Chapter 40: The Collector of Paper Ghosts

First light in Kowloon was not a gentle thing. It was a harsh, fluorescent awakening, the sun yanked up over the rooftops like a landlord demanding rent. Fong Siu-Bak stood outside the clinic, the key a cold reminder in his pocket, and watched the city shake off its night-sweat. The cat, Scratcher, sat on a low wall, grooming his whiskers with the air of a creature who had decided that dawn was an...