Chapter 499: The Dark Chamber
"..."
In a dark corner of the hold, a dark blue flame lit up first, before Pei Ye stepped into its light.
Black Cat crouched in that corner, looking down at the floor.
"There really aren't any passages leading down on this level." Black Cat raised its head, a threadlike dark blue flame returning from the floor to its little paw. "Every inch is sealed tight."
Pei Ye stamped on the floor. A dull sound answered him.
"You said that after they unloaded those things, they cleared away every trace and left nothing behind?" Pei Ye tilted his head. "...But there should at least be one thing out of place."
"What?"
"Zhang Ercai's testimony. He said that night, they opened a doorway in the ship's side and carried out a hundred or so large vats. So there should at least be a door opening out the side."
"I didn't find one."
"The more detailed account put it close to the waterline. Perhaps it's on this third level."
"There are no side doors on the first, second, or third levels."
Pei Ye frowned slightly.
"I just checked the waterline." Black Cat raised a paw and tapped the hull, its jade eyes on him. "It's right outside here, exactly level with the third floor."
"No side doors anywhere above the water?"
"None."
What Zhang Ercai had seen that rainy night seemed like a dream.
Pei Ye looked at Little Cat. "Then if you didn't find anything, why did you call me over?"
Black Cat tapped the wall again. "But someone else did."
"Hmm?"
Pei Ye narrowed his eyes. Beside Black Cat, a thumb-sized round glint of metal was embedded in the wall.
Pei Ye pinched it between two fingernails and slowly drew it out. It was an