Asian Pulp

by Asian Pulp (retail) (epub)

  Jinyo allowed himself to be led by Madame Chamomile to a back room. As she walked in front of him, he smelled her perfume and for a brief moment wondered what it would be like to hold her naked body in his arms. He shook that thought from his head and focused on the task at hand.

  “Yes, it was a shock to us all when one of my servant girls discovered the two dead bodies in one of our pleasure rooms,” said Madame Chamomile with a trace of sadness on her lips. “In all my time, I have never had such an event here.”

  “You do understand that we must keep this as low key as possible.”

  “Do not take me for a fool, Master Jinyo. I know better than you what to do in such matters. Not all of my life has been filled with such bliss and freedom as yours.”

  “Then you are a bigger fool than I would expect, Madame.” She chuckled then led him to a small door. She opened the door for him and led him inside, then closed the door behind them. It was a small room dressed in a bright yellow with a bed and side table.

  “We found them here.”

  Jinyo walked up to the table and noticed the metal pot with two cups. He lifted one of the cups to his nose and took a deep sniff. Darjeeling mixed with valerian, rosehips and… he set the cup down and frowned. “What blend is this? I have never smelled it before.”

  Madame Chamomile tapped a delicate finger against her jaw, then opened the door and said several words then closed it again. “Perhaps the servant girl last night could be of more assistance.” Jinyo nodded thanks, then continued to check the room. The room still faintly smelled of sex and spilled tea, yet he cut out that part and focused on what lay before him. Two people, one of them reasonably healthy, found dead here. Why? What caused this? Just then, someone knocked on the door. Madame Chamomile opened the door, revealing a small girl with large eyes that blinked rapidly.

  “You called for me, Madame?”

  “Yes, Sinja. You attended the two men that were later found dead last night, correct?”

  The girl licked her dried and cracked lips. “Yes, Madame.”

  “What tea did you serve them?”

  “I… I think it was a new blend we had just received. A special. We had just received it and they were the first ones to order it.”

  “Did anyone else order it that night?” asked Jinyo.

  “No, Master. Just the two men.” She snapped her fingers and grinned, causing Madame Chamomile’s eyes to widen. “Now I remember! It was called Blue Ring.”

  “Blue Ring?” asked Madame Chamomile to Jinyo.

  “Not one of mine. Never heard of it.”

  Chamomile turned to the serving girl. “How did we get this blend?”

  “I’m not sure, Madame. All I know is that it was featured as a special last night.”

  Madame Chamomile stared at the woman thoughtfully then told her she could leave. Once the girl left, Madame Chamomile turned to Jinyo and said in a low tone, “I always check any new blends that come into this establishment. Besides, I purchase my tea from you and one other individual named Peony.”

  “I’ve heard of her,” said Jinyo. “She has a good reputation.”

  “Do you think it came from her?”

  “No. Tell me, Madame, do you have any enemies?”

  “Master Jinyo, you amaze me,” she purred. “You know that I and my establishment are neutral. I refuse to get into any of the battles and scraps fought in this city. I serve tea and allow my patrons to enjoy themselves in peace. I do not hold grudges against anyone and I have an open mind. You have to in this line of business. So, no, Master Jinyo, I do not have enemies.”

  Jinyo took her words in silence and mulled them over. Why would someone want to kill a young feminine boy and his lover for the night? “Do you know who the young man came in with? Was he a regular customer?”

  “Ah… yes, in fact I do remember him from before. Name’s Assam. Came in from time to time, although it was always alone. Seemed like a nice man, yet kept to himself. I had no idea he liked… young men. Never gave off that air.”

  “Tell me, did they come in together or alone?”

  She thought for a moment. “The young man came in first, wearing a delightful purple dress. Looked rather nice in it, although… yes… I do remember one thing.”

  “What was that?”

  “His eyes. They looked so sad.” Jinyo swallowed, fighting off the thoughts that tried to surface. “In any case,” Chamomile continued, “he came in and ordered a pot of white tea. He sat alone for quite some time until the other man walked in. From where I sat, I saw the older man walk in, take a good look around and then he focused on the young man.”

