An unexpected rage filled me from my toes up and I said, "Godfather, how dare you? You can't take her things!"
He very casually touched my head, saying "Shhhh. Look around carefully. There must be something here."
I scowled at him, but did as I was bid. We scoured the room for a few minutes to no avail.
As we were leaving the room, You Xiaoqing's mother appeared in the doorway. "So?" She asked, "Is there any news?"
Master Liu didn't answer. He gently took out the golden box and asked, "Is this your daughter's?"
The woman nodded.
Master Liu continued, "Where did she find it?"
You Xiaoqing's mother thought for a moment and said, "I'm not sure. I remember that she had it when we were working in the field one day. She loved it, and has carried it for many years. It's her little treasure, ya' know?" She smiled sadly at the box in Master Liu's hand. "Is there something wrong with it?"
Master Liu nodded and said, "Something very wrong. Can you take me to the field where it was found?" When she didn't answer immediately he half demanded, "Can you lead me there?"
The woman subdued a surprised jump at his tone and agreed readily. She knelt to put on her shoes and asked, "What's wrong with it? How could a little box be so much trouble?"
Master Liu said, "This box has Yin air. It's a Taoist tool, once used to make a medicine of immortality in the ancient times. The heavy Yin is a result of dark concoctions. I sense a lot of hatred in this." His eyes darkened at the box in his hand.
You Xiaoqing's mom dropped her hands mid-tying her shoe and fell silent. She breathed shakily for a long time, and then asked, "Did something inside of it…take my daughter?"
Master Liu shook his head and said, "I am not sure yet."
My tongue shook in my mouth, daring me to tell them that the snake from inside the box was her friend.
"Tell me her birthday. I may be able to use it and the box to find her." He lowered his voice, but added, "If she still exists in this world."
"June fifth." She said, her eyes widened by his words. "Another master already tried that."
"And what did that master say?" Master Liu asked, sounding only a little pompous.
"That she still exists in the world!" Strength had returned to her voice and her cheeks filled with color. "He told me to be calm. That she was with kind people. And that calamities can turn into blessings." Her nostrils flared and she was breathing heavily, caught somewhere between outraged and devastated. The woman was terrified, a mother without a daughter.
Master Liu lightened his tone. His eyes seemed to sparkle. "It seems that you've met a great master! There are very few who can read the world like that. Why was he in this village? And where is he now?"
"Yeah, where- "I started.
Master Liu shot me a very authoritative glance and hissed, "Quiet!"
"I..." I flushed and let my eyes fall to the floor in silence.
Zhao Jie nudged me in the side with his elbow and whispered, "Us smart boys stay quiet when the adults are talking crazy. " I heard the grin in his voice and tried to stop myself from smiling.
You Xiaoqing's mother led us down a muddy road and up a hill on the outskirts of the village. We traipsed down the other side to a small stream in the valley before the next rise. On both sides of the water were cucumbers, tomatoes, and green bean plants arranged nicely in rows. She stopped at the edge of the vegetation and pointed, saying, "This is my vegetable field. I brought Xiao Qing here." Her hand dropped to her thigh with a slap. "She must have picked it up. I don't even remember how many years ago. She was so little..." Her voice dropped off.
Master Liu walked around the vegetable field then to the top of the next hill. He pointed downstream back towards the village. The land sloped towards the buildings and I heard him mutter, "God's will…"
He shouted down to where we stood, "Is that the school?"
You Xiaoqing's mother, Zhao Jie, and I jogged up the hill to see from his vantage point. It was the first time I'd been on this side of the village. We usually had to stay away from the farmlands, else the farmers would yell at us. I followed Master Liu's pointing finger to the small red building peeking out in the afternoon sun.
The woman said in a flattened voice, "Yes, that's her school."
"God's will." Master Liu muttered again.
"What does that mean?" She asked him, sounding flustered once more.
He took a deep breath and began, " Your daughter is alive and I will save her. However," He raised a finger to her face. "You can't tell anyone that we've met. Forget everything I've said and all that you've heard! We are under God's will now. Don't tell anyone. Else I can't help you."
"Of course!" She said, "I promise! I swear!"
We walked down the hills and to the school. At the edge of town Master Liu told You Xiaoqing's mother to go home.
The children had vacated the playground and the schoolyard was now empty.
"Why are we here?" I asked Master Liu.
"To look for You Xiaoqing." He said simply.
The lack of emotion in his voice chilled my blood. "Godfather, what do you mean? We've been here a hundred times since she disappeared. She can't be here."
The old man sighed, "I'll tell you this, but I doubt you'll understand. There is a tomb beneath your school. You Xiaoqing might be inside that tomb."
The word tomb brought with it memories of Uncle Sun's ghost and his headless master. A shiver wormed its way up my spine. I looked at him unable to believe it, "Don't joke with us. The school can't be on top of a grave."
Master Liu forced a smile and said, "I know you don't understand. People used to build things above graves in the shape of tortoises. People believed that it'd safeguard the house and draw good fortune." He looked at the school building with a glint of sadness in his eyes, "But no one can live here. The Yin air is too heavy, it'd leech away their life."
"No way." I told him.
