Chapter 12 - Connections

A stern looking man with pronounced cheekbones and a neatly trimmed mustache walked into the central Noga police station. He was dressed sharply in polished leather shoes, pressed black pants, and a black double breasted trenchcoat over a white collared shirt and black vest. On the vest was a metal pin that depicted a sword piercing a mountain range, this was the crest of the police in Noga. He carried a brown envelope which he had tucked under his arm.

“Chief Fang, good morning!” The various officers in the lobby stopped what they were doing and saluted him as he walked past them. Chief of Police Jintang Fang nodded seriously and continued without making small talk.

The central police station was a grand building whose lobby was a three storey atrium with a dozen double doored entrances, tall and narrow gothic windows and thick stone pillars. The floor was polished marble, and there were numerous chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The lobby was wide, with kiosks spread throughout the floor space directing civilians and visitors. On the wall opposite the front entrance wall with the windows were doors and hallways that led further into the station. Above, the windows of offices populated the second and third floors, looking down onto the lobby.

The Central Police Station was a symbol of Lord Noga’s power, and of his commitment to maintaining the city’s order, justice and stability. Chief Fang was at the top of the hierarchy for the main police force responsible for Peace, Petty crimes and Public service, known more colloquially as 3P. In addition to his department there was also: Homicide, Organized Crime, Forensics, Domestic Violence and Missing Persons, and Special Ops. Each of those departments were lead by Chiefs, who had full control over the actions and policies of their departments. The only person the chiefs reported to was the Director of Security, Briant Chaser, who was one of the staff directly under and appointed by Lord Noga.

Chief Fang entered the non public area of the station and headed up the stairs to the third floor. He had come in slightly earlier than usual to take care of the business from the previous night. He walked through the open door of the department for Domestic Violence and Missing Persons.

“Chief Fang, good morning!” The plump black haired receptionist said politely.

“Morning Anne, is Chief Luan in?” Fang asked directly.

“He’s been in for a while already, he should be in his office.” Anne said, nodding for Fang to proceed through.

Chief Kinpo Luan, Chief of the Domestic Violence and Missing Persons department was a good friend of Jintang. He was a meticulous and diligent man, with an eye for detail. Although Fang had a reputation of being serious and direct, it was Chief Luan that held the reputation of being a demanding boss.

Chief Luan was hunched over at his desk reading a report as Fang entered the room. His jet black hair was short and styled with mousse, giving it a thick sheen. A pair of silver framed glasses rested on the bridge of his round nose. He had a distinctly Kumin look - pointed jaw, small lips, angled eyes. He had a clean shaven face. Ten years ago he was in great shape with a runner’s physique, but today’s Kinpo Luan was a little on the pudgy side. He was dressed in a typical slate grey officer’s uniform, though his jacket had been hung up from the coat stand by the door.

“Jintang. I see you have a new case for me.” Chief Luan said without inflection, not even looking up from the report in his hands as Jintang entered the room. “Are you so bored of festival planning that you’ve started encroaching on the other departments?”

“Can’t a visit simply be a friendly morning greeting?” Jintang asked with a small grin. “I don’t always have to have a case to visit you, do I?”

“For Jintang Fang to come into my office at this time on a monday morning, there can only be one explanation.” Kinpo said stuffily. “Unless something spectacular happened at your dinner party that you wanted to share with me.”

“The dinner party was... uneventful.” Jintang said. The events of the previous night were not worth recounting, even in small chat. His mind briefly flickered to Yuzu’s fainting episode, but even that was only a minor mishap, with no ill intentions and no harm done.

“Then I suppose the reason for your visit is inside the envelope tucked under your arm.” Kinpo stated gruffly.

Jintang walked forward and tossed the brown envelope on Kinpo’s desk. “An elder from the Heavens Gate Monastery has gone missing. He was said to have arrived in Noga three weeks ago.”

Without moving his head, Kinpo glanced up with his eyes to look at Jintang for the first time in the conversation.

“The Heavens Gate Monastery...?” Kinpo repeated, his eyes narrowing.

Having dropped off the envelope, Jintang turned to leave with a casual attitude. “His student is in town looking for him. They were supposed to visit the Cloud Peak Monastery for a ceremony. His description is in the envelope. I have requested that he stay at my old friend Sansen Zhao’s manor in the meantime, so that he can be contacted easily.”

At the door, Jintang paused. “This case you’ve been working on... If you need my assistance, you only need to ask.“

A cocky smirk flashed upon Jintang’s lips, “I only have festival planning to deal with right now, after all.”

Kinpo frowned, not offering a response to Jintang as he watched the police chief leave. After a moment of contemplation, he neatly put down the papers in his hand and picked up the brown envelope.

