A well-built, rugged middle aged man stood by the driver side door of the van. His browher jacket was worn, as were his dark brown pants and bck shoes. He pointed a short double barrel shotgun at the three of them the moment he saw them ing. Alex Pearson raised his arms, as did the two young women.

  “Don’t say anything.” Alex Pearson whispered to the young women behind him, then walked forward: “We’re here f delivery!”

  The rugged middle aged man frowhen uttered: “The holy tower tains the beasts from the river!”

  “The heavenly general suppresses the earth tiger!” Alex Pearson responded.

  “Hoigs did you request?”

  “Seve including me.”

  “What’s the feed of today?”

  “Mugwort and potato leaves.”

  The rugged middle aged man’s eyes sed through the bodies of all three of his potential passengers, then pulled open the side door of the van: “Alright, jump in. There was a fug Blood Rainbow earlier from your dire. We better hurry.”

  The inside of the van smelled of sweat, fart, vomit and stale soup. But probably thanks to the sense-numbing fog they had to endure earlier, none of the passengers was terribly disturbed. They sat in the back of the van. A thick metal pte with only a small window sat between the driver’s seat and the passengers’ seats.

  “Where are you going?” The rugged middle aged man asked, his voice was slightly muffled by the metal pte.

  “Sheng’s Butcher Shop, Shavings Department.” Alex Pearson answered.

  The driver groaned: “You haven’t ha yourselves?”

  “No. That’s why we paid extra.” Alex Pearson frowned.

  “Prices have gone up, you know that right?”

  “Yes.”

  “A few of our people got injured. One died.”

  “I’m really sorry to hear that. But we have an arra with the Big Sister. The others wouldn’t be ing, no refunds needed.”

  The driver grunted again, then stopped talking. Eve Kim looked out the side window, then the back window. They were driving away from Poison City, yes, but not directly away. The dirt road was leading them on a path that went along the border while gradually pulling further from it. ed, she rang her bell.

  “No need for that here now.” Alex Pearson coughed: “Shoot.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “To finalize our departure.”

  The entire ride took around forty mihey drove past a small valley, through a small wilted grassy area and by a ke, before finally arriving. “Sheng’s Butcher Shop” was obviously not an actual butcher shop. Instead, it was a humble looking temple with stone and crete walls, with guards patrolling the surrounding areas. Two armed guards in light yellow tactical uniforms and had strips of brown cloth ed around their heads were standing by the front gate, who upon seeing the van both sighem to stop.

  “igs?” One guard came by the driver's side window and asked.

  “Poison City raised, one boar, two sows.” The driver responded: “o go to the Shaving’s Department.”

  The names made Eve Kim and Tanya Su squirm. Tanya Su held onto her roommate’s arms closer, who grabbed her hand and forted her with a low voice.

  “Brands and tickets?” The guard asked.

  “Here.” Alex Pearson pulled out the paperwork he hid in his pocket, also stuck a feer bills inside and pushed it through the small window oal pte. The driver hahe paperwork to the guard.

  “Alright. Go in and park on the right.” The guard took a quick look and hahe paperwork back, with the paper bills still in pce.

  Alex Pearson shook his head, took the paper bills from the paperwork, added two more bills to the pile. As he and the two young women got out of the van, he ha to the driver: “For your troubles.”

  The driver licked his lips, hesitated for a minute before taking the bill with the sed smallest number: “I just need a smoke. Been w for three days straight without much sleep. And - I’ve got debt to pay, not the money kind.”

  Alex Pearson nodded aured the young women to follow him.

  The eemple looked much more fortified than any temple they would see in Poison City. If Eve Kim or Tanya Su were to call it, it looked more like a small bastion or fortress than a simple temple. There were watch posts in several ers, armed guards patrolling on the walls, and the walls themselves were thid reinforced with steel.

  The “Shavings Department” was a small sanctum below ground. On its ceiling stood nine wooden poles. Eight thinner, shorter ones hly a grown man’s height were evenly distributed into a circle, while ohicker, taller oood at the ter. Thick white ropes with talismans on them ected each of the outer poles to the one in the ter. Betweeer poles were metal s with bells on them.

  A long table sat at the ter of the sanctum, in the middle of which was a small stoar with two bronze inse burners on both sides. Two peachwood swords were pced at both ends of the table.

  “You’re here for shaving?” Two men were sitting in a er in the sanctum, one older, roughly thirty to forty years of age, while one was barely in his twenties. Both of them were in taoist robes.

  “Yes.” Alex Pearson handed his paperwork to the older man.

  “... have you showered or bathed?” The older man hahe paperwork back after a careful look.

  “No, sir.” Alex Pearson shook his head.

  “Go take a bath.” The older maured to the younger, who pulled out three wooden s and hao three of them: “We don’t have a line, so take your time and - try to rex. It helps.”

  Shout outs to my patrons:

  mant06

  Jonathan

  Thank you so much for your support!