13 Mink Street

Karon froze for a moment, and then lowered his head to look at Pu’er, who was pawing at his trouser leg. ”Are you sure you want to go take a look?”

”Hm?”

”I mean, Tiz isn’t here. There’s no need to rush to prove how kind you are.”

”Me?”

”Yes. Besides, Tiz isn’t all that kind. He’s only gentle with his own family. Just a bit of friendly advice.”

”I’ll keep that in mind.”

”Good boy.”

”But I never said I was going down to check anything. I’m just worried that the thing will lose its mind and burst in here after killing someone.”

Pu’er took a few steps back. ”No wonder you’re considered a cold-blooded demonkin.”

”If I remember correctly, two doors down from here there’s a stairway leading straight to the basement. It’s too close.”

”Yes.”

Karon returned to the bed and sat down. ”Pu’er.”

”I don’t really like how you renamed me. The way you pronounce my name sounds strange.”

”I think it sounds poetic.”

”Poetic, is it?” Pu’er leaped back onto the bed. ”Speaking of which, there’s something I’ve always wondered about: your language.”

”My language?”

”Yes. For example, what does ’Ma Le Ge Bi’ actually mean?”[1]

”It’s similar to locking you in a bathroom with a tomcat.”

”I see.” Pu’er stretched out at his side and began grooming her fur.

”I have something I’m curious about, too,” Karon said.

”Go ahead.”

”Can you fight?”

”Fight?” Pu’er’s voice held a trace of resignation. ”I used to be quite good at it.”

”’Used to be’? How long ago was that?”

”Over a hundred years now.”

”You’ve really lived that long?”

”If you turn into a cat and live two hundred years, you won’t envy me. When I first arrived at the Immers household, Tiz was still a child. Now, his granddaughter Mina already uses sanitary pads. Ah, how time passes.”

”Could you not have used that about Mina as your point of reference?”

”Fine. I’ll change it. Last month, Lent finally learned to use his hand—”

”Why is it still so quiet out there?” Karon glanced at the door.

”Looks like she didn’t go wild and rush up here,” Pu’er said, sounding puzzled. ”Or perhaps you misheard.”

”It was too clear. I could make out their conversation.”

”Heh. Impressive. Even for a fully purified Divine Servant, senses that sharp are rare.”

”Divine Servant, is that a profession?”

”In the Church of Order, yes. It’s the lowest rank. Of course, they’re not like those ordinary priests in the small parishes who love to eavesdrop on sinners’ secrets.”

“What about Tiz? What kind of rank is an Inquisitor?” Karon remembered that Alfred had addressed Tiz as Inquisitor.

“Purifier, Divine Servant; Inquirer, Divine Seeker; Contemplator, Divine Shepherd. The fourth rank is Inquisitor. Tiz serves as the judge for the Church of Order in Roja City. Any demonkin that violates church doctrine falls under his authority to eliminate.

“Tiz is also no ordinary Inquisitor. I watched him grow up. His talent surprised even me. Of course, he has his flaws, such as a certain lack of respect for his elders.”

“Divine Servant, Divine Seeker, Divine Shepherd; are those positions or ranks?”

“They correspond to stages.”

“Stages?”

“Yes. They are three different stages that define how thoroughly one has mastered holy aura.”

“Holy aura?”

“It’s not actually holy. That’s simply the name people give it. In essence, the aura surrounding Alfred, the aura Mrs. Hughes carried when she was possessed, and the aura surrounding Tiz are all fundamentally the same.”

”So...”

”So, when the orthodox churches call for demonkin to be purged, the truth is, every last one of them is demonkin themselves. The only difference is, they stand in the light and have the power to speak. Some demonkin are simply too stupid, you know what I mean?”

”Not the brightest, I suppose?”

”Demonkin with a bit of cleverness—and enough strength—can gain status, or even become guests of the churches. I used to be, long ago. Meanwhile, certain church dignitaries, if they lose their way, can fall from grace into darkness; going from being clergy everyone admires, to demonkin everyone wants to hunt down.”

