"What else could we do? Who else could we ask to save Chen Xiaoqiu and Lu Mannning?" I said helplessly.
The Thin Man had no answer.
"If they wanted to hurt us, they would've done it already. I was alone at the office that day, and nothing happened to me. They even helped us deal with the kimono," I urged.
"Here's what I think we should do. We could buy some incense and joss paper today and go pay our respects," the Fat Man said. "Aren't ghosts in horror movies and novels always people who died with something left unfinished? We can ask what the people from Greenleaf want. If there's something we can do, we'll do it. If not, we'll offer them plenty of incense and ask them not to hurt us."
His argument made sense. The Thin Man thought it over and agreed, and I didn't object either.
We didn't tell Guo Yujie or Chen Xiaoqiu about it, nor did we tell our old leader. We figured the fewer people who knew, the better. We didn't want to put anyone else in danger.
That evening, we bought incense, candles, and joss paper and went to the office. The three of us knocked respectfully, asked permission to enter, and then unlocked the door, like schoolchildren going into the teacher's office.
The office was still dark and chilly.
The Thin Man and the Fat Man kept giving me meaningful looks, asking if I'd noticed anything strange.
I looked at the filing cabinet in the office. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Then we began burning the incense.
"Honored leaders and masters of Greenleaf, we don't know what happened to you. We're burning you some joss paper and lighting a stick of incense. If you have anything to tell us, please