Adam the Spirit Master

Chapter 12

"I will need a pail of water," I said.

"Warm water?" Hock asked

"No. Make it hot. I would like a pail of hot water." I said 

Everyone was bewildered 

"Hot? Do you mean it has to be boiling? You want to cook ah?" Ah Hock exclaimed.

Ah Mui smiled and shook her head. "He needs hot water, please. It has to be a high temperature to allow him to perform his ritual."

"Wah, I have never heard about this. Hot water." He repeated.

"Make it 80% hot, and 20% tap water." I repeated my request.

Despite his disbelief, he moved along. A few minutes later, he returned, treading with caution. In his hands was a basin of hot water spewing spirals of steam. With the attentiveness of a cook, he placed the basin in front of the chair and added a few towels around it.

"You sure?"

"Yes I am sure."

I took off my socks and sat down. Then I dipped on foot into the basin. 

"Yes, just right." 

Then I placed both feet in much to the consternation of a stunned Ah Hock.

"You feel ok?"

I nodded.

"I had never heard about using hot water." He remarked "By the way do you use your blood or some chicken blood? During my time as a boy, I had seen some exorcism sessions and they used black chicken blood. A black chicken or black dog perhaps?

I chuckled and shook my head.

"In my sect, our rituals do not require the slaughter of a living being or sacrifice of animals. No blood. We are simple and clean. The water is fine. Water is the best element amongst the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water for the movement between various realms."

"Oh really. This is something new." Hock expressed his surprise. "That simple?"

"Simplicity is beauty."

"This helps you with…?" Hock pointed at the basin.

"It is unique only to me. Water is the medium for me to move between worlds."

"Move between what?" Hock strained his ears

"For my work later." I tactfully rephrased. "Move from this world to another that you cannot see."

Ah Hock then looked at the basin of water.

"Wow. You are cooked." He blurted.

"Ah Mui, the salt please." I instructed.

Ah Mui nodded and then quickly removed a sachet from her bag. She opened the pack and then sprinkled it into the water.

I stirred the water with one foot and then soon felt a sense of numbness. I nodded to Ah Mui and Visnu. 

"Thank you." I said, appreciating his attentiveness.

Before I continued, I thought I owed the team an explanation. I turned to Visnu, May, and Ah Mui

"I am planning to conduct my own forensic. It should take an hour. I will be in a meditative mode, a very deep state of meditation. It will be just like a slumber During this period, do take note of any sound or movement in this house. Do not react and do not panic. The things that happened in this dimension mirrors the events in the world that I am about to enter."

"1 hour huh. You will be fine." Visnu asked

I smiled " That is the maximum period I can endure. As the time nears, there will be a cue for me to return."

I looked at Ah Mui who held a tiny bell in her hands.

"What if the worst happens and you cannot return?" Visnu asked.

I turned to Ah Mui "She will know what to do. She can bring me back".

Ah Mui smiled with pride, being the only person who know the standard procedures in case of an emergency during the transition.

"See you all in an hour."

As the fragrance of incense pervades the room, spreading a sense of lightness, I sat nicely on the chair and held my meditative beads with my left hand, while raising my right hand in the form of a prayer's palm.