I froze. The old man before me, though white-haired, radiated an aura of otherworldly clarity. His eyes gleamed with preternatural insight as he set down his needle and turned slowly, lips curving into a knowing smile.
"Child, your arrival was foretold," Master Wu intoned, his voice resonating like distant thunder. "Granny's death was fate's pivot—and your awakening."
He rose, fingertips brushing my forehead. "The Supreme Yin Bloodline of your Li lineage—a blessing and a curse. Your frailty stems from dormant power."
"Follow."
In the dim ancestral hall, Master Wu issued a stern warning: "Stay within these walls." When I pressed him—*What haunts me?*—he remained silent, instead scooping black clay from an earthen jar. His gnarled hands kneaded the substance with ritualistic precision.
I surveyed the room—snakeskins, rodent pelts, and unidentifiable hides hung like macabre tapestries. A chill seeped through my bones.
Hours passed. Villagers suddenly swarmed the courtyard, bearing an obsidian coffin reeked of decay. Their leader thrust a bulging purse at Master Wu before retreating.
"Help me open it," Master Wu commanded.
The lid creaked. Cold vapor coiled upward. Inside lay a heavily pregnant corpse—sallow skin stretched taut over sunken cheeks, lips parted to reveal tar-black teeth. Her distended belly loomed obscenely.
"Ten months carried, souls readied… yet both mother and child lost." Master Wu bent close to the abdomen, murmuring incantations. "You'll guard the coffin tonight. Rest now."
But how could I sleep? The corpse's lips seemed to twitch into a ghastly rictus whenever I glanced away.
Dinner was sparse: steamed buns, pickled vegetables, porridge. As Master Wu sculpted the clay into a crude figurine, exhaustion dragged me toward the side chamber's heated *kang* bed.
"Sleep deeply," he urged before extinguishing the lamps.
Yet the night writhed with phantoms. Whimpers of "It hurts…" slithered through cracks in the walls. Just as I teetered on sleep's edge, a shout pierced the dark:
"Emergency at the docks! Send men—now!"