I pushed open the heavy red doors. The pale-pink early morning illuminated the empty temple.
I grabbed a joss stick and hurried back into the crisp summer morning air to light the stick with the flame of the oil lamps hanging above the lions. For one heart-stopping moment, I could’ve sworn the stone lions’ eyes were following me.
“I just want to wish my grandfather a happy start to the Hungry Ghost Festival,” I hissed. “It’ll only take a second, okay?”
I guess today was Faryn Talks to Random Inanimate Objects Day. Before I could start speaking to the doorknobs, I dashed back inside. I’d thought the temple was empty, but now I saw a shadowy figure kneeling before the altar in front of the Jade Emperor. The figure turned at the sound of my footsteps, and the light of the flickering fire illuminated his familiar face.
“Ba?” I blurted out without thinking.
My father gave me a strange look, and my cheeks burned. “I mean … good morning, Mr. Zhuang.”
“Good morning, Faryn. You’re up early today.”
“Just, uh … wanted to pray to the gods before everyone else got here.”
Ba chuckled. “Good girl. The gods are pleased with you, I’m sure. You did … very well yesterday during the Duels.”
He smiled, and my heart jolted. I knew the man had no clue that I was his daughter, yet a warm glow washed over me. Tears sprang to my eyes. I gulped hard, trying to force them back. “Th-thank you.”
“Your mother and father would be pleased as well,” Ba said softly. His eyes twinkled.
I averted my gaze, staring at my feet. I didn’t trust myself to look at my father any longer. I was afraid that if I did, I would burst into tears.
A slight breeze whooshed past me, and a warm hand touched my shoulder. “Goodbye, Faryn. I wish you well on your journey.”
Then the hand lifted. The doors creaked open once more and then shut. I was alone—for real this time.
“Goodbye,” I whispered, though I knew he could no longer hear me. “Goodbye, Ba.” Then I let the tears fall. They splashed onto the ground. My shoulders heaved as I sobbed.
For just a few moments, I’d gotten a taste of what it would be like to have my father back. And I knew, in my heart, that I would do anything—anything—for Ba to truly regain his memories. To see the spark of recognition and love in his eyes.
When the tears finally slowed, I wiped them away. “This is no time for crying, Faryn,” I scolded. “Or talking to yourself.”
I’d come here on a mission, and I had to see it through—quickly, before anyone else entered the temple.
By the light from the flames of the joss stick, I searched through the faces on the deities’ statues until I found the one I was looking for.
Producing the Choco Pie from my pocket, I placed it beside some apples and flowers on the already full altar of Wenshu, the god of wisdom. I’d been coming to the temple almost every day trying to speak to Ye Ye, Wenshu’s disciple. The last time I’d seen and spoken to my grandfather, he’d helped Alex, Ren, Moli, and me fight off the nián demon at Peng Lai Island. After that, we’d lost all contact.
I had to know that Ye Ye was safe under Wenshu, even though the god of wisdom had clearly sided against the humans. And if Ye Ye was up in Heaven with Alex, I had to know that my brother was safe, too. I also had an important message for Alex: I was going to pound him flatter than a scallion pancake the next time I saw him.
And finally—the book. I couldn’t shake the feeling that that blank chapter in Restorative Potions held the answers I sought. Maybe Ye Ye would be able to tell me for sure.
“Please, Wenshu,” I murmured, kneeling before the statue and pressing my hands together in prayer. Bending forward in a low bow, I pressed my forehead to the cool temple floor, just as Ye Ye had taught me to do back in the Jade Society. “Let me speak to Ye Ye. I know he’s listening. The Hungry Ghost Festival is about to begin at sundown. Please tell him that I—his granddaughter—hope he’s doing well. I miss him very much. And if he has any idea how I can restore Ba’s memory, can he show me the way?”
I removed Restorative Potions from my backpack, opened it to the chapter titled “Memory-Restoring Elixirs,” and placed it on the ground before me before kneeling in prayer again. I waited, and waited, and waited. I waited until the flame on the incense stick almost burned out. But again, there was no response.
Just as I was about to give up, the Choco Pie I’d laid on the altar disappeared. Then a white light emitted from the pages of Restorative Potions, growing brighter and brighter. I gasped. Golden words appeared on the page.
Falun,
Thank you for your well wishes. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to respond to your prayers before now. It’s been very busy in Heaven, and Wenshu has been monitoring all his disciples and ingoing and outgoing prayers closely. We’ve been practicing intense meditation, so I haven’t heard any news from your brother. I will send word as soon as it is safer.
In the meantime, I think you’ll find this gift useful. It’s a compass that represents navigation and also order and harmony. When the time comes, you’ll need this compass not only to save your brother but also to restore the axis of the Earth, which the demons and gods alike have greatly disturbed in these troublesome times.
Finally, to restore your father’s memory, you need to find a special elixir that can only be obtained during the Hungry Ghost Festival. To find this elixir, you will need the help and full might of all your ancestors—and that means journeying far beyond the walls of the New Order.
I’ll try my best to see you during the Hungry Ghost Festival, but I can’t make any promises. Wenshu has been very strict. If I don’t see you, know that I’m there with you in spirit.
Don’t forget to brush your teeth and be wary of demons,
Ye Ye
I read and reread the words and then pressed the book to my chest. As the tears slipped down my cheek, an item materialized on the altar. It was a large black compass with not one but four arrows. Each pointed in a different direction, presumably north, south, east, and west. Only I had no clue which direction was which. I shook the compass, as though that would somehow give me the answers. It didn’t.
Great. Ye Ye had given me a compass that didn’t work. But at least he’d given me the letter, too.
I flipped through the pages in Restorative Potions, but that note was the only message from Ye Ye. There were no other details, or further instructions, or some kind of cheat code for completing this quest without actually going on it. I sighed. Real life was never as easy as video games.
If I needed proof that I had to take on the quest, this was it. My gut told me I’d have to find my ancestors somewhere along the way. This wasn’t just about protecting the other warriors. This was about restoring my father’s memory. On my way back to the apartment, I read the note in the book a few more times, imagining Ye Ye’s weathered, skilled hand penning those words.
I will send word as soon as it is safer.
I hoped against hope that that would be soon. That Wenshu would let my grandfather visit the human world during the Hungry Ghost Festival.
But something told me I wouldn’t be so lucky.
* * *