”I think... I understand, at least a little.”

”You really knew nothing about any of this?” Pu’er asked, curious.

Karon shook his head. In his previous life, temples had been places he visited as a tourist. He had never bowed his head, except possibly at a martyr’s grave.

”Remarkable,” Pu’er said, licking her paw. ”And yet I saw you wake up Mr. Mossan.”

”I honestly don’t know how I did that.”

”Do you know what the Church of Order actually is?”

“They maintain the workings of the God of Order, guarding the Light of Order.”

“No. Those are just words for the public. In truth, the God of Order may never have lived at all.”

“Not lived?”

“The church’s doctrine says he rose and returned from the underworld. Some say the God of Light woke him. But do you know how the lowest ranks of the Church of Order appear to ordinary people?”

“Not as members of the church?”

“As funeral homes.”

The implication struck Karon. “I always thought the funeral home was the Immers family’s business. It actually belongs to the church?”

“Most of the church’s power works through corpses, or at least can’t be separated from them. People think a body becomes nothing after death, but that’s not true. A corpse—human, pig, dog, chicken, duck—has some bit of spirituality remaining within it, lying dormant without a soul to inhabit it. Awaken that residue, and the dead can rise again, at least partially. How much depends on how well the body is preserved, how strong it was in life, how much it clings to the world. Even so, ordinary corpses rarely last. They lose awareness quickly and collapse, or become bestial husks.”

“If you bring a corpse back, does it remain the person they were?”

“Of course not. It’s nothing more than an empty vessel that holds some scattered fragments of memory. It isn’t really them, though the revenant itself might believe otherwise.”

Karon mulled over Pu’er’s words. People usually believe a person is only a soul plus body, but in reality, the body remembers. Even after death, memories lingered in the cells, quiet and buried. If someone awakens those memories, the dead could stir again.

“Karon, do you understand what it means to raise the dead? Only an Inquisitor can do that. If you don’t have that ability, you can’t earn the title.”

“Me...?”

“You still want to insist that you aren’t demonkin?” Pu’er turned to face him directly. “I think, when you were summoned, you lost some of your soul’s memories, which is why you’ve forgotten so much, but your instincts slip out in spite of that.”

“You’re overthinking. My memory is fine.”

“You even remember a handful of foreign languages, so there’s no reason to believe you’re amnesiac. That leaves just one other option.”

“What option?”

“Maybe, like the God of Order in the old stories, you are also someone who died and came back.”

“I—”

Before Karon could answer, Pu’er let out a cat’s laugh. “You see, half of the Church of Order’s gifts are related to corpses. Over time, the church grew and diverged, but at their roots, they have always worked with the dead. If the God of Order returned from death, the system he left would be a natural fit for another who came back. For example, sensing the spirituality in a corpse; Somebody reborn doesn’t even need to be purified to feel it, as they are both living and dead.

“Ha! Listen to me! As if that could be real? If you were something like that, you’d be the reborn God of Order himself. So... are you, your majesty Karon?”

“I... am not.” I’m just a psychiatrist, one with a decent private practice.

“Then how do you explain your damned ability? Only an Inquisitor has that kind of power. Even if you can’t control it, it still marks you. It’s like Lent: still a virgin, despite the fact that he has everything it takes not to be one.”

“That is a terrible analogy.”

“I’m old, far past being shy.”

“You were shy just a minute ago.”

“I simply wasn’t used to that position, damn it!”

Silence settled. Then Karon asked, “Pu’er.”

“Hm?”

“Do you think Tiz will let me join the church?” If Karon really did have a gift, then joining the church would open its structured, systematic training for him. Advancement would come easily.

“So, you reveal your ambition at last!” Pu’er laughed. ”But you should give up on that idea. Tiz will never again permit his own blood to join the Church of Order. Your parents’ deaths struck him too hard. He’s grown tired of the family’s legacy tied to the church, and he means to end that connection with himself.”

