Hastur Temple

"Boss, this is Vinayak's house."

Two red, straight-frame motorcycles stopped outside the gate, and Wu Heng and the other two climbed off.

The dark-skinned young man pointed at the shabby house before them, built only from wood and black stone.

Wu Heng glanced at the decrepit house. Vinayak, the protagonist, had spent all the gold coins he'd gotten so far on enjoying himself and hadn't bought a new house.

"Vinayak, Boss Raghav is here to see you."

The underling with the yellow braid eagerly pushed the door open with his left hand and called inside. His right hand was wrapped in a plaster cast.

Wu Heng waited quietly at the entrance. He was a man of manners, after all.

"Raghav, what brings you here? Didn't you say you didn't have any more rupees for now?"

Vinayak Rao, dressed in a black suit and brown shirt and sporting a thick handlebar mustache, stood out among his neighbors, who wore hand-sewn clothes.

He was curious. He'd turned down Raghav's offer to go into business together just yesterday, so why had Raghav come back today?

An account meant nothing to him. Only gold he could hold in his hands gave him peace of mind.

"I may be out of rupees, but the foreign officers have plenty. They're being transferred tomorrow and are willing to pay twenty percent more rupees for a large quantity of gold."

As Wu Heng spoke, he walked straight into the house. Hearing this, Vinayak hurried after him and sat down on a stool.

"How much gold do they want?"

Vinayak looked eager. A twenty-percent premium was a golden opportunity to make a fortune, but he didn't have many coins left.

"How much do you have?"

"I have about 2.8 pounds of gold coins."

"Vinayak, that's nowhere near enough. Gino alone needs at least three pounds. I'll come see you tomorrow morning. I hope you seize this opportunity."

Wu Heng patted Vinayak on the shoulder, then turned toward the door. The two underlings waiting outside hurried after him.

"Boss, why are we leaving? Weren't we looking for the treasure?"

Yellow Braid asked, confused.

"Why the rush? Vinayak will take us there soon."

Wu Heng pulled a display screen resembling a smartphone from his cloth pocket. A yellow dot blinked on the screen.

"Boss, what's that?"

The dark-skinned middle-aged man asked curiously.

"That yellow dot is Vinayak."

Wu Heng watched the dot sway slightly back and forth on the screen and casually explained.

"Oh."

Yellow Braid and the dark-skinned man seemed to understand, but not quite.

About twenty minutes later—

"Hey, it's moving! The yellow dot—no, Vinayak's heading left!"

Yellow Braid pointed at the display with his bandaged right hand and shouted excitedly.

"Let's go."

The three of them mounted their motorcycles and followed Vinayak. Partway there, a light drizzle suddenly began to fall.

They followed him west for thirty minutes before the yellow dot on the screen finally stopped.

Before them stood a temple wall built entirely of square black stones, ten meters high and a hundred meters long. An arched gate stood in the middle, fitted with a battered double wooden door.

This was the temple the villagers of Tumbbad had built for the Goddess of Prosperity's eldest son, Hastur. It was now in a terrible state of disrepair.

Wu Heng spotted a motorcycle parked beside the entrance. It was probably the one Vinayak had ridden there.

"Lock your motorcycle to his. Bring the rope."

"Got it, Boss. That way Vinayak won't be able to run off."

The dark-skinned middle-aged man gave a habitual, menacing grin.

Inside the temple stood a three-story stone pavilion, arranged like a traditional courtyard house. Row upon row of women in red hooded robes had been painted on its walls. Their faces were all black, and their lifeless eyes seemed to stare fixedly at the three men.

Holding the tracker, Wu Heng walked around the pavilion to a square stone platform of about fifty square meters in the back courtyard.

An ancient, dilapidated black well sat in the middle of the platform. A hemp rope was tied beside it, its other end reaching down to the bottom of the well.

"Vinayak must be down there looking for gold. So this is where Tumbbad's treasure is!"

The dark-skinned middle-aged man spoke excitedly when he saw the rope.

"Give me the rope."

Wu Heng tied one end around a stone pillar and the other around Yellow Braid's waist.

"Boss, what—"

Yellow Braid looked bewildered.

