Chapter 9

If it was a false entrance...

then where was the real one?

He was nearly without a clue.

Shangguan Jin knew which way Murong Qing had gone when she left, but the particulars were beyond him.

He rubbed his chin. Lifting his head at that moment, his gaze quickly swept to the spot he had seen.

Judged as best he could, she must have gone in through the building itself.

Whether anyone remained in the building now, he couldn't know.

Shangguan Jin had no choice but to find a way into the building first. Carefully he made his way up and stood in the private booth they had used that day.

From the angle inside the booth, the way out seemed to run from the side - and in a direction entirely different from the rear garden.

Perhaps he had guessed right: the hidden passage entered through the building.

Following that thought he went downstairs, and at last, judging by a certain straight line, found that it faced a broad stretch of wall.

Something stood against the wall beside it; one sweep of his eyes told him something was wrong there.

He turned and saw Han Mubai appear at the doorway, and gave a slight beckon.

Han Mubai pulled out his firesteel and lit it.

As if their coordination were better than expected, Shangguan Jin rapped lightly on this section of wall - it sounded hollow, and there should be a crack here.

Looking along the crack he saw no other fingerprints, and none of the violent marks something slammed against it would leave. It looked as though something had been chiseled - a subtly different feel.

Han Mubai asked in a low voice: "Lord Shangguan, shall we..."

"Move it."

At the single command, Han Mubai rolled up his sleeves at once, and together with Shangguan Jin moved the chair aside. The bookcase next to it looked all the lonelier, as if it did not truly belong there.

Shangguan Jin dusted off his hands and went straight to the bookcase. Only on close inspection did he find that one book seemed not to belong.

He looked at Han Mubai, reached out, and drew the book out.

At once, from within the building, came the sound of a stone door moving - right before them, right before their eyes.

From behind the wall where the chair had stood, the rumble rose and rose.

Shangguan Jin pushed Han Mubai behind him, saying "Careful."

What if these people had an ambush outside as well?

One had to keep one's own life first.

The stone door slid slowly open; a wave of heat rolled out from within. Han Mubai naturally drew the short knife at his waist, intending to lead the way.

"Careful," Shangguan Jin said again.

The moment they entered the hidden chamber, barely two steps in, they heard the stone door grinding slowly shut behind them. In an instant both were on guard, scanning every direction, afraid something might leap out.

Fortunately, a few steps further on they found nothing amiss.

Still, they kept as much caution as they could. Shangguan Jin trod carefully with every step. At the first turning he had already calculated where the rear-garden spot was - the place from which Murong Qing had thrown the knife up.

He said: "Now we split into two. You go find your general; I'll go find Deputy Minister Murong. Whoever gets out first waits here."

Han Mubai did not nod. He only asked: "Minister Shangguan, are you truly all right on your own?"

Shangguan Jin gave a cold little laugh. In all his years of casework he had never had something this troublesome to resolve - and he never undertook what he could not do. In private, of course, he practiced his martial arts.

He said: "I'll manage. Don't worry over it."

He wasted no time and headed off in the opposite direction at once.

Going alone was, in any case, easiest to move in.

The deeper he went, the more he felt a nameless smell of blood settle over his nose, and the more he felt this place was not as simple as he had imagined.

Beyond the trafficking, perhaps, there were other things.

For now it was only guesswork. If he truly meant to close the matter later, he would have to think it through. For now he only kept walking forward.

His expression trembled slightly. Past another corner he heard, from within, sounds of pleasure-seeking. Shangguan Jin felt shame wash over him at the hearing - but now was not the time to be watching them.

With that thought he moved off toward another direction, going deeper and deeper, unable to see at all what lay ahead.

The sounds around him grew fainter, until only the walls on either side kept him company.

The thing that truly stunned Shangguan Jin was how deep this place went. Judging from the direction he had come in, it was as if they had hollowed out nearly the whole ground beneath Wanhe House.

Did they not fear the foundations would fail?

Did they not fear these people would talk?

Shangguan Jin reckoned such questions would wait until the culprits were caught. His thoughts sank deep, and he did not notice the ground beneath his feet - until somehow, one step landed on something that grated.

He looked down quickly and found that what he had trodden on was bone. The bones still held some hardness underfoot - if he was not mistaken, recently dumped.

Ground after ground of human bones made him draw a cold breath. He had never expected to see so many here. Shangguan Jin could only pray in silence:

If I find the hands behind this, I will avenge you and find the truth.

He did not believe in ghosts or gods.

He firmly believed the chief purpose of holding office was to save the people - to put the people first.

That was what his father and mother had taught him.

-

Shangguan Jin passed the bones and pressed deeper, toward a direction where light spilled out. It seemed to be -

Yes. The very spot where he had picked up the knife.

So his bearing had not been wrong after all. He could not relax; he could only think of pressing on, and did not stop.

After a long stretch of road, several flights of stairs appeared before him, and at their head, another stone door.

Shangguan Jin slowed and stopped before it, leaning close to listen for voices within. At first there was none; but just as he made to push the door open, he caught the sound of people talking.

"Wasn't it the Court of Judicial Review's new deputy minister who followed us in?"

"Must have been. I took the token from her."

"Maybe the officials are already heading this way."

"Then what do we do now?"

Three women's voices, very anxious - it seemed they had not yet thought of a better plan. But one thing they said was right: quite a few people were indeed surrounding the place outside.

"We send word to the Master first!" One woman's voice was especially shrill. "If we fail, there is only one road left - death! I have no intention of losing my neck for the two of you!"

The Master?

Could it be the one behind everything?