After interviewing several of the abducted children, they seemed to give similar answers: none of them heard anything informative from the kidnappers, none of them remembered anything distinct from them. But one thing remained - almost all of the children said they smelled something from the men, some kind of oil lamp smell, recognizable from big temples.
“What are these oil lamps?” Captain Ko asked.
“Probably just the common liturgical lamps in some of the local temples.” Tyler Khan answered: “Mostly used for remembrances of the dead and sending prayers to the gods.”
“Okay, but why?” Captain Ko sighed and laid back on his chair.
“Ghost repellent?” Kevin shrugged: “They’re used in local religious ceremonies and they’re in temples, big temples. So maybe that’s their use?”
“Only temples of the South-Eastern District use it, I think.” Marcus scratched his jaw: “I’ve been to a few temples in the South-Western District, I don’t remember seeing any traditional oil lamps. All they have are electric lamps now, some may use special candles made from wax.”
“How about the Northern District? They still have temples over there, right? With so many from our district moving there to make a living, it’d be pretty natural that some of the transplants bring our customs over?” Tyler Khan shrugged.
“That’s a likely theory.” Captain Ko looked at Tyler Khan, then laid his eyes on Marcus and Kevin: “Kevin, I guess you’re the most familiar with the Northern District, do you have any ideas?”
“Huh?” Kevin seemed surprised when the captain put him on the spot like this, but then after thinking for a brief moment, he answered: “Yes, I remember, there are some smaller temples and places of collective worship there. They’re nowhere near any of the rich and central business areas, but you can find many in the ‘serving people area’. But - oil lamps are always kinda expensive though. I don’t see how normal smaller temples or places of worship could afford it.”
“You’d be surprised how much money the local transplant communities have, and how rich some of the small temples can be.” Tyler Khan shook his head: “But - back on our focus - I think I can agree, that we may need to trace the oil, or oil lamps. ”
“Okay, I agree. Can we see these people?” Marcus asked: “I believe most of the men should be in the custody of the community collective right now. And also, if it’s possible, I suggest we pay the people a visit and check out the department that handled renting the platform as soon as possible.”
“We’re on it.” Tyler Khan stood up and waved at his colleagues waiting outside the room: “Hey! Where are the people detained?”
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“They’re detailed at the detention center, just down the road. ” One female member of the community watch and patrol team came to the door and answered: “It’s done a while back, so we need to track down the paperwork. The annual reviews and audits were all simple and everything passed. So probably not much information could be found.”
“That’s fine. ” Captain Ko stood up straight: “We need to scrounge up everything we can.”
There were in total five men captured by the local community watch and patrol team, and each of them was put into simple white cloaks and locked in a separate cell. The metal bars in one of the holding cells were bloodied, and the man locked inside was kneeling on the ground, bandaged up in the head and had his hands cuffed behind him.
“You don’t know what you’re doing! You fucking hacks! You useless plebs!” The bandaged and cuffed man yelled at all the people that came in: “You are dooming us all! You are dooming everyone!”
Marcus looked around, and he did not see any of the men that he fought. Looked like aside from the one bashed into the water by him and was now probably dead, the others might have been taken away by Chef Tang already. And in Chef Tang’s hand, no doubt many more normally unspeakable things would be done to them in order to find out what the “plan” behind their actions was.
“Tell me more about this plan then.” Captain Ko got in front of the bars and said in a low but stern tone: “What am I missing? What do I not know? Why don’t you enlighten me?”
“Peh!” The man smirked, then spit a mouthful of spit onto Captain Ko’s face.
“Heh.” Captain Ko scoffed and wiped his face clean, while raising one hand at Marcus and Kevin to halt and not come over. “You’re a feisty one with an attitude. But a fool just the same. What do you think you’re doing here? Eh?”
“I’m here, because you foolish lot don’t know what the city is facing. And you don’t know what the hell you’re doing.” The man shivered, as he looked up at Captain Ko. His eyes were bloodshot, and somehow his head wound under the bandages started bleeding again.
“Or you can tell us, we’re all ears.” Captain Ko knelt down on one knee so he could look at the man from the same height: “Again, I ask you this with the most curiosity I can offer. What do you mean? Why don’t you elaborate? Maybe we will understand. Maybe we will let you go. Maybe, hell, maybe we’ll even join you in your, hmm, righteous endeavor.”
The entire watch station became quiet, as people waited with bated breath. A chill breeze blew through the hallway, and brought a faint trace of oil smell to Marcus. Though easily missable, it caught his attention. It seemed that the children were indeed telling the truth.
“Hehehe…” the man let out a chilling laugh, as dark red blood flowed and dripped on the corners of his mouth: “Like I told you, it’s already too late. Too bad you weren’t chosen…”
Before this man could continue, a sudden wave of chiliness and cold swept through Marcus’ body, and he immediately pulled Kevin to the side while calling out to Captain Ko: “Captain! Careful - ”
“Splash!” The man was still smiling and letting out hoarse and gurgling laughs, when an invisible force threw him back on the wall. And in front of everyone outside the holding cell, his throat was punctured by an invisible object, creating a gaping hole on his sweaty, pale flesh. Red and warm blood shot all over the cell after about half a second. Marcus concentrated his Qi on his eyes, and he barely caught the long umbilical cord-like tail from the fat infant monster with multiple arms and hands before it fled.
One of the community collective members rushed over and opened up the gate. But it was too late - the man’s body was already cold and stiff when he hit the ground, with his neck, his face and even his chest covered in dark spider web-like veins.
“Why is this happening!? ” Another male member of the community collective, one that was in a leader position cried: “What the fuck!? What the fuck!?”
“Thuy! Call down!” Tyler Khan immediately pulled this almost hysterical man to the side: “Calm down! This is a watch station!”
Marcus took a look at the other men in holding cells. Apparently they saw or heard what happened. All of them seemed shaken, two of them even started weeping and praying.
“Talismans! Talismans!” Just this moment, two members of the community collective rushed over with plastic pouches in their hands. Inside them were folded talismans made with light yellow paper of passable quality.
“Breath of fire shall cleanse by soul. My mind my flesh be bathed in gold. They shall see the morning sun. My bones buried with no renown.” The other men captured did not take the talismans handed to them, and just knelt down on the floor, seeming like they were ready to accept death.