"Is it dead?" I called to him, wondering what You Xioaqing would do if her snake died with it.
Master Ge shook his head and said, "No, but it's lost much of its anima. I think the zombie's influence has worn off, but let's be careful. If it rouses, stay back."
Master Ge took a seat on the stone floor between the cage and the large snake. He swung his backpack onto the floor in front of him and began to drink water in silence.
You Xiaoqing, clutching the luminous green snake, shrunk back in fear as I approached the cage. Four eyes, two human, two reptilian, followed my every movement like I was a predator readying to strike.
"You Xiaoqing," I tried, "Do you remember me? It's me, Shi Yong. We're friends." I looked to the small green snake. "You shared your shed skin with me!"
I dug into the pocket on my wet suit where I'd stashed the treasures, being extra careful not to jostle the golden box. I brought out the snakeskin. When my fingers closed around it, the cool sharp focus drilled into my head and I could see the fear clouding around You Xiaoqing like a bruise in the air.
You Xiaoqing continued to look at me like I was going to eat her, but the snake raised its head. A tiny red tongue darted towards the chilling snakeskin in my hand. Its small head seemed to wave back and forth.
"Don't you recognize me?" I tried again, "I'm Shi Yong."
The snake's tongue darted out again and I almost thought it nodded. I smiled despite myself and looked to You Xiaoqing. "Xiao Qing, do you know me?"
You Xiaoqing shook her head.
Master Ge had risen from his seat and moved behind me without a sound. "Come on," He said in a gentle voice. "Her souls are lost. She won't recognize you. If she wasn't holding the snake, I doubt she'd recognize it."
"What do we do?" I asked, feeling a lump threatening to close my throat.
"Her parents prepared a food, yes? Give it to me. We'll break the curse and call on her souls." His voice was low and firm. I swallowed past the lump in my throat and nodded.
Zhou Tong dropped to one knee to get the food from his pack. Master Ge held his hand out to me. "Xiao Yong, you'll have to take the golden box to Master Liu. He'll need it to end this. First though, let me see it."
I pulled it carefully out of my pocket, placing the snakeskin back in with the other treasures. The cool feeling raced down my arm again as if passing back into the shed skin. Holding the golden box with both hands, careful not to open it, I handed it to Master Ge.
He raised it to eye level and then did the one thing I was told not to. Using one old thumb, Master Ge opened the box. He held it at arms length away from the cage, even so, I saw You Xiaoqing wince like she'd been poked with a hot iron.
Through the slightest opening, I could see a bloody cloth hand reaching out of the box. I choked back a gasp and thought for the second time that day, "Lucky eyes."
Master Ge brought one hand to his mouth and bit into his middle finger until a tiny spot of his own blood was on the tip. I watched in fascination as he brought that finger towards the opened box. Within the opening I could now see the cloth body wriggling like a fish out of water. Its mouth appeared in the opening and gaped as if it would pounce on Master Ge's wounded finger.
I took in a steady breath and watched in fascination as he pushed his bleeding finger into the box. The doll's mouth closed around it with a meaty crunching sound. "That's been in my pocket this whole time!" I couldn't help but think. "What if it'd crawled out while I was asleep or something?" I shook unconsciously.
I turned to You Xiaoqing inside the cage. She was starting at the cloth doll with her mouth hanging open. Her eyes bulged as if someone was choking her and she couldn't breathe.
"Master Ge, look at her-"
Zhou Tong interrupted me, "Don't bother him. He's breaking the bond between the doll and You Xiaoqing. She can probably feel it severing."
I snapped my mouth shut. The doll continued to wriggle for a moment, its teeth still embedded into Master Ge's finger. After one violent shake, its cloth body fell still as the night.
Turning to You Xiaoqing, I found that her eyes were closed. She was leaning weakly against the iron cage and taking in shallow gulps of air. If it weren't for the low rise and fall of her chest, I'd have thought she was dead.
"Zhou Tong, the water?" Master Ge asked. Zhou Tong up ended the bottle over Master Ge's finger that was now covered in tiny teeth marks. When it was rinsed of the blood, Master Ge popped it into his mouth and sucked on it. He nodded to Zhou Tong who handed him a bag of home boiled eggs. The two men began to peel them in silence.
When the smell of eggs found its way to my nose I heard my stomach rumble in protest. Behind me, another stomach echoed mine. Turning to You Xiaoqing, I watched her eyes open and flood with light. I smiled and told the men, "It's working."
Zhou Tong knocked the back of my head with his elbow and whispered, "You talk too much. Watch and be silent. Don't frighten her souls. If something goes wrong she won't be the girl you knew."
