More people were coming into the Riverbank Hospital emergency room, some of whom were clearly injured by unclean beings - these people had dark auras surrounding them. Any Qi user or someone familiar with the paranormal could see dark mist rising from their wounds.

  “This is not good.” Tae Kuo frowned then spoke with a lowered voice to the rest of the group sitting in the waiting area: “I think - with the datacenter fallen, the protection it had over the city is basically lifted. So it’s already happening - the people from the other two districts will start to experience the paranormal as well - ”

  “And it will be especially rough for them tonight, right?” Kelvin sighed: “If I’m understanding this correctly - after everything - after you’ve rebooted the array, the protection from the entire city will be less - less hardened. ”

  “Yes. At the same time the corruption will be purged - if not completely at least enough of it will be, so that there will no longer be a need for those sacrificial rituals, and the Qiyun will no longer be still and it will be able to flow again.” Gloria rubbed her temples: “I think - the last piece of work Marcus is doing will be the last step.”

  “What happens after that?” Kevin asked.

  “I think you might know more than I do.” Gloria chuckled and shrugged: “What needs to be done after this?”

  “I think - I think we might need to go to the Temple of Forgetfulness again.” Kevin sighed: “The master - he must have left something in there for us. He must have left instructions, or clues on what to do next. ”

  “Wuzui?” Keryn came back from the water machine holding several paper cups, handing one to each member of the team: “You’d think it’s him?”

  “Yeah, maybe.” Kevin shrugged: “With the master - no longer with us. I think someone will have to take over his mantle. And I think it’s gonna be him.”

  The group went silent for a brief moment, before the screech of a number of vehicle’s tires made all of them stand up.

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  Gloria rushed to the door just to see who it was - it was not those who were after them, but a group of people in regular clothing, led by someone who looked like a medic from the South-Eastern District. They pulled a total of four stretchers from their vans and trunks and rushed into the emergency room. All the patients on the stretchers were covered up, but what Gloria could easily see, was the grim aura surrounding them and the chilling dark energy seeping from their skin.

  “Patients in severe condition! Patients in severe condition!” The medic announced to the waiting area to make way.

  “What’s happening?” Two nurses came out from behind the counter.

  “My name is Daniel Feng. I am a medic from the South-Eastern District Community Health Center. We called earlier.” The medic said.

  Two doctors came out from behind the door to the operating area, with a small group of nurses behind them: “We heard! We heard! Bring them in!”

  “Fractured bones from blunt force trauma, light hypothermia.” The medic described his findings and diagnosis as he followed the doctors and nurses: “We need to prep for blood transfusion, we don’t know if they have blood types documented …”

  “Hey, excuse me.” Gloria went up to a young woman in regular clothing who came in with the medic: “Would you mind letting me know - what happened? Who are those people?”

  “I - I’m not sure I can tell you - ”

  “Sorry, we cannot tell you.” Just this moment, a slightly older man and another young woman came over: “It’s kinda - sensitive, so we cannot tell you about it. Our apologies.”

  “It’s okay, I’m from the South-Eastern District too. ” Gloria took a deep breath while organizing her language and thoughts: “I ask only because I recognized the medic - and I can feel the - the unclean energy from them. Did they suffer from - an ‘incident’?”

  The three people exchanged looks a few times, eventually the man said: “I’m sorry, we can’t discuss this with anyone.” Then he and the two young women turned and were ready to leave.

  “Can you help me spread this question around though?” Gloria caught up to them: “Umm - just ask around: is there enough milk for the holiday special.”

  “... what does that mean?” One of the young women asked.

  “Once the person who knows the answer hears it, they will know.” Gloria nodded and pleaded: “Please. I know it’s weird, but if you get a chance, just ask around.”

  “Okay.”

  The vans and trucks that came drove away, leaving only a few people in the waiting area, presumably to handle communication. Gloria went back to her seat, contemplating how to ask for more information without exposing her and the group to unnecessary risks.

  Another group of cars arrived at the door of the hospital. A total of three cars - one smaller sedan, two SUVs. Men in black uniforms came out of them, uniforms Gloria had not seen before.

  The group barged in, pushing a few of the people in the waiting area aside and straight at the reception’s desk. There were a total of five people in this group. On the side of their left sleeves were patches with a dragon head pattern.

  The nurse behind the desk was slightly intimidated, and stammered her question: “Can - can I help you?”

  “We traced a wanted person here. We’re here to bring him in.” The leader of the group said, his tone was stone cold without any softness or warmth.