“How’s the best liaison from the Division California has ever had?” inside of his farm, Jianmen found Josephine Wong sitting by a creek with her feet dipped in the water, her purple outer robe placed on the side, revealing her inner tank top that was just like that of a sporty young woman, and a few bottles on the side - all of which used to hold the plum wine that was served in the inn.
“Drunk, and not happy.” Josephine Wong turned her head to Jianmen, her face slightly red, and her words were slurring a little, indicating that she was indeed drunk, which was rare for her because for a mage her age, and her level of power, she’d never get drunk unless it was a really powerful wine, or that she wanted to get drunk: “How’s your, your uh, ‘research’?”
“Oh, you’re really drunk, you wanna clear your head up a little?” Jianmen struggled off his wheelchair and sat down by the creek with Josephine Wong and dipped his feet in the water as well. The fishes in the creek, though some ferocious and even dangerous looking, all chose to swim around their feet and dared not even think about taking a bite.
“No, no. I needed this.” Josephine Wong laid back with only her left arm supporting her body and her right hand holding a bottle of plum wine: “You know, I’ve been keeping my head clear for quite a while now. Maybe too long, and I want to, for once, do something maybe a little stupid.”
“Your action movies are kinda stupid.” Jianmen chuckled.
“Hey!” Josephine Wong kicked Jianmen’s left foot underwater: “You told me to try being an actress for my Trial of Red Dust. Those are on you!”
“Well, in that case I was lying, you were great.” Jianmen laughed out loud: “Not as great as your being a mage, but still, as a spy, as a superheroine, and as an evil witch with white hair, you were absolutely stunning. Just, you know, a little too pretty for complicated and layered roles.”
“And now as a lousy liaison, who can’t even rally a troop to fight the actual embodiment of evil.” Josephine Wong sighed and looked up: “My team will be with me, of course, and you will be there. But that’s about all I’ve got.”
“The Security Council turned down your plea? Even with the relic?” Jianmen frowned.
“Yep, unfortunately, because there’s no one they can connect that relic to. They rather have me flipping through the list of connected contractors to continue cleaning up and rebuilding San Francisco, or create some kind of task force targeting the civil war amongst High Brokers - and maybe even facilitate the mission to find other potential High Brokers.”
“Well, at least they’re trying to do SOMETHING useful. What did they say?”
“They need more evidence, because it is an indefinite threat, and they don’t want to consider allocating any resources until I can find concrete proof that the defilers and desolators are really heading towards us.”
“Well, the thing is, this kind of evidence is always indirect - until they actually show up.” Jianmen said with a heavy frown: “Yes we can technically quote omens and disrupted energy fields as precursors for their arrival, but that’s very easily missed or misinterpreted.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know that.” Josephine Wong said, shaking her head: “I’ve also sent word to the Grant Academy, hopefully at least Tony and Glenda will get back to me. But they’ve been caught up in the clean up work at the academy - that unknown monster emerging from the tunnel under the hunting ground has kept them very busy.”
“Okay. ” Jianmen sighed: “I’m sorry.”
“You’ll be with me, right?” after a short moment of silence, Josephine Wong turned to Jianmen and asked.
“Yes. Every step of the way.” Jianmen smiled, gently raised his hand and almost held Josephine Wong’s hand. But he still pulled back at the last moment.
“Then stay with me for a while. I don’t know what to do.” Josephine Wong turned and looked at the places afar, where the families of Jason, Caroline and the Chavers were having a music party at a tall magical bazaar, surrounded by dancing magical deers, monkeys and birds.
“Well, I have a suggestion.” Jianmen thought for a while and said: “Not that I’m trying to be the ‘let me tell you how to fix it’ guy, but I propose we do a thing, where we can blow off some steam, help you with your leverage in negotiating resource with the Security Council, and also helped me a little bit. You can bring your apprentice or your students if you’d like, but it could be a bit dangerous for the detectives.”
“An outing event, huh?” Josephine Wong chuckled: “Are you sure you’re in good condition to go out?”
“I can just sit on the sideline while you have a good time. So maybe I won’t be doing as much.” Jianmen said with a bright smile on his face: “And maybe you’ll find something new, I can’t guarantee anything but an exciting time. ”
“Sounds intriguing.” Josephine Wong finished the whole bottle of plum wine in her hand: “One more question before we go - what do you mean it will help you a little bit?”
