Page 17 of The Girl with a Thousand Faces
“I don’t understand. What’s changed?”
“The anti-ghost laws.”
Mercy nodded slowly.
Hong Kong had increasingly cracked down with anti-ghost laws in recent years. It was a bad look for a world-class city to have so many spirits visible on the streets. Westerners did not like to see hordes of dead, and Hong Kong was trying to attract Western investment, along with Western tourists.
For the most part, Hong Kong had cleaned away its unwanted spirits. But Kowloon Walled City was still rife with the unsettled ghosts, still carrying the spiritual trauma of World War II etched into its concrete walls and gutters. It remained a catchment for the unhappy dead. And thus the appetite to demolish Kowloon was growing.
Cobra Lily coughed a cloud of smoke. “One of the ongoing complaints that these dogfuckers keep leveling against Kowloon involves the ghosts that roam our streets. The ghoststheyshoved in here, both during the war and after.”
“I understand,” Mercy said.
“Good.” The triad queen handed the remains of her cigarette to the enforcer next to her; he chucked it casually out of the rolled-down window. “We must make a good impression today, if our arguments are to carry any weight. People think many things about me, but my attachment to Kowloon is genuine.”
Mercy did not doubt that for a minute. All of Cobra Lily’s power and money was tied up in Kowloon. She owned many of the buildings, and was one of the biggest landlords. If the place was razed, paved over, and swallowed up into the rest of Hong Kong, that would be the end of this triad. They’d both be out of a job, and Mercy’s boss would likely land in a jail cell.
“I look forward to this encounter,” Cobra Lily said, opening up a small folder of appeal documents. “They will not be prepared for me!”
Mercy was about to say something in response, but then their car emerged from the tunnel and the ocean came into sight. She’d managed to avoid glimpsing the harbor till now, but there was no avoiding the view any longer.
To one side, the city continued to shoulder upward, bustling and heaving. To the other, Mercy now stared at a vast expanse of green water, glittering in the mid-afternoon sun. Ferries and junk boats and small vessels and big ships cluttered the waves, vying for space in crowded lanes.
Suddenly, her mouth was dry like an oven, her hands clammy. It was hard to breathe or blink.
Looking at the sea did that to her, even just in photos or from a distance. Up close, the reality was far worse. It reminded her, with terrible clarity, of waking in a storm-wracked ocean, having no memories or possessions other than the clothes on her back and the bracelet around her wrist. Painfully aware that she was drowning—
“—but I anticipate we will have resistance to these claims in particular,” Cobra Lily said, tapping a particular page. “Chan? Chan, stop daydreaming.”
“Sorry, boss.” She dragged her gaze from the mesmerizing, sickening ocean view. “I’m just not used to being out here.”
Cobra Lily compressed her lips. “Clearly not.”
The rush of scenery slowed as the car pulled up onto the pavement, right in front of the Murray Building in Central District. It was rectangular and white, with arches along the bottom level. The windows slanted at an odd angle. She’d read once that it was designed to minimize hot sunlight streaming in.
The accompanying cars pulled up, too: one in front, two behind. Behind them, the street chugged with sluggish morning traffic, horns screeching in dismay at their awkward parking.
“We’re here,” the enforcer said, then got out and held the door for them both.
Cobra Lily stepped to the pavement with effortless elegance, pristinely dressed and collar turned up despite the heat. Mercy, already sweating down the back of her neck and through her shirt, clambered out of the car with considerably less grace. They strode into the Murray Building in a tight-knit formation.
They made an impressive group overall—Cobra Lily herself, in a white silk jacket patterned with black snakes, flanked by enforcers in sharp black suits and sunglasses. Mercy, still sweating in their midst, was much less impressive, and her jacket was somehow already crumpled. At least no one could see her very well, when surrounded by so many men.
“Excuse me,” said a voice in Cantonese-accented English.
A woman wearing a crisp gray dress suit, cut in the American style, was striding toward them across the air-conditioned lobby. She looked to be about late twenties in age, her face a confusing combination of youthful skin and cynical eyes. Very young, for an executive member, yet very confident.
She was not alone, either. Two nervous staffers followed at her heels. Behind them trailed a group of building security guards, armed with blackjacks.
“What is this?” Cobra Lily pointedly did not reply in English. “Are you speaking to me?”
The gray suited-woman inclined her head; not quite a real bow, but not quite disrespectful, either. “I’m Miss Tsang Kit Ling, a senior member of Hong Kong’s Executive Council, and I’m overseeing the demolition application for Kowloon Walled City,” she continued, still in English. “Thank you for bringing in your written concerns. I’ll take a copy and make sure the Council reviews it.”
Cobra Lily bristled, her hands tightening around the bundle of documents. “I was invited to speak to the Council directly, as a landlord with a vested interest. Are you now disallowing me entry?”
“Ms. Wong,” Kit Ling said, finally switching back to Cantonese, “I don’t know if you are aware, but this building is more than just a civic government office. There are highly dangerous spirits contained in the lower levels, with significant security procedures in place. I cannot allow regular citizens, let alone a known triad leader, to simply walk around with her violent thugs. We are, of course, willing to read any documentation you provide, but this is as far as you’ll go.”
There was a collective mutter of shock from the enforcers, and Cobra Lily herself had gone pale with fury the moment Kit Ling saidMs. Wong. No one in Kowloon knew the triad queen’s real name. Or if they did, they were smart enough not to use it publicly.
