The Assassin Drug.

Chapter 3

Yunlan was having a difficult time trying to put two logical sentences together, he wasn't afraid, just very confused, shocked but not in a bad way, and unable to think.

"Would you like some help to get off the floor and we can talk at the table?"  Yunlan nodded yes.

Shen Wei gripped his shoulders firmly and helped him to his feet, holding onto him until he sat down on a seat beside the table, as he prepared some tea for him. Wei lowered his hood and removed his mask allowing Yunlan to see his face, hoping that it would help him to settle down a little, as he served some tea.

"I'm guessing that you don't know what to ask first, so I'll explain as much as I think you can take, but the first thing I will tell you is, that if I think you are a threat to my identity, I can clear all this knowledge from your mind, do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand why you would need to do that to someone, but there is no need with me."

"Alright, I'll begin, my title is Black Robe, the spirit within me is as old as time and has avoided the normal history books. The Entity of Black Robe is handed down from one person to another when the host dies, it is not by family, it is by true descendant, with it comes power and conditions, truth, honesty, justice. The first Black Robe lived for over 10.000 years and the following ones have chosen to live a shorter life with their partners or lover and die when they died, therefore the Entity needed a temporary host who was already dead to stay with until the next successor surfaced. Do you have any questions?"

"How old are you?"

"Seriously?.. Alright, I'm 150yrs old, my partner died when we were 65yrs old and I promised him that I would live until he was reincarnated and I would find him again."

"What about the bank robbers? Where do they fit in to all this?"

"Nowhere, I don't know why they are dressed like me, the only thing I can think of is that I must have saved one of them, and they have remembered the way I looked, I can't appear as this for fear of being mistaken as one of them, they are normal human beings, what I mean is, they have no power, they are only wearing costumes."

"What power do you have, are you allowed to say?"

"Too many skills to rhyme off, teleportation, hypnotism, materialisation, healing which I couldn't use today because of exhaustion. I also read minds and can use the power of suggestion."

"What was your partner's name?" Yunlan asked although he didn't expect an answer, but the sadness he saw overtake Wei's expression told him enough, that this person was loved deeply even after this amount of years.

"I'm sorry but I can't tell you that, forgive me but I have to leave. We will meet again, you know where I work."

Shen Wei rose from his seat, nodded to Yunlan and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving something behind with a stunned Yunlan still seated at the table staring at the forgotten beautiful ebony mask. He reached over and examined the ornate swirls embossed in gold, too delicate to imagine how they were painted with such small details. It gave the impression of an old master artist, with a long forgotten skill unable to be repeated or copied in this age of automation.

The mask also gave him a legitimate excuse to see him again and ask if he would like to assist the police in catching the bank raiders which would also be beneficial for him, so he carefully placed the mask in an airtight bag for protection while he collected his PJ's from the bedroom and came back for another look at it before retiring but it was gone, leaving the bag behind.

Yunlan couldn't believe how fast he had returned for it, taken it and gone in minutes, they could definitely benefit from his help if he agreed but he couldn't figure out a reasonable excuse for the team to agree with his involvement and he had no doubt that Shen Wei would not lie to them about why he was there. Maybe he could work it out tomorrow after a good sleep, and he headed for bed.

Shen Wei had watched him from across the road and listened to some of his brain working, amazed at his honesty which didn't always show visibly in his actions, and decided that Yunlan was correct. If he helped it would benefit both of them but the reason for him being involved was non existent, he couldn't think of a good excuse either, bed and rest, and he went home.

Both of them arose early for work in their own homes, Yunlan for his office and Shen Wei for the accident and emergency department at the hospital, unaware that fate was going to step in and fix their problem of a legitimate reason for Shen Wei being at the police office.

The bank robbers had once again hit another branch near to the hospital but this time, one of them was injured when he was on the receiving end of the security guard's gun before they killed him. They had brought their injured man to A&E and Shen Wei, who was shocked when all four entered his department in costume dragging one in for treatment, and waving a gun around threatening everyone.

"Just fix his arm and we'll leave but no nonsense or the first one to die will be the doctor,"  the thug informed anyone who was within hearing distance, unaware that the silent alarm had already been activated and the police were listening to everything.

"Bring him over here and let me see how bad it is," Shen Wei asked as he tried to form a plan that wouldn't involve anyone being hurt.

The other three brought their colleague over and helped him to sit on the edge of the gurney while Shen Wei removed the black cloak and his shirt sleeve to see how badly he was injured. The bullet had gone straight through, therefore he didn't need surgery only stitches, antibiotics and painkillers.

"If you are weak at the sight of blood, I would turn away now because I will need to stitch this," and he waited for a moment to see if any of them had a reaction to his power of suggestion, two of them turned their backs to him while the third remained watching.

"Some people although the sight of blood doesn't bother them, they still feel nausea when they see the needle and thread sewing skin together, like old leather being pierced with a large craft needle, tugging at the skin, pulling the thick twine through and having to forcefully pierce the other edge bringing the two sides of the tough cow hide together. It can actually cause them to faint as they watch.."  and the stubborn bank robber dropped to the floor, out cold, while Wei caught the one on the gurney to stop him from landing beside him.

Wei would be able to explain that he used hypnotism for two of the men but the ones who were facing away, were still a problem.

Yunlan arrived talking loudly and hobbling in to A&E for treatment to his ankle trying to distract the remaining two thugs who threatened him and pushed him towards the rest of the staff members, which allowed his team to enter behind them and trap them. They were arrested and quickly removed in handcuffs to the cells in the downtown office. The two sleeping beauties were also handcuffed but carried out to awaken in jail, leaving Shen Wei the only one invited politely to the office to give a statement. Lin Jing gave him a lift in his car but didn't talk much, he didn't have to say anything, his thoughts were loud and clear to Shen Wei. He could see that there had been minor irritations with Yunlan but he trusted him as his boss and was loyal, and that's all Shen Wei needed to know.

When they arrived at the office, he was shown over to a desk to wait for someone who would take his statement which gave him a chance to find out what the staff thought of their boss. Most of them trusted him but he didn't look after himself very well and they were concerned about his last injury to his leg. So they took it in turns to threaten him to rest, which seemed to be working. Shen Wei was glad, his staff cared for him as a person, not just a boss and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Chu recognised him before coming over to start the interview, acting the same as Shen Wei, they never acknowledged knowing each other.  Chu would not reveal Black Robe and he didn't know if this person had accepted the Entity, he could just be a doctor. Wei sensed his hesitance and waited for a chance to speak privately to him but for now, he had to start telling him about what had happened. He didn't get very far in his story when Da Qing shouted for help, from Yunlan's office, and they all ran to find out what had happened.