"It's fine. I know your hand's injured. Hakob will lower you down first, then he'll go down after you. Don't worry."

Wu Heng checked that the knot was secure, then gestured to the dark-skinned middle-aged man, Hakob Parr.

"Once you're down there, find Vinayak and tie him up. I'll come down after you."

Yellow Braid hurried to the well, excited at the prospect of being the first to touch the treasure. The dark-skinned middle-aged man, Hakob, understood and began letting out the rope.

"Good brother, hurry up. Who knows how many gold coins Vinayak's already scooped up down there?"

Despite his injured hand, Yellow Braid began urging him on.

"Got it. What are you worried about? He's only collecting them for us. It's not like he can get away."

The dark-skinned middle-aged man stifled his excitement and imitated Wu Heng's tone and expression.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the well—

Vinayak was climbing urgently up a blood-red passage formed from flesh.

A monster with no skin, like a Blood Corpse, clung to the rope below him.

A crown of gold sat on its head, and gold ornaments encircled its blood-red arms and shins. Its mouth was full of fangs, and it growled softly as it climbed the wall of the well in pursuit of Vinayak.

Its eyes burned with an intense hunger. This was the God of Greed, Hastur.

Just as the monster was about to grab his ankle, the muscles in Vinayak's arms bulged. With a forceful tug, he shot out of the Well of God.

He turned and slammed the heavy metal cover shut. Then, looking terrified, he sat on top of it. An unwilling growl sounded from beneath the cover, then gradually faded away.

He pulled more than a dozen gold coins from his chest and happily bounced them in his palm. The look of terror on his face gave way to a greedy smile.

A scraping sound came from the shaft. Vinayak's smile vanished, and he quickly looked up toward the rope.

Another rope had appeared beside the one he'd tied up. A middle-aged man with a yellow braid was slowly descending, his feet coming into view.

Vinayak's expression darkened. He hurriedly crouched behind the Well of God, scanned the area, then picked up a stone.

"Vinayak, I heard you. Stop hiding."

"Hakob's coming down any minute. We've got the rope, so you can't get away!"

Yellow Braid landed on his feet and spoke loudly as he surveyed the bottom of the well.

He hadn't expected such a vast space down there. It was practically an underground safe room, though it was filthy and dilapidated, thick with cobwebs and deeply unsettling.

"Damn you, Shahu! Did Raghav send you to follow me? Where is he?"

Hearing that, Vinayak angrily stepped out and demanded to know.

He knew the space at the bottom of the well was too small to hide in, and someone was watching the rope above. There was no way to avoid them. He dropped the stone, scooped some dirt into his pocket, then stepped out.

"Boss is up there, of course. Give yourself up, Vinayak."

The voice came from the passage. The dark-skinned middle-aged man, Hakob, had also climbed down the rope.

After he landed, the two ropes in the shaft were slowly pulled upward. The three of them at the bottom of the well could no longer climb back up.

"The gold coins are piled up in here. Take as many as you want. You wanted gold, didn't you? Let Raghav come down too. I'm willing to share the treasure with you."

Vinayak patted the metal cover beside him. He was alarmed to see the ropes were gone. They were his only way out.

"Ah, the ropes. Boss!"

Yellow Braid let out a gasp too.

The dark-skinned middle-aged man shot Yellow Braid a look as if he were an idiot, then turned to Vinayak.

"Boss said to stay right where you are and let me tie you up like a good boy. Then he'll lower the rope. Otherwise, the three of us will wait down here while he goes to find more men for backup."

As he spoke, the dark-skinned middle-aged man picked up the rope slung over his shoulder and walked toward Vinayak.

Vinayak deflated like a punctured tire. He relaxed and stood still as Yellow Braid bound him from head to toe, like a dumpling, leaving only his head exposed.

"Boss, he's tied up."

The dark-skinned middle-aged man shouted up toward the passage, and the two ropes were lowered again.

Standing outside the well, Wu Heng tested the hardness of its walls. Once he was sure he could climb back up by bracing himself against the walls even without a rope, he slid down the rope.

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Dear readers, remember to keep reading! I got carried away writing the next few chapters, so please let me take you along for the ride!