“Hi, we’re back.” Gyuu Park waved at the two young men guarding the door to the Kshiti Temple.

“Sorry, but we still can’t let you in.” The young man standing on the right side shook his head: “Like I told you, we’re instructed not to receive anything or deliver any messages.”

“How about the general rules to which all of the temples and churches abide by?” Tae Kuo asked.

“What?”

“The rules set up by the The Association of Local Churches? The association of which the Kshiti Temple is an important, rule-abiding founding member of?” Gyuu Park took out a wooden plaque that showed his position as an official clergyman.

“Yes - we know who you are, Mr. Park.” The young man on the left side nodded: “But - we still can’t let you in, it’s the by the order of our council - ”

“Which does not override the official pact made by the association, nor will it have any power pertaining to how certain emergencies should be handled.” Gyuu Park cut the young man off, emphasizing on “emergencies”: “And unfortunately, we have one on our hands. People’s lives are at stake here. We need the help of the Kshiti Temple. ”

“I’m - I’m sorry.” The young man on the right shook his head: “Without any kind of official authorization, we cannot do anything - ”

“Do the fire center not handle fires when their leaders are out on meetings? Huh? Do the community health centers stop taking in the injured when their officials go on research tours?” Tae Kuo raised his voice: “What does this say about your oath to protect the residents of this very district, and to prevent any paranormal entities from harming members of our community?”

“Well, but - ” The young man on the left tried to say something, but the young man on the right stopped him.

“I am hereby invoking the The Association of Local Churches Pact. You need to let me in, and since your elders and clergymen are not here, I have the authority to the resources on their behalf in case of an emergency.” Gyuu Park looked the two young men in the eyes.

“The Association Pact - are you serious?” The young man on the left asked as he stared at Gyuu Park and Tae Kuo with disbelief.

“Yes. We are serious. What? Do the rules say only the bigger temples can do it to smaller ones?” Gyuu Park raised his eyebrows.

“Well - no, but - ”

“Alright, I think you should come in, Mr. Park.” The young man on the right nodded and opened the door: “But that letter, we do need it so that we can report to our elders and our clergymen when they come back.”

“You’ve got it.” Gyuu Park bowed to the young men gently: “And thank you, your aid is truly life saving.”

It took about five, or three minutes for Gyuu Park to draft a letter and sign his name. There were only a few people inside the temple, who were mostly in the same uniform as the young men. And with just a few quick hollers, Gyuu Park and Tae Kuo got their hands on a few bottles of blessed water from the well, and two bags of blessed rice - made of prime quality sticky rice, each grain coated with blessed oil.

“These are good and all, but where are the talismans?” Tae Kuo asked one of the temple staffers who was bringing a piece of half-finished wooden stake with some symbols carved on its body.

“I - I’m afraid those are kinda off-limits right now.” The staffer stammered: “When they left, they locked everything here in the warehouse - and only the elders have the keys.”

“Alright, take me to this warehouse.” Gloria said - she did not bring her tools, but she could try and see if she could pick the locks.

As it turned out, she could not - the locks to the warehouse were quite advanced, and there was also a passcode lock, which was far from what she used to deal with.

“Here! A little help here!” While Gloria was scratching her hair at the locks, Tae Kuo called out to some staffers at the temple to help him - he was scooping out some of the incense ashes at the bottom of a tall copper burner.

“I thought it was supposed to be from the bottom of woks.” Gyuu Park asked as Tae Kuo took three wooden bowls filled with the ash with him.

“This would have a similar effect - but it’d be better if we could find some other things to mix.” Tae Kuo nodded: “Believe me, I found it the unusual way.”

“From one of your out-of-town trips?” Gyuu Park chuckled.

“Hey, a man’s gotta earn a living and go out to learn more.” Tae Kuo looked Gyuu Park in the eyes and sighed.

“What are you talking about?” Gloria came over, shaking her head: “I can’t open the warehouse, looks like we’re not gonna get those talismans. We must find some other things that we could use.”

“Hey, sir.” Gyuu Park stopped a staffer that was just walking by: “Do you have any talisman paper and ink here?”

“I - I’m sorry, but those are stored in the warehouse as well.” The staffer shook her head.

“Alright, thanks.” Gyuu Park sighed and let the staffer go, then turned to Gloria and Tae Kuo: “Looks like no shot - which temple do you wanna go next? We need more supplies if it’s gonna strike tonight - ”

“I’m afraid the nearest temple will be at least half an hour away.” Gloria sighed: “And - if we could catch a taxi or a bus it’d be much quicker. But - we can try, they don’t come here very often.”

“Alright, first - I think we should go to the grocery store just on the other side of the street.” Tae Kuo sighed as he tucked the three bowls of ash carefully in his bag: “Hopefully they’d never need this - but just in case.”

“Okay - this sounds like another thing you should probably write down in the notes.” Gloria frowned as she looked at the ash.

“Yeah, but it’s very old, and there are talismans for the very same purpose. Not to mention - not many people like to rub grease, lard or butter on themselves.” Tae Kuo shrugged.