Inside the brown envelope were two sheets of paper, handwritten in Chief Fang’s scratchy, sharp script that was quite familiar to Kinpo. It contained a description of a young monk called Edwin Mak and a rough account of his reason for visiting. The second sheet had a brief description of the elder and the limited information Edwin had about the nature of the elder’s trip.

Typical Jintang. He barely gathered enough information to get started. Kinpo grumbled to himself silently. Kinpo adjusted his glasses on his nose and set the brown envelope and two associated papers down on his desk. His eyes glanced over to the report he had been reading.

It was a summary of a number of missing person’s cases over the past several months. At first, these specific cases had not caught his attention - Noga was a large city and he had hundreds of active cases at a time. However piece by piece, a picture had taken form, drawing Chief Luan’s attention. Over the weekend he made a breakthrough, and carefully reviewed every case that had come in over the past few months with his team. The result was the report compiled in front of him. Each case in this report had a common element that tied them all together, a theory that Kinpo had voiced offhandedly to Police Chief Fang at the end of the previous week.

The common thread was a connection to the Cloud Peak Monastery, a small but well known abbey in the Yonge Mountains. It was a popular pilgrimage spot, and the path that lead to it was well travelled, if not a bit steep. It was most popularly visited in mid summer and was known for its surreal beauty, particularly in the morning when the mists rolled through the mountain valleys. This idyllic scenery is what gave the monastery its name. In the early spring, though, the weather in the mountains was still unpredictable and dangerous. As a result it did not see many visitors at this time of year.

Of the missing persons cases in front of him, several of them were tourists visiting local landmarks, with the Cloud Peak Monastery on their list. One was a mountain guide. One was a mushroom forager who lived in the Chenmai Forest below the monastery. There were several individuals from out of town who had taken tours to the monastery, returned, and then subsequently went missing.

And now the case of this elder from the Heavens Gate Monastery had arrived on his desk.

Chief Luan rifled through the pages of the report, deep creases forming on his forehead as he fell deep into thought.

~

That morning, Edwin Mak was practicing meditation in the sun room of Sansen Zhao’s manor. The bald young man wearing earthen brown hemp robes sat in lotus position on the hardwood floor, his arms resting on his legs and his hands cupped in front of him with his right hand over his left hand. His head was bowed slightly, and his eyes were half closed and gazed ahead of him, unfocused. His breathing was slow and measured as he inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth.

Beside him, sitting cross legged on a cushion, Char Char Zhao mimicked his posture. She was wearing a light floral-patterned blouse with a conservative neckline and a pair of soft, light blue pajama pants. Beside her were a pair of fuzzy slippers that she had taken off for the exercise. Her hands were cupped in front of her, left over right. She alternated between closing her eyes completely and sneaking them open to peak at the monk and see if he had moved at all.

They had been sitting, motionless and silent, for a really long time! Char Char was doing her utmost to avoid squirming. At times she was able to relax completely and felt that she could empty her thoughts. Then the pool of calmness in her mind would slowly see ripples of random thoughts, which cascaded upon each other causing more and more disruptions until she was yelling internally at her brain to shut up.

After an extended period of time Edwin Mak opened his eyes, inhaled deeply and smiled over towards Char Char. “How was that? That was about ten minutes I believe.”

“Ten minutes?” Char Char asked incredulously.

“Just a short one since you are new to meditation. At the monastery we are encouraged to meditate for at least an hour every morning and every evening.”

“I see. I think it went well. I’m feeling much more relaxed.” Char Char said thoughtfully, though internally she thought she would scream if she had to sit for an entire hour in this way.

“It gets easier the more you do it.” Edwin said, “And doing so helps you center yourself, focus the spirit and develop your spiritual energy, which we call Qi*.”

*Author’s note: Pronounced ‘Chee’

“And Qi is what lets you... light candles and that kind of stuff?” Char Char asked.

Edwin chuckled, “Well, yes. The first step is to circulate the qi in your body, which strengthens it, improves your vitality and refreshes your mind. After cultivating qi, your body becomes strong enough to store qi inside it like a vessel. From there, you can expend it in various ways according to your path.”

“For you that’s the Spirit Chain Path, right?”

Edwin smiled and shook his head.

“Even though I’ve been training for my entire life, I still can’t say that I’m actually a practitioner of the Spirit Chain Path. There is an initiation ceremony which only a few monks are granted. Some train for their entire lives to be given the honour. Even after initiation the monk is only considered a Candidate of the path.”

“They spend an entire life just to become a candidate?” Char Char wrinkled her nose at the thought. That was far too slow!

“Yes. But even as a Candidate, they gain significant boons.” Edwin had relaxed his posture and was now sitting cross legged with his back against the foot of the couch behind him. “They have enhanced senses, especially hearing, and they can also sense the spiritual presence of people and creatures around them. Candidate is the first step to forming a connection to the spirit world.”

“The spirit world?” Char Char’s eyes lit up as her imagination started soaring. “Please, tell me more!”