You made a fair argument, but you may have overlooked one small problem: the weapon's original owner died because I was backing him up.
Fu Qian didn't hold back his praise for Zhao Ran's clear-headed plan.
"Sounds good. You lead the way."
Not wanting to dampen the other man's enthusiasm, he skipped the discouraging remarks and showed off his decisive, action-oriented side instead.
"I think we should get this out of the way first... Whoever you are, I've survived here this long, so I'm probably even tougher to deal with than the weapon's original owner."
That frankness seemed to give the assassin pause. After mulling it over briefly, he decided to issue a warning.
"You do look stronger."
And he had a point. Fu Qian gave Dean Feng another matter-of-fact assessment.
"Great. Let's go."
Unfortunately, Zhao Ran seemed preoccupied and didn't look particularly happy to hear Fu Qian agree.
After leaving the hidden room, they didn't even need to retrace their steps. Zhao Ran soon led Fu Qian to another corner of the hall.
There stood an unusually large stone table. It was still just an ordinary piece of furniture, though. Before Fu Qian could say anything, Zhao Ran shoved it aside with one hand.
Behind it, an opening in the wall revealed a passage so smooth and round it seemed almost polished.
"I made this one. It'll take us straight over there."
Before going in, Zhao Ran offered an explanation.
That made sense. No matter where in the church the passage led, it would have been insulting to Old Man Feng to suggest that he'd failed to find it for decades.
Fu Qian nodded slightly and followed him inside.
Now that was fine workmanship. Even the exit had been placed thoughtfully.
The passage wasn't very long, and its