A portal with blue edges opened and then closed inside of the lounge of Xianshi Inn. Josephine Wong walked out of the portal, still trying to catch her breath - she did not expend her own energy in creating the portal, yet travelling through it still required some of it. Before she became weak like she was now, she would not even bat an eye at the energy expense. But now, she felt like she would faint if she tried to squeeze more out of herself.

 

“Ms. Wong! Are you okay?!” Rashmumba D’Eclaire, or Rash, rushed over to Josephine Wong’s side with a small white fur ball with two eyes on his shoulder. His legs were wobbly like there were no bones in them which caused him to lose control a few times, but he still managed to hold Josephine Wong by her shoulders and helped her sit down behind the reception’s desk. “You look terrible! You want some of Mr. Yu’s food?”

 

“Yes, please.” Josephine Wong smiled and said: “Thank you Rash.”

 

“I’ll leave Snowball with you.” Rash picked up the fur ball with eyes on his shoulder and placed it on the reception’s desk right in front of Josephine Wong: “I - I feel a bit ashamed to say that I ate most of the food Mr. Yu stored in the fridge already. How do you like stir fried beef liver and pig kidney? They are some of my least favorites so there’s still a lot of them.”

 

“Might as well.” Josphine Wong chuckled and started scratching Snowball, and Snowball responded by letting out a comfortable purr like a cat: “Snowball looks more lively than before, what are you feeding her?”

 

“Well, uh. Nothing special.” Rash poured some food into a deep plate and then put the plate into the microwave: “Just the regular pet food left by Mr. Yu, and sometimes I gave her some leftovers.”

 

“Her? So it’s a her?” Josephine Wong smiled while continuing to scratch and pet Snowball: “How’d you know?”

 

“Well, it’s just a matter of speaking, since minor spirits are by their very nature genderless.” Rash also poured a cup of tea and delivered it to Josephine Wong while the microwave was reheating the food: “But these kinds of minor spirits can give birth to other minor spirits, so I figured it sounds right this way.”

 

“Well, apparently the leftovers have been really good for her.” Josephine Wong couldn’t help but smile at Snowball - it was not only because she was adorable, but also that with her power almost drained, she was not able to resist the aura that put everyone around in a good, empathetic mood radiated from Snowball.

 

“Well, I can’t help it.” Rash took the plate out from the microwave and handed it to Josephine Wong: “They are weak in terms of power, but they are precious and adorable.”

 

“How’s Jianmen? How’s my agent?” Josephine Wong took a bite and asked: “I will need to see them in a bit.”

 

“They are in the healing room. It’s super quiet in there so they must have not heard you coming.” Rash said: “Should I call your agent over?”

 

“That would be great. Thank you again, Rash.”

 

“Alright, hold on.” Rash nodded and rushed to the second floor.

 

After a short amount of time, a female healer in a white robe came down with Rash.

 

“Ms. Wong.” the healer gently bowed.

 

“Agent Carolina.” Ms. Wong sat straight and put down her chopsticks: “Thank you for coming here. How is he?”

 

“He’s - stable.” Agent Carolina hesitated and answered: “He’s not responding to most of our healing magic. I think until we get those medicinal materials you ordered, he’s probably going to stay that way for a while. And - here’s the note he left you.” She handed a piece of irregularly shaped note that seemed to be torn from a notebook in a hurry.

 

Josephine Wong took that note and flattened it in front of her - it looked like some kind of doodle of a complicated word or symbol, with some barely intelligible writings on the side.

 

“Do you recognize what this means?” Rash also took a look at the piece of note and asked.

 

“No. But fortunately I do know how to figure it out.” Josephine Wong took out a notebook from one of the drawers of the reception’s desk, and started deciphering the doodle.

 

It only took a few minutes, and Josephine Wong was able to figure it out - it was a string of numbers and words in both English and traditional Chinese, and finally a small symbol.

 

“I can kinda read this. But I am more confused.” Rash frowned.

 

“This is just coding. He was trying to describe a True Word.” Josephine Wong said: “Normal notebook paper couldn’t possibly take on the written form of a True Word, even some vague descriptions would be too much for it. So he used a code that he and I shared to write down the hints to some descriptions. It’s in his basement.”

 

After having some food and tea, Josephine Wong seemed to have recovered more of her power, and she was strong enough to stand up on her own and walk without anyone’s help.

 

Rash picked up Snowball and followed Josephine Wong into the basement with Agent Carolina. For them, this would be their first time going down the basement, because doors were locked, and right now it seemed like Josephine Wong had the key.

 

“Woah.” Rash exclaimed in excitement and approval as he looked around the interior of the basement, especially the altar and the paintings hanging on the wall: “That’s a lot of True Words here. No wonder I get a little uncomfortable every time I get close to the door.”

 

“Yeah, be careful and don’t touch anything.” Josephine Wong looked at her notebook then looked around in the room: “Okay, found it.”

 

Josephine Wong walked towards one of the paintings, then she knelt down in front of it to examine the flooring. After around half a minute and a few knocks on the tiles, she found one and then placed her palm on one of the square tiles.

 

The tile sensed the presence of Josephine Wong’s palm, and it slowly retreated into the ground, revealing a metal box underneath.

 

“Woo, mysterious.” when Josephine Wong opened the metal box and showed everyone what was inside, Rash sounded curious and at the same time somewhat disappointed.

 

It was a folded piece of paper, a small notebook, a small bracelet made of orange and golden metal, and a small scroll.

 

“Alright.” Josephine Wong smiled, while her eyes turned slightly red as she picked up the bracelet, put it on her wrist and flipped through the notebook and the folded piece of paper: “Jason and Caroline’s training plan - nice; unfinished recipe for his enchanted coffee - a little disturbing, and - a scroll of really weighted knowledge. I guess I will need to recover before I open it.”

 

“What about the bracelet? Something special?” Rash asked, which earned him a side eye from Agent Carolina.

 

“It’s uh - it’s my gift to him.” Josephine Wong sniffled and said: “And looks like he’s given it some enchanted markings.”