Poison City

 

Another day, time for another weekly session with Master Liaoran for Marcus. He thought his recovery from his injuries would be slower which might prevent him from going. But his years of practice of the Ferocious Tiger Style reminded him once again that the Qi flowing in his meridians, his muscles, tendons and even internal organs was not merely an energy used for battle.

 

Maybe it was because the last three days of desk-bound paperwork had given his senses the rest they needed, or it could be because these days had put him in a state of hunger for action, during the bus ride over, Marcus had realized many more details from the passengers on the bus with him and the scenery he passed on the way.

 

The Temple of Master Liaoran was located on the hilltop near the border between the Northern and the South-Western Districts, thus, the bus would have to go through a small part of the South-Eastern District and course along some streets and boulevards bypassing some neighborhoods in the South-Western District close to the shores of Lake Ayi.

 

The South-Western District, the district that boasted its young, innovative, passionate and idealistic population and its many contributions to the technological advancements of the city. Along the way, more and more younger looking, flashier and more smiley people got on the bus, in bright colored clothes and carrying slick looking backpacks with labels of the companies they worked for on them and what looked like laptops and tablets inside. 

 

Today, there seemed to be more passengers in the bus than usual, and for some reason, people seemed more frustrated, and the bus seemed to have gotten louder because of it.

 

Normally Marcus just tuned the excited conversations among other bus riders out, but today he decided that he would try to eavesdrop a little when he was close to his stop, because he thought he had heard some interesting words from these passengers.

 

“... oh my god! Your apartment’s having power trouble as well?”

 

“Yeah! We heard some dirtbag just vandalized another substation, and the power company had to reroute the electricity so that people don’t get completely cut off. I couldn’t charge my car at all. So here I am.”

 

“Why? Another? Isn’t the first one enough? Why would somebody do that?”

 

“Guess it’s time to move away from the substations and use more solar panels, huh?”

 

Most of the passengers got off the bus before it reached Marcus’ stop, which included all of the young people. The remainder of them seemed like they were heading to the same place as him - they were carrying long red and yellow paper bags that were typically used for incense sticks, which were what most people brought to the Temple of Forgetfulness. They went to light these incense sticks and place them in the burners and pray, sometimes they might drop a little bit of money as donation. This was slightly unusual as well, because though not completely obscure and one could even say somewhat famed, the Temple of Forgetfulness never had many visitors during this time of the day. Per his experience, most of the visitors came early in the morning or at noon and almost no one would come in the afternoon, which was the sole reason why his weekly sessions were all scheduled in late afternoons.

 

Marcus passed the passengers who got off at the same stop as him on the stairs leading up to the top of the hill, where the temple resided. It was partially because he was eager to meet with Master Liaoran and seek answers for all the questions he had, and also it was because he would like to test and see how fast he could climb this arguably long flight of stone stairs, in order to see how much he had recovered.

 

When he reached the gate of the temple, the familiar smell of burning incense and traditional butter lamps welcomed him just like before. Only this time, Master Liaoran was not the only person inside, there was another person cleaning up the lanterns and incense burners alongside him, a younger monk, wearing a thin, pale and slightly dirty robe.

 

“Generous donor, welcome to the Temple of Forgetfulness.” The younger monk heard Marcus coming in, so he turned towards the door and gently bowed. But by the time he saw Marcus’ face, he froze for a brief moment, then smiled: “Detective Cai, didn’t expect to see you here.”

 

“Bai Gu, is it?” Marcus froze for a short moment as well, but then he shook his head with a relieved smile: “I see you’ve taken on a new path. Congratulations.”

 

“And you have a part in it, detective.” Bai Gu responded with another gentle bow: “Please, call me Wuzui.”

 

“Wuzui? To see through the sins? ” Marcus nodded: “That’s an - ambitious name.”

 

“I dare not attempt to understand and see through all the sins and crimes of the world.” Wuzui looked down at the ground before him and sighed: “I can only begin to do so. Mine is a long and arduous quest. And I shall take every step with care and caution.”

 

“What about your other friends?” Marcus took off his jacket and hung it on a wooden clothing rack: “You know - from before?”

 

“Each person has their own path they must tread alone.” Just this moment, Master Liaoran came before them: “Marcus, you look tired. But I am glad the dark clouds are no longer troubling you.”

 

“Master.” Wuzui turned to Master Liaoran and greeted him with a low voice.

 

“We have more donors coming.” Master Liaoran responded: “Wuzui, go and greet them, while I meet with the detective.”

 

“Yes, master.”

 

“When did Bai Gu become your apprentice?” While heading into the inner sanctum of the temple where they normally practiced and sparred when there were visitors in the main yard, Marcus asked.

 

“About a week ago.” Master Liaoran smiled: “A really broken young man, tormented by visions and shame of his past. But with a heart of a true seeker of his own path and fate. There’s not many like him. So I took him in.”

 

“I - can’t say I recognize it.” Marcus scratched his head: “I hope the city won’t give you too much trouble - he’s technically still under investigation, and he had a deal with them as well.”

 

“Don’t worry, I am fully aware of that.” Master Liaoran led Marcus to a small table on which sat a teapot and two small cups: “But let’s focus on you, shall we? Like I just said, I’m glad that the dark clouds are no more, yet you still look worried.”

 

“Yes, and I am here to express my gratitude as well.” Marcus sat down by the small table after Master Liaoran: “I don’t know how, but I believe your talismans saved me. But - too bad they couldn’t save a perp - ”

 

“Show me your hand.” Master Liaoran poured tea for both of them.

 

Marcus put his right forearm on the table, palm facing up, like so many times before. Master Liaoran put his right middle and index fingers on his wrist to feel Marcus’ pulses. A stream of warm Qi flowed into Marcus’ meridians along his forearm, it swept through his skin, his muscles and his bones, then slowly dissipated inside his body.

 

“Good.” Master Liaoran nodded: “Like I told you before, your style, Ferocious Tiger, is one of high affinity for Yang, and not enough for Yin. This means that you will burn through energy more quickly, and you will be more blind and deaf to the environment around you if you’re not paying attention. But looks like your Qi has become more balanced. What happened?”

 

“Well, I was attacked, and stabbed.” Marcus sipped his tea, then shook his head, his hand and his hand were both slightly trembling: “I was investigating a case recently, and got ambushed by a group of thugs, two of them practiced martial arts and mastered Qi as well. They used some metal shards laced with poison, then later during the fight one of them stabbed me with a dagger - ”

 

“Show me the wounds.” Master Liaoran put down his cup.

 

Marcus stood up and lifted his shirt to show Master Liaoran the thin stab wound on his waist, and around which, one could see weird root-like bumps extending outward from the stab mark. The skin around the wound was ashy and even cracked up.

 

“A poisoned and cursed blade. ” Master Liaoran nodded with a frown: “Luckily for you, or as fate has a hand in it,  it was very crude, while your Qi is strong, and overly Yang so that they did not take much effect. Now, tell me everything.”