“Now, take some rest. Come to the dining room after sunrise. I’ll give you a few things that can keep you safe. Like I said, I’ll make some calls tonight, and they will deal with the situation at the precinct. And I will arrange a meeting with Councilman Ding’s office.” This was the last thing Captain Ko told them, before sending them to their rooms on the second floor.

“Okay, Kevin, what did you see? What can you tell us about the captain’s setup here?” Keryn asked Kevin before the door to “their” room. Mick waited outside the door along with them two, hoping to hear more from Kevin.

“I - I can’t really tell much. But I have some theories.” Kevin sighed after a moment of thought: “The wooden beams, the incense burners in the corners, and the lanterns. It’s definitely some kind of permanent ritual. So it needs ongoing maintenance.”

“So - the reason captain always goes home early is because he needs to maintain this ritual?” Mick frowned: “So - what about his wife? Does he even have a wife? Or is it just a ruse?”

“It’s not a ruse. I believe Shrevas has met her.” Keryn shook her head: “But - it’s strange, I don’t think we’ve seen her for a while. It’s been - it’s been at least several years, I think?”

“That’s weird - that’s very weird - ” Kevin took a look around. Even when they were on the second floor, there were wooden beams embedded in the walls. And when he looked at them, he could see some thin, barely noticeable golden linings embedded in them.

“What is this?” Keryn also noticed the golden linings glimmering under the faint moonlight pouring through the window. The golden linings formed into arcane patterns on the wooden beams, turning the slender beams into permanent talismans. “What - are they all like this?”

“I think I know what it is. I’m no expert in talisman making, but I can tell, just a little.” Kevin pointed at both ends of a beam in front of him. “They’re - they’re containment or protection talismans.”

“Containment OR protection? Which one is it?” Keryn nodded at Kevin.

“That will depend on how the middle section is made. Like I said, I am no expert, and I can’t read what this means.” Kevin shook his head: “I can just read the head and bottom - so…”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“His wife.” Keryn said with a cold voice: “His wife, no one’s seen her in years.”

“Wait wait wait, hold on.” Mick interrupted: “Please, I am really, and I mean REALLY out of the loop here.”

“What Keryn is saying, or implying, is that Captain Ko’s wife was dead, and something happened. This forced captain to make this large array to contain whatever - whatever consequence in this house from bleeding over.” Kevin sighed: “And this ritual is in dire need of peace, our entering this place might have been a grave disturbance. So - we gotta lay low and do what the captain said.”

Keryn raised her eyebrows, then nodded at Kevin with approval. “That’s - that’s pretty much it. And more than what I wanted to say.”

“But - okay. But what can it be?” Mick scratched his head: “And - I hate to say this but - what is going on?”

“We’ll loop you in on the details later. But the gist is - like we said in the car, ever since the case with Lydia Mu, thanks to Marcus, our precinct’s been doing more and more investigation into cases that are linked to paranormality.” Keryn shrugged: “And you know, in the city, as a policy we can’t do that. And since then, there have been more and more cases like that. On top of it, we have reason to believe that a group of dangerous people have been operating in the city, in preparation for something big.”

“Something big? How big? What kind of big - ”

“Like Lake Aqiu big.” Kevin lowered his voice.

“... holy shit.”

Kevin graciously offered to sleep on the ground while Keryn would sleep on the bed. Keryn tried a few times to convince him to sleep next to her, but none worked. Just before they laid down, a voice resounded from the bedside table, almost making them jump up.

“If you need anything, just use this radio.” It was Captain Ko, through a small handheld radio placed in the lower drawer: “Sorry, it’s been a while I’ve - I mean we’ve had guests.”

“Roger, thanks captain.” Keryn responded.

“Thank you captain.” Mick also responded.

“No problem. But don’t use it for no reason. I’ll be making the calls in a bit.”

“Sure, captain.” Keryn responded: “Good night.”

While Kevin was having trouble actually settling down and was constantly rolling on his blanket, Keryn seemed to have adjusted to the situation quite well. Her posture remained steady, and her breathing was consistent, which in turn calmed Kevin down a bit as well.

“So, Kevin. This might be a good time to ask you this - this 15 year cycle thing - ” Lying on her bed, Keryn asked: “How much have you found out? And how much is just between you and Marcus, and the captain?”

“Why - why do you wanna know now?” Kevin stammered: “It’s - uh, it’s a theory, mostly. We’ve shared our findings - ”

“I know.” Keryn sighed: “See, I’ve been digging into this as well. It’s - it’s really interesting how a lot of things are more or less in plain sight. I mean, people still remember the cruise ship on Lake Aqiu, and the mass disappearance of people before that. With that mysterious mass grave you and Marcus found, you’d think people will begin to suspect - ”

“Yeah - yeah.” Kevin sighed.

Before long, Kevin actually was the first to fall asleep. His nervous and worriedness was no match for the exhaustion from running all the way here.

But his slumber was cut short. As Keryn woke him, a hand covering his face and one hand over her lips in a “shush” gesture.