Poison City

The night wind was chilly, and the terrain was uneven. Marcus chose not to go up the hills where the Temple of Forgetfulness was because in the event that he was followed he could shake the tail more easily and would not bring trouble to the temple.

Taking a short break to check around every few steps, Marcus was finally halfway up. It seemed no one was following him, so he could speed up a little and be slightly reckless.

It had been more than an hour after leaving the house of Captain Ko. But still, when his thoughts drifted near the not-so-distant memory of what just happened. Chills still shot through his back and his extremities. From everything he gathered, it must be Mrs. Ko, the wife of his captain who had not shown her face to anyone for more than a few years.

Whatever happened to her, Marcus could only assume it was some kind of foul play, and the captain, with his access to certain forbidden knowledge, decided to keep her “alive” but failed - or at least, he did not succeed, and wound up creating something terrifying.

Captain Ko ended up not getting back to him after all. Maybe he could call the captain again after he was done with his business in the Temple of Forgetfulness.

His heart sped up for a few beats; his ears rang; and the hairs on his back stood up. Something happened - something in the general area behind him.

He looked back, and saw a thin golden pillar of light shooting up at the sky. It was no thicker than a bolt of lightning, but was much brighter. It was more than a beam of energy - as a sense of fortitude, devotion and sacrifice seemed to have permeated through the atmosphere. Marcus knew not how it was possible for this kind of emotion or spirit to spread to and resonate with him just through sight. But for a very brief moment he felt the urge to weep. 

Clouds gathered in the air above the energy beam, it seemed as if some kind of thunderstorm was brewing and about to burst into existence. And as the storm gradually took shape, something in the city’s air, in the city’s veins and the very being was dealt a heavy blow. A looming grimness over the city was injured. It was broken before, but now, the wounds began to burn and fester. Water was rising, the dams were cracking, and the ground, was shaking. 

Before he could take another look at the golden energy beam or the clouds above it. Another abnormal occurrence broke out to his right. It was another distant area - an area inside the Northern District that was quite close to the border area between the Northern and the South-Western District. A pillar of smoke rose up into the sky, a blood rainbow appeared in the sky but was almost instantly swallowed by the smoke.

The terrifying power of the blood moon was weakened, diminished and consumed. It was the first time Marcus ever saw something like this before. Before long, the pillar of smoke turned into a giant dark cloud. And when he fixed his eyes on it, he could see human faces and arms made of smoke appearing and disappearing from its exterior.

Whatever it was, it was definitely not something he would want to deal with right now. In fact, he doubted anyone could actually do so. Maybe it was something he needed to ask the master about. And at the moment, the dark cloud was floating up North. Its speed was not that high, but as far as Marcus could tell, there was nothing that could stand in its way.

“Fuck.” Having seen two inexplicable phenomena, the sense of urgency in Marcus’ mind only grew more intense. He threw caution in the wind and shot up the hill. No one followed him anyway.

“Detective Cai, you’re just in time.” Master Liaoran was in the yard with Wuzui. Two incense burners were placed on their sides, a thin bamboo fabric carpet was placed beneath them. From where Marcus was it seemed the master was just giving his apprentice a lesson. But something felt different - the main thing was that Wuzui was wearing an official monk robe, similar in style to the master’s but fitted to Wuzui’s build and physique.

“What - what’s happening, Master?” Marcus asked, his eyes narrowed.

“Nothing that should trouble you.” Master Liaoran let out a relaxed sigh then nodded at Wuzui: “It’s just a lesson on scriptures, before Wuzui would go on his first tribulation.”

“A tribulation? What is that? ” Marcus stepped into the yard, still confused as he had never heard of any tribulations in the history of the temple before: “How come I’ve never heard of it?”

“It’s because you’ve never been a monk in this very temple, detective. ” Master Liaoran chuckled: “But no matter. You’ve come with questions and need for advice. And I just so happen to have a lot of time for you.”

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