Poison City

“Yes, why?” Gloria asked.

 

“How old are you?” Elder Mu asked.

 

“Twenty - twenty eight.” Gloria was confused but still answered straightly.

 

“Do you remember something that happened roughly 15 years ago?” Elder Mu looked to the window, sighed then asked.

 

“Yes, I remember.” Gloria nodded, then with some hesitation, she muttered: “I was on that cruise ship.”

 

Elder Mu turned to Gloria, surprised, then her eyes became warmer and softer: “I am sorry, my child.”

 

“It’s okay, but what does it have to do with…”

 

“Something horrible like that happens every 15 years.” Elder Mu stood up and pointed at the table at the back of the room: “Here, some of these plaques have been here for quite a while. Take a look at the ones on the top.”

 

Gloria went over and picked the rightmost wooden plaque up, turned it around to look at its back. “In loving memory of those who were lost on Lake Aqiu” was inscribed on it.

 

“That one was for the cruise ship on the lake, 15 years ago.” Elder Mu picked up the plaque on the left side of the one Gloria just picked up: “And this one here, was for the memories of a series of utterly devastating abductions of children and younglings. It happened around 30 years ago.”

 

“I think I might have heard of it when I was young.” Gloria frowned as she received the plaque from Elder Mu and read the words on the back: “This is what - what kinda triggered the inter-district conflict right? I just remember I was forced to stay at home, when the people were gathering outside and ready to fight …”

 

“Yes, it was horrible. It was, one may think, the first time something like this had befallen the already wounded Poison City.” Elder Mu took the next plaque in order: “But it was not - it started much earlier. Just on a smaller scale, and during a time of much chaos and misery.”

 

“In memory of the lost souls to misguided frenzy and fervor.” These were the inscribed texts behind the last plaque.

 

“What happened? This would be… 45 years ago, right?” Gloria asked as she carefully put the plaques back.

 

“Some kind of armed conflict, stirred up by a series of disputes over the roads and streets, as well as the construction of the railway and earlier division of the districts and their jurisdiction.” Elder Mu sighed: “People fought in the streets, almost armed to the teeth. The city police just stood by while the people of our districts were beaten and their livelihoods burned down, and it was a factor that inspired the forming of the local watch and patrols team. I can still remember the smell of blood on the streets, even weeks after the fights were done. Thousands of people were injured, and by our count, close to six hundred lives were lost, young and old, but mostly young, hot headed men.”

 

“And - the time is for sure 15 years apart from each other?” Gloria asked while frowning: “I mean - wouldn’t it be very strange and jarring?”

 

“It’s only strange and jarring when you’re paying attention and keeping track. That’s unfortunately not the case for most.” Elder Mu sighed and signaled Gloria to sit back down on the hay mattress: “And to be honest, things become tough and dangerous whenever someone tries to ask too many questions regarding that cycle, or just what happened to the cruise ship. I guess you may understand that more than me.”

 

“... yes, unfortunately. ” Gloria sighed.

 

“If you’d like, you can try to go to the collective’s archives and try to look into some historical records. But that would certainly bring some attention to yourself.” Elder Mu sighed as well as she sat down.

 

“But - elder, what makes you think what happened last night at the coffin home is linked to this cycle?” Gloria scratched her nose and raised her hand.

 

“Because for one, it’s almost that time now.” Elder Mu looked out the window: “And more importantly, things didn’t just happen. There’d be unfortunate signs, omens and freak incidents beforehand. And only after I gained some - experience, in dealing with matters such as these, did I put the things together and realize how some things far from normal were already happening before the big incidents. 15 years ago, weeks leading up to the cruise ship incident, there had been strange unexplainable drownings all over the city. For our district, we were seeing an alarming rise in kids, especially young kids drowning in their homes or just along the docks and in the Mud River. 30 years ago, there were also a series of incidents happening all over the city, where people were murdered and had their bodies embedded in trees or braided in bushes. Those cases remained in the Blue Envelopes of the city’s police archives. Which I’d imagine you’ll need some help getting into.”

 

“I see.” Gloria narrowed her eyes and went into her thoughts. Everything did seem quite unusual, the timing was uncanny, but she just did not know yet. The things Elder Mu said seemed plausible, but she did not know if she was ready to completely believe everything.

 

“Now, take some time to think about it. But we need to act fast.” Elder Mu sighed, “How about this, you go get some incense sticks and talismans before you leave, try to hold down the coffin home until Tae comes back. He should know what to do with the aftermath. Hopefully I am wrong and this is just a strange, one time occurrence.”

 

“Thank you very much, elder.” Gloria stood up, bowed and was ready to leave.

 

“And one last thing.” Elder Mu raised her hand: “Ask for some cinnabar paint, I think you might need it.”

 

When Gloria got back to the Fuman Coffin Home, she found that there was another notice stuck to the door, this time in the official letterhead of the Kshiti Temple. There were some scratches on the lock and other signs of attempted break-ins.

 

After a quick sigh, she ran around the coffin home to check for other signs of people, especially local troublesome kids and teenagers. Lucky for her, the walls looked the same as she left. She even put her ears against the wall and tried her best to listen to who or what might be inside. No sound of anything.

 

Before she could go and confirm with the parents of some local youngsters, her phone rang, it was Sue: “Hey, Gloria, are you still at the Kshiti Temple?”

 

“No, I just came back to Fuman.” Gloria sighed and looked around: “How are you feeling? You feeling okay?”

 

“I - I feel much better now. But - can I stay over at your place for a couple of days? I - ” Sue stammered: “I - I am really scared. And I really don’t want to be alone.”

 

“Um - I think I’ll come back home soon with some preparations. I have some sticky rice, some cinnabar soaked threads and talismans. I can set something up at my place - ”

 

“That’d be great! But when can you come back!?” Sue sounded really relieved.

 

“I - I can’t really go back now. I need to check on some local parents around first, see if they got the warning about not letting the kids go around the place.” Gloria sighed: “If you want to feel safer, you can stay in my apartment. You know where the emergency key is?”

 

“Yes, in the flower pot next to the door.” Sue sighed: “Can you just come back as soon as possible?”

 

“I’ll try, I’ll try.” Gloria shook her head: “I have some talismans in a wooden box on the bookshelf. And there is a metal plate with some patterns engraved on it. It’s something I am working on with a friend, so don’t worry about it.”

 

“Okay, fine, just get back to soon.” Sue begged once again: “Please, be back soon.”

 

“Gloria! Gloria!” Just when Gloria put down her phone, she heard a familiar man’s voice.

 

“Hey, Sifu Kuo, finally you’re back. ” Gloria turned to the middle aged man with sweat stains on his shirt, carrying a small handheld briefcase.

 

“Sorry, the train got delayed, but I took a taxi and the road was luckily clear. The reception is terrible on the train, so I couldn’t call.” Tae Kuo, the actual watcher of the Fuman Coffin Home apologized and then threw down the briefcase: “I heard about everything, so - are you okay? Is Sue okay?”