The pale knobbly fingers of a hand slowly caressed the runes engraved on the metal bonds. The fingers of another like hand gingerly crept along with the blood smear on the hard cold stone floor. Both the hands belonged to a tall man, concealed in the shadows, away from all light, his heart as dark as the cloak that hid his face.

' I've succeeded.'

A low chuckle reverberated in the gloomy room.

His painting of blood, a masterpiece as he called it, hadn't been distorted anymore.

' You can't escape. NEVER AGAIN.'

His plan had succeeded. His intuition was guiding him on the right track.

There was a rustling of robes, as he stood up from where he had been kneeling on the ground, and made his way towards a chair.

He sat down and brought his fingertips together in front of his face. Though no one could see it, it wasn't very hard to guess that it was one of those rare moments.

His only companion knocked and entered, scrunching up his nose at the damp musty odour of the room; the typical smell that hits you when the windows and doors haven't been opened for days.

"You're smiling, right?" he purred, sitting down on the floor, beside his legs.

"Mmhmm," the cloaked man hummed, carding his fingers through the other man's hair, lovingly. The other man shifted closer.

"Is everything alright now?"

"Yes. It's all fine now, my loyal Chun."

"I'm glad, Master."
'To see that you are happy.' Chun thought.

"You have done a great job with these chains. The runes are carefully and correctly drawn and are intricate, even in the tiniest details. Chun, I'm proud of you. Nuan hasn't tried to break the soul circle again."

' I'm forever indebted to you. It's solely because of you that my daughter won't leave my grasp ever again. My dear Nuan... You will be with me, forever. I will get back your-'

Chun's voice brought him out of his reverie. "Master?"

"Hm..huh? Ah... Were you saying something?"

"Master, I was asking about the talisman, you know that one, the boy..."

"Ah yes, I remember... What about it?"

The cloaked figure summoned his erhu, as he walked towards the heavily chained corpse of his daughter on the floor. He seated himself comfortably, straightened his back. A morose melody began to pour out of the two-stringed instruments.

"Hey, dear, can you hear me?" he asked her corpse in a whisper, in which he had bound her soul by not just a soul binding circle, but also by spirit controlling chains. The music was paused, as he stopped to caress the white-haired head.

"What is the purpose of the black talisman, Master? And when will it start working? Nothing happened to the boy, even as we watched and-"

"Ah, my dear Chun, so many questions in one go. You're innocent," the cloaked man laughed.
"It's a talisman that summons an evil curse. What evil curse, I won't tell you that now, otherwise, where's the surprise in that, huh?" He added, chuckling.
"And besides, if the talisman worked at that very instant, wouldn't it affect those three minions of yours too? Especially, as they're in such close body contact with the boy? Huh? Hahahahaha!!"

"You make me inquisitive, Master, as to what you cast upon him," Chun replied, a sneer forming on his face.

"Well, let's wait to find it out, shall we? The wise men have always said, everything happens at the correct time, for the correct reason, right? But I won't keep you hanging there for long, you may start guessing, for it's about time for the talisman to start working its magic."

Devilish laughter erupted in the room, as the two of them slapped their hands on the floor, mirthful at their accomplishments, one being bringing Nuan's restless spirit under control, and the other being bringing about Renshu's miserable plight and the attachment of the cursed talisman to his broken body.

The wine was brought in, and the duo raised a toast to their success and continued to discuss the further developments in the plans.

But what they didn't notice, in the heat of their dialogue and the wine blending into their bloodstream, was the tremor in Nuan's lifeless ashen fingers.

A twitch that showed the signs of life.

IT WAS ABOUT TIME.