Poison City

 

 

“What - where did they come from?! What the - ” One of the men knocked down by Gloria earlier cried. Before anyone could do or say anything, he bolted and ran into the archive, in search of the backdoor.

 

Another man screamed and ran with the first, leaving only three men against Gloria and her friends.

 

“We should go.” The two men holding Sue and Turner Ouyang held on their hostages tighter and tried to back out of the main entrance.

 

The now one-eared man yelled and lunged at Gloria from behind, with a short sword in his hand aiming at Gloria’s waist.

 

Gloria shot forward and turned. A sweeping kick cut through the air and slammed the one-eared man right in the hole where his ear once was. The man tumbled into the reception’s desk, while she leapt right at the remaining two opponents.

 

A bamboo stick burst in the back of the man holding Sue. He groaned and looked right, just in time for the broken bamboo sticks to strike him on his left forehead. 

 

Sue swung her left fist backward from below. Her forearm and wrist made contact with the man’s soft area between the legs. The man cried out and fell backwards in pain. Gloria shifted her attention at the last of the men - the one holding Turner Ouyang.

 

“It’s you!” A two-headed woman with conjoined faces, chests and a shared, contorted body emerged from the shadows below the final man and crawled up the side of his body with the eyes opened so wide her corners of eyes might rip. “It’s you!”

 

The final man let out a terrified scream, his grip on Turner Ouyang loosened and eventually relented. He turned back and began running away, not even realizing that the woman on his body already faded.

 

“Thump!” Tae Kuo swung his bamboo stick once again at the men on the ground, completely knocking him out.

 

“Thank you, Sifu Kuo.” Gloria panted and took a moment to soothe her Qi: “I thought you left the city already.”

 

“Yeah I thought so.” Tae Kuo shook his head, dimming the candle in a red and yellow lantern with talismans stuck on the outside and dangling below. Gloria recognized it - it was an artifact that could conjure up illusions within a range. Tae Kuo folded the lantern up and put it in his handbag: “But I can’t just leave without taking a final look at my coffin home, and wrapping up some other business. Come on, follow me.”

 

Sue kicked the unconscious man on the head once more before catching up to the rest of the team. 

 

Tae Kuo brought a very old looking jeep covered in mud and dirt. Even the license plate was bent, scratched and barely held onto the vehicle by a few bolts.

 

“Damn, where’d you pull that from?” Gloria chuckled.

 

“My old friend’s garage, he left it there when he left. Didn’t expect that to come in handy. ” Tae Kuo sighed: “And - let’s go to his place to hide for the moment. Word on the street is you have a lot of people looking for you. Whoever those guys are, they’re getting desperate. REALLY desperate.”

 

“Yay us.” Sue helped Turner Ouyang sit straight, for he seemed to have got heavily beaten up before they even got to the archive: “What should we do next? They knew to intercept us at the archives and ask us what we wanted, so they would be expecting us at other places where we can get access to city records.”

 

“So stay away from city records. ” Tae Kuo sighed and shook his head: “To be honest - I might know a little something about - about what you’re looking into. You’re looking at the city infrastructure project, right?”

 

“Yeah - you know something? Why didn’t you tell us?” Gloria asked.

 

“Fucking hell - my family was still in here!” Tae Kuo whined: “I can’t tell you anything that sensitive? Do you know how many people are still rotting in jail because they are involved? If the community collective OR the city knows you’ve been talking about it, good fucking luck getting a job anywhere or even travelling.”

 

“So - what’d you know? And how did you know?” Sue asked from the backseat.

 

“I was still a young apprentice once, and I listened when my elders were talking gossip from their old days.” Tae Kuo sighed: “Some of them even got in trouble for just daily chit chat. So - I don’t know IF you or how much you know this kind of trouble, but you’d better be ready for it.”

 

“Well yeah, believe me, we know.” Sue shook her head.

 

“Good.” Tae Kuo took a look at the rearview mirror: “We lost them. Let’s go.”

 

The old jeep finally went on its intended way instead of circling and taking detours. The place was an old apartment building near a small but well kept temple.

 

“What is this temple?” Sue asked as she looked at the gate, there was no name on there.

 

“It’s not a full temple, it’s a small place of rituals and prayers from the Kshiti Temple. Also the temporary residence for the elders or scholars.” Tae Kuo sighed: “The temple purchased the entire area around here, which is why my friend could afford to leave. But they never really started their intended plan of expansion.”

 

“Nice. So it’s a good place to hide.” Sue nodded: “Do you have a medical kit in there? I think Ouyang needs to go to the doctor - ”

 

“Let me take a look inside.” Tae Kuo led them to the third floor, room 303.

 

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