  “His name was Silver Needle. He was a… friend of mine.”

  She coughed once, unsure of what that meant, then continued. “He seemed to be mesmerized by your friend. He stumbled over to him and sat down, causing quite a stir. They talked for a while and after a while I noticed that your friend had softened up. The older man then leaned over and whispered something in his ear, then snapped his fingers for a server. The girl that came over earlier walked over to the table, listened to what the older man had to say, and then she led them to this room. That is all I know.”

  Jinyo took it all in, wondering just what in the hell had happened. “So, about the older man. What did he do?”

  “He was a simple man, nothing more. Why? Do you think he had enemies?”

  “Not sure, but then again, this just appears to be too simple. Something is missing from all of this.” He rubbed a hand across his chin. “Aside from the tea in the pot, was there any left over?”

  “I will check.” She left him in the room. Jinyo looked around once more, hoping that his eye would catch some sort of clue, anything that would help him figure out why his friend had to die. A few minutes later, she returned with a small pouch. She handed it to him and he opened it and took a small sniff. He then closed the pouch and asked if he could keep it, to which Madame Chamomile nodded. He left without another word. Once he was far enough away from her establishment, he looked at the pouch again to look at the symbol painted on the pouch. It was an octopus.

  * * *

  “Everyone in this city has a symbol, a sign as part of their image within the tea world. You, Dragonfly, have of course your name.” Jinyo paced in Dragonfly’s office while the pouch sat on the desk. “Tell me; whose symbol is an octopus?”

  “That I could not tell you and I know of everyone’s symbol in this city. Perhaps it came from somewhere else?”

  “No.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, damn it!” Jinyo stopped pacing to stare at the pouch again. Why would a simple worker and a young boy be poisoned in a neutral establishment? Why? Jinyo picked up the pouch and opened it. The tea looked harmless enough.

  “You are thinking of something.” Jinyo did not reply. “What can I do to help?”

  “Tell me; has there been any new merchants enter the city lately? Anyone you are not familiar with that suddenly appeared?”

  The fat man closed his eyes and cracked his massive fingers. “No one.”

  Jinyo slammed his fist on the table, causing it to splinter. He grabbed the pouch and left, heading back to his home. After all, he had been gone all day and Matcha needed to eat. Plus, he needed time to think.

  * * *

  By the time he reached his home, his mind felt thick like pudding. Nothing made sense and all he had to show for it was a pouch of tea and a dead friend. He slid open the door and found Matcha waiting for him. He allowed himself to smile as he made his way to his eating area. Thankfully, he still had pieces of ginger chicken that he placed in a small bowl and set it on the floor. Matcha instantly fell upon it, giving him time to ponder. Instead, he fell asleep.

  * * *

  He opened his eyes to the night and knew that something was wrong. Jinyo stood up and stretched as he listened for any sound. Nothing and yet… he tiptoed through his home, then stopped as he reached the front door. There was something attached to it.
He reached out for it to discover that it was a knife with a note stuck on it. He pulled the knife out and walked back inside with the note, then sat down in his eating room and began to brew a cup of tea. As the kettle warmed up, he looked over and found Matcha peacefully sleeping on his bed mat. He smiled as he read the note:

  Come to the last boat on the right of the pier in one hour.

  What happened to your boy lover was only a test.

  Do not bring anyone, not even your precious cat.

  He read the note several times, then crushed it in his hands. Silver Needle was only a test. He was out the door before he realized he had moved.

  * * *

  The pier was unnaturally quiet, yet he felt that somehow it was that way for his benefit. No disturbances, no chance to find help. No, he had to go alone. Whoever had sent that note knew that Jinyo was a dangerous man without any weapon. As he walked along the pier, he heard the slow slosh of the water as it lapped against the wood. The full moon hung low in the sky, giving him more than enough light. As he walked along in a calm manner, his mind was anything but. Who was this person? Why did he or she want him to come? Before he could even try to answer the questions, he reached the last boat on the right, a rather large boat with two red sails and the word Hapalochlaena painted in blue on the side. Jinyo scratched his head at the word. In all of his studies and travels, he had never read or heard of such a word. He steadied himself, then walked up the plank to the boat.

