Poison City

 

At least from what they could tell, there were no other hidden doors or secret artifacts hiding in the walls. The entire house was stripped clean with only walls and bricks remaining. Even the places for wooden beams or frames were barren.

 

The back wall in the main room had some dark marks on it. If it was the Fuman Coffin Home, this wall would be the one to which the altar and incense burners would be placed.

 

“Burn mark?” Gloria asked as Tae Kuo leaned in on the wall and studied it.

 

“Burn mark, very old, but still burn mark. A big fire happened here - even the bricks and cement are charred. I sense nothing supernatural or paranormal though.”

 

“Yeah, same.” Gloria nodded - she focused her eyes on the wall for a moment, and there was neither the dark mist or fog from the tunnel. It was as if whatever power lingered in this very house had been keeping it clean.

 

“Let’s go further. ” Tae Kuo sighed: “The burial site - that’s where we should be going.” Tae Kuo nodded and began walking toward the front door: “And - I’ve never dared go there, but if you want to know about something behind the infrastructure project, that is one place you’ve gotta check out.”

 

“Why? What’s so special about it?”

 

“It is one of the destinations for a proposed substation. Not a big one, but relatively small and - less equipped. And I happen to know someone who’s - uh - dabbled in the art of Fengshui. And he told me that place was a minor auspicious spot, linked to Water-affinity Qiyun Meridians.”

 

“A what? What?” To Gloria that was a bunch of familiar words arranged in a very strange way.

 

“Well, a minor auspicious spot means it’s a location where the Qiyun or energy flow could lead to fortune in those who reside there. Or if a burial site or cemetery was established in the area, it could bring fortune to the relatives and heirs of the dead.” Tae Kuo shrugged: “And as you can imagine, people competed to have their dead buried there. A community was built as a result.”

 

“And then what happened? Why is this place deserted?” Gloria asked.

 

“Hauntings, disturbing paranormal phenomena and crime.” Tae Kuo sighed: “At least that’s what people gossiped about. The official statement is this place was no longer inhabitable. No detailed explanation was given.”

 

“Care to elaborate on the gossip you heard? Since this is a ‘minor auspicious spot’, the appearance of unclean entities would be really weird and even dangerous, right?” As they walked on a cracked and crumbled cement road with weeds growing out of the cracks, Gloria asked: “What do they say caused this change?”

 

“Can I borrow a light?” Just this moment, a light, almost ethereal voice came to Gloria.

 

It was a woman in a green dress, with the left side of her pale face covered up by her draping brown hair. Her right pupil was light brown, and with the right eye wide open she stared right at Gloria and Tae Kuo with a wide smile of only her mouth and barely other parts of her face.

 

Gloria grabbed Tae Kuo and was about to walk away, but Tae Kuo just looked at her with a confused look on his face: “What? What happened?”

 

“Just go with me - something’s wrong with this place.” Gloria focused her Qi and glanced at the woman’s general area - the pale woman in green was still there, still staring at them, only her smile was widened. Gloria pretended not to see her without making any eye contact.

 

“Can I borrow a light? Just one light.” The woman asked once again, with the same ethereal voice.

 

“What did you see?” Tae Kuo whispered.

 

“A woman in green, asking us for a light.” Gloria shook her head as she gradually accelerated: “This place is not right. How can spirits appear just out in the open like this?”

 

“I didn’t see anything.” Tae Kuo looked right and left turning only his eyes: “And I’m pretty sure if it was other unclean entities I would be able to. So - ”

 

“What are you saying? This is some kind of illusion?”

 

“Probably. The energy surrounding the entire area is unusual. So be careful.” Tae Kuo frowned: “But it could also be something special - let me know if you see her or anything else anywhere. We’ll retreat if things are too - too much.”

 

“I’m fine.” Gloria nodded: “I’ll let you know.”

 

“Can I borrow a light?” The woman in green appeared in another spot, sitting under the eaves of a two-storey building with broken windows and ripped tiles. “Just one light.”

 

“There she is again.” Gloria tried to pull Tae Kuo away from the woman’s general direction, only to sense Tae Kuo tense up and his steps stop: “What happened?”

 

“I just saw a man asking for a light. Also wearing green.” Tae Kuo lowered his head: “Let’s just run ahead. I’ve got supplies with me if we have to fight.”

 

Both of them started running forward. After three not so sharp turns, they reached what looked like a major street with tall residential buildings on both sides. Some of the stores at the ground floors of these buildings still had their billboards on - something something deli, something something mart, and something something grocery store.

 

“Who are you?” Just as they hesitated on which way to go, a very human female voice came from somewhere higher up on their right. “What are you doing here?”

 

 

 

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