"And keep an eye on what the Tomb Raiders sell. Don't let it fall into the Foreigners' hands."
Third Master Cao added one more thing.
"Senior Cao."
Qin Geng bowed respectfully.
Whether he was a Celestial Official or an Earth Official, anyone who drew a government salary and still smelled this much of the earth had to have real skills.
"That's everything, then."
Lu Xingmin clapped his hands, stuffed the last Paper Person into the black case, and slung it onto his back.
"Xiao Wu, before we head into the mountain, I need to go over the rules with you again."
Lu Xingmin's smile vanished. "On the way in, we'll lead and you'll follow. But when we come back out, it'll be pitch-dark, and we might even be running for our lives. That's when we'll be counting on you."
"If we run into anything tonight, or if a fight breaks out, we'll take the lead."
Lu Xingmin pointed to himself, then to Miaoxuan and the Cao uncle and nephew. "Whatever it is, you won't have to face it first unless every last one of us is dead. Your job is to remember the way and lead us back out."
Qin Geng felt a chill at those words and nodded firmly. "Understood. As long as I'm still breathing, I'll get us back."
That was why they had hired him as their Carriage Driver: for his Old Horse Knows the Way and Step-Sensing Danger abilities.
"All right."
Third Master Cao glanced at the sky. The sun had set, leaving only a smear of dark-red afterglow on the horizon, like a streak of blood that had yet to dry.
"It's about time."
Third Master Cao tucked the half-length Luoyang Shovel into his belt, and his whole bearing changed in an instant.
A moment ago, he had looked like a shrewd pawnshop keeper. Now he was an old wolf that had caught the scent of prey, his gaze cold and sharp.
"Let's go." With a low command, Third Master Cao set off first toward the narrow cleft of the Heaven-Reaching Gate.
Cao Xiaoliu followed close behind. He still looked careless, but his hand had gone to the bulging leather pouch at his waist.
Qin Geng took a deep breath. Without another word, he followed close behind Cao Xiaoliu.
Lu Xingmin carried the black case, and Daoist Miaoxuan held her Peachwood Sword. The two brought up the rear.
The five of them filed into the Heaven-Reaching Gate.
As the mountain's shadow swallowed the last of the sunlight, Qin Geng felt the temperature around him plunge, as though he had stepped from warm spring straight into bitter winter.
The level dirt track gave way to a rough, rocky mountain path.
Qin Geng planted his foot on the ground.
But what came back through his sole was not a sense of solid footing. It was a faint... restlessness.
It was as though the Earth Veins beneath the mountain were churning uneasily.
Qin Geng said nothing. He quickened his pace and stayed close behind the Cao uncle and nephew. Soon, his figure vanished into the heavy dusk of Bell Mountain.
Deep in Bell Mountain, the trees blotted out the sky. What little light had reached the forest vanished altogether after nightfall.
Darkness closed around them like a nailed-shut coffin. Only the rustle of dead leaves underfoot broke the silence, each step grating in the lifeless woods.
Third Master Cao walked at the front.
Away from his pawnshop counter, the old man was nimbler in the forest than a monkey.
He carried no lantern or torch. Trusting the night vision he had honed underground, he felt his way forward over the uneven ground.
"Hold up."
Third Master Cao stopped suddenly and took a dark earthenware jar from his robe. When he lifted the lid, a pungent, fishy stench spread through the air.
It smelled like fish and shrimp left to rot for decades, or old corpse oil.
"Put some on."
With two unusually long fingers, Third Master Cao scooped out a dollop and spread it across his forehead, neck, and wrists. Then he passed the jar to Cao Xiaoliu behind him.
"The yin energy's strong in these mountains. The snakes, insects, rats, and ants are practically spirits, and they'll swarm anything that smells alive. This Earth Dragon Balm stinks, but it masks our scent and keeps the filthy things away."
The others did as he said.
Fighting back nausea, Qin Geng dabbed some on his temples and wrists.
The moment the balm touched his skin, its cold bit to the bone, like a sheet of chilled iron laid against him. The lingering heat in his body vanished, and even his heartbeat seemed to slow.
Once they had applied it, the group moved on.
They walked for a full four hours.
Qin Geng stayed in the middle of the group. He looked as though he was simply trudging along, but every nerve in his mind was taut.
In his head, every step they had taken, every turn, and every raised tree root was being drawn into a detailed map at astonishing speed.
It was a strange feeling.
He even knew exactly where he could shave three steps off the route if they turned back now, and where he would need to avoid a loose stone.
If he wanted to go back, this maze of dark woods could not hold him.
At last, Third Master Cao stopped.
The others looked up. Through a sparse patch of trees ahead stood the black outline of a building.
It was a Buddhist Temple, ruined almost beyond recognition.
Half its courtyard wall had collapsed, exposing the weeds that ran wild inside.
The entrance gate leaned askew. The place where its signboard should have hung was empty, like a toothless mouth silently baring its gums at them.
There was no scent of incense, only an indefinable smell of mold and decay, mingled with a faint trace of rust—or blood.
Qin Geng instinctively started to step forward. Before his foot could touch the ground, a needle-sharp pain shot from his sole straight to the crown of his head.
Step-Sensing Danger!
Qin Geng pulled his foot back almost by instinct, every muscle in his body tightening.
"There's something terribly dangerous in there."
Qin Geng kept his voice low, but the gravity in it left no room for doubt.
Lu Xingmin said, "It's fine. We're not going in."
"This is the place?"
Third Master Cao tapped out his pipe bowl. He did not light it, merely turned it in his hand out of habit, his old eyes fixed on the depths of the ruined temple.
"This is it. No mistake."
Lu Xingmin lowered his voice. "The Foreigners left everything here. I've come to scout the place three or four times. Last time, my Paper Person confirmed this location. I never expected that corpse to follow it back to me."
He paused, pulled a paper cutout from the black case on his back, and ran his fingers over it. "This time, we won't force our way in. We'll catch one of them alive out here. I want to see what those foreign devils have gone to such trouble to study in the middle of these mountains."
"Good."
They exchanged glances, an understanding born of long experience.
With their plan settled, they hesitated no longer and retreated without a sound.
About fifteen minutes' walk from the Buddhist Temple lay a slightly more open clearing among the trees.
"Here will do."
Third Master Cao chose a spot and crouched down.
His two long Mound-Sealing fingers moved as deftly as an embroiderer's, rapidly digging into the soil and setting branches in place.
He used no iron clamps, snares, or other ready-made devices. Working with what was at hand, he used the tension of tree roots and the weight of several stones to build an expertly concealed Earth Dragon Snare in moments.
The trap had originally been used by Mound-Sealing Celestial Officials in tomb passages to stop reanimated corpses from pursuing them. It was just as well suited to taking someone alive.
When the trap was finished, Third Master Cao took a small paper packet from his robe and carefully shook its contents into the center.
The dark-red powder gave off a peculiar sweet fragrance, utterly out of place in a forest steeped in the smell of decay.
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