At the sound of footsteps, Li Wei's gaze sharpened. He quickly scanned his surroundings, grabbed Katie, and ducked into a freshly excavated burial niche nearby. Though it was a dead end, his [Investigation] indicated that hardly anyone came here. It was well concealed, too, so they probably wouldn't be discovered.
"Keep quiet."
Li Wei made a shushing gesture at Katie and switched off the Gas Lamp. She nodded, clearly understanding what he meant.
"Tap... tap... tap..."
Along with the footsteps, flickering torchlight appeared in the passage on the other side. Before long, Li Wei and Katie saw four figures emerge.
Each held a torch and wore a white robe covering them from head to toe. They looked exactly like the sort of suspicious characters the police would stop on the street. Li Wei wanted to see their faces, but they were all masked. Clearly, identifying them that way wasn't an option.
The four approached the architectural model, took their places at its four corners, raised their torches, and began chanting softly.
Katie gently tugged on Li Wei's clothes and whispered in his ear.
"That sounds like a church hymn."
"Yeah, it does."
Li Wei nodded. He couldn't understand what they were singing, but that sleep-inducing melody was indeed the kind usually heard during hymns at church.
The singers weren't sleepy, but everyone listening was.
They continued singing for quite a while before stopping. Then one of them spoke.
"This node appears to be fine, too."
"Can't we do something?"
Another white-robed figure spoke in a low voice edged with coldness.
"Four nodes have already been destroyed, including two cores! If we don't do something, this node might be destroyed as well!"
"This isn't the time to act rashly."
Another voice, full of authority, soon rang out.
"The royal family already