“Yeah, this is not good.” Luoshan Zi passed the two pieces of the broken jade medallion baantha after taking a close look at them: “I am no expert, but this bck stuff stu it seems to be some kind of burned skin - or fur. ”

  “Cat fur? By ce?” Gloria asked.

  “Wait - there really is - is this cat granny?” Samantha asked, frowning.

  “We don’t know. But there’s er expnation, is there?” Brian sighed.

  “She’s real!” Kevin protested.

  “It is a pretty distinct possibility. Or something akin to that.” Gloria sighed.

  “So, what is it now?” The door to the coffee shop opened, and Gyuu Park’s voice came in: “You just ’t seem to stay outta trouble for one day, huh?”

  “Occupational hazard, wouldn’t you call?” Gloria stood up and waved at Gyuu Park, earing a loose hoodie, and had a head of messy hair, bags under his eyes and a cup of dark coffee in his hand: “And you came to a coffee shop with a coffee in your hand. Do you know how offehis is?”

  “Yes, I nning oing some freebies here, but I wasn’t pnning on bankrupting your shop.” Gyuu Park shook his head, theended a hand at Luoshan Zi: “Ms. Zi, I’ve heard all about you, my name’s Gyuu, Gyuu Park.”

  “o meet you, I’ve heard quite a lot about you as well.” Luoshan Zi smiled and raised an eyebrow at the dark coffee: “You know, too much coffee actually make you slow, I figure you’d need some tea, green tea, maybe with a bit of honey and dried grapefruit peels?”

  “That - that sounds wonderfully delicious, thank you.” Gyuu Park nodded.

  “I’m gonna put it on Gloria’s tab. You guys figure it out.” Luoshan Zi chuckled a into the kit.

  “Folks, this is Gyuu Park, expert in handling situations like this. An actually ordained clergyman.” Gloria introduced the test guest of the coffee house to the Teiths.

  “Hello, so Gloria just texted me the details and a picture of your wound. It is indeed my area of specialty. But I o take a look at it from up close - if you don’t mind.” Gyuu Park sat down at the booth.

  “It’s a bit rough - here.” Samantha hesitated for a brief moment, then pulled up her sleeve and showed the scratches to him.

  “Now, excuse me, but I’ll o - either drip a small drop of this on your wound - ” Gyuu Park sighed, and pulled out a small bottle of thick liquid with a slight yellow-brown color: “Or, I just scrape it a little and put it in this liquid. It’s not toxic, but it’s gonna sting a little.”

  “It - it kinda hurts, so maybe a quick dab - ” Samantha shook her head.

  “I’ve got some cotton swabs.” Luoshan Zi opened up a drawer behind the kit ter.

  Gyuu Park dipped the head of a swab in water, thely swept it a few times on the surface of each of the gashes, which made Samantha suck through her teeth and squirm. He then put the swab into a small a disk, and poured a few drops of the liquid on it.

  A sizzling sound came from the disk, then smoke arose from the swab, and the white cotton turned yellow, then brown, then almost pletely bck.

  “Oh god, a curse.” Gyuu Park sighed then shook his head: “Not good. Not good. But let me test and see what it is first.”

  “Curse? What does that mean?” Brian asked, grabbing his wife’s hand tightly: “Is there a cure? Is there some kind of - de-curse thing?”

  “There are ways to alleviate it, but it depends oure of the curse.” Gyuu Park sighed: “We’ll probably need help from a temple - and not MY temple. Maybe the Kshiti Temple, or the Muyuan Temple up in the Southern ers…”

  “I texted Sifu Kuo as well. He should be here.” Gloria scratched her nose: “I mean - if you don’t mind - ”

  “Yeah, yeah, I wouldn’t mind. As long as he doesn’t.” Gyuu Park held up the small disk high, then took out a small copper mirror with a wooden frame and started the refle of the cotton swab in it.

  “Qiankun Mirror?” Luoshan Zi leaned on a tall table and nodded in approval: “Such a young clergyma you know so much already?”

  “Well, I try.” Gyuu Park turhe mirror a few different ahen wiped it a few times with his sleeve: “It’s crude, I’ve never mastered it, which is why this is not as good and clear as I’d hoped. I might need a sed opinion from Sifu Kuo, actually.”

  “He might take a bit.” Gloria shook her head: “What do you see?”

  “No ordinary curse, that’s all I tell. And judging from the refles on different angles - I am retively sure that it’s not going to harm you in the short term, which is good for everyone - it gives us time to deal with it.” Gyuu Park put the mirror down, then rubbed his temples: “This may take a few days to research at least.”

  “I got a pce you could stay.” Luoshan Zi chuckled: “But, of course, the rent is not cheap - not acc to our standards at least. And it’s right o the Kishiti Temple, the entire building is teically built on blessed grounds, and we have a number of blessed and ented decors.”

  “Great, we’ll take it.” Brian nodded: “But - are you sure it stop this cat granny - or whatever it is?”

  “No promises. But it’s definitely much safer than most pces you could find.” Luoshan Zi shrugged.

  “I know the pce - it’s - it’s probably as safe as you be right now.” Gloria sighed.

  “Gloria! Gloria!” Tae Kuo’s voice came from just outside the door, along with Sue’s signature knog: “What kind of drum did you get into this time?”