"Way," He shot back with a small smile. "Some said that if the building looked enough like a tortoise, that those who lived in it could control the dead. Have you ever heard such a thing?" His bright old eyes glinted at Zhao Jie and I.
We gaped up at him in silence.
Master Liu left us standing in awe and walked around the building three times. Each time he'd stop at the door and peer inside. He looked down at the floor, up at the ceiling, and then made another loop. After the third he hollered to us, "When was this building constructed?"
"I don't know." I called back, not having to think too hard. Buildings were not the most important things in my life, not to mention bland school buildings. A memory flashed in my head. "My dad said that they rent the buildings from the Lis! Or maybe the Wangs?" I looked at him hoping he'd know what that meant.
"Let's go see." He called, and marched towards the gate. I grabbed Zhao Jie, who was knuckle deep in his nose and staring at the dirt.
"Come on!" We hauled after the old man.
Master Liu pointed to the neighboring house. There was a sign in the yard that read "Li". We went to the front door and knocked. An old woman answered, hunched over a walking cane and smiling that vacant old lady smile you sometimes see.
"Aunt Li!" Zhao Jie called. He looked at us with a big grin on his face. "What? Mom likes to chat with her when we go shopping."
"Hello Xiao Jie," Aunt Li said. "It's so good of you to visit!"
Master Liu commandeered the conversation. We learned that Aunt Li lived alone. She had a son, but his home was far away so he seldom comes to visit.
"Is there anyone else of your family?" Master Liu asked.
"Just me," the old woman croaked with a toothless frown. "My husband died after my son built the new house. Then he got divorced, that foolish boy, so no grandchildren. It's just me here."
Aunt Li asked why we'd come to visit. Master Liu asked about the school. She thought for a few moments and told us, "The building belonged to several landlords. It used to be one big piece of land, like they do. You remember." She smiled at Master Liu. "Then it was all… distributed." The hand that wasn't clutching the cane for dear life swung this way and that. "The landlords moved away if I remember it right, but I couldn't tell you where to."
"What of the tomb?" He asked her.
The old woman paused and adjusted her gaze up to the tall old man's eyes. Here eyebrows crinkled together like two gray caterpillars leaning in for a kiss. "No…" She croaked. "I don't know of any tombs." She seemed to sway on her feet and continued, "If you'll excuse me boys. I seem to've used up my feet today. I'm going to have a rest. You have a good day you hear? And Xiao Jie, tell your darling mother that I look forward to seeing her soon!" Not waiting for a response, the old woman tottered around and went into her house. The door creaked slowly closed behind her until it latched. We stayed long enough to hear the lock slide shut with a heavy 'chunk'.
"Let's check with the Wangs." Master Liu said, turning to walk away. We crossed towards the other side of the school where there was a similar house with a sign that read 'Wang'.
"Oh I've heard about her!" Zhao Jie whispered in his spectacularly loud way. "Widow Wang lives there!" Master Liu and I stopped halfway across the schoolyard.
"Who is Widow Wang?" Master Liu asked him.
"A story I heard…" Zhao Jie said. "My sister said that Widow Wang is a scary old lady who lives by the school. They say that her husband fell in the washroom and burst his head right open!" His face moved with the story, going from very excited to dramatically devastated. "She didn't tell anybody and his body just rotted away in there! Some say that he's still in there, waiting for one of the school kids to have to use the washroom so bad that they ask Widow Wang…and then…he eats them!" He finished with both hands raised beside his head as if he were the boogieman. I rolled my eyes at him.
"That's bogus!" I said. One of the Wang boys lives there with his mom. He goes to our school! Stupid!" I jeered at him.
"Enough!" Master Liu called. His eyes were digging holes into the Wang house on the other side of the yard. "There's no need to go there." I took a step back from him. I felt a gentle heat emanating from the air around him.
"Master Liu?" I asked
"They don't know anything." He said simply. "But, the answer might be in here." He pulled the golden box out of his pocket again. I squinted at it, unconsciously afraid that the heat around him would burn my eyes.
"What's in it?" I asked him.
"I'll show you at home." He said, again in that simple flat tone. "Come." He said and started away from the school. He walked right past me and I winced, waiting for that heat to overcome my skin and melt me on the spot. Nothing happened, the heat was gone. Zhao Jie followed after him and I jogged to catch up.
We walked down the main road towards the police office. Master Liu led the way with his long strides. Zhao Jie and I rushed to keep up as he rounded the back of the building.
The Village Head was speaking with an officer when we came around. Master Liu approached them and began speaking in hushed tones. A large milky white snakeskin lay on the ground between the three men.
Master Liu picked up a small piece of the discarded skin. I watched as his fingers curled into it and he closed his eyes. I thought about the feeling of my snakeskin. My brain yearned for it very suddenly, filling my mind with cries of desire for the calming feeling. All of a sudden Master Liu cast it onto the ground as if it'd shocked him. "When this is over," He told the officer, "I want to keep this snakeskin. I'll come back for it."
The officer raised an eyebrow at him, "Hell take two, we don't need 'em!"
Master Liu nodded.
He walked back to where Zhao Jie and I were standing uselessly. I saw his hand dive into the pocket where the golden box was resting. He came to us and knelt down, eyes bouncing between the two of us seriously. "Take me to where the yellow bird nested." He told us, not asking. "Take me to the tree."