When Marcus left the Temple of Forgetfulness, he brought several things with him. All courtesy of the Master and Wuzui.

Aside from the visualization instruction manual, and the other manual on meditation and cultivating Qi, he also got two additional talismans. One in high quality red paper, an authentic crimson evil repellant talisman, power wise possibly only second to only purple talismans made with more precious materials and with more demanding technique; the other was one made with a kind of brown paper that had some extra thickness. From the brush strokes of the patterns, he could tell that it was not the work of the master, but of Wuzui. It was also an evil repellant talisman, but with the bonus ability of glowing when unclean entities were close.

The final thing he got from the temple was a simple jade pendant, with the rough shape of a sitting and laughing buddha. According to the master, it was not anything special or especially blessed. It was just something that had been in this temple for quite a while, and in theory could help Marcus in thwarting any adverse influence from the fabric of the Wuchang robe. It was not that the master, or Wuzui for that matter, knew what kind of effect it would have on Marcus. It was just that, something belonging to powerful otherworldly beings would in no doubt have unexpected effects on any human.

The time was already late when he reached the bus stop. And to his surprise, there was a bus coming his way. He double checked everything before getting on, and took a good look at the bus driver before sitting down. This was not a ghost bus, at least as far as he could tell.

While sitting on the seat close to the front door, he checked out the interior of the bus two more times. He could not be too careful. Last time, he did not really recognize that the kind and warm driver was not human, and the actual sickly child he thought to be a ghost was actually a human young boy just looking for help from the temple.

“What - what are you looking at?” The driver, a man that looked a couple of years younger than Marcus asked, his eyes shifting and his nose flaring - he was nervous.

“Don’t worry, I’m just - just trying to make sure that you are safe and are adhering to the safety regulations.” Marcus pulled out his badge: “And I am confident that you are fine. No need to worry.”

“Well - I - I just took this job because of the pay! And the health insurance!” The driver shook his head, his fingers clutched onto the steering wheel as if his life depended on it: “I - I have all the paperwork, I promise you - ”

“I’m sure you do.” Marcus nodded: “Watch the road, okay, my life depends on it.”

“Oh my god. Please don’t fine me.” The driver’s voice cracked: “I really need this money! And driving these scary, creepy ass night shifts is all I can do! If you fine me again I wouldn’t even be able to afford food next week!”

“Fine you? What are you talking about?” Marcus frowned: “Fines of bus drivers are not under the PCPD’s jurisdiction.”

“Well - ” The man was stunned for a short moment: “I - I didn’t know that.”

“Did you tell your company? What did they say?”

“No - I - I’m afraid that if I did, they’d fire me!”

“Nonono, believe me, they probably won’t.” Marcus shook his head, then continued after a short moment of thought: “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the city really needs night shift drivers. Do you - do you have any protection with you?”

“Protection? Like - like buddha statues? Or Bagua Mirrors?” The driver shrugged.

“Well - yeah, possibly. Or things like that.”

“Well, I thought you were a cop? What kind of cop says things like that?” The driver chuckled.

“An open minded one. Watch the road.” Marcus sighed and leaned back: “Also, look into this information, okay? I’m pretty sure they’re not cops. Cops can’t fine you like that. Unless you violated traffic laws. Did you violate traffic laws?”

“I - I don’t think so?” The driver appeared confused. He squinted his eyes: “I - I really don’t remember what happened. They just yelled at me, screamed at me, and then stopped the passengers from coming in. Then gave me a hefty fine. I don’t really know - ”

“You should go to a police precinct and submit a report.” Marcus pushed the “stop” button as the bus was getting close to the stop where he should get off: “And - uh, if your route passes through the South-Eastern District, you can go to the community collective for help. I don’t know their process, but they SHOULD offer you some guidance.”

“Well, thank you, officer.” The man sighed and nodded: “Maybe I’ll think about that.”

“Thank you as well.” Marcus waved at the driver: “And be safe.”

Marcus hesitated when he reached the floor below the one where his apartment was - this was where the family was. Maybe he needed to pay the family another visit and chat with them. But he was not entirely sure whether that would be a wise choice for now. How he approached things last time already gave him regret.

“Of - officer?” A familiar voice greeted him.

Marcus looked up, and saw the son of the family, weary with bags under his eyes, holding a small plastic bag of old clothes.