"How much is this prayer wheel?" Qi Si asked the shopkeeper.
This was a shop specializing in Tibetan Buddhist religious items. A statue of Mahakala stood enshrined on a wooden table directly opposite the door, its six arms flexed and raised in a wild dance. Various ritual implements lined the wooden shelves beside it: kapala bowls and bone trumpets, Rodapin and human-skin drums, but most numerous of all were prayer wheels.
The shopkeeper, draped in a kasaya, sat cross-legged on a cushion with his eyes shut. His left hand fingered a string of prayer beads as he muttered, "Om Ah Hum, may the Savior protect all living beings; Om Ah Hum, may the God of Merit bestow blessings; Om Ah Hum, may the God of the Tombs safeguard the dead..."
The scripture invoking Mahakala and praying for blessings drifted low through the cramped room. For some reason, Qi Si could understand it and grasp its purpose. He waited quietly for a while, but when no answer came, he asked again, "How much is this prayer wheel?"
This time, he picked up a prayer wheel outright and made as if to leave. The shopkeeper finally opened his eyes and said in a hoarse, indistinct voice, "Trade it for something you received from the Mother Goddess."
The exact same answer as the bus driver's. Qi Si had come prepared and took the [Ink Soul Scroll] from his inventory before handing it over.
[Name: Ink Soul Scroll] [Type: Item] [Effect: Opens a door that only spiritual entities can enter for 60 seconds, suspected to lead to an unknown alternate dimension (Cooldown: 24 hours)] [Note: An unknown poet wrote poetry with his own soul. He did not know that his painstaking creation was a ritual, and that his work was contamination.]
This