Li Mei sat at her worktable in the private laboratory of the Academy. The room was quiet. The only sound was the bubbling of a small glass vial over an oil lamp. Prince Zhao stood by the window. He looked at the basalt stone Lord Gombo had left on the table. The stone was dark and heavy. It was a piece of the same black rock that formed the pyramid in the western desert. Mei used her Golden Finger to examine the object. She did not just look at its surface. She inhaled the air around the stone to find its hidden history.
She identified the scent of sulfur and dry sand from the desert. Beneath those layers, she found the scent of mountain ice and high-altitude ozone. But there was a third scent that was very faint. It smelled like oxidized copper and old blood. This was the scent of a message written in a substance that only appeared when the temperature changed.
"The Tubo envoy did not just give us a threat," Mei said. Her voice was calm. "He gave us a map. This stone is a key to the mountain passes."
Zhao turned away from the window. He walked to the table and looked at the stone. He was the protagonist who had to lead his people into a new and dangerous territory. He knew that the Tubo Kingdom was a land of warriors and monks. They had their own power system that was different from the Tang.
"How do we read it, Mei?" Zhao asked.
"The stone reacts to cold," Mei replied. She picked up a jar of snow-water that she kept in a shaded corner of the lab. She poured the icy water over the basalt.
The surface of the stone began to hiss. The dark color turned into a pale gray. Small, jagged lines began to appear in the center of the rock. These lines formed a diagram of the Kunlun Mountains. One specific peak was marked with the symbol of the Silver Moon. Next to the peak were characters written in an ancient script.
"It says the source of the mountain plague is not a sickness," Mei translated. "It says the source is a sleeping god."
Zhao touched the carvings. He felt the coldness of the stone. He realized that the looming crisis in the west was more than just a diplomatic problem. It was a search for the origin of the supernatural forces that had created the First Wolf.
"We must prepare for a long journey," Zhao said. "I will select twenty of the most stable Lunar Dissidents to be our guard. They can survive the cold and the thin air better than normal men."
This was the start of a new phase of kingdom building. To protect the Tang, they had to expand their influence into the mountains. Mei began to pack her medical supplies. She focused on herbs that treated frostbite and altitude sickness. She also prepared a large amount of the neutralizing compound.
"I will go to the archives and look for records of the Kunlun god," Mei said. She felt a strong rationality and responsibility for the safety of the mission.
"I will go to the military stables," Zhao said. "We need horses that can climb the steep paths. We leave at dawn."
They spent the night working in silence. The emotional connection between them was strong. They did not need many words to understand each other. They were partners who were moving from a small city conflict to a large-scale international mystery.
As the sun began to rise, the caravan gathered at the western gate. The twenty guards stood in a perfect line. They wore heavy wool cloaks over their silver-trimmed armor. Lord Gombo and his envoys were waiting for them. The scent of yak butter and cold wind was once again strong in the air.
"You have found the path on the stone," Gombo said. He looked at Mei with a look of respect. "Let us see if you can survive the climb to the Palace of the Moon."
Zhao signaled for the caravan to move. They walked out of the city gates and toward the high peaks on the horizon. The chapter ended as the walls of Chang'an disappeared behind the dust of the road. The marathon toward the mountains had begun.