  By the time he reached the final step, a calm voice said, “Master Jinyo. At last. Please, walk down the main stairs.” Jinyo did as he was instructed. He walked down the steps until he reached an office dressed in blue and green while a man dressed in a simple black shirt and black pants sat at the desk in the middle. Jinyo did not advance but only allowed his eyes to rest on the face. The man looked normal, almost unassuming, with a simple beard and long black hair. The man smiled and held out his hand with long fingernails for Jinyo to be seated across from him. The lamp light swung lazily on the ceiling, giving off shadows. Jinyo sat down and remained quiet. This man would speak first.

  “Master Jinyo,” he said in that same calm voice, “It is quite an honour to finally meet you.” Jinyo remained unmoved like a stone. “I trust you had no problems locating my boat, known as the Hapalochlaena?” When Jinyo did not respond, the man merely smiled and continued. “Of course, you have questions. I have the answers you seek. For starters, my name, or rather, my code name is Blue Ring. I was the one who provided the tea that caused the untimely death of your feminine friend and his lover.”

  “What do you want?”

  The man clapped his fingernailed hands together and laughed. “So to the point, Master Jinyo. Yes, the point. The point is this: I need your help and you are going to give it to me.”

  “What kind of help?”

  “Help with Blue Ring, of course! Come with me, please. I want to show you something.” The man got up and walked to another door and opened it. “Please, Master Jinyo.” He got up and followed the man through the door into a larger room that looked desolate except for one item in the middle of the room. As they approached it, Jinyo noticed that it looked to be a large glass box with water and rocks inside. Blue Ring walked up to the box and tapped on it three times. Suddenly, a small creature crawled out from under a rock. Jinyo took a step closer. “Magnificent creature. The blue ringed octopus, also known as Hapalochlaena, is one of the most beautiful creatures on the planet, and also one of the deadliest creatures as well. Their venom causes heart failure, nausea, paralysis, and sometimes blindness and eventually death. Do you know, Master Jinyo, that one can dry their venom if properly handled?” Jinyo watched the beautiful and deadly creature slink around in the tank.

  “What do you want from me?”

  “Ah yes, now we come to why I called you here. You see, I want to rule the world. You are going to help me. When the venom of the blue ringed octopus is mixed with certain herbs and green tea, it can create one of the most delicious blends ever known to Man, except that it will cause certain death. I want my tea to be shipped out to not only other cities in this country but also the rest of the world. You, by nature a well known and admired tea master, will assist me with this plan and I will give you riches beyond compare.”

  “And what if I refuse?”

  “Then, I will kill everyone that matters to you until you say yes. The boy was the first, an experiment, if you will.”

  “How did you know that he would drink it?”

  “Because the man who was with him was one of my loyal subjects. He died because it was necessary to further the cause. He knew that he was going to die and so did as he was told. Thanks to my spies, I learned that your Silver Needle would be out in the city and so I waited until he made his choice of tea house.”

  “But, if you waited until he made his choice, how did the tea get there?”

  “Master Jinyo, do you not understand? Every teahouse, every tea shop, has Blue Ring. It is only a matter of time.” Jinyo took a step back from the madman to take it all in; every place in the city had Blue Ring… He looked at his host and noticed that he had blue rings tattooed around his now glowing eyes.

  “How can you rule the world if no one will be alive to see it?”

  Blue Ring laughed as he pulled out a small vial from his pocket. He held it up to admire it then held it in his hand. “This little vial. Once people begin dying, I will offer them salvation from their pain. I will give them… freedom!” He uncorked it and swallowed the contents in one gulp. “I will be their destroyer and their saviour! The world will belong to me!”

