Prince Zhao stepped into the dark hallway of the black basalt pyramid. The air was cold and did not move. He smelled the scent of dry stone and old incense. He held his torch high to see the walls. The walls were covered in murals that showed the history of the First Wolf. These murals explained the background of the silver curse. They showed a group of ancient warriors who drank the blood of a fallen star to gain supernatural power. This was the start of the power system that now threatened the Tang Dynasty.
Zhao followed the footprints he had seen at the entrance. He reached a large square room with a high ceiling. In the center of the room sat a stone sarcophagus. A man stood next to the sarcophagus. This man wore armor made of white jade. His face was pale and his eyes were a bright silver color. He did not look like a living person. He looked like a guardian who had been preserved for centuries.
"You have the mark of the shadow on your soul," the Guardian said. His voice sounded like stones grinding together. "Why do you come to this place of rest?"
Zhao raised his sword. He felt the gold light in his eyes become stronger. He was the main character and he had to face this obstacle to find the truth. He knew that the Guardian was an overpowered opponent from the ancient world.
"I come to stop the plague that began in this room," Zhao said. "The Empress Dowager has used your legacy to turn men into monsters."
The Guardian looked at Zhao with a neutral expression. He did not show anger or mercy. He was a character designed to test the worth of the protagonist. He raised a hand and the silver spores in the room began to glow.
"The silver is a gift of strength," the Guardian said. "If the people of your time are too weak to control it, that is not the fault of the First Wolf. I will see if your soul is strong enough to carry the weight of the moon."
While Zhao began his battle in the desert, Li Mei arrived at the imperial dungeons in Chang'an. The dungeons were located deep beneath the palace. The air smelled of damp earth and the lavender perfume of the prisoner. Mei walked past the iron bars of the cells until she reached the final door. She held the map of the powder magazines in her hand. This map was her primary evidence of the looming crisis.
The Empress Dowager sat on a wooden bench inside her cell. She still wore her silk robes but they were now dirty. She looked at Mei with a small smile. She was an antagonist who enjoyed the psychological struggle with the protagonist.
"You look worried, Alchemist," the Empress said. "Did you find my secret map?"
Mei stepped closer to the bars. She used her rationality to stay focused on the problem. She smelled the lavender on the Empress and the faint scent of sulfur on the paper in her hand.
"You have hidden black powder beneath the primary wards of the city," Mei said. "You planned to blow up the palace if your lunar army failed. This is an act of pure evil against your own people."
The Empress stood up and walked to the bars. She was not afraid of the consequences of her actions. She believed that her standpoint was the only way to maintain the glory of the Tang.
"The fire will purify what the silver could not," the Empress said. "If I cannot rule a kingdom of invincible warriors, I will rule a kingdom of ash. The fuses are already lit, Mei. You have very little time to find them all."
Mei felt a sense of crisis in her chest. She realized that the Empress had set a time limited trap for the city. She needed to use her golden finger of scent to find the locations of the explosives before the sun reached its highest point.
"You will tell me the locations," Mei said.
"I will tell you nothing," the Empress replied. "I want to see if your empathy can save a city that is destined to burn."
Mei turned away from the cell. She knew she could not waste more time talking to the prisoner. She had to return to the surface and gather her allies. The chapter ended as Zhao dodged a strike from the Guardian's jade spear and Mei ran up the stone stairs toward the palace gardens. The apocalypse was no longer a silver shadow; it was a red flame waiting to explode.