Chapter 5: Night Market
~2.5k words · 2026-06-20
Back in the cramped apartment above Red Lotus Antiques, Chen Wei spread her mother's instructions across every available surface.
"Five seals," she said. "Each created by a different Tang Dynasty cultivator. Together they form a spiritual lock that can contain any entity — even an immortal. But the lock requires maintenance. Every five hundred years, all five seals must be recharged, or the prison weakens."
"And they haven't been touched since the Tang Dynasty."
"Exactly. The cultivators scattered them across China to prevent anyone from finding them all. My mother spent ten years tracking them down." Chen Wei tapped the map. "She found four: Mount Emei in Sichuan, Longmen Grottoes in Henan, a village in the Wuyi Mountains of Fujian, and Dunhuang in Gansu."
"That leaves one missing."
"The fifth seal moves. It was bound to a bloodline, passed from mother to daughter for fifty-three generations." Chen Wei touched her left forearm. "I carry it. This mark isn't a curse. It's a responsibility."
Li Wei Wang stared at her. "You're the fifth seal."
"The fifth seal's keeper. And it's been weakening — which means the other four must be in worse shape."
"That's a lot of ground to cover in three weeks."
"Then you'd better make some phone calls. I assume the thirty-seventh richest man in China has a private jet?"
Li Wei Wang actually smiled. "I have three. We leave tomorrow."
After he left, Chen Wei sat alone in her apartment, her mother's final letter clutched in her hands. The mark on her arm burned steadily.
Somewhere beneath Shanghai, something ancient stirred in its prison.
She picked up her phone and dialed a number she had never called before. A voice answered on the second ring.
"Cousin. It's time. Meet me at Hongqiao Airport tomorrow morning. Bring the family sword."
The voice was silent for a moment. Then, quietly: "I've been waiting thirty years for this call. I'll be there."
Chen Wei hung up. The bell above the shop door chimed, though the shop was locked and empty.
"I'm coming, Mother," she thought. "I'm finally coming."
"Five seals," she said. "Each created by a different Tang Dynasty cultivator. Together they form a spiritual lock that can contain any entity — even an immortal. But the lock requires maintenance. Every five hundred years, all five seals must be recharged, or the prison weakens."
"And they haven't been touched since the Tang Dynasty."
"Exactly. The cultivators scattered them across China to prevent anyone from finding them all. My mother spent ten years tracking them down." Chen Wei tapped the map. "She found four: Mount Emei in Sichuan, Longmen Grottoes in Henan, a village in the Wuyi Mountains of Fujian, and Dunhuang in Gansu."
"That leaves one missing."
"The fifth seal moves. It was bound to a bloodline, passed from mother to daughter for fifty-three generations." Chen Wei touched her left forearm. "I carry it. This mark isn't a curse. It's a responsibility."
Li Wei Wang stared at her. "You're the fifth seal."
"The fifth seal's keeper. And it's been weakening — which means the other four must be in worse shape."
"That's a lot of ground to cover in three weeks."
"Then you'd better make some phone calls. I assume the thirty-seventh richest man in China has a private jet?"
Li Wei Wang actually smiled. "I have three. We leave tomorrow."
After he left, Chen Wei sat alone in her apartment, her mother's final letter clutched in her hands. The mark on her arm burned steadily.
Somewhere beneath Shanghai, something ancient stirred in its prison.
She picked up her phone and dialed a number she had never called before. A voice answered on the second ring.
"Cousin. It's time. Meet me at Hongqiao Airport tomorrow morning. Bring the family sword."
The voice was silent for a moment. Then, quietly: "I've been waiting thirty years for this call. I'll be there."
Chen Wei hung up. The bell above the shop door chimed, though the shop was locked and empty.
"I'm coming, Mother," she thought. "I'm finally coming."