  Jinyo took another step backward, then leapt forward and kicked Blue Ring fully in the face. The madman stumbled backwards, yet stopped just before tipping over the glass box. Blue Ring kept his head down, breathing raggedly while Jinyo moved in for another attack.

  “If you think that will stop me, then you are deadly wrong!” Blue Ring looked up, rings now glowing fiercely, as he charged at Jinyo. The unnatural strength of the man knocked the air out of Jinyo’s body as he tackled him and pinned him to the floor. “You could have been my partner in all of this,” snarled Blue Ring, “and you choose to fight me? ME!”

  Blue Ring landed a solid punch in Jinyo’s face, causing blood to gush everywhere. Jinyo saw stars, then gathered all of his strength and pushed him off, wiping his face with his shirt. Blue Ring crouched down into a fighting stance and began to growl while Jinyo made his way back toward the glass box. Blue Ring then ran toward Jinyo, hands outstretched and ready to tear at anything they touched. Jinyo stepped to the side and landed a perfect chop against the back of his neck then grabbed his shirt and threw him against the glass box. Blue Ring fell down amid the glass, rocks, and water and laid quite still.

  Then, he began to scream.

  Jinyo walked over to the soaked man and nudged him over with his shoe. The octopus had attached itself to Blue Ring’s neck. Jinyo watched as Blue Ring screamed bloody murder then turned and walked away and out of the boat. Once his head felt the cool sea breeze, he released the breath he had been holding and exhaled loudly. He stumbled for a bit and almost fell down, but managed to keep walking. It was too late to do anything else except go home.

  After an hour of cleaning himself up, he laid on his bed mat with Matcha on his stomach and stared at the ceiling. Blue Ring tea already in all of the teahouses and tea shops in the city. The antidote somewhere on that boat. A madman hell bent on ruling the world dead. He closed his eyes, knowing that tomorrow would be a day of destruction, death, and possibly hope. There was nothing he could do now except sleep. He closed his eyes.

  * * *

  He wrenched the now dead octopus from his neck, then stamped on his once lovely beauty until it resembled nothing more than a pile of goo. He calmed his breathing, then began to laugh. His laugh echoed throughout the large boat as he limped toward another door. He opened the door, revealing at least ten smaller glass boxes, each with two blue ringed octopi in them.
He walked over to one of them and sighed as he placed his hands in the water and allowed one of the creatures to crawl and wrap itself around his arm. As it bit and stung his hand, Blue Ring began to laugh again.

  “The end comes, Master of Tea. It comes for you.”

  HATCHET MAN

  by

  Percival Constantine

  — :: —

  At night, Chinatown came alive. The vast majority of the faces were Chinese, men with mostly western-style hats, but a few with the brimless caps of their homelands. Some still maintained a long braid of their black hair, while others adopted a more contemporary look to fit into their new home. The patrons that went from shop to shop, clogging the alley, were men. Many of them held cigars and the smells of opium and Chinese spices filled the air.

  The few Chinese women who were present mostly stood outside shops, trying to attract potential customers. The Chinese Exclusion Act severely restricted immigration, and many of the men who had initially come over to this country were now left with no way to bring their families over. It was the Tongs who took advantage of this situation, illegally bringing over impoverished women and girls from the homeland and forcing them to work in these brothels.

  Despite the sea of Asian faces, a few white ones stood out. Many of them were from upper class areas, coming to the streets of Chinatown for a bit of dangerous fun. “Slumming” as they called it. Many of them came on guided tours.

  One man moved slowly through the masses. He wore a wide brim hat and a black robe with white cuffs over dark pants. He kept his head down, ignoring the calls of the working women as he passed. The sleeves of his robe fell over his hands, keeping them concealed as he walked through the street. Turning down an intersection, he pushed open the door to one of the many opium dens.

  A tangle of people reclined on the pillows and cushions, the bamboo pipes held carefully over the lamps that provided just the right amount of heat necessary to vaporize the drug. This was one of the more opulent dens, with female attendants and a strictly Chinese clientele.