“I see.”

“So don’t even think of joining the church. It’s just not possible. Even as we speak, I can’t be sure I’m not talking to a heretical god. And maybe, to you, I’m nothing but an innocent, adorable little kitten.”

“That much is true.”

Karon stood and looked out the window. Everything appeared as it should. He leaned closer to the door, peering through the glass. Out in the corridor, doctors, nurses, and patients went about their routines as if nothing had changed. “Did I imagine it? Could I have misheard something?”

“Do you hear anything now?” asked Pu’er.

“No.”

“Then maybe you did mishear.”

Karon looked at Pu’er and said, “Why don’t you go check the basement?”

Pu’er’s ears flicked upright, flattened, rose, and then fell again. “Are you joking?”

“Are you afraid?”

“I’m weak right now, or rather, I’ve been weak for more than a hundred years.”

“Then why did Tiz send you to protect me?” Karon was puzzled. “Are you not able to actually fight?”

“I can see demonkin. If you’d taken me along to the barbecue that night, I would have noticed something strange about that woman, and that alone would have been enough. Tiz wants me to give you a warning so you have time to run, not to stay back and cover your escape. Honestly, Alfred or Ms. Molly would be better for that kind of role. If I notice demonkin auras around that pose no threat, I can just pretend I don’t see them.”

“So basically, you’re a useless cat.”

“I don’t know exactly what that means, but I suspect it’s not much better than being called rubbish.”[2]

“It sounds nicer than rubbish.” Karon pushed the cabinet back into place, then walked over to the bed and pressed the call button.

It wasn’t long before Maina came in. “What is it, Karon? Ready to order lunch?”

“I thought I heard something below us just now,” Karon said, pointing at the floor.

Maina glanced down, but when she quickly realized what lay underneath, she smiled. “Impossible.”

“I mean it. It sounded like someone screamed—a woman, maybe a doctor or a nurse. Could you send someone to check the first basement level?”

Maina nodded. “Alright, I’ll check.”

Karon reached out to grab her hand, cautioning, “It could be dangerous, so it’d be better to send security or a male doctor, not you. I’d worry for your safety.”

If something happened to someone else, Karon wouldn’t be troubled, but if Maina got hurt, he would care. This wasn’t because he felt anything particular for her. If he had, he wouldn’t have commented about helping his aunt in the morgue. It was simply because they’d spoken and shared a brief connection. For those whose names he didn’t even know, if trouble found them, that was simply the way of things.

Maina felt that Karon was being a little paranoid, but was also touched by his concern, so she nodded. “Alright, I’ll have the guard on duty go check.”

“Good.”

Maina left. Karon closed the ward door, but for a moment, he hesitated. He didn’t move the cabinet back.

Twenty minutes passed before Maina knocked and returned.

“Anything?”

“No. Everything is normal downstairs.”

“No blood? No bodies?”

“Of course there are bodies, but that’s because the morgue is there. Still, there’s no blood. The chief personally led the inspection. Everyone on duty is accounted for. No one’s missing.”

“Then... perhaps I just had a nightmare.”

“Yes. You’re still recovering. Nightmares are normal.”

“Alright. I understand.”

“What about lunch? What would you like?” Staying in the VIP ward meant that Karon could order from a special hospital menu, though there wasn’t anything extravagant.

Meow.

“Fried fish.”

“Mmm, alright.”

Meow.

“And a pudding.”

“Okay.”

Meow.

“Goat’s milk.”

“Alright. Anything else?”

“Curry rice. No fruit.”

“You have to eat some fruit,” Maina sternly reprimanded.

“Alright, fine.”

“I’ll bring it when it’s ready.”

“Thank you.”

After the girl left, Pu’er sprawled across the bed, her tail twitching, and said, “Karon, if you order for me every day so that I never have to eat that wretched cat food again, I might just start to change my opinion of you. A little.”

