My eyes welled up with hot tears, but I held my stance and tried not to cry. “You’re leaving?” I managed. A small whimper escaped my mouth when the first tear fell.

​

Master Liu wiped my face and said, "Don't cry, Xiao Yong. I’ll be back in no time. I promise, and I’ll bring you many more snacks."

​

The promise of food fell flat this time. I continued to cry and struggled to maintain the practice pose. My legs shook and my chest heaved as I hitched in breath.

​

Apparently hearing me cry, my parents rushed into the room.

​

"What's wrong with him?” My mom asked Master Liu, “Did he do something wrong?” I expected to be scolded but she wasn’t looking at me. “What did you do?" Her narrowed eyes swiveled up and landed on the old man as if he were a common criminal.

​

Master Liu shook his head and ignored the daggers coming from my mother’s eyes. "No, no, nothing like that. Xiao Yong is a good boy. He’s just sad that I have to leave."

​

They looked at the old man shocked, clearly unaware of our guest’s schedule. My dad asked him, "Master Liu, your stay was much longer last year! What about my son's eyes? You said you would have to stay with him longer as time passed."

​

Master Liu laughed and waved a hand at him. "Don't worry. His supernatural eyes are steady, in fact they’re doing much better than I’d predicted. Though, you should remember to keep him away from cold areas.” He gazed pointedly at them, “He has much Ying air, you see? Foul spirits are practically drawn to him."

​

My mouth dropped open. “That's news to me!” I wanted to say, but my parents only nodded calmly. My mom asked again, "Won’t you please stay for a few more days? Xiao Yong will be so sad to see you go."

The old man simply shook his head and said, "I’m sad to go too. However, I have important things to do these days. I’m a busy man! I can’t linger here longer than this afternoon. When Xiao Yong’s finished his strength pose, I’ll take him out for one last treat before I’m off."

​

After strength training and breakfast, I asked if Zhao Jie and Zhao Yuan could come with us. “They always come with me when I to go the village." I told Master Liu pleadingly.

​

We walked past their house and I hollered in at the siblings. Zhao Jie flew out of the door at once, his sister followed shortly after. “Be safe!” Zhao Laohei called after them.

​

On the way, Zhao Jie took out his triangular jade pendant, saying "Xiao Yong, look at my jade! It's new!” He held out the word ‘new’ so it sounded like a trombone note. “Wanna trade?” He asked with a huge grin on his face.

​

The vision of a red ribbon trailing through a crumpled paper chest flashed in my head. I smiled and said, "Nope, not, never."

​

Zhao Yuan’s eyes bounced between our jade pendants while we walked. She tugged on Master Liu’s robe, saying, "Master Liu, do you like them more than me? Why don’t I get a jade pendant?"

​

A small smile appeared on his face and he patted her on the head. "I’ll buy whatever you like in the village." He told her.

​

Zhao Yuan was satisfied. Zhao Jie and I balked at them, and then in unison stuck our tongues out at Zhao Yuan’s back.

​

When we arrived at the village hub, Master Liu bought ice cream and cake for us. We gobbled down our treats and bounced between the other stores. The master bought twelve watercolor pens, and water guns for Zhao Jie and I.

​

We headed back to my house at noon. When we’d passed near the sharp turn and clearing below, Master Liu stopped without warning.

​

“What is it?” I asked him.

​

"That cliff has much Ying air.” He told me, not looking away from it. “I think…there may be another ghost…”

I gasped at the same time as the Zhao siblings. We scrambled behind Master Liu, clutching the day’s spoils in our arms.

​

The old man took a deep breath and let it out painfully slow. “Well, we’ve met him. I can’t ignore him now.”

​

He stepped away from us and walked steadily towards the clearing below the cliff where the tractor, and subsequent car crashes had claimed two lives. He moved his hands in an act of Taoism and stomped his leading foot with deceiving strength, shouting only one word, "Appear."

​

It was as if the sun shone on everything in the clearing except for Master Liu. I could see the skin on his hands darken as shadow overwhelmed them. His expression changed immediately. The smile turned into a snarl I’d never seen on his kind face. His lips pulled back in a grimace and his eyes darkened.

He turned his face to look at us, at me, saying, " Liu Chunan has become much less aggressive. Did he go to the village for you?" The last word hit me like a hammer to the chest.

​

The dark eyes stared into mine. I swallowed through a throat that felt full of sand and asked Master Liu, "Godfather, what's wrong?"

​

"Godfather…” The Master Liu thing said, tasting the word. “You call him godfather.” And then it laughed. A deep echoing laugh that rolled off of the cliff above him. “You're a boy filled with Ying air and seething supernatural eyes. You won’t live long.” The laughter rolled from the Master Liu thing once more. “What is Liu Chunan thinking?" It smiled.

​

I couldn’t move. My legs tensed in the same way I’d been practicing, but they didn’t know where to go. I glanced to Zhao Jie, but he was as frozen as I. A voice spoke out, this one familiar, and I forced my gaze back to Master Liu.

​

The darkness that coated his skin had reached his neck as if growing up his body and stopped in jagged tendrils that reached for his face. I watched as the brow smoothed and the eyes darted to the sky. Then all at once Master Liu was back. "I didn’t let you enter my body for your nonsense.” He spat, still looking up at the sky. I could see Master Liu in the eyes again. “I will send you back if you don’t do your duty."

The darkness surged upwards from his neck and forced the mouth into an unpleasant smile. The face that was almost snarling spoke again in the Master Liu thing’s voice, " Liu Chunan, you stingy bastard. It's only a ghost. Please, allow me to kill it!" It screeched in that foreign voice.

