Book 2 Chapter 86. Blue And Purple

Blue Envelopes, for people in the know, meant only one thing: mysterious, paranormal, supernatural, almost certainly unsolvable cases. Almost all of them involved heinous crimes, often brutal and bloody. In the minds of many, the ideal condition would be, that these cases be handed to the people who knew about the paranormal. But the history of the city would be the first one to laugh at this very idea, if it could think and laugh.

The people running the city were not stupid, and they did try to recruit many people, from greedy watchers to disgraced clergymen, priests and monks. But what effects they had, was kept secret from most in the city.

Why the color Blue? It was quite simple - for one, it was the 5th color on the rainbow, if one was to count from red. It was the first color that shifted “cold” and thus “Yin” from the perfect balance of green; for two, it was the color of water, one of the best media and conduit for spiritual and paranormal energy to pass through.

Not many in the city still remembered when the first ever Blue Envelope case was. For most of those who knew about these cases, the first one was a case that was resolved, but not entirely, and since nothing good or bad ever came of it so it became forgotten. Such became the norm for the Blue Envelope cases, for there were only a few that met satisfying endings and were resolved peacefully without remaining mysterious.

And due to the fact that they were classified cases sealed by the city, and not the community collective of the South Eastern District, most people who had interest in looking into and learning about them were ironically barred off purely due to their not being in the city law enforcement.

Yet, right now, when Gloria and Sue opened up the small old manual handwritten with writing brushes, using old language syntax, traditional writing styles and characters, they found they became the unexpected insider to a few of the cases.

“Such is the case officially documented and numbered by the city, as Blue Envelope, One Thousand One Hundred and Forty Eighth. This case is one that raises alarm with me but did not get enough attention from those in places of authority, for it was simply difficult to track down and seek accountability of.

“The Nameless Grimoire, the Unspoken Tooth Manual, the first Half of Black Thoughts, many names it has. A thin book of little renown but disturbing content. A book of terrifyingly grand affects and disruptions. Be it the crazed written mumblings of a mad man, or an inspired but misguided work of unhinged and ethic-less theorization, I cannot even tell.

“Locked deeply inside of a secure vault in the city’s archive, nary a fitting place. The city has promised time and again it will take good care and guard of the book, as one of their historical collections and artifacts. Yet the case proved to the not yet witless once again, their incompetence and instincts for passing blame.

“The grimoire was placed in a guarded and locked box, and its security should be subject to frequent scrutiny. Yet it was replaced with a fake without alerting those who were charged with securing it. A simple pile of blank paper with only a fake cover was all it took to pass the examinations.

“The city did not have an answer and hard as they tried to investigate there came no clues or leads. It was of great misfortune, or one could presume, that it was at least in part intentional and weaponized. The community collective had requested that they hand over the security tapes from the cameras in the room for the past six months. It was to no avail, for the city had claimed that it was of great security concern and the request itself should subject to an intense review process before it could be released. I think this would be a waste of time, the simplest reason being it had become a point of embarrassment for two city governments.

“I have only limited knowledge of what this grimoire entails. For I have only read scattered hard copies and some photocopies of its content. The symbols were arcane but not indecipherable. The rituals documented are complicated and brutal to prepare, but not impossible if one is dead set on trying. This becomes one of the gravest concerns for the association. There will be upcoming meetings for this. But before anyone could make an unwise decision, here is what I know:

“The grimoire, unlike many suspected, was still made of paper, not human skin. It was not much of a special paper either, rather it was the same kind of paper to make purple talismans with. Its cover was made with pressed and dried peach tree bark. It is said that the covers had three layers, and the internal layer was a sealing layer with two miniaturized arrays, one in the front and one in the back. Aside from curses and dangerous Fengshui Practices on a large scale, it documented one of the earliest and most refined rituals for influencing the flow of Qiyun and redirecting karma, a forbidden art of the highest order. One if used by anyone, would cause nothing short of catastrophes that would stain and pollute the lives and deaths of generations to come.

“The Move of Three Spirits, it is so called. A ritual of utter cruelty and disgrace. A ritual of enriching the present and current generation, at the expense of the future and the offsprings. It can, and it will doom more than the caster could even realize.”