Chapter Eighty-Two: The Hash Symbol

Reluctantly and against my will, I had no choice but to temporarily bring the boy back with me.

Of course, I hadn’t forgotten about the matter of the hundred and fifty thousand. Before leaving, Old Ma and I made a trip to the bank. This time, Meng Chengde also paid for handling the affair with the child spirit’s ghost play, a total of five hundred thousand, but Old Ma refused to take a single cent. He said Meng Chengde had once done him a great favor, so he wouldn’t accept his money. As Old Ma’s apprentice, I naturally wouldn’t take it either.

Before we parted, Old Ma handed me a protective talisman and a ghost-repelling charm. “Spend these next few days practicing with these two. Remember—keep your mind clear, your breath steady, and finish each in one go without interruption, or they’ll be useless. Once you’ve got the hang of it, get some blank talisman paper to practice writing and find a chance to test their effects.”

Taking the talismans, I said, “I’m not sure if they’ll work, but I already know how to write the symbols.”

Old Ma eyed me skeptically, clearly unconvinced.

I traced the runes on my palm with my finger, showing him. I’ve always had a good memory, and besides, he’d already given them to me several times before, so I’d studied them in my spare time.

Old Ma shot me a sidelong glance. “If that’s the case, I’ll give you another one—practice it well.”

With that, he pulled out another talisman from his backpack and handed it to me. This one looked different from the protective and ghost-repelling charms, and unlike the Taoist talismans commonly seen in movies, at first glance, its surface was densely covered with the character for “fire,” split into upper and lower halves. The upper part bore the character for “heaven,” the lower for “earth.” Each half contained the character for “well”—two circled at the top, one at the bottom.

“After drawing this talisman, you need to recite an incantation, or it won’t work. Listen carefully,” Old Ma said, then recited a string of strange, unfamiliar words. The incantation was different from Old Yue language.

After reciting, he asked, “Got it?”

“Not yet. What language is that? Can you say it again?”

“It’s Yao language. I’ll only say it once. Aren’t you supposed to have a good memory? Figure it out yourself!” Old Ma said.

Fine. I didn’t expect him to repeat it anyway.

“What is this talisman for?” I asked.

“This is a Cantonese-Yao well symbol, used for sealing evil spirits. It’s a well-fire talisman native to Lingnan, mainly derived from Taoism, and traces its origins to the ‘draw a prison on the ground’ sorcery of the Qin and Han dynasties. The symbol is split in two: the upper talisman forms a ‘well’ surrounded by heavenly fire, the lower by earthly fire. The idea is to trap evil spirits in the well and burn them with both fires.”

He added, “This well symbol is extremely potent—of course, its efficacy depends on the skill of the maker. Creating it is much more difficult than ordinary talismans. Any mistake renders it useless. You’ll have to work that out on your own.”

Old Ma turned to leave, but after a few steps, he seemed to remember something and looked back at me. “Oh, right. The well symbol and ghost-repelling charm use cinnabar ink, but the protective talisman just needs ordinary black ink. Don’t mix them up.”

“I’ll remember,” I nodded.

Old Ma walked away.

I turned to the boy at my side. His clear, gentle eyes were filled with confusion. Who knew when his memory would return? I could only take him with me for now. I wondered how the café was doing.

I called Wenzi ahead of time. When he learned I was coming back, he was overjoyed. My safe return meant my troubles were over, and he no longer had to feel guilty.

Arriving back, I stepped out of the station to find Wenzi already waiting outside.

“Why’d you bring someone with you? Who’s this?” Wenzi eyed the boy.

“My younger cousin. Ran into him by chance—he’s here to visit for a few days,” I improvised.

“What’s his name?” Wenzi asked.

“Wang Yue,” I replied.

I’d already come up with a name for him on the way back—since I didn’t know who he really was, he needed something to be called.

Once in Wenzi’s car, I had him take me straight home. I needed to tidy up and make space for the boy. Wenzi had wanted to treat me to a welcome-back meal, but seeing I was in a hurry, he postponed it for another day.

Fortunately, after opening the café with Wenzi, I’d moved into a slightly larger rental—a one-bedroom apartment with a living room and kitchen. Otherwise, my old cramped single room wouldn’t have fit the two of us.

I put away my things and gave the boy a quick tour. “There’s only one bed here, so we’ll have to share. It’s big enough—shouldn’t be too crowded. Hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t…” he said shyly, looking around in bewilderment.

He must have been a very gentle person by nature—he even spoke in a soft, careful tone, which took some getting used to.

After resting for a bit, I took him out to buy a couple of changes of clothes and treated him to a meal. For now, he was settled in with me.

The next day, I brought Wang Yue to the café. There was nothing for him to do alone at home, and a change of scenery might help jog his memory. It also saved me from worrying about him. Besides, the boy had an attractive, refined look—he might even draw in some female students.

“Our beloved deputy manager, you’re finally back!” An Zhen Nan was overjoyed. “While you were gone, business pretty much hit rock bottom! The girls kept coming in asking when you’d be back. Without you, their grades dropped. Huh? Who’s this cute little brother?”

“My cousin, Wang Yue,” I said.

The other two staff members, Chi Jing and Guo Ya, came over as well, eyeing Wang Yue with the hungry gaze of wolves sizing up a juicy steak.

“Hey, little cousin, you’re pretty handsome. Are you in high school? Which year? Shouldn’t you be in class right now? How come you’re free to hang out?” Chi Jing asked, one hand on her hip, showing off her perfect curves, the other beckoning Wang Yue over.

“Do you have a girlfriend at school? Is she pretty? What do you think of me?” Guo Ya leaned on the counter, cupping her cheeks in her hands and batting her eyes at him.

Wang Yue shrank back toward me in alarm, which only made the three “wolves” eye him with even more predatory interest.

“How come I didn’t get this kind of welcome when I first arrived?” I said.

The three glanced at me in disdain and simultaneously turned away.

Wenzi was rearranging books on the shelves. I went to help and let Wang Yue sit by himself. There were hardly any customers at the moment, and as soon as I walked away, the three girls surrounded Wang Yue, hemming him in. He looked helplessly at me, but I ignored them—after all, each of them was already taken, and their curiosity would wear off soon enough.

Wenzi glanced over at me, hesitated a moment, then asked quietly, “Is everything settled now?”