Beneath an old apartment building, Miao Mu lay on the ground with a crowbar. After working at it for quite a while, he finally pried up all the floor tiles.
Outside, Jason held up a "Roadwork—Drain Clearing" sign, keeping other people from coming over.
After removing the tiles, Miao Mu picked up a shovel and dug a few times. If this spot had not been the right place to dig, he would have wanted to use explosives, drill straight into the building, and blast his way in.
Jason had asked around, and a woman in her nineties who lived in the apartment building had said that there used to be a basement here, with quite a few people living in it.
Later, when the road was adjusted, everyone in the basement moved out, and the entrance was sealed off. She had lived down there herself. It was close to the sewers and terribly damp in summer.
Miao Mu wore the Phantom Cloak beneath his clothes, pressed against his body like underwear. It was rather distinctive. With his previous grave-digging experience, he was full of enthusiasm this time.
With a clang, he dug down to the entrance. He hurriedly opened up a hole, revealing an iron sheet door. After striking it a few times with the shovel, he chiseled a hole through the rusty metal door.
Miao Mu widened the opening a little more. It should have been large enough for an adult to crawl through, but he did not rush inside. Instead, he lit a thin cigar and tossed it through the hole.
Only after watching the glowing ember roll all the way inside without going out did Miao Mu relax. There was no such thing as being too careful.
He crouched and crawled inside. The space below was quite