In the folktale “
Ten Thousand Words to Quell a Pestilence”,
a ghost guards an imprisoned disease demon who breaks forth to ravage the human
world every 60 years. 60 years ago, humans were saved from a pandemic when a
Taoist priest locked the demon in a box.
But as the years went by, the seal on the box grew weaker. The ghost guardian cannot reinforce the seal that keeps the
disease demon imprisoned – this must be done by a living human...
