Poison City

Detective Pahaik spent half a day at the crime scene, and then half a day avoiding any contact with his old high school buddy Rick Benson. And he finally answered the call when it was almost time for him to call it a day.

Just like normal rich parents would do, Rick Benson asked and even begged Detective Pahaik to keep them posted on the whereabouts of his son, and informed him that since he had not answered nor returned his phone calls all day, he had hired a private investigator. Naturally neither Marcus nor Detective Pahaik was very fond of this idea - especially when they heard the private investigator’s name - Brooklyn Payne. 

An infamous slimy sleazebag, Brooklyn Payne was once a Detective himself, until he was caught red handed taking bribes from a local gang member. But he was still a smart one, and worst of all, he was quite familiar with the PCPD rulebooks as well as their loopholes. And after looping Captain Ko in on the situation and coordinating a district-wide search with other precincts, they wrapped up their work for this day.

Instead of going home directly, Marcus grabbed a quick bite from a deli by the side of the street, then hopped on a small dusty old bus and got on the way to the Temple of Forgetfulness.

A place of some fame, one with some occasional volunteers here to help out and solely managed by only one monk: Master Liaoran. Not many knew how long this gentle, old but still agile monk had been the only monk in the temple. But many knew one or two things about him - that he made probably the best talismans in the city and he had no problem gifting them to the people in need, and that he could guard this lone temple dangerously the mountains against bandits, gangs and even ferocious beasts roaming in the forests.

“Hello, detective, how’s your week been?” When Marcus set foot in the temple, Master Liaoran was already waiting for him in the yard, by the door to the inner sanctum, sipping on a cup of tea.

“Not good. More weird and stupid cases.” Marcus threw his bag to the side and took off his jacket, his muscles jumping slightly anticipating a spar: “And just today I had to help a fellow detective investigate a crime scene as fast as possible so that some rich and influential parents won’t be able to swing their schlong to tamper with the evidence gathering and processing procedure.”

“Ha. But today we’re not going to start with the sparring session.” Master Liaoran poured Marcus a cup of tea and signaled him to sit on a small straw mattress in front of him: “Stressful days like today call for a little meditation first.”

“Again?” Marcus sighed.

“Yes, again.”

After making Marcus sit down begrudgingly, Master Liaoran pulled out a small incense burner and lit the incense inside with his finger. Marcus’ eyelids twitched as he watched this - he could barely sense any Qi coming from the master, and up to this day he still had a hard time pulling off this kind of move. His Qi had affinity to the elements of fire and earth, in theory doing things like this would be relatively easier for him. But whenever he tried, he either lit the entire incense stick down with an overpowered touch, or the incense stick did not light up at all. It was ultimately a matter of practice and control, or so he was told, yet it seemed to him that all the time and effort spent on practicing controlling his Qi had mostly gone to waste.

“Now, clear your mind, but no need to try to go into a meditative state right away.” Master Liaoran said to Marcus while he slowly closed his eyes: “Don’t think of this as just some general philosophical thought exercise that you may encounter in college or universities, but think of it as this mental preparation you do before you start practicing your Ferocious Tiger Style - ”

“Okay.” Marcus took a deep breath and then asked: “Should I recite anything?”

“No, need, just some general self reflection.” Master Liaoran’s voice became soft and even a little distant: “I have somewhat come to realize, that given the complicating and sometimes sometimes grueling nature of your work, there might be - hard as you tried to calm yourself down and cleanse your mind before coming here, things that would cloud your mind and thus exposing you to the easy pitfalls along this path.

“The teachings of old, and said to have come from Buddha and other great meditators, listed out three ‘poisons’, in no particular order, that you, or anyone trying to find greater and higher wisdom along their paths of cultivation. First poison, Greed, is a poison of one’s obsessive desire to advance in the power ladder, enjoy the richness of the world, and when it comes to martial arts and cultivation of the mind, the desire to learn and master too much; The second poison is Resentment, which points to the negative feelings of hate, anger, rage and contempt for things, factors and people that are not ours to contro; The third poison, one that I personally think is the most deceiving and fear-inspiring, is Ignorance and Obsession, which signifies the lack of understanding and knowledge, and the almost natural fixation that comes with it - sticking to one’s own mistakes, too stubborn to reflect and rethink, until it is too late.

“I cannot presume to tell you which of the Three Poisons with which you are most afflicted. I could only take a guess, but it bears great value that you try and figure it out yourself. The first step of knowledge and wisdom and all - ”

When Marcus was about to leave Temple of Forgetfulness, his muscles were more sore than usual. The beatings he received were nowhere less just because he spent the first half of his weekly session with Master Liaoran on meditation. This time during their spar, Master Liaoran patiently let Marcus use all of his moves on him, and then used Marcus’ very own style to deliver blows back, in an attempt to teach him how his moves could be improved and tempered. Marcus couldn't tell how much he had learned from that, but he could easily say that he was humbled once again, just like many weekly sessions before this one.

“Wait a second, detective.” Master Liaoran called out to Marcus from behind: “You forgot this - ”

Marcus turned back, and saw that Master Liaoran was behind him with a small clay jar and a small paper packet in his hand.

“This is the ointment for your muscles - I figured you’d run out soon. And here’s some talismans - I noticed that you have some dark clouds over your head and shoulders, so bring this with you until the ink fades, or if they get damaged.”

“Thank you Master.” Marcus bowed and took the jar along with the talismans: “What’s this with the dark clouds?”

“Oh, it just means you’ve encountered some unclean beings or gone to some unclean places. Nothing to worry about - Ferocious Tiger Style imbues your body and mind with enough Shaqi to deter most.” Master Liaoran was now fully dressed in his robe, with all his marble and boulder-like muscles covered up, and his smile made him just seem like a regular kind old man of the village.

“Thanks again, Master, see you next week.”

“Be well and tranquil. And remember, I am here to help if you ever need any. ” Master Liaoran gently nodded at Marcus: “Take care.”

“Take care, Master.” Marcus bowed again, and just when he was about to turn, his pager and phone rang at the same time.

“Sorry, Master - this must be very urgent.” Marcus silenced his pager and answered his phone while running to the side of the road.

“Go to the damaged substation.” This was Captain Ko: “Something happened - Pahaik is already on his way over. I am sending Lance over as well.”

“What happened?” Marcus waved his hand at some passing taxis, but none of them was vacant at the moment so he had to stand on the sidewalk and keep waving.

“From what I’ve heard, maybe some guy was on something really hardcore and went on a rampage, or some kind of gang activity. Multiple victims, no witnesses.”