Poison City

Unlike the case with Chef Tang, Marcus told his colleagues everything he could about what he and Gloria went through - minus the intimacy part. This included what the Lady in White told them while they were inside the old ruins.

“Holy shit - this is - this is crazy.” Kevin started pacing around the room: “So we were right - there’s something special about electricity. They can ward off unclean entities - ghosts and curses. In fact these - the leaders of the traffickers are actively hiding inside of buildings of power companies, where they are basically surrounded by electricity.”

“Yes - but it’s not the same case anywhere, right? South-Eastern District still see spirits and paranormal entities regularly.” Elvin raised his hand and asked.

“That’s because of that giant campaign to push for the electric grid and other infrastructure upgrade and replacement decades ago.” Kevin clapped his hands then groaned: “Ugh! I cannot remember what timeline it was, but it makes perfect sense to us right now - the ‘new’ and ‘innovative’ electrical systems employed did not really contribute anything to the users of electricity or the electric companies’ power efficiency. But what it did contribute to was how the Northern and South-Western Districts almost never saw paranormal incidents.”

“ -  or they CLAIMED to never see paranormal incidents.” Keryn shrugged.

“Yes. Or claimed - but it is reasonable to assume that the number is low enough for the general message to stick.” Kevin nodded at Keryn: “And it is the reason why, ever since the two districts started to have more frequent outages, incidents and even deaths of entire families from paranormal presence. The Lings, for example.”

“And Benson, Carl Benson.” Marcus nodded: “He slammed right into an electric substation, cutting off the power temporarily, and got stuffed into the engine space.”

“But that - wouldn’t that mean the city just needs to install this kind of grid everywhere?” Mick frowned: “I mean - if the South-Eastern District could implement this as well, and we have more backups - ”

“Except it wouldn’t work, not long term anyways. For one the infrastructure is losing its suppressing power, and that’s why even with them in place, these people still need to do those sacrificial rituals to keep the curse in check.” Marcus sighed: “And - from what I get from the lady’s answer: the original campaign pusher did not actually achieve what he wanted to - his plan did not complete, and it is very likely not perfect. The same thing with the ritual these traffickers are doing. In fact, something’s been more and more wrong as time goes by.”

“So - did the Lady in White tell you what the proper ways to - to conduct the rituals are?” Mick asked, somewhat concerned and scared that he would get judged for the question. His worries were real, as both Kevin and Keryn stared at him before he could even finish. “I’m - I’m just asking, guys. I’m not - ”

“Nonono, I understand, Mick. I’d ask the same question as well.” Marcus nodded and sat down on the ground, Kevin passed him a cup of tea with the tea bag still in, he accepted and took a sip: “She said - basically, the ritual needs to be done - indiscriminately.”

“Meaning - ?” Keryn, Mick and Elvin asked the same question.

“Well, I - ” Marcus drank up almost all of the tea in his cup: “When I was hiding with Gloria, she mentioned this thing that caught my attention: that the transplant community in the Northern District - basically just people who moved there, and haven’t yet established connections and roots, they are seeing more of these - these kidnappings and abductions. Hell, some of them even escaped back to the South-Eastern District to get shelter and protection.”

The implication behind this answer shocked everyone else in the room into silence. Only heavy breathing and steps of some of them pacing can be heard in this room. No one said a thing for a short while.

After around five grueling minutes, Marcus wanted to say something, but before he could even get out a word, someone knocked on the door.

“What the fuck!?” Kevin and Mick jumped from the surprise, while Keryn rushed to the side of the door and looked out from a thick one sided window.

“It’s - uh, it’s a guy.” Keryn frowned: “I can’t see what he’s like - he’s in - in the blind spot.”

“I’m sorry for doubting your ability, Marcus. But -” Kevin asked with a lowered voice: “Who - who followed you? ”

“I’m pretty sure no one is.” Marcus frowned: “We took a taxi, I watched for all the signs of being followed. We got off a few blocks away from here, we walked the rest of the way.”

The person outside of the door knocked again.

“Maybe it’s a delivery person?” Mick asked, as he tried to look outside through the other one sided window: “Shit, I can’t see him clearly either, some kind of tree branch is blocking the way!”

The person outside the door knocked again, before kneeling down and slipping a small piece of paper through the tiny gap under the door.

“This door is not air-tight.” Keryn shook her head: “I guess it’s a relief - considering that we might be locked in here for a while.”

The piece of paper poked out by a small corner from under the door. Marcus rushed over. With Qi concentrated on his fingers, he pulled it up.

“Open the door. I don’t want trouble - Luo Zhuge” This paper read.

Shout outs to my patrons:

mant06

Jonathan

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