Lu Chen swung over the well railing and climbed down, bracing his feet against the wall.
Foot-sized hollows had been carved into the well wall at intervals of three chi, just enough for one person to climb up or down. Their edges had been worn smooth and rounded; they were not newly carved. From the very beginning, this well had been designed to be climbable. The wellhead was not an exit, but an entrance.
When he descended to the waterline, a horizontal opening appeared in the wall. Most of it was submerged, with only a palm-wide slit exposed at the top. The black scrap of cloth had floated out through that slit, snagging on the edge of the opening and being torn into strips by the current.
Lu Chen drew a breath and dove underwater. The well water was icy cold and carried a mineral tang. Dragon Eye could see underwater just as well. The opening lay three chi below the surface and extended horizontally. He swam inside. The passage was very narrow, his shoulders nearly scraping both stone walls. After swimming roughly twenty zhang, the tunnel began to slope upward. Another ten zhang later, a water surface appeared overhead.
He surfaced. Above him was a vaulted underground chamber, three zhang high, with three dark red pearls set into the ceiling. The light from the pearls illuminated the entire space. The chamber was small, five zhang square. Bluestone slabs paved the floor, and grayish-white fungi grew from the cracks between them.
A person was curled up in one corner of the chamber.
Black clothes. His left hand was wrapped in bandages made from torn clothing hem, wound tightly, yet blood still seeped through. Black blood had soaked the bandages and congealed into black scabs around his wrist. His hood had