3rd December 1999Love at first sight is one of the most inexplicable, yet beautiful, thing in the universe.This phenomenon is the reason for my existence. My parents’ love story reads like a novel. I was born to a Japanese mother and a Singapore-Chinese father in 1993. My mother, Yoshiko Takahashi, had followed her parents to Singapore in the mid-1980s. My maternal grandfather has been deployed to the island state as the plant manager at a Japanese biochemical multinational. My mother could finish her final year at the Singapore National University, majoring in Economics. It was the fateful year at university when she met my father, Jonathan Wong, a research fellow at the university. According to my mother, they met at an uneventful book signing ceremony for one their professor. It was love at first sight and an unexpected one. My mother was slim and tall for a Japanese standing at 1.7m while my father, though bookwormish, always provided a calming influence with his soft-spoken
I walked over to my desk as Kelly nodded eagerly with her eyes following me. I stopped at the altar and knocked three times on the urn. Instantly a chirp was heard and a flame lit up that eventually grew into a tiny figure with a rim of orange over its body. Standing at no more than five inches. It has a boyish face and fiery-red cheeks, with eyes so huge it filled half of the face.It unleashed a soft croon and leapt onto my hands as Kelly unleashed a cry of relish “Hi, Mon,” I said.“Mon?”“Mon as in Monday. It was created on Monday as I meditated.”“He looks just as nerdy as you.”I frowned, as did my Shugo-sha. It flipped its tail from side to side. “Sorry but it is adorable, and it looked robust for its size.”Kelly opened up her left palm in an inviting gesture. Mon took a look at me before flying over. “It has wings,” Kelly exclaimed as Mon fluttered over her palm. “What about your Shugo-sha? I asked “I heard you raised one last year.”Kelly flashed a smug smile and winke
Chapter 8After seeing off Ah Mui, I finally reached home at almost 2am.Kelly had followed me and she made a loud whistle upon entering my condominium“Nice place. Keeping is minimalist yet I like the pictures on the walls.”“Don’t touch anything.” I reminded her.“Your decoration reminded me of our home in Kyoto. That ambience.”“Look at all the pictures you took with Master Sato.” She danced over to the walls behind the TV and studied the portraits we took during the last gathering in Japan.“You mentioned you wanted to borrow something from me?”Kelly flashed a sly smile. “You have the Gōruden with you?”The Goruden is a much-coveted tool for an exorcist, any exorcist. It was rumoured to have been created during the Hideyoshi Shogunate and passed down through the ages from one Master Onmyōji to another and proven to be instrumental in keeping many forces of darkness at bay. In my sect, Ten-men sō - Heaven Gate Sect, the Goruden is handed only to the best deshi- disciple“We need
I turned around and found myself looking at the voice's owner, walking down the corridor towards us with a confident sashay. She is tall and walked with confidence. Her long and wavy hair projected an air of easy confidence. Closer up, she had a beautiful oval face with an impeccable complexion that seemed to have just received some sunshine. I am luckily half a head taller, still.Despite the displeasure on her face, she was pleasing to the eye. One is compelled to be civil in front of the lady. “May I know what is going on?” she demanded as she stood looking at us all.“Hi Mavis.” Uncle Hock called out dropped his mop and walked over "Good to see you back home."“Uncle Hock, what is happening here? It is such a mess. Who are these people?”She gesticulated and looked around “Where is Daddy?”“Your daddy has gone to the condominium at Sentosa. He is not feeling well.”“Still upset about Claudia’s passing?” Mavis saidThen she turned in my direction and looked at us. “Who are these
My eyebrows raised in sharp inquisition."No wonder you are in Singapore."Kelly flashed an evil smile. I understood her too well.“I needed your tool.”“Which one?”She bent over and helped me to my feet."Which one?" I repeated“I had an assignment in Singapore. There is spirit on the loose and had created some havoc.”“Let’s talk later then," I said.“ Thank you." "I hadn't agreed." I said, "I have this assignment.""What’s this transition about?” “I suspect there is a source of grievance. I think my hunch is right.""That will mean..." Kelly was cut off in mid-sentence.“Look, people! I am sorry to disrupt your disciple lovey-dovey catch-up chat, but can I know what happened?” It was May and her face was strained. Whenever she is stressed, I am irritated.“I am sorry…” I said, "Our conversation is part of my investigation."“Then please share with us.” She demanded.Ah Mui had brought over a huge cup of warm water. I had been drained and felt dehydrated, so I grabbed the drink.
