Li Mei held the jade wolf-head pendant tightly as the silver spores swirled around her in the archival room. The green glow from the jade created a small sphere of clean air. Outside this sphere, the spores were thick and gray. They looked like a heavy mist that wanted to consume her. Master Han lay on the floor near his desk. His body was already covered in a layer of gray dust. He was dead because he had released the very weapon he helped create. Mei used her rationality to ignore the fear in her chest. She had to act before the jade pendant lost its power.
She reached into her medical kit and pulled out a small iron brazier and a pouch of dried mugwort. She also found a bottle of high-proof rice wine. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, mugwort is used for moxibustion to clear dampness and toxins from the body. Mei realized that the silver spores were a form of extreme supernatural dampness. They were parasites that lived on moisture. To kill them, she needed to create an environment of extreme heat and dryness.
"I will not let this office become a tomb," Mei said. Her voice was firm.
She poured the rice wine over the mugwort and ignited it with a flint stone. The flame was bright and hot. The smoke from the mugwort was thick and pungent. It carried the scent of summer and sun. As the smoke expanded, it hit the silver spores. The spores began to hiss and shrivel. They turned from silver to a dull black color before falling to the floor as harmless ash. Mei used her golden finger of scent to track the progress of the purge. She waited until the smell of ancient rot was completely replaced by the smell of the burning herbs.
Once the air was clear, she approached Han's desk. She avoided touching his body. She looked at the scroll he had been writing before he died. It was a list of coordinates in the western desert. Beside the coordinates was a symbol that Mei recognized from her father's journal. It was a moon inside a wolf's paw. This was the mark of the "First Wolf," the source of the original curse.
"He was sending the location to the Empress's followers," Mei whispered. "Zhao is walking into a trap that is more than just a tomb."
In the western desert, Prince Zhao faced the silver-furred wraith. The creature was twice the size of a man. It did not have a solid body. It was made of concentrated silver spores and the restless Qi of a dead warrior. The wraith swung a massive claw made of shimmering dust. Zhao dodged the attack by rolling across the sand. He could feel the heat of the desert sun, but the wraith radiated a cold that felt like ice.
"You are a ghost of a failed empire," Zhao shouted.
He tapped into his own power system. He allowed the gold light to fill his eyes. He did not transform fully, but he channeled the strength of the beast into his sword arm. His blade glowed with a faint gold aura. This was his golden finger, a specialized Qi that could cut through supernatural forces. He lunged forward and drove his sword into the center of the wraith's chest. The gold light exploded upon contact. The wraith let out a high-pitched scream before dissolving into a pile of gray sand.
Zhao stood alone in the center of the silver storm. The wind began to die down as the wraith was destroyed. The silver spores settled onto the ground, no longer seeking to kill. Zhao looked ahead and saw a large stone structure emerging from the shifting dunes. It was a pyramid made of black basalt. At the base of the pyramid was a stone door carved with the moon and the wolf's paw.
"The Tomb of the First Wolf," Zhao said. He felt a sense of achievement but also a looming crisis.
He approached the door. He saw that the seal had already been broken. Fresh footprints led into the darkness of the tomb. These were not the footprints of merchants. They were the footprints of trained soldiers. Zhao realized that the Shadow Priest or another antagonist had arrived before him.
The chapter ended as Zhao stepped into the dark entrance of the tomb and Mei, back in Chang'an, discovered a secret compartment in Han's desk containing a map of the palace's underground powder magazines.