Ting. For my uncle. I can’t sit this out.”
He glanced toward Yi Wansan in the distance. “If the second one’s really in the ashes, Yi Wansan won’t walk away either.”
“But you, Mu Dai… and Cao Yanhua, the others—you don’t have to.”
Then he turned to her. “Let’s play a game.”
“…What game?”
He looked at the fire, its flames reflected in his eyes. “Truth or truth. We’re all adults here. I promise in this game, every answer will be honest. No hiding selfishness, fear, pride, or greed.”
He smiled faintly. “You in?”
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152