Chapter 10
The park had a leash-free running area for dogs, so at first I thought maybe Lucky had gotten into a fight.
But as we ran, I realized that was not it.
“I didn’t see any other dogs go over there,” he said beside me.
We cut around a line of low trees.
Then I saw Lucky.
His tiny body was arched, teeth sunk into the pant leg of a man, growling with a viciousness I had never heard from him before.
“Lucky!”
I rushed over.
The man jerked back in anger.
“Is this your dog? Why isn’t he on a leash? If he bites someone, he deserves to get beaten to death!”
I stopped.
The words were ugly enough.
But what truly caught me was his face.
I knew him.
I narrowed my eyes.
“You’re the owner of that Western restaurant.”
Behind me, my best friend recognized him too.
“It’s the weekend. Why aren’t you working?”
The man visibly stiffened, then forced out a dry laugh.
“I like dogs. I come here to watch them on weekends.”
People who liked dogs did not casually say they deserved to be beaten to death.
The man beside me said the same thing coldly.
“And Lucky clearly knows you.”
The owner laughed again.
“He’s a stray. I fed him before.”
Then he yanked his pants free from Lucky’s mouth and hurried away.
Too hurriedly.
I watched his retreating back.
Then I looked down at Lucky.
His eyes were full of rage.
I turned to my best friend’s boyfriend.
“Do me a favor.”
He pointed at himself.
“Me?”
I clicked my tongue.
“The thing on you.”
His face changed instantly.
My friend beside me leaned over and whispered, “What’s wrong?”
I looked at the dark wooden bracelet on her boyfriend’s wrist.
“Take it off.”
He hesitated.
My best friend looked worried too.
“It’s fine,” I said. “Just let it out. She’s braver than she looks.”
Her boyfriend still looked uncertain.
He remembered the blackout night. Probably thought she would scream.
I rolled my eyes.
“He was faking that.”
My best friend pinched me hard.
“That was a very effective emotional-intimacy strategy. Why would you expose me?”
The man beside me had already reached over, removed the bracelet himself, and looked at his friend.
One second later, his face changed dramatically.
“What the hell is that?”
I patted his shoulder.
“A weasel spirit. A household guardian type.”
Then I looked at my best friend.
“I told you. A major evil was involved. Eight Taoist priests to suppress it.”
She looked nervous.
“Eight? That serious?”
I made a soft sound.
“To be fair, the eight priests all died in their seventies and eighties.”
She blinked.
“So… old age?”
Her boyfriend stared at me.
“How do you know that?”
“One of them was my grandmaster.”
There was a pause.
Then I waved a hand.
“Questions later. The point is this restaurant owner is definitely suspicious.”
I pointed in the direction he had fled.
“Your ancestor can help now.”
The boyfriend swallowed.
“My what?”
“Your family spirit,” I said patiently. “Time to contribute.”
We followed the owner from a distance.
He didn’t return to the restaurant.
Instead, he moved deeper into the shopping district.
Past the bars.
Past the neon.
All the way to the rough, messy edge of the block, where a cluster of corrugated tin shacks stood in the shadows.
By then, evening had started to settle.
I was just thinking we might lose him when suddenly something cold and damp touched my cheek again.
That little nose.
The same one as before.
At once, the man beside me stiffened.
“Wait,” he said, staring at my shoulder. “There’s… there’s a little black dog. No. More than one. A lot more.”
He slowly scanned the darkness, and his face went pale.
“A lot of them,” he whispered. “Cats too. So many.”
The cold touch brushed my skin one more time.
Then vanished.
He lowered his eyes.
“They’re leading us.”
Without another word, we followed.