“But - what does this have to do with what we’re dealing with now?” Sue asked.
“Well - it’s because the people who ran that underground temple, they controlled two big gangs that ran the docks area. In fact, they were one of the biggest, if not THE biggest importer of illegal goods at the time.” Gyuu Park shook his head: “But - I don’t know - I’ve read some of the sealed records, I don’t think it’s connected. They were practicing the forbidden arts, yes. But they were very crude and unskilled in their implementation. And that’s one of the reasons they got exposed before they could grow bigger. The neighborhoods around them had become practically graveyards.”
“Yes. But you might have also known that, mostly only mid to low level hench freaks were arrested. Most of the leaders of the group were still at large.” Tae Kuo sighed: “What if they were at it again? What if some people picked up their memo and started - started something?”
“And the 15 year cycle would - would be a good time to start again?” Sue nodded, then turned to Gloria: “If - Gloria, IF, this 15 year cycle thing is true, then we might be dealing with some kind of really - really messy situation here.”
“Yes.” Gloria grunted and started scratching her head.
“I - I’d suggest you go out of the city for a period of time.” Tae Kuo thought for a moment, then said: “You know, I actually know someone out there - and I have some family members that could spare a room or two for us for a few weeks. So if we make the arrangements, you guys can come with us - ”
“Thank you, Sifu.” Gloria shook her head: “But I’m not gonna - I can’t - ”
“I’m not going either. But thank you very much, Tae. It means a lot.” Gyuu Park also shook his head: “I - I just have something I want to finish. And I don’t have a lot of time. Maybe when this is all over?”
“Geez, Gyuu, what’s with the melancholiness?” Gloria could not help but chuckle.
“Nothing - it’s just - like I said. I am quite close to something. I will go back to check on a few old records.” Gyuu Park nodded: “Now - if you’ll excuse me, I should get going. I need to head back to my temple, before the bureaucratic power hungry dicks come at me and give me another reason to regret taking over the temple.”
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“Wait - wait.” Tae Kuo raised his hand and stopped Gyuu Park: “There’s something else. Something I think you’d all be better off knowing.”
“Okay - okay, what is it?” Sue immediately took out a small notepad.
“Do you guys know anything about Blue Envelopes?” Tae Kuo asked, with his voice intentionally lowered as if he was afraid anyone else would hear him.
“Uh… no?” Gloria looked at Sue, then Gyuu Park.
“It’s okay - it’s a categorization of cases by the city. The collective doesn’t use it.” Tae Kuo leaned in: “Whenever a case outside of our district becomes too weird, or is showing signs of paranormality, the city will classify them as Blue Envelope cases, and trade intelligence with the community collective in order to solve them. And - needless to say, there are quite a few of them in the city’s folders and archives. So - if you have connections in the city, it’d be a good idea to take a look at the Blue Envelopes dating back to that time. In this case, given everything we know - I’d say the cat granny cases would have been categorized as such.”
Sue and Gyuu Park fixed their eyes on Gloria. Gloria shook her head and sighed after a moment of consideration: “I’ll try - I don’t know if the ‘connection’ I have will be able to help with this. But - we’ll see.”
—-------
The first thing Gloria did when she got home was to start boiling two pots of water so that she could cook the medicine for her and Sue. The medicine was mostly dried up barks and grass of different sorts. When boiled in water, they gave off a powerful bitter and even slightly pungent stench. These were not the same as the “modern” medicine commonly used in the other districts, which meant the process was more messy, but would most likely involve less unnecessary chemicals. At least, that was what the care centers told the people in this district.
When the medicine was ready after more than two hours, all Gloria and Sue could drink was dark brown liquid that tasted like bitter, grassy soup. It seemed to have worked though, for Gloria could feel that her body became slightly lighter after finishing the first pot.
Sue coughed and almost dropped her pot. Her tongue was dark brown just like Gloria’s, and she even had a bit of her medicine dripped on her shirt.
Sue’s reaction to the medicine was different from Gloria’s but it was probably better - she immediately felt sleepy and actually needed Gloria’s help to get into bed.
Gloria checked her friend’s meridians and made sure there was no concerning residual energy. Then just when she was about to go to bed, she heard someone knocking at her door.
It was a wooden box with a printed note on top, left by a delivery man. Judging from the note, it was a highest priority expedited package. It was cheap at all, and would have cost whoever sent this to her a fortune.
It was a box from Gyuu Park, and inside, there were a few piles of records, old scriptures and some handwritten notes. Just under the lid, there was a fresh note, seemingly ripped from a new notebook.
Gloria took only one look at the note on the top, and immediately rushed out of her apartment and started running like hell toward the Fragrant Chrysanthemum Temple.
“Gloria, please take these records. They contain some answers I have found. Please take care and do what you think is right with them. This knowledge is precious beyond anyone could imagine. So please pass it on…”