Chapter 1Tuesday, 5th March 2024"Dr Wong? Dr Wong? Adam!"The sharp words sliced through the quietude of my room and shredded my concentration into pieces. I looked up, irritated. I slotted the pencil over my right ear.The intruder was my trusted assistant Angela Poh, the lady whom I fondly called Ah Mui. She used to be my student and, after her graduation, applied to be my assistant. We have been working together for three years.Her head popped over the edge of the door. My ire receded upon seeing her peaches-and-cream countenance, cherubic face with a pair of bright eyes behind the black-rimmed glasses. "What is it, Mui? I thought I had asked not to be disturbed." I said, frowning, as I scribbled on the notepad. "I needed another thirty minutes of solitude."She adjusted her spectacles which seemed to slip down her nose bridge."I know. I am sorry but you have a visitor.""Visitor?""Inspector Visnu is here."Then unexpected arrival There was an uneasy silence. "ASP Visnu? Ce
After a long and awkward silence, Aminah spoke with a firm tone“I am a mother. I have two children – six and four. I cannot be with them because I come Singapore. I need to make money for my family. However, I make sure they have toys. They have no childhood but I must give them enough money. I saw things Mum Claudia threw. They belonged to Marcus, Mavis, and Jonathan. All memories. You cannot throw.”Aminah's lament brought a sense of melancholy and I realized May's stern look had softened. Her eyebrows drooped. She is human, after all.“I can fully understand. Then what happened?” I said.“Mum Claudia was angry. She put things in the box and threw them by the roadside.”“She was mad at you?” I repeated. “Mum Claudia was so angry and her voice loud. I feel my ears burning… " Aminah grimaced and slapped her forehead. "She blamed me for mistakes I did not make.” Aminah shook her head as her eyes burned with angst. “I did not make mistakes.” Her face crumpled in stress as tears roll
May looked haggard, probably from the rigours of the new investigation. The dark eye rings spoke of a sleepless night. However she still looked menacing with her slender build and trained arms. “May Li?”“I can see you have just finished one of your….work”“Thank you for your kind words.”“Really?”“You used to say ‘strange rites’ or ‘odd rituals’”“People change.”“People change.” I repeated, “Why are you here?”“Adam I need you to stop whatever “ “Siti Aminah I need to question you.” It is important.”I looked at Aminah whose face was now white as a sheet of paper“What happened?”“We would like to seek some clarification.”“Did you get your investigation wrong?” Mavis asked“Madam, our investigation showed that Aminah and Claudia Goh had a long telephone conversation on the day before she died.”Aminah shook her head continuously“No, no. I did not kill Mum Claudia. No, I did not.”“I did not say you kill her. Can you calm down?”At her cue, the two officers tried to restrain h
I woke and felt like I was starved of oxygen. “Ah Mui! Mavis!”I cried out loud but nobody responded. I was all alone on the lawn. Alone.The lawn. Why am I here? In my ears, I was accompanied by the chorus of crickets sounds and birds’ chirps. I looked up and found the skies were blue with roses of clouds. A pleasant day and a hot breeze over the lawnThen I remembered Mavis. She was with me at the transition. Could she still be in the mansion? I looked in the direction of the house and was surprised.The mansion that stood in front of me was vastly different from the one I knew. I have seen it before. I slammed my fist in my other palm. I remembered. It was in the pictures Ah Mui had shown meAs I walked towards the mansion, I realized I was looking at an incredible thing. The mansion was from another era. The paint is different a faded yellow instead of a fresh white. The red bricks portion of the walls were old while the ones in 2024 were freshly built. The windows were of
I knew something was amiss from Mavis's expression. I formed the sword fingers, inhaled, and turned slowly, ready to fight. I quickly scribbled a protective charm with my Buki brush and pulled the protective shield over us.I soon found myself staring into a dark abyss, a mass of dark energy throbbing and palpitating with each movement sending a ripple of dark energy. We meet again.“兵“ I shouted and executed a swiping move with my right palm to reinforce the shield of energy. Contrary to my expectations, the dark mass did not attack and instead hovered in front of us"What is it?""This is what I wanted to find out."“Is this the same spirit you encountered, Adam?”I nodded. “Do not be afraid. Control your breathing.""I wish I can..." Mavis said and I felt her quivering voice“Raise your scarf,” I said and Mavis obliged by holding up her right hand. Slowly I kept my brush. I joined my hands and bowed“With all respect, I am Adam Wong-Takahashi and I am a sprit master. I want to h
