BOOK 8. Zhao Yunlan is a detective in a newly formed department dealing with strange crimes, but there are only three detectives and they don't have an office. Chu and Daqing work for Yunlan but their loyalty is to Black Robe who agreed to live...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Shen Wei was on his way to speak to Lin Jing. He had been recommended as a wizard with technology, and that's what Yunlan needed for his computers now, and in the future. He was hoping that Yunlan would employ him as the technician in his team, he would be a terrific asset in the office. He could hack anything that was connected to the internet or connect anything that wasn't.
Wei didn't like lifts very much but he tolerated them, and entered this older one to reach Jing's office which was on the tenth floor of this outdated building. A young man entered on the ninth and the lift shuddered and fell two floors, before being stopped by the emergency brakes. It came to a halt in between levels with two people trapped inside, trying to control their panic. Shouting was not going to do any good because probably their's wasn't the only lift to be affected by the power loss, and they would just have to wait until the electricity was restored.
One man was pacing, unable to calm himself as his fear increased while the other was sitting quietly in a meditation pose, being totally aware of his companion's mental condition. Eventually Wei had to speak to him.
"You'll give yourself a heart attack if you don't calm down."
"Can't help it, claustrophobia, it's bearable if the lift is moving but now we're stuck and the walls are closing in and I can't breathe."
The calm person found it hard to believe that the man beside him could dissolve so easily into this agitated state, and he had no other option to slow him down, except use his voice.
"Sit Down."
It was more of a command than a conversation starter and usually worked on anyone it was aimed towards. The panic stricken man obeyed, and instantly sat down facing Shen Wei.
"Tell me about your fear of small spaces."
Apparently he was adopted and had been moved from home to home because he was a trouble maker, and in one of the places, they had locked him in a cupboard as a prank. He ran away as soon as he got the chance, but it left him with a weakness.
"If you trust me, I can fix your problem, your choice."
Great, he's stuck in a lift with a meditating monk, why not, Lin Jing thought.
"OK. Give it a go, but I don't believe you."
The invisible calmness circulated in the confined space with nowhere else to go, except into the body of the person who needed it most, and Jing started to lightly doze as his companion looked into his troubled mind, gradually removing the automatic triggers which set off his panic attacks. Wei slowly inhaled when he was finished.
"How do you feel?" He asked Lin Jing.
"Not really any different, did you actually think that was going to work, how long have we been in here now?"