I felt the force descending and quickly brought up hands to execute the Kuji-in or Nine Hands Seal which served as our spiritual weapon against dark and unseen spirits. “ 临兵斗者皆阵列前行“Instantly a shield of illumination formed in front of me. With a swerve, I leaped forward and gave the force an outward thrust. The marauding force was now a dark mass that knocked on my shield like a reckless bull. With each pound, I felt pressure on my hands. I am dealing with a reckless force. In the midst, I dropped my Buki Brush. As I had to maintain the shield, I was physically unable to reach for my principal weapon.I clasped my hands together, my right fingers over the left, and combined my pointer fingers to form a sword-like pose, then commanded. “Forces of the four directions, at my command! 四方奇兵,为我所用“It was a war command to focus my energy but the knocks on my shield continued before I brought on the full strength of my powers. Each knock on my shield came with a deep groan that grew in
Granny Gui shook her head “I tried to investigate but to no avail." She rubbed her temples "There are days when I saw traces of a spirit but all the searches yielded no answer.”“Is this the first time you encountered such a spirit?"Gui nodded frantically as her eyes scanned the space behind me. She was afraid the door would open suddenly. “This is. Indeed it is."She swallowed and then stammered, "I had a couple but the last few has been extremely stressful and ...""And what?""Violent." She said silently as the wrinkles on her lips looked more pronounced"All unpleasant ones. I am unable to understand the reckless anger. I do not even know where the spirit came from. It is too powerful, I am just..I had to take refuge here.”I inhaled. “Granny Gui, what did you see? Can you tell me about the form or characteristics?"“You have not seen it, have you?” She lowered her head “Sometimes you do not need to see fear. You only need to feel it. I took so long to sense it. Useless me.” “I
I took a deep inhale before moving on. Slowly, but steadily, I ascended the stairs and soon found myself in the living space. The yellow Orchids were still there but this time it has faded to a lower tone of white. There seemed to be an assortment of sounds coming from the rooms down the corridor. I tightened my grip on my brush and paced down the corridor like a panther. I pushed open the first door, it had a bed and dressing table. The walls had a coat of pink with a nice desk. There was a working desk placed adjacent to the the window, and I saw some photo frames. I stepped closer and found them to be pictures of Mavis with her parents. There was also a picture of her in her graduation gown. This must be Mavis’s room. Suddenly a thump from my back snatched my attention. I swung around and heard something from the other room. The corridor had taken on a pale light. Something is not right.“Who is it?” I demanded but was only greeted by an eerie silence. I tightened my grip on
Every transition is an intensive ritual that demands deep focus and complete control over our senses. Only well-trained Onmyojis can successfully conduct a transition in their investigation of supernatural crimes. It has taken many years of training for some and for me, it was, strangely, an easy craft to master. My teacher, Master Sato, observed this may be a result of my mother's background. She was also trained as an Onmyoji. Gradually, I planted my feet in the basin. The warmth travelled through the pores on my skin and breathed life into every cell of my body. I began meditating, chanting the Ksitigarbha Mantra, Om Hahaha Vismaye Svaha, which I regarded as the golden standard of mantras. It was something that soothed my heart, and drives away the cloud of dust in our minds and dispelled anxiety, anger and all dark vibes. As I meditated and focused my energy, trying to find the point of light in my consciousness, The process is pretty much like gliding in the air. The distur