I nodded and bit my lips between my teeth.
Master Ge peeled an egg and put it next to the cage. He performed tactic of Taoism, murmuring incantations as he went. For just a moment, I saw a white shadow appear in the dark. It seemed to linger behind the cage before disappearing into You Xiaoqing. Her eyes shone bright again, but her face was pale and body weak. Master Liu cut an egg into pieces and fed her through the bars, saying, "Eat."
She did.
Master Ge breathed a deep sigh of relief and nodded to us, "Okay Zhou Tong, open the cage."
Zhou Tong nodded and went to work on the lock. The door to the cage was open in moments. Zhou Tong picked up the pale girl in his arms and brought You Xiaoqing out of the cage.
My friend and her snake were safe.
The four of us sat in a circle on the stone floor just outside the cage. You Xiaoqing ate eggs and drank water, looking at me in surprise. With a croak of a voice she asked, "Xiao Yong, why are you here? Did the snake get you too?"
"We came to save you." I told her with a reassuring smile. "The man who took you ran away. My godfather saw to that."
You Xiaoqing looked at Zhou Tong and Master Ge curiously. "Save your voice," I told her when she opened her mouth. "My godfather is chasing Gui Yuanzi, that's the man who brought you here. This is Master Ge, and this is Zhou Tong. They're both very powerful. They'll keep you safe."
Saying it out loud filled me with pride. I know I didn't do much to help out, but being part of the team that saved her was more than enough. I gave her a smile that she didn't return. She looked to Master Ge and Zhou Tong and expressed her thanks.
She turned back to me with a question I didn't expect, "Where's my snake's mother?"
The little green snake poked its head from her hand. "Do you mean the big black snake?" I asked.
I turned my head instinctually to the corner where the large black snake lay unconscious. You Xiaoqing and the little green snake followed my eyes. Practically shooting from her hand, the small luminous snake began slithering across the room. You Xiaoqing got shakily to her feet and followed suit. I walked with her, explaining what had happened to the snake spirit.
Halfway across the room You Xiaoqing stopped me in a half slurred voice, "Xiao Yong, I'm very tired. I need to sleep. Will you stay with me? It's so…dark down here. I'm…scared." Her eyes were already closed and her knees began to give out below her. Master Ge was beside us at once and helped me lower her to the stone floor. He placed his pack below her head and covered her with the jacket of his wet suit.
"Let her sleep for a while." He told me. "She's been through much."
In the corner of the room the little green snake crept around the large black version of itself. Tiny green eyes glowed fiercely until they nearly lit the black snake's face. Very slowly, one plate sized yellow eye opened. A forked tongue slipped out of the snake's bloodied mouth and darted in the air above the green snake.
Zhou Tong walked over to Master Ge and the two began to talk in low voices. I stood in silence and watched the snakes communicate via tongues.
After a few minutes when the room was silent except for You Xiaoqing's light snores I went to Master Ge. "Is Master Liu okay?"
He didn't look at me, but answered in the dark, " He'll be fine. You heard how confident he was. I don't think even Gui Yuanzi could stop him now."
Despite this assurance, a gnawing worry had settled into my midsection. I sat down in the dark and was soon lost in thought. I made a promise to myself that night. I'd learn from Master Liu. I'd follow in their footsteps and become powerful enough to rid the world of ghosts. Still making promises and imagining the worst possible things, I drifted off to sleep in the dark room.
I woke up to low voices and immediately called out, "Master Liu?" Two voices, male, shushed me immediately. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and focused on the only light in the room. It sat between Master Ge and Zhou Tong, shining upwards and illuminating their grave expressions.
"What time is it? How long was I out?" I asked worriedly.
"All night." Zhou Tong said slowly. "It's nearly nine in the morning. It's been almost an entire day since we came down here."
"Where's Master Liu?" I asked. Neither of them responded.
After a moment of silence, I asked again. "It's daytime now lad," Master Ge said at last. "Zombies are weaker during the day. It's probably hidden somewhere and Master Liu is hunting after it."
A steady quiet hissing sound came from behind me. My body froze in fear before I remembered the snake spirit. Turning around and shining the lone light to the corner, we saw the giant black snake curled comfortably around itself. It considered us with large yellow eyes.
"Yes we do." Master Ge answered, which prompted another low hiss.
"You're the most familiar with this place, will you lead the way?" He asked the snake.
The large scaled head rose up slowly and then fell in a grand nod.
I took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay." I said, "Let's go find Master Liu…"