Poison City

Marcus had to sneak out of the apartment complex and find a corner on the opposite side of the Kshiti Temple to make the call. This was all to make sure if anyone was to triangulate the general area where he made the call, they would be misled into another region. Other than that the only measure he could use to avoid being tracked would be using the burner phone given to him by Luoshan Zi. It was indeed about to run out of battery, a shame that he did not get the chance to recharge.

“What?” Gloria sounded impatient, but at least she answered.

“This is Marcus.” Marcus spoke with haste: “Please listen to me, because this phone’s gonna die soon. Are you safe? Can we find a place to meet? I just found out something. And - we - I need your help on something, it could be dangerous.”

“Okay, I have something to share with you as well.” Gloria’s tone softened: “Yeah, I think we should meet. When do you think?”

“As soon as possible. A place we both know, but let’s not say it here.”

Gloria Paused for a brief moment: “Okay, how about the place last time we shared food at. Actual food, not emergency food or other stuff.”

“Noted. Last place where we shared food.” Marcus nodded: “How soon can you be there?”

“As soon as possible. I am a bit of distance away so it might take me a while. Where are you?”

“I’ll have to take a bit as well.” Marcus nodded: “See you then. I’ll wait for - at most an hour, how’s that sound?”

“Sounds cautious enough. Same here.” Gloria responded: “Be careful.”

“Of course, you too.”

The last place they shared food at would be the street right outside of Chef Tang’s noodle shop. And that was where he was going. It was not that far from where he was. It only took him around ten minutes on foot. He tried to hide from people at first, but as the night got darker, less and less people were around. So he just sped through the rest of the way.

The crowded and busy street was now completely empty, with some old and almost non-functioning street lights flickering, casting another layer of creepiness to the night. The smell of food lingered in the air, buns, fried donuts and scallion pancakes, classic, unhealthy but mouth-watering. Around the intersection of the main street and a small alley was a dark corner, a few steps away from the steamed bun stand where they bought those delicious snacks before going into the shop to meet the chef.

“Psst.” Less than five minutes into his wait, Marcus already heard the familiar voice call to him: “Hey! Marcus!”

Gloria hopped from the wall behind Marcus and landed an arm’s length from him to his right. “Good, at least we both thought of the same place.”

“Of course. ” Marcus let out an exhale of relief, smiled then nodded: “And it’s great to see you’re okay. How’s - how’re your friends?”

“Not too good. One of my friends almost got taken. They beat him.” Gloria sighed: “They tried to ambush us, but didn’t really get anywhere - ”

Gloria was surprised when Marcus walked over and gave her a quick but close hug. She hugged back, but really did not get a chance to savor or process it further: “Okay there, glad to see you’re okay. What’d you have?”

Marcus let go of Gloria, took a deep breath to calm his beating heart down before speaking: “As I said. I need your help. We have a plan. And it’s dangerous.”

“Okay - before that, why not just tell me what you learned? What happened with your captain?” 

“I lost contact with him. So I just did what he asked me. ” Marcus let out a long sigh: “It's - uh, I’ll tell you about it later. It’s not important right now. What’s important is what I heard from Master Liaoran from the Temple of Forgetfulness…”

Gloria listened, with full focus and intent while Marcus explained everything he heard from Master Liaoran, his understanding of the entire situation, his fears, worries, and finally, his plan to strike tomorrow evening.

“Now - I - I know I can’t be asking this much of you - ” Marcus stammered. He had his speech ready but still was struggling to get it out.

“Why don’t you hear what I learned before you tell me about your concerns?” Gloria shrugged, smiling: “Can I take a look at the ‘shopping list’ the master gave you?”

“Here.” Marcus had it ready in his inner jacket pocket, and handed it to Gloria without delay.

“Panguan Writing Brush, Purple Talisman Paper.” Gloria read the first two item names out loud: “Those are - are really big asks.”

“I don’t know about the writing brush, but Purple Talisman Paper is something I’d assume we could only steal from the bigger temples.” Marcus shrugged and sighed: “And peachwood struck by lightning, blessed jade - all commonly heard names of rare blessed items.”

“I might have ways to get some of these, no guarantees but possible.” Gloria thought for a moment before looking Marcus straight in his eyes: “Guess I’ve GOT to come with you, huh?”