​

The Master Liu thing waved its hand. A shadow flew from the cliff in a vague billowing shape. It formed into the shape of a man and bowed before the Master Liu thing. Master Liu’s hands shot to the shadows neck and he said, "Die…"

​

The darkness that was creeping up Master Liu’s face had almost reached his eyebrows. With a loud grunt, Master Liu’s normal voice called out. "My dear assistant, you’re too cruel. You’ve done your job. Now go. "

​

Nothing happened. The darkness tendrils tested and stretched up towards Master Liu’s forehead, nearly enveloping him. "Disappear!" Master Liu’s voice came. All at once the darkness was gone. I blinked my eyes, wondering if it had ever really been there. I looked to Zhao Yuan, then Zhao Jie, but they only mirrored my shock.  

​

Master Liu, whose skin now shone its normal old man pallor, quickly took out the universal bag using the hand that wasn’t outstretched over the dark figure before him. With one great swing he pulled the figure into the outstretched lip of the bag and cinched it closed.

​

“I know they saw that…” I thought, but Zhao Yuan and Zhao Jie were still staring dumbly as they had been.

​

Master Liu dusted off his shoulders and looked about him in the same ‘everything’s okay’ fashion that he used after previous rituals. I walked hesitantly up to him. My nerves were so wired I could feel the rocks through my shoes and hear the air consider becoming wind.

​

"Master Liu,” I called, “What's wrong with you? Was that…were you a ghost just now?"

​

He whipped his head around as if surprised to see me, and then gave a quick bark of laughter. “Oh something like that! I invited an immortal to help out, my friend in fact. He’s a bit foul tempered, but he’s got gusto!" The old man grinned with the enthusiasm of a ten year old on Christmas, but it was Master Liu again, no doubt.

​

I grasped to understand, “A ghost…was in you…” I tried to swallow again, but my tongue wouldn’t get out of the way. “Are you Liu Chunan?"

​

Master Liu started at that then raised a finger as if to shush me. "Don't tell the others my name."

My mind reeled with questions, but I was flabbergasted. Years later, I came to find out that Master Liu had a nickname he was avoiding. Apparently it sounded a lot like the word ‘quail’, but let’s get back to the story.

​

Zhao Jie and Yuan ran to see what happened. Master Liu spoke in the most matter of fact way, as if we should’ve known all along. "If I didn’t control the ghost lingering at the sharp turn, he would’ve hurt someone else. He was roiling the area in Ying air. That drop off was close to becoming a very haunted place."

​

He slid a yellow paper amulet out of his robe and stuffed it into a cracked rock nearby. I followed his movement and peered into the crack when he’d moved away.

​

"It’s a safety paper amulet that can expel Ying air. Well, to some extent at least. Though it won’t stop any traffic accidents, it may reduce the probability."

​

“Cool.” We said in unison. Zhao Jie, Yuan, and I gaped up at the old man adoringly.

​

We walked in silence back to Zhao Laohei’s house and had a small lunch. After eating, Master Liu commanded me into the practice pose and made several criticisms on my stance. “Don’t get lazy boy!” He called. He nitpicked for the first thirty minutes before moving to discuss something with Zhao Laohei. I couldn’t hear anything over the burning in my thighs and butt.

​

Master Liu left us by bus. I watched him go with dumb tears rolling down my face. In my head I knew he’d be back. He bid us a quick goodbye and walked down the path to the station.

​

The recent events bounced through my head and I considered everything I’d seen. “The sky thunder,” I said to myself, raising one finger and ticking it off with my opposite hand. “And…channeling an immortal?” I ticked off a second finger, though hesitantly. “What else can he do…”

​

“What are you doing?” Zhao Jie asked, watching me count and stare after the old man who was already out of sight.

​

“Nothing…” I said, “Let’s play something!”

​

After Master Liu left, the rest of the summer was almost boring.

​

Our village was peaceful and warm. The days were long and bright. After a few weeks any gossip concerning the paper man or ghosts had faded and dwindled away.

​

Then out of nowhere the summer holiday was over. Zhao Jie and I went into first-grade. We finally got the new classroom with real desks!

​

It was only about fifty meters away from our old classroom, but it was so much bigger, and the roof didn’t leak! There were only two small windows facing the north, so the classroom got very little sunlight on rainy days. It wasn’t the best school in the world, but Zhao Jie and I were happy.

​

A month later word spread through the village. Elder Wang and Wang Qi were in a terrible accident. Wang Qi had broken his leg in two places, and his father was on bed rest with a few cracked ribs.

While they were in the hospital the family hurriedly paid the medical expenses. Mere days later Wang Qi hobbled up to Zhao Laohei’s door and asked for the jade pendant.

​

“I dreamed of him before the accident.” Wang Qi told Zhao Laohei. “The old man, that master.” He spat out the word. “He warned me not to drive my car, but I did. Now look at me.” Wang Qi gestured to his leg. “So give it. I’ll take the damn stone.” Zhao Laohei complied. Zhao Jie told me all this the next day during school.

​

“Master Liu was right!” I told Zhao Jie, “He knew something bad would happen!”

Zhao Jie pouted. “Yeah, but they didn’t have to take my pendant! It was mine!” He crossed his arms unhappily. I tried to explain how important it was that the Wangs keep the stone, but nothing I said could make him feel better.

​

And so, the Wangs had the stone. The paper man was no threat to anyone. Everything seemed to be working out well.

​

Something new was closing in on our classroom, but we didn't know that. Not yet.