Barely after the three finished paying at the grocery store’s cashier for a blob of rd and a small cut of butter, Gloria’s ph. Her heart dropped a beat wheook a look at the name of the caller, it was Luoshan Zi.

  “What happened? Did the oil bubble?” Gloria immediately put her friend on speaker.

  “Yes, it bubbled. The one in the middle.” Luoshan Zi sounded like she was deliberately l her voice to avoid being heard: “The bubbles are still small and - not very fast, so I am not sure hent it is. But I think you o e back.”

  “How fast are the bubbles? And how big are they?” Gyuu Park immediately asked: “And - could you tell me if the drops ged color in any way?”

  “Hold on.” Luoshan Zi put her phone down for a quient, then came back: “No - no ge in color. The bubbles are - maybe slightly less than one bubble per sed, and the size is very very small, like a hole made by a threading needle.”

  “Alright - looks like we still have a bit of time before it actually hits.” Gyuu Park nodded a out a sigh of relief.

  “Have you heard from the unity watd patrols team?” Tae Kuo asked: “We called them a while back, anything?”

  “No - I’ll call again. But sounds like they are very busy at the moment, and curses are not their top priority.”

  “Fug hell.” Gyuu Park took a deep breath, shaking his head: “Now, Ms. Zi, remember, let’s set up a code. If you hear us knog at the door, ask us a random question that no one else knows the ao.”

  “No problem.” Luoshan Zi said: “And? What else should I do?”

  “Oil, if you have oil, start boiling some oil. If not then water. If anything uries to get in, spsh it. Or if you’re fortable, prepare something that could produce fire.” Gyuu Park answered: “And then - dles, just in case the power cuts. Get some dles, check everyone’s position at all times, stay still. And - oh! Hide all the mirrors and do not leave any still water around.”

  “Uood. Anything else?”

  “Keep everyone in the same room, don’t go unated, not even going to the bathroom.” Tae Kuo added: “Make sure you have a visual on everyo all times.”

  “Okay. e back as soon as possible!”

  “Young folks, you want dles?” The kind and warm looking old woman at the cashier asked the three: “We have some really nice dles, made the old way, with beeswax, abar and tiny grains of soaked sticky rice. You want some? Three dolrs for one pack, six per pack.”

  “... hmm, I’ll take two packs.” Tae Kuo thought after a while: “And traditional rice wine? Do you have it?”

  “Oh! Oh!” The old woman’s eyes lit up: “I have! I have a jar right here, freshly made this month, you want some?”

  “Yes. Please.” Tae Kuo nodded.

  “So - what is this rice wine for?” When they were on their way back, Gloria asked.

  “Nothing, I just need a drink. Life’s tough these days.” Tae Kuo sighed, twisted open the simple wooden lid on the cy jar, then poured some of the wine directly into his mouth. “I kinda . I’ve dealt with shit before, and I - I need a drink if I’ve got a bad feeling.”

  “Give me a hit.” When Tae Kuo put the jar down, Gyuu Park took it from him and poured some into his throat: “Gd to know that I am not the only one.”

  Gloria sighed, her fingers ched tighter on the bags she was carrying: “Let’s go. Even if we have some time, it’d still be better if we get back earlier.”

  “On it, on it.” Gyuu Park passed the jar back to Tae Kuo.

  They sped up their pa their way back, even though they were still carrying quite a bit of extra weight on themselves.

  “Uh-oh. ” When they reached the gate of the unity, they were just in time to see three men in slightly raggedy uniforms with unity watd patrol team’s red armbands going through the gates.

  “That’s all the men they sent?” Tae Kuo frowned.

  “Hey! Hey!” Gyuu Park rushed over and stopped the three men, who, when turned around, turned out to be quite of age and were in shape to do anything physical. “Are you here responding to a call?”

  “Yes - we’re here to help with a dy named - Luoshan Zi.” The leading man was also the you, earing a pair of thick gsses.

  “Okay, but we called for a potential child kidnapping, and a curse. ” Gyuu Park said.

  “Yes, but those are specutive circumstances, now that we are uaffed, we ot respond to this kind of reports with too much manpower.” The leading man looked at his fellows on both sides. “But trust us, we are very experienced iigators for simir matters.”

  “’t they send anyone else?” Gloria asked, almost facepalming but could not due to her arms carrying bags.

  “I’m afraid no, missy.” The man adjusted his gsses and sighed.

  Gloria sighed, then forced a smile on her face: “Alright. Let’s go up there - ”

  “Help! Help!” Just this moment, a scream exploded from the building above: “Someoook my son! Someoook my son!”

  Gloria, Gyuu Park and Tae Kuo immediately looked up, it seemed to be ing from somewhere he top of the building.

  “Go go go!” Gloria immediately pushed her Qi to speed herself up even more, rushing through the front gate and into the building. Gyuu Park and Tae Kuo followed, leaving the three members of the unity watd patrol team members behind.

  The air iairwell was abnormally chilly and still, with a hint of rot and foul smell lingering. When she narrowed her eyes, she could eveiny dark particles roaming the air. Something un and ominous was afoot.

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