Poison City

 

Bulu Wang, or some others would call him, Old Wang, was one of the higher level executives of the community watch and patrol division in the South-Eastern District. Normally for any other kinds of incidents, paranormal or not, he would not even be there. But he was here right now. And he was here with only one assistant.

 

“Mr. Wang!” Tae Kuo was almost stunned into silence. “Wha - what are you doing here?”

 

“I am here because of the report you just called in to file.” Bulu Wang nodded with a gentle smile, while his assistant was standing on the side, stern and brooding like a tall and buff bodyguard. He might be just the bodyguard. 

 

“I - thank you for coming, please let us know what else we can elaborate on.” Tae Kuo showed Bulu Wang into the Fuman Coffin Home.

 

“How long have you been operating?” Bulu Wang looked at the nine coffins, his eyes stayed on each one for a similar amount of time, then he looked up at the ceiling, the ceiling and the beams, and the way to the back room.

 

“I have been the watcher here for about 10 years, sir. And before that the previous watcher has been here for more than 20 years.” Tae Kuo answered.

 

“I see.” Bulu Wang nodded and walked up to the two coffins surrounded by the most sticky rice: “Tell me what happened.”

 

“Yeah - let me start from the beginning. Gloria, please correct me if I get anything wrong.” Tae Kuo coughed to clear his throat, then went on to retell the events during last night and today.

 

Gloria budged in to explain some details a few times, but overall Tae Kuo did a pretty good job in sifting through the details and retelling. She awaited a response from Bulu Wang. She would not want to be the one talking to him right now, for right now, a simple misspoken word could have bad consequences for her and the coffin home. She was only the temporary watcher, she did not need to be on the hook. She could only offer Tae Kuo help when he needed it.

 

“... I see.” Bulu Wang carefully stepped over the sticky rice and looked into the two coffins. He stared into the latest one for a particularly long period of time, then he put his hand on the lid, and slid it completely open, and did so with ease.

 

Very impressive control of Qi, and with the Qi barely leaking out. Gloria commented in her mind. The words on the street were that Bulu Wang possessed a much higher level of mastery in mystic martial arts, and right now they seemed to be true.

 

The lower body of this corpse of a supposedly young man who supposedly died of a fiery accident seemed to have withered, dried up and even cracked a little since it was placed. Definitely unnatural looking. Gloria herself did not have much in-depth knowledge of how bodies like this would decay. But judging from the look on Tae Kuo and Bulu Wang’s face, they seemed to have somewhat recognized what was happening.

 

“What is it?” Since Tae Kuo and Bulu Wang were silent for quite a while, Gloria couldn’t help but ask.

 

“Spirit Gu?” Tae Kuo looked at Bulu Wang.

 

“Maybe, too soon to tell.” Bulu Wang shook his head, then turned to Gloria: “I have some questions for you.”

 

“Oh? Yeah, sure… ” Gloria was stunned for one quick moment, then acknowledged rather reluctantly.

 

“Let’s go to the back room then, we’ll have a seat first.” Sensing Gloria’s nervousness, Tae Kuo immediately stepped in to lighten the mood.

 

“Alright. Before that, why don’t you seal these coffins first?” Bulu Wang gestured to his assistant to follow him.

 

“Okay, don’t worry, don’t be too nervous.” While sealing the coffins with talismans, threads and symbols drawn on the lids, Tae Kuo said to Gloria: “Just be honest, and try to remember what the old woman looks like.”

 

“Okay, okay…” Gloria had to take a few deep breaths before calming down. If it wasn’t a potential issue of liability that could threaten the normal operation of Fuman Coffin Home, she would not be so worried and nervous.

 

After clearing her head, Gloria went into the back room. Tae Kuo had already gone in before her, serving tea to Bulu Wang and his assistant/bodyguard. Judging from the smell, Tae Kuo had really busted out his good stuff.

 

“Okay, thanks for the tea, Sifu Kuo.” Bulu Wang put down his cup and looked straight at Gloria: “Have you tried to verify the body? I can’t help but notice that the body was nowhere near recognizable.”

 

“She had a placement order from the local chapter of the community collective. So Gloria didn't really have a choice.” Tae Kuo handed the copy of the death certificate along with the placement order to Bulu Wang.

 

“Hmm, interesting. ” Bulu Want took a long, slow, careful look at both documents, then he looked up at Gloria: “I can understand. But this placement order seems to be forged. You see this order’s serial number? It’s missing one digit. ”

 

“I just double-checked the serial number, it’s not in our records.” Bulu Wang’s assistant looked up from his phone: “Looks like we need to look into this.”

 

Gloria sighed: “My - my apologies, I am really not familiar with how placement orders - ”

 

“The death certificate is real. I just checked in our system.” Bulu Wang’s assistant added from the side: “And the cause of death is true - just not officially issued yet. There is a pending investigation into the actual accident, so the details still need to be added.”

 

“Okay.” Bulu Wang shook his head, then looked at Gloria: “When you were spending the night here, why didn’t you contact the collective?”

 

“We locked ourselves in the back room in a hurry, Sue’s phone was dropped on the ground, and mine was in my bag and - it was on the clothing rack.” Gloria rubbed her temples: “I’m sorry - it’s just - everything happened so fast, I had to act quick…” 

 

“It’s fine. It’s fine. You acted in accordance with the best practices of a watcher. And this is really an abnormal situation. Though the process dictates that there will be an official inquiry into how you handled this incident.” Bulu Wang sighed and shook his head.

 

“Come on, sir. This is clearly not her fault.” Tae Kuo budged in once more from the side: “We are the victims of forged community collective documents.”

 

“Don’t worry about it, it’s just a common procedure. Because it’s tied to an ongoing investigation, and involves forged official documents.” Bulu Wang stood up: “Alright, I think I have everything I need. And I don’t think I need to remind you, that the details should not be released to the civilians or any other individuals who are not involved?”

 

“Please, Mr. Wang. Help us here. This is clearly some kind of direct attempt at sabotage. ” Tae Kuo sighed.

 

“It’s definitely a delicate situation, which is why I suggest you keep us updated.” Bulu Wang nodded: “And I’ll make sure the inquiry wraps up as soon as possible. A speedy wrap up means speedy investigations.”