The power that a thin piece of paper could hold was more than just a little overwhelming.
After the maid's uncharacteristically snappish response, the courtesan and her sat in awkward silence. Once or twice Shi Ming would open her mouth as if to say something but in the end she succumbed to the quietness and left the maid to her dark thoughts.
Xiao Hui, on any other circumstance, would have expressed immense gratitude for the understanding however she was trapped in reflections.
The day she realized that the parchment in the Han fu ren's hand had actually worked, she knew that it would be a fool's effort to try to find a way to reverse it. So when she came across the book, hope had bloomed a beautiful flower in her heart.
A flower that was now brown and withered.
She was suddenly pulled out of her meditative state by Shi Ming who suddenly exclaimed in alarm.
Snapping open her eyes, the maid quickly looked around for the cause. It was not difficult to locate it and when she did so her eyes widened and she became still.
One of the parchment pieces had splashes of ink in it.
Usually one would think that the splashes came from an accident: perhaps the ink spilled when one of them knocked the pot. However in this case neither of them had ink and the splash looked too deliberate to be considered as an accident.
One blink and splashes of new ink were on the paper.
As soon as more strokes began forming on the parchment piece, the characters were more understandable. Shi Ming instantly let go of the piece and walked few steps backwards.
"This one will call for Bingwen," she said and hurried away, escaping as if a beast were tailing after her.
The piece of paper that was left behind was still glowing. Xiao Hui bent down to pick it up. For some reason, she expected it to feel burning hot but there was no difference and so she began to read.
The words were written shakily making them difficult to understand. The maid had to read again and again before she could figure out the exact sentence.
Collect Soul Number 1.
***
When Shi Ming returned with Han Bingwen in tow, they were greeted with the sight of a certain maid holding her head in frustration.
Han Bingwen came up first asking urgently, "What is going on? A-Ming told me about the parchment. Is everything alright?"
To this obvious question, Xiao Hui wished to reply "Of course everything is alright! This lowly one was simply holding her head to check if there were lice in her hair. Nothing more." It went without saying that she did not dare say something so disrespectful. Not after her last episodes.
Instead she handed the piece of parchment into the previous King's hands as an answer. He took it, his fingers holding it as carefully as possible. It almost seemed like he expected it to tear again. Xiao Hui appreciated the cautiousness that unfortunately Wei Piying had failed to show.
"Soul Number 1?" He asked, sounding at a loss. "What could that possibly mean?"
Shi Ming leaned close to him to read. "Does this mean that there are multiple souls?" Then to Xiao Hui she demanded, "Give this one the other pieces."
Even though the maid complied, she shook her head. "This lowly one has checked already. They all contain numbers of Souls." Pointing at one of the piece, she said, "This one says Collect Soul Number 9."
Han Bingwen hummed in understanding. "By the word 'collect' it is evident that the souls are not in the pieces themselves. At the very least, not as of yet."
"Surely," gasped his lover, "Surely Bingwen does not mean that we have to collect souls into these pieces. Is it even possible to collect souls?"
All three of them looked at each other. Neither of them had any clue as to what the paper meant.
"And even if we did know how to," continued Shi Ming, "Whose souls will we have to collect?"
Xiao Hui stilled. The question posed by the courtesan was a valid one. It was also a question that was difficult, so much so that she almost did not know how to answer. Almost.
"The Han fu ren!"
At her sudden exclamation, Shi Ming and Han Bingwen started and stared at her in surprise. The maid was uncomfortable by the attention despite spending so much time with them. Was it not obvious that they had to collect the Han fu ren's soul?
Pointing a finger at her, Shi Ming gasped, "Does Xiao Hui suggest that it is the Li Xinyi woman's soul we have to collect?
The Li Xinyi woman. The disrespectfulness really irked Xiao Hui. How could a lowly courtesan call the Han fu ren so casually? How could....Wait! How could she be thinking of such horrible thoughts? The maid shook her head off them and directed her attention towards the woman she was badmouthing in her head.
"This one is not sure," she said, "but it seems the most likely soul to collect given the circumstances."
Shi Ming did not look much convinced but Han Bingwen looked contemplative.
"That fact may not be not false," he said. "However one valid question remains." He picked up one of the pieces and pointed to it. The words Collect Soul Number 4 were written on it. "Why are there multiple souls that we have to collect? Do we not have only one soul?"
As she gathered up the pieces of the parchment, Xiao Hui contemplated upon the question that the previous King posed. It was just a few words yet it affected her so deeply.
After collecting all the pieces, she looked at the numbers carefully. These clearly came out after the tear, but what was the multiple souls about?
There was one possibility that came to her mind but that she shook off immediately. It was not as if it was impossible and could never occur but rather that it was too horrible to imagine.
Shi Ming came up behind her and spoke: "Perhaps the maid could try to piece them together."
Slightly perplexed, Xiao Hui stopped staring at the pieces to look up at her. Nobody in their right mind would suggest to undo the irreversible tear of paper unless they had another reason to do so. And the only other reason the maid could think of was the one she was wondering about herself.
"Is Shi-nushi suggesting that all the pieces are parts of the Han fu ren's soul?"
She was pleased to note that the courtesan paled at her words. The maid herself wondered about how she had the nerve to speak that awful thought out. If Shi Ming had said it aloud instead, would she ever forgive her?
Clearly off kilter now, Shi Ming stammered to get her senses back. "This one is merely speculating."
"It would not hurt to try."
And so the maid and the courtesan sat on the ground side by side, painstakingly piecing the parchment together. For one of the first times they had a mutual agreement and the same goal.
Finally, after many trials and errors, they managed to piece it to nearly what it was supposed to be. Of course it was not a perfect job; there were many cracks and gaps, but it was close to it.
Shi Ming wiped sweat off her brow. "Now what?"
Xiao Hui glanced at her wryly. "This one thought Shi Ming knew the answer."
At the lack of reply, they waited for something to happen. Time passed but nothing happened. The pieces remained pieces with Collect Souls written.
Both of them had lost hope when Han Bingwen came, nearly running.
"I know what it is we must do!"