“Can’t you speak for yourself?”

“You’re the exception. If I spoke to anyone else in the family and Tiz found out, he’d kill me.”

“So your loyalty can be bought with a bit of food?”

“You try eating cat food for a hundred years and see how loyal you feel! Frankly, as long as you rescue me from that stuff, even if you are a heretical god, I’ll see you as merciful.”

Karon rubbed his ears. ”I know what I heard: voices, screams.”

”Pray it was just a hallucination,” came the reply, quiet but firm. ”Otherwise, it could be the signal of a downward spiral. Some clergy lose themselves starting just this way.”

”I’m not clergy.”

”You’re even more sensitive than they are. Sometimes, the line between brilliance and madness is as thin as a single piece of dried fish.”

An hour later, lunch arrived. Pu’er ate contentedly. At Maina’s urging, Karon forced himself to finish his fruit.

The afternoon passed uneventfully with nothing happening. Still, as dusk approached, the quiet held. Night fell. The calm remained unbroken.

”You’re not going to sleep yet? Rest will help you recover,” Pu’er said.

”I know.”

”Any sounds?”

”Nothing. It’s been silent since midday.”

”Good. Then try not to worry. Go to sleep.”

Karon slipped out of bed and walked to the door. He peered through the glass. Apart from the quiet glow of the nurse’s station, the corridor was empty. Still, he dragged the cabinet behind the door and wedged the handle with a mop from the bathroom.

Only after everything was secure did Karon lie back down and close his eyes again. He hadn’t napped earlier in the day, and Pu’er was right; sleep would help him heal. He drifted off quickly.

In the blurred depths of sleep, he thought he caught faint whispers, skittering right at the edge of his awareness. Was it another hallucination? He let his drowsiness wash over him, willing the noise away. ”My money... my money... my money... ”

Damn it. Karon cursed silently and tried to sink deeper into sleep. The voice faded.

Then he heard scraping. The sound was like fingertips clawing through grit, accompanied by the slow crumble of debris. He forced himself not to care. As long as there were no words, he could bear it. When he’d first started his business in his previous life, he’d slept every night to the rumble of trucks passing beneath his window by the overpass.

The scratching noises continued. The sound grew louder, moving closer. Karon opened his eyes, helpless.

He nudged Pu’er, who was curled up by his pillow with her back to him. No matter how he pushed, the black cat wouldn’t stir. She might as well have been a stuffed toy. ”Pu’er, Pu’er, do you hear that? It’s getting closer.”

She didn’t move. Could a cat really sleep so heavily? Karon sat up and patted her back again. Nothing.

Scratch, scratch... The noise was underneath the bed.

He propped himself up and leaned around Pu’er, twisting to peer over the edge. Nothing unusual met his eyes.

He glanced at the door. The cabinet and mop were still in place. Everything should be secure.

The sound kept creeping closer.

He stared at the floor beneath the bed. Carefully, mindful of his chest wound, he edged forward, one hand steadying him on the tile. His face was less than a decimeter from the cool surface.

There was a sudden rattle, the crumble of stone. Something had broken through.

Right in front of him, a gap appeared in the tile, revealing rough walls of concrete and rebar. Almost without thinking, Karon leaned closer to the break, trying to see inside.

Down below, he caught a glimpse of rows of gurneys. Some held bodies shrouded in white sheets.

Abruptly, a deeply wrinkled old woman’s face rose up, filling the gap. She looked at Karon and asked, ”Hey, are you the one who stole my money?”

1. “Ma le ge bi” (马勒戈壁) is a Chinese euphemistic swear. While literally meaning “the Gobi Desert,” its pronunciation closely resembles a crude insult, making it a commonly used sanitized curse. ☜

2. “猫肋” (literally “cat ribs”) is a colloquial expression adapted from “鸡肋” (“chicken ribs”), meaning something of little practical value, neither useful enough to keep nor worthless enough to discard. ☜