The followers of the cult comprised some of the most dangerous
Chinese criminals, thugs, and assassins, besides a number of
dangerous characters who belonged to various Chinese secret
societies. At the head of this formidable organization was Long
Sin, the high priest of the Devil God, and Long Sin had, as we
knew, already joined forces with the notorious Clutching Hand.
The room in which the uncanny rites of the devil worshippers were
conducted was a large apartment decorated in Chinese style, with
highly colored portraits of some of the devil deities and costly
silken hangings. Beside a large dais depended a huge Chinese gong.
On the dais itself stood, or rather sat, an ugly looking figure
covered with some sort of metallic plating. It almost seemed to be
the mummy of a Chinaman covered with gold leaf. It was thin and
shrunken, entirely nude.
Into this room came Long Sin attired in an elaborate silken robe.
He advanced and kowtowed before the dais with its strange figure,
and laid down an offering before it, consisting of punk sticks,
little dishes of Chinese cakes, rice, a jar of oil, and some
cooked chicken and pork. Then he bowed and kowtowed again.
This performance was witnessed by twenty or thirty Chinamen who
knelt in the rear of the room. As Long Sin finished his devotions
they filed past the dais, bowing and scraping with every sign of
abject reverence both for the devil deity and his high priest.
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