Chapter 3 Forming A Sect

• A policeman came out carrying the shop owner's body. A stretcher was covered with a white cloth, and when it passed in front of me, the white cloth was suddenly blown up by the wind. The corpse on the stretcher was the man who tattooed me yesterday! He was very thin, and his face seemed to have turned purple and devoid of life, just as I had seen him the day before.
• What exactly was going on? Didn't they say he had died for a week? Was my tattoo done by a dead person yesterday?
• "Celeste? Celeste!" Mindy called me. "You don't look so good. Are you okay?"
• I wanted to fill her in on everything that happened the day before, but when I thought about it, anyone in their right mind wouldn't have believed me.
• I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. "Mindy, I think I got it wrong, and this isn't the right place. I don't want to look for it anymore. When will your dad come home? I'll ask him to remove it for me."
• "He's taking the train tonight and will arrive tomorrow afternoon."
• Do I have to wait until tomorrow? What if the man returned to find me again tonight?
• "Celeste, why are you crying? What's wrong?"
• When I saw Mindy's flustered face, I realized that tears had begun streaming down my face.
• "I-I'm scared..." I was terrified.
• "You didn't have to be so scared after I told you that you have a demon tattoo! It's just a tattoo," she replied. When she saw how frightened I was, she added, "If you're still worried, I'll take you to a place to get a talisman. The owner of Benevolent Hall is an old friend of my dad, and my dad claims his friend has a deity spirit inside him. So, the talismans he draws are all imbued with deity spirit, which keeps people safe."
• Nodding my head fervently, I immediately agreed. "Let's go right now."
• Benevolent Hall was located in a run-down area of Coatia. The storefront was a small frontage of a remodeled residential building with the outer part open to the public while the inner part served as a small house. The words "Benevolent" were broken on the tattered signboard outside and below it were funeral wreaths, chrysanthemums, candles, and other stuff were placed at the door. There were shrouds hung on both sides of the store as well as an inner glass display case containing various urns.
• Mindy led me into the store and shouted loudly, "Mr. Lee, you have a customer!"
• "Coming!" The curtain behind the counter opened, and a chubby old man came out.
• Mr. Lee looked to be in his seventies. He wore a singlet and shorts, a pair of flip-flops, had a fan in his hands, a bald head, and wrinkles all over his face. He looked no different from any ordinary old man.
• After looking me up and down, his expression suddenly became respectful. "Please come with me."
• Please?
• I thought Mr. Lee was being polite to me, but as soon as I took a step forward, he glared at me. "Wait here, you two."
• Mindy and I were the only ones in the shop. If he wasn't calling Mindy or me, who was he calling?
• At this very moment, a gust of cold air blew past me as if an invisible person had just passed me. My head buzzed, and I almost fell to my knees. That thing couldn't have been following me around, could it?
• Mr. Lee quickly confirmed my suspicions. Two minutes later, he emerged from behind me and said, "You've been chosen by the Household Deity. He's following you and wants you to form a sect for him and invite him in."
• Forming a sect for him and inviting him meant I had to become a disciple. I even had to offer help to people, accumulate virtue by doing good deeds, and help the Household Deity achieve His merits as soon as possible.
• My hometown was in Haladi, and my grandmother believed in the Household Deity. When I was young, I followed her around and witnessed a priestess who danced to invite deities. It was not an exaggeration to say that she looked like a complete lunatic while wearing a mask, hopping around, dancing, and singing incomprehensible songs.
• Then, I begged, "Please, sir. Please help me. I don't want to be a disciple—"
• Before I could finish what I was saying, I was hit in the face by a sudden gust of chilly wind, and it blew on my neck. I took a deep breath and felt as if my neck was being strangled by a pair of invisible hands. I thought of the man from the previous night standing in front of me, choking my neck. My scalp went numb, and I was so frightened that tears kept rolling down my face.
• Mr. Lee hurriedly uttered, "Mr. Deity wouldn't come to you for no reason. It was your family who did something wrong to Him first. He's already being lenient for not taking revenge on your family and only making you his disciple. If you still want to live and want your family to be safe, you should immediately agree to His request."
• Though the pair of hands on my neck exerted some force, it didn't hurt me. It just made me feel how real and existent he was. I was so frightened that my legs went limp, not daring to disagree anymore.
• "I promise; as long as Mr. Deity lets me and my family go, I am willing to do everything."
• After saying that, I could feel the cold breeze on my neck circle around my cheeks as if patting them before disappearing.
• To form a sect, one had to be led by a senior who was also an experienced disciple, and they were called guides. Naturally, Mr. Lee became my guide.
• I lived in the school dormitory, and we were not allowed to set up any form of an altar, so Mr. Lee said he would place it in his place first. He tidied up a room, brought red paper and a brush, and wrote the name—Mr. Cassius Boyd. Then, he pasted the red paper on a wooden sign and handed it to me. "Put this tablet in the room, light three candles, and bow three times. Your deity's surname is Boyd, and he is the brother to the head sect owner of the Boyd Family. Their seniority is very high among Household Deities, so make sure to be filial, do good deeds, and don't make Mr. Deity upset."
• I nodded while bringing the tablet and tribute into the room. After I had set up the tablet and tribute, I lit three candles, kneeled down, and bowed. Once that was done, I turned around and fled the room since I was the only one there and felt tremendous fear. Before I could reach the door, a pair of strong, cold arms grabbed my hands.
• "Why are you running away? Are you scared of me?" His voice was low and cold.