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

“Cat fur? By chance?” Gloria asked.

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

“We don’t know. But there’s no better explanation, 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 can’t seem to stay outta trouble for one day, huh?”

“Occupational hazard, wouldn’t you call?” Gloria stood up and waved at Gyuu Park, who was wearing 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 offensive this is?”

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

“Nice to 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 can 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 and went into the kitchen.

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“Folks, this is Gyuu Park, expert in handling situations like this. An actually ordained clergyman.” Gloria introduced the latest 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 need to 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 need to - 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 can 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 kitchen counter.

Gyuu Park dipped the head of a swab in clean water, then gently 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 china 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 completely black.

“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 on the nature 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 corners…”

“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 observing the reflection of the cotton swab in it.

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

“Well, I try.” Gyuu Park turned the mirror a few different angles, then 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 second 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 can tell. And judging from the reflections on different angles - I am relatively 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 place you could stay.” Luoshan Zi chuckled: “But, of course, the rent is not cheap - not according to our standards at least. And it’s right next to the Kishiti Temple, the entire building is technically built on blessed grounds, and we have a number of blessed and enchanted decors.”

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

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

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

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