“Yeah - yeah, I am safe. ” Marcus felt a weight being lifted from his shoulders and stomach: “Are YOU safe? I heard about the attack on the precinct - ”

“I’m okay, I’m okay. So are Keryn and Mick.” Kevin let out a sigh of relief on the phone: “How’s - how’s your investigation? Did you find anything?”

“I’m afraid I can’t talk about it over the phone. But we really need to talk about it face to face.” Marcus thought for a moment: “Where and when can we meet?”

“I actually don’t know where we are, exactly. We are in a safe place.” Kevin hesitated for a short moment: “Let’s see, we’ll try to figure out a place to meet you. I’m not sure if it’s safe to tell you to come here either. But if you could contact the captain, he might be able to tell you where we are.”

“Understood.” Marcus nodded: “What else happened? Can you let me know?”

“I presume you know it’s Tyler Khan’s scheme to lure you into the Lanmian Forest.” Kevin thought for a moment: “And - you might want to know this - we figured something out, it’s about - about electricity, it’s the reason behind Lydia Mu and the fucking Benson kid, and it’s the reason behind - the rise in incidents and power outages. But we should discuss this further face to face - ”

“Okay. Okay. That’s all I need to hear right now.” Sensing the gravity of what Kevin was about to say, Marcus interjected: “You guys figure out a plan. I need to find a place to lay low as well. I’ll go radio silent for now.”

“Good. Good. Remember this number - I don’t know if you can call back, but at least it’s worth keeping.”

Just when Marcus hung up the phone and began leading his father away from the alleyway to catch a cab, another phone call came - it was Captain Ko.

“Marcus, you answered, so I assume you made it out of - whatever you were dealing with.” Captain Ko sounded relieved.

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“Yes. Sir. And I’m glad you are okay as well. ” Marcus looked left and right at the exit of the alley, waving his hand at a taxi coming their way: “Where are you? What happened?”

“Neither of us want that answer right now. But just listen to me.” Captain Ko coughed and dismissed Marcus’ question: “Just in case you didn’t know, our precinct was attacked by a group of unidentified individuals, led by Tyler Khan. I am currently heading to a meeting with certain contacts I have, so I don’t have long and I need you to listen, and listen carefully.”

“Okay.”

“You know my place, right? And near the door to my place, there’s a very ugly tree, with almost no leaves on it. If you look closely, there are symbols and runes carved on its trunk. There is a jar of wine buried under it. If I cannot make it back to my place by sundown, I’ll send you a message. And if you get my message, I’ll need you to go to my place, dig up that jar and spray it on my doorstep and below my bedroom window. Okay? After that, bow to my door three times and apologize to my wife on my behalf. But do not, I mean DO NOT, step inside. Okay? No matter what you see or hear.”

“Understood.” Chills ran down Marcus’ back. The taxi stopped right in front of him, and he let his father go in first: “Okay, what else?”

“That’s it. I need you to promise me. Otherwise I’m dead. You understand?”

“Sure, captain.”

“Kevin is in one of my spare places. Keryn and Mick are with him. You’ve been there before, it’s the same place where I almost held a house warming party, but it got canceled because of a narcotics case. Do you remember where it is?”

“I - I don’t remember exactly - ”

“It’s near that unnamed rice crepe shop. You liked the crepe but it gave Kevin the shits.”

“I remember now.” Marcus sighed, and signaled the taxi driver to start driving: “I’m on my way. What else do you need me to do?”

“Nothing, stay safe, okay? I’ll call the place later. I hope - just get there.” Captain Ko did not say anything else before hanging up.

“Everything okay with the captain?” Elvin asked.

“I hope so.” Marcus sighed and turned to the driver: “Mister, I don’t remember what the place is called, but I’ll tell you where to drive. Is that okay?”

“Sure, whatever you say, boss.”

Before shutting his phone down completely, Marcus dialed the number of Gloria.

The place Captain Ko referred to was a plain looking house, in a relatively uncrowded neighborhood. If one did not pay close attention, they would not have noticed that the walls, the windows and the doors were all reinforced, even the vents were connected with filtration systems.

“Stay here.” Marcus found a corner close to the house to hide his father: “I’ll go check. If anything happens, you run away, okay? I can’t fight with you nearby.”

“Of course, of course.” Elvin nodded and knelt in the corner.

Marcus took a deep breath. With his left hand on the pistol and his Qi coursing through his meridians, he knocked on the door with his right hand.

One lock opened after another. The heavy door opened. Kevin jumped out and clung onto Marcus’ body.

“Holy shit dude! You’re here! Finally!”