A mirror to heaven...

"...and that is why those spirits are here, to protect that mirror..."

Those spirits...

"...and the ancient tale also talks about their arrival! Here you shall see how the gods truly do care about us..."

Their arrival...

"It has been passed down by word of mouth, since few of our ancestors could write (after all, this is a rural area filled with farmers) that heaven's army sent its finest warriors to protect that holy water."

Finest warriors...

And then she bent down, lowering her voice to a mere whisper.

"We tell the children never to leave when the ghosts are out, for fear that their souls may be stolen if they anger the gods...but one time...I did go out. I must have been twelve or eleven at that time. I snuck out of my home and went to the lake even though the warning bell had already sounded and I saw them! I swear to it on my own life. I saw them. With the marks in the middle of their foreheads. They lingered on the lake like mist, but I could see them! And count them! Thirty. I saw with my own young eyes. Thirty."

Thirty of heaven's finest warriors...

Chopsticks fell to the wooden floor.

"Hakkai, what's wrong with you today?"