“Quick! Quick! Transfer them to the closest health centers! Get all the healers on the phone! All of them!” One slightly chubby old woman in a colorful robe and with her hair in a long braid behind her barked at the newly arrived drivers as well as the men and women in taoist robes: “How are they? How many in emergency!? How many manageable!? Report! Now!”

  “Ten in emergency, and need immediate attention.” The driver of the first bus reported: “And eight in manageable condition, but still need further medical attention.”

  “One in emergency, two in manageable condition, all need medical attention.” The driver from the second van reported.

  “Ten, all in manageable condition, three need medical attention and the rest can wait a bit.” The driver of Luoshan Zi’s bus reported.

  “Alright! You heard them!” The old woman said to those waiting around: “Group 1 and Group 2! You handle the first bus! Triage your vehicles! Group 3 and Group 4! You handle the van and the second bus! Group 5! You handle all the medical supplies and collect all medical needs and reach out to the health centers and hospitals! MOVE! MOVE!”

  Those waiting in a circle got to work. The scene was a chaotic mess and crowded - just like a wartime medical center.

  “What can we do?” Sue and Turner Ouyang walked up to the old woman and asked.

  “You go rest, we’ll call for you when we need your help.” The woman’s sharp, even slightly scary expression softened, as were her voice and tone: “You did great. We’ll arrange some people to check on you. You just came from a dark, foul pce. So you should focus on resting and calming your mind. ”

  Sue urged: “But we want to help - ”

  “Rest.” The old woman’s tone was stern and left them no more room to negotiate: “Your bodies and your Qi is tainted, letting you handle delicate medical supplies or things for rituals would be unwise and unsafe. This is an order. Rest.”

  “... thank you, Elder.” Turner Ouyang pulled Sue back: “We’ll find a spot to rest. Please do call upon us if we can help with anything. ANYTHING.”

  “Of course.” The old woman nodded at them: “Now go rest, and stay away from the operating area.”

  “Elder.” Luoshan Zi went up to the old woman just as Sue and Ouyang Turner went to find a pce as instructed: “My name is - ”

  “Luoshan Zi, I know.” The elder took a deep breath and bowed to Luoshan Zi lightly: “The entire district owes you a great debt.”

  “Thank you.” Luoshan Zi bowed back: “What happens now?”

  “We’ll do some emergency treatment on all those injured, and then we’ll put the ones in emergency situations on our fastest vehicles and rush them to the best health centers, preferably those with someone trained by the temples on their staff. But if there’s not enough room or time we’ll have to figure something out.” The elder answered: “And then - we’ll settle them down and see what we can learn from them - about this operation, these rituals and everything - ”

  “I think I can answer some of those questions for you.” Luoshan Zi nodded: “But I would like some answers as well.”

  “I’m sure we’ll get those sorted out in due time.” The elder shook her head: “But not now. We have plenty on our hands. You should go rest as well. And - those two brave civilians you brought with you, you could give them some guidance on how to handle all this - all this stench you have with you - ff left untreated for long it’s gonna be really bad. I’m assuming you know already.”

  “Yes, but can I have one question?” Before the elder could turn away, Luoshan Zi tried to interject.

  The elder was visibly frustrated, but still maintained her composure and calmness: “Sure. Go ahead.”

  “These people we brought back, compared to the number of missing ones. ” Luoshan Zi weighed and calcuted her words: “Do they match? Are there more - out there?”

  The elder hesitated for a moment, before letting out a very long sigh. Her fingers clutched onto her elbows tighter, her nails almost cutting into her sleeves: “No. Unfortunately - this is - this is less than half of them. Barely made a quarter of the total estimates.”

  Luoshan Zi grunted, put her face in her palms and let out a low scream before nodding at the elder: “Thank you very much, Elder. Thank you - ”

  “That’s not your burden to bear.” The elder sighed and patted Luoshan Zi on her left shoulder: “Not anymore.”

  “... thank you, Elder.” Luoshan Zi took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, before turning and headed where Sue and Turner Ouyang went.

  Sue and Ouyang Turner went into a hut made of bamboo and dirt. There were four mattresses ying about, and they chose two close to each other. Sue sat on one, while Turner Ouyang just id back on the other, taking one deep breath after another.

  “What are you doing?” Sue asked with a relieved smile.

  “Just breathing this air of - of not being close to people who’re trying to kill me.” Turner Ouyang answered with a wide grin: “Man, it really puts things into perspective, huh? I thought I was gonna die back there - multiple times!”

  “Yeah.” Sue looked up at the bamboo ceiling: “- yeah. I thought the same as well. It’s good now. And I’m just gd we’re here now, safe and - ”

  “Hey, you two.” Before Sue could say any more, Luoshan Zi came into the hut with two cy jars of water in both hands: “It’s not enough water, but you need to wash your hands, and maybe wash as much of your bodies as possible.”

  “Now? ” Turner Ouyang sat up: “Can we take a few?”

  “As soon as possible.” Luoshan Zi’s eyes glowed in light green: “That subway station is a cursed pce. You are civilians who do not have cultivated Qi, so the corruption on you is retively lighter but it also means you have no way of dealing with it on your own. Come, wash your hands, and rub your shoulders and your foreheads with this water. We’ll still have to do more ter.”

  “What if we’re exposed for a long time?” Sue jumped up and was ready to take a jar.

  “Well, it varies based on each individual.” Luoshan Zi handed the jars to the two civilians: “But a common symptom is being chronically ill and weak, heart and lung problems, and infertility.”

  “Geez, Luoshan. Gimme!”