We took our seats, side by side, each other.As the trail of agarwood incense drifted into the air, I began my chanting.“Focus,” I whispered.Slowly I felt the water in my feet drift. I caught sight of Mavis opening her eyes. It is her first time and naturally, she is nervous. “Close your eyes. Drop the curtains on your soul. Stay focused but relax. My chanting is the wind to drive a sail. Focus on your mother and the times you spent with her.”“Drop your curtains on the soul.” Mavis smiled, eyes closed. I looked at her intently. She is even more beautiful with her eyes closed. I snapped back to reality“Let’s get started,” I pronounced. I began to focus my mind. Moments lapsed, and soon, it looked like it was not going to happen. I realized that as I gravitated toward the vortex, Mavis remained elusive. I sensed fear in her, and she withheld her consciousness. I could not feel her. I slowed down my chanting and stepped back into our reality. I opened my eyes to check and foun
After the permission was obtained, I was back at the Chua Mansion. This time with Ah Mui. The skies were a lot brighter than the the usual nights thanks to a full moon. It gave me a feeling of crystal clarity and provided a soothing sensation to my tight chest. The moon also has a nurturing effect on the minds of Onmyojis. With my bag slug over chest, I led Ah Mui down the walkway, past the lawn towards the tentage where the funeral is held. There is a small crowd and a prayer session was going on as we arrived. The casket has arrived after the mortuary gave the clearance. I peeked and found the Chua family seated at the front row- there was John Chua, Marcus, his wife. Their faces were stern and unsmiling. However, Mavis was not in sight. Suddenly, I felt a touch of chill on my shoulder. I swung around to find frail figure standing behind me – Aminah“Hi Aminah? Nice to see you. You can call me Adam.”“Hi sir, hi sir. Madam Mavis. She in living room.”Saying she led the way and
I rushed home after the meeting with Ah Mui to make preparations for the night’s outing.The first thing I did was to head over to the altar and light the incense. I clasped my hands and prayed. Gently I hit the bronze bowl on the altar. The tingle of metallic harmony rippled through the room. Before I chanted the mantra, I searched for my guardian spirit. “Mon?” I called. Within seconds, there was a spark in the air in front of me and Mon materialized like it hatched from air. It released a low croon, the usual greeting when it sees me. Fluttering the wings like a bee, Mon landed on my palm. “Hi, buddy. I need you to be with me tonight. We may be handling a foe. I will need you to cover my back, alright?”Mon flashed a grin and nodded. I checked its features - the horn is bulging out its forehead and its tail has gone longer. It leaped into the air and circled over my head like a gleeful bird. “That’s the spirit.”I commended.“Now can you settle down? Meditate and feed on the s
The episode at the mortuary sapped some of my energy and left me flat. On my way back to the office, I was sipping continuously from the water bottle. Despite emptying a one-litre bottle of water, I felt dehydrated. However, the sight of Claudia's distressed spirit dwelt in my mind. It is hard to erase it but it did not affect my moods. I was determined I would find justice for her - find the killer and bring him or her to justice.Back in the office, my mind shifted to my hunger pangs. Earlier, I had asked Ah Mui to order a hearty meal and she did not let me down. When I arrived at the office pantry, I found a table of food and she was laying out the paper plates.One of the key conditions for a successful exorcist assignment is to be fully fed. A full stomach gives us energy and stamina to create the talisman and spells to quell the malevolent spirits.Over a meal of bak-kut-teh(pork ribs soup), fried carrot cakes, and my favourite Wan Ton noodles, we chatted“I got your favourite
I turned around slowly, careful not to let my powers disrupt the stability of energy in the surroundings. As I am still alive, my 'yang' energy can be highly scorching for a being from the other realms. I was greeted by a flush of cold air and found a female figure floating in mid-air. Her head was bowed with hair covering her face. One of her eyes peered through the curtain of hair and scanned me intensively. Then she unleashed a low moan. "Claudia Goh."She moaned and I could sense the darkness of pain and agony from the sounds.“Tell me, Claudia!"She moaned again"I am here to help you.”The body disappeared just as I spoke. Quickly, I searched every corner of the room for it. In vain, I executed the Kuji-Kiri and scribbled the character 寻 - search on my palm. Then I pushed my palm into four corners of the room. In a split second, I noticed a dark mass in the right corner of the room that was quivering and bouncing off the walls. I walked over, treading with caution. As I n