Hello,

Does any body know what Mr. Merritt means by Lao T‘zai‘s fear dust in his short story The People From The Pit?

I looked at Anderson. He was staring at the North where once more the beam had pulsed upward.
"It can't be the aurora," I spoke without moving my lips. My mouth was as dry as though Lao T'zai had poured his fear dust down my throat.
"If it is I never saw one like it," he answered in the same tone. "Besides who ever heard of an aurora at this time of the year?"