After some time, Grandma Shi called out to Mu Yan and asked him to help her sit up. "Listen, Yan'er, you must remember what I'm going to tell you. Promise me you will listen."
"You rest first, Grandma, we can talk later," Mu Yan urged, his voice laced with concern.
"No, I don't think I have much time left. I wanted to live for a few more years, to see you grow into an adult and marry a wife who would take care of you. But alas, the gods have different plans. I cannot see you marry and have children. My end is near; I can feel it gnawing inside me, ready to claim me. I will no longer be there beside you. You must promise me you will take care of yourself, and no matter what, you will prioritize yourself first."
"I promise, Grandma, I will take care of myself. Now, you lie down and rest. Nothing is going to happen to you. Don't worry."
"No, there's one more thing I need to tell you, or show you. You know from the villagers that I found you in the forest one day while foraging for medicine, though you never asked me about it. I wanted to die with this secret, but now that I am near my end, something tells me I must tell you. Remove that stone in that corner and fetch me the pouch that is below."
Mu Yan fetched the pouch and handed it over to Grandma. "The day I found you in the forest, it's true that strangely, in the middle of the forest, there were no animals around you. You were crying out loud, but no animals or birds approached you. I found it very strange until I noticed this hanging from your neck."
Grandma Shi put her hand in the pouch and fetched out a lustrous, orb-like pendant, roughly the size of a pigeon's egg. It was encased in what appeared to be hardened, petrified mud, but within its dull shell, a faint, almost imperceptible golden luminescence pulsed. Mu Yan felt a distinct throbbing near his chest, from where he had kept the black coin. It seemed as if the black coin was reacting to the pendant in Grandma's hand. Putting his hand over his chest, he gently reached out and touched the mud-encrusted orb. It felt surprisingly warm to his hands, a stark contrast to its cold, ancient appearance.
"I could feel something was different with this pendant, that this was the reason for your protection. It somehow was keeping away things that sought you harm. But fearing that this might bring altogether different kinds of problems if left exposed, I hid it. Today is the first time in fourteen years that I have brought it to light. I thought many times over the years about handing this over to you, but you were still a child. I feared this would bring about changes, and you would leave me. Forgive me for being selfish, Yan'er. Now that I am on my deathbed, I decided to tell you, not knowing whether this will bring good or misfortune. I will leave it to your discretion whether you want to keep it or bury it. Keep it hidden if you do not wish to part with it. It is something extraordinary that will attract unwanted eyes if exposed."
"Don't worry, Grandma, I will keep it hidden. You rest."