Marcus laid on his back for a bit while looking out the window every few minutes. Gloria did the same. Neither of them got enough rest, and those men pursuing them did not seem to be willing to go away anytime soon.

“Come on, how hardworking are you, fucking henchmen?” Gloria sighed and shook her head before checking her phone for a signal, only to be disappointed: “You’re working harder than me at my day job, come on now.”

“Maybe because if you pour the wrong cup of coffee, you just have to make one again. But if THEY screw up, they die, of horrible deaths.” Marcus chuckled.

“Meh, sometimes I deliberately screw up just so I can get a coffee on the house.” Gloria chuckled: “I’m sure your day job wouldn’t allow that, but - ”

“Well, not that kind of screw up, but - ” Marcus smiled, nodded and shrugged: “But there’s some other kind of screw ups we are - we are kinda allowed. And then - ” He sighed, his facial expression got solemn as the name Sitch came to his mind: “ - and then there are cases where we are allowed chances, even if we may not think we deserve it.”

“I don’t know, man, sounds like even if you don’t deserve it, at least you’ve been some good for the city. And I think we’ve been closer to the truth than probably anyone else.” Gloria looked Marcus in the eye with an earnest smile: “That is, of course, if we can get our hands on those Blue Envelopes.”

“Speaking of - what is yours about anyway?” Marcus scratched his nose: “1148? It’s just one - I mean it’s quite close to the one I’m looking to get my hands on.”

“Well, like I told you, it’s about - a spellbook - another grimoire. And it’s missing, with no explanation or clues on where it could end up. I might have told you this before, I don’t remember to be honest.” Gloria sighed: “But that’s all I know, pretty much. A friend of mine, he left me with some notes pointing to this case. He tried to get some more information, but he - he wasn’t able to, because he was - ” She rubbed her eyes and choked up a little.

“I’m - I’m terribly sorry.” Marcus shook his head.

“Yeah - yeah. Thank you, I’m fine now. At least now I’ve got a chance to make things right, huh?”

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“We’d get more than that, I hope.” Marcus chuckled: “We’ve got a chance for payback - ”

Just this moment, both of them heard light footsteps incoming. They stopped talking, moving and lightened their breath.

“They’re not here.” One man’s voice came from below.

“Motherfucker.” Another man cursed: “Where could they be? It’s been too long, if any longer they might be already gone!”

“Just continue looking man, they say we keep looking till sunrise, then we should make it past at least midnight.” A third man said: “There are more of us around the area looking for them. They couldn’t get far.”

“This is a newly built area, and there are many roads in and out of the site. They ditched the car, but they’re mystical martial art practitioners, they still can run and go on foot.” The second man grunted and barked: “How the hell do you know they’re still around?”

“Shut up. Just keep looking.” The third man sighed: “It’s what they ask.”

“Fuck this shit.” The second man cursed as their voice faded from their leaving the room below: “If they wanted those two slippery fuckers, they should have sent more men!”

Marcus and Gloria waited a few more moments before they could relax and talk again. The two men resting in that remote balcony were gone, but on the edge of their visible area, they saw some shadows walking around with flashlights in their hands.

“Time is getting late.” Gloria looked at the dim night sky: “Looks like we’re stuck here for now. If they’re really looking to keep looking till midnight - ”

“Wait. Wait. Midnight - ” Marcus stood straight, almost knocking his head on the wall: “Check yourself again. Just to make sure there’s no - no curse or anything.”

“What - what are you thinking?” Gloria narrowed her eyes.

“I am thinking - because they have midnight as some kind of deadline, then they MIGHT have put a curse on us that would activate right then. ” Marcus looked Gloria in her eyes: “At least - that’s how I took it.”

“How certain are you?”

“Not very. But - I’d say we should check just in case.” Marcus sat in a meditative pose and was just about to start pushing his Qi.

“Let me.” Gloria stopped him with one hand on his shoulder: “You - you’ve spent more Qi than me. So - let me start. If I sense anything, then you’d at least know what to look for.”

Marcus nodded. His meridians felt somewhat dry right now, and his Qi was Yang focused. If he was to sense any negative energy, he would not be a good candidate.

Gloria took a deep breath, nodded at Marcus before sinking into the meditative state. With her Qi coursing through her body, her body glowed in faint blue. Her hair floated and danced as if breezes blew by, and light steam came off her shoulders, the top of her head and her nostrils.

Marcus kept his senses open and kept an eye on the outside while Gloria finished her check. It took only about half a minute before she opened her eyes: “No - I don’t feel anything. You want to try? I can aid you - if you need more Qi - ”

“Thanks. But I’ve got it. Just one quick check.” Marcus shook his head and closed his eyes.

He only had a very small amount of Qi left, just enough to run one cycle through all the meridians in his body. Yet, he could not sense anything.

Something was close to his face. He opened his eyes, just to see Gloria’s face almost right against his. The next moment, he felt a sweet gentle touch on his lips.