The chamber was dark and quiet.
The atmosphere was eerie.
A yellow clay Dharma Altar had been prepared early, illuminated at its four corners by white candles that brightened the "White Tiger Seated Hall Painting" hanging on the western wall.
Overhead, yellow curtains inscribed with blood-red characters fluttered without wind, as if numerous invisible beings were hiding within and ceaselessly peering out.
Wang Yuan ignored these strange sights and noted that the time had reached the hour of the Tiger.
Using scissors, he cut a tuft of Tiger Fur from the forehead of White Mountain Lord, who had been asleep from beginning to end.
He then took a piece of yellow paper that had covered the face of a person who died at noon and cut out a palm-sized paper tiger from it.
With a mixture of Tiger Blood from White Mountain Lord and his own blood, he glued the black and white Tiger Fur onto the back of the paper tiger, maintaining the striped pattern.
