The Night Tiger

Batu Gajah. Friday, June 26

Ren has lost weight, his skin is grey, and his voice is very weak during Ji Lin’s visit, but he is pleased to see her. Ji Lin tells Ren that she has kept the finger, and Ren is shocked and tells her to “put it back in his grave” (260). Ji Lin asks for clarification, but Ren has slipped into a death-like sleep. A nurse tells Ji Lin any of Ren’s family should visit, suggesting he is near death. Ji Lin, crestfallen, leaves the ward. Pei Ling also has not yet awakened.

Ji Lin thinks about Lydia and wonders what the woman’s motivations are. The fact that Lydia mentioned luck reminds Ji Lin of Chan Yew Cheung. She glances up, aware of a sudden movement, but glimpses only an orderly.

Ji Lin ducks into the storeroom. She wants to make sure that the finger that Ren gave to her is the one that she used to have. She checks the spot where she placed the finger and finds the spot empty. Y.K. Wong enters the room and shuts the door behind her. He asks if she’s looking for a finger and says she lied to him.