“Crack!” “Crack!” “Crack!” Bright, almost blinding bolts of lightning descended from the sky, behind the van, on its left, on its right, and somewhere very far ahead. From the rearview mirrors, all Marcus and Liaowu could see was the smoke and fire rising up from the locations and objects struck.

“Looks like we lost them.” Liaowu let out a breath he was holding: “I don’t know if there are more of them, but - where to next? To be honest - I don’t think we should go to that hospital-”

“They might have already gone there to get Mick, by using the medical records.” Marcus nodded: “I know, I also told them that they should leave after some time.”

“Okay, so where should we go?” Liaowu let out a long sigh.

“Give me a minute.” Marcus frowned and scratched his jaw: “I don’t think there’s a safehouse we can use - those people come from the city, so they must have all the information on these locations. Dammit - it’d be easier to find a place to hide if we can find Captain Ko, but we just can’t get in touch with him right now - ”

“South-Eastern District it is then.” Liaowu took a look at the mirrors, making sure they were not followed, before merging to the left lane and taking an exit to the left: “You know a place or two?”

“I - in fact I do. But let’s go to the South-Eastern first.” Marcus took a deep breath. A place came into his mind, which would be the hiding place of Alex Pearson, the house in a tranquil place - which might be haunted, but if they were desperate enough for a place to hide, it could work. But he was rather ambivalent about it.

Liaowu ground his teeth for a few seconds, then posed a question that appeared to be gnawing at him for a while: “Did the master tell you what would happen after this? After destroying that site - ”

“He didn’t, not really.” Marcus shook his head: “But I imagine, we will need to visit the temple of forgetfulness one more time. And - the master might have left some answers for us there. I don’t think he would just leave nothing behind for us, if he had planned to - ”

“But that’s the thing. If you can think about it now. They would know it too.” Liaowu frowned: “Don’t you think they would go to the temple? Who’s guarding there now?”

“Fucking hell. It’s Wuzui.” Marcus slapped the dash in front of him: “And he’s there alone! We must go there - ”

“Hold on there. I don’t think you’re in a place to fight.” Liaowu stepped on the gas pedal, the engine revved and the van sped up: “Let’s find a place to regroup. Your eyes are bloodshot, your hands are shaking. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed - your breathing is short and irregular. You’ve used too much Qi. If we go there now, you’d be lucky if you don’t pass out before the stairs. Tell me a place where we can hide and rest for a moment - and not too far.”

Marcus sighed and laid back on his seat: “... maybe - Zishan Cafe.” 

“The coffee shop near the docks?”

“Yes.”

“Nah I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Liaowu shook his head: “I don’t have a good feeling about going to the side of the fucking lake at this time of day. Especially after everything - no - at most we can take a look from afar.”

“What? Did something happen?” Marcus frowned and fixed his eyes on Liaowu.

“Listen, detective, I’m not stupid, okay?” Liaowu gave Marcus a serious look: “I may not be a Qi wielder, but I know just where I shouldn’t go when the sun is not fully out, alright? The lake is a terrible choice. Especially when you’re tangled in everything like this - If you really need to go, we can give it a try when the sun’s up and preferably in the middle of the day.”

“... fine.” Marcus nodded. His head began aching - just like Liaowu said, he had expended too much of his Qi and just generally overexerted himself. And with only a brief moment of safety, the weariness hit him like a speeding truck: “Kshiti Temple. If not, then the new apartment complex nearby - I think I still know which room - ” He did not get to finish his sentence, before his eyelids grew too heavy and his words became snores.

“Kshiti Temple it is.” Liaowu said under his breath: “It’s been a while for me as well. Fuck.”

The roads were a bit strange now to Liaowu, since he had not been to the place for quite some time - years, almost a decade, he would say. The reason was simple: as time went by, the community collective and the city had become more friendly and there was rumor of their working together on certain cases, which would make his visits to the temples more dangerous.

There were almost no people on the roads, so he was able to drive faster than he usually could in narrow streets like these. The sky was getting brighter, which meant time was running out for him to find a good place to park his van.

The Kshiti Temple was just up ahead. It seemed strangely deserted. No signs of many visitors from the day before, just some footprints made of ash on the ground.

Liaowu parked around the corner. But just as he got out of the van, a sharp cold object was pressed against his back. A cold male voice asked him: “Who are you? And why are you trying to enter the temple?”