By now, I had found three people I believed to be "Liars."
My senior brothers and sisters' white paper effigies had all found their "sin-bearers."
That meant that among the instructions Master had left behind, only the "benefactor" and the seven-day time limit remained.
I had been thinking about this benefactor issue for days.
Under what circumstances did someone count as a "benefactor"?
Little Yellow-Hair had stepped in righteously today and helped me escape Nightmare's dream. He counted as a benefactor to me, didn't he?
So it was only right that I treated him well.
I just didn't know what exactly Master meant by "benefactor."
If he meant someone of noble status, then that "benefactor" still hadn't appeared.
But there were still two days left. As long as I held on and stayed alert over the next two days, it would be fine.
With that in mind, I lit several more incense sticks.
Only after Little Yellow-Hair had finished inhaling did he leave with his three underlings.
Once again, I was the only one left in the shop.
Of the four drawers, only my own white paper effigy remained, along with a blood-soaked cat tail.
"Why had Master left behind a white paper effigy with my name on it?
Was it to let the cat tail channel yin energy, so those ghosts couldn't tell that I was alive?
So I could find the Liars? Or did it have some other meaning?"
I pondered this inwardly.
But Master had never explained things clearly to begin with, so I could only take things one step at a time.
Second by second, time passed, and soon it was time to close up.
The Big Yellow Rooster that had taken my place in death was already dead.
Just like before, I wrapped it in