Chapter 148 - Securing a Passage

Finn frowned as he looked at the motionless form of his partner.

From where he was standing Zwei looked peaceful enough, but Finn couldn’t tell if he was sleeping, unconscious, or... worse.

In this brightly lit room surrounded by three old people, seeing Zwei lying peacefully on the couch gave Finn a bad feeling.

“What’s wrong with him?” Finn asked.

“He’s just sleeping. It’s a protective measure, both for him and us.” Quill replied, reading the suspicion in Finn’s eyes. “Zwei’s mental state is infected. We believe that it arose from the meeting that you and him had with Locke three days ago.”

How does she know about the meeting? Finn wondered quietly. Did Zwei tell her? Or did they force it out of him somehow?

The three people in the room did not seem aggressive or hostile toward him. Sansen Zhao had claimed that he was a good friend of his father, but this didn’t hold much weight for Finn who couldn’t confirm the claim.

A simple statement like that wasn’t enough to put aside Finn’s suspicions. The Exalted world was full of tricks and hidden motives. Chief Fang had explicitly ordered him and Zwei to keep his assignment a secret from anyone else. Even if they’d somehow learned about the arrangement from Zwei, Finn needed more assurances before divulging anything freely.

If they were hostile, and had the right powers, they could of course take the information directly from him. And just because they hadn’t done so yet didn’t mean they wouldn’t or wouldn’t planning to.

Quill read the suspicion in Finn’s eyes then glanced over at Sansen with a sigh, “You’re right, he is just like Dylan. He’s even got that skeptical frown of his.”

“Would it help if I mentioned that Jintang Fang was the one who told us that you and Zwei were working with Locke?” Sansen asked, “If I understand correctly, then all of us in the room have the same end goal.”

“And that is?”

“To stop Marcus Gantt.” Sansen said.

This name struck Finn like a bolt of lightning. He had not been expecting to hear Gantt’s name here. The image of the pale skinned, red eyed man surfaced in Finn’s memory as he recalled the last news that he had heard of the man. A man fitting Gantt’s description had been rumoured to be seen around the Cloud Peak monastery. Of course, just based on the description Finn couldn’t have been sure it was him, but he’d had a hunch.

But then his investigation on the monastery took off, the night of the living vines happened, his mentor had suddenly died. Up to this point Finn had been completely swept up his investigative duties. Looking for Gantt was the last thing on his mind. Why did his name suddenly come up here, now?

“Ah, so you do know who Gantt is.” Quill mused, “That makes things easier.”

“I do.” Finn said, “My father warned me about him before he died... He didn’t tell me much. He said the more I knew the more dangerous it would be for me.”

That warning had been one of the pivotal moments of Finn’s life. That moment, and the news of his father’s death, was what drove Finn to become a police officer.

“That’s right.” Sansen nodded, “Unfortunately, the situation has come to the point where it’s now dangerous regardless of how much you know.”

“You can thank Jintang for that. He’s the one that mixed the two of you into this mess.” The old man sitting beside Zwei said. The stocky man adjusted his thick glasses and nodded in welcome, “My name is Baolan, it is good to meet you.”

“Jintang- You mean, Chief Fang? Is he also part of your... group?” Finn looked around to see if there was anyone else in the room he had missed.

“Yes, but he is currently missing.” Sansen said with a sigh, “We need to find him and Locke, which is why we picked up Zwei. We also were looking for you. It’s a strange coincidence that you’ve shown up on your own.”

“With Jintang missing we are in a very dangerous spot.” Baolan said to Finn, “Now that Quill is here and we’ve gathered you and Zwei, we should escape to somewhere safe.”

“I agree.” Quill nodded, “I’ve already prepared the sanctuary.”

“You four go on ahead.” Sansen said, “I have things to attend to here.”

“I’m specifically worried about you, Sansen. You’re in the most danger.” Baolan rebutted, “The attack on the mansion tonight was almost certainly orchestrated by Gantt.”

Sansen brushed his hand in the air at Baolan, “Even so, I need to deal with it here. You and Quill can come up with a plan to deal with Gantt. I’ll make the supporting arrangements out here. Just like how we’ve always done it.”

“You stubborn old coon.” Baolan muttered, though he didn’t argue any further after seeing Sansen’s resolute expression.

“I suppose I’m coming too.” Finn said in a half statement, half questioning tone.

“We need to hear your side of the story.” Quill said, “And we need your help to find Jintang and Locke.”

Baolan stood up and Quill walked over to a chair to pick up a leather satchel, which she slung around her shoulder.

“Alright.” Finn nodded, “I have a police carriage out front. We can take that if we need to- what?”

He caught Baolan smirking at his suggestion. The older man only replied, “Don’t worry, we won’t need it.”

Finn’s lips twitched as he realized his mistake. Of course, these people were probably Exalted, with their own methods of travel. Perhaps one of them was in the Spacetime domain with the ability to open portals, much like his colleagues had done earlier that evening.

Finn glanced over to Zwei, wondering if one of them would be tasked with carrying him. This time he held his tongue and simply waited to see what would happen.

Baolan and Quill started walking to the door, leaving Zwei on the coach. As Finn turned to follow them he heard shuffling from the couch. In a sluggish manner, Zwei swung his legs off the couch and rose to his feet. The startling thing about it was that his eyes were still closed and his face was completely relaxed, as if he were still asleep. The lanky young man began to follow behind them in slow, lazy steps.

“He’s... still asleep?” Finn stood to the side, examining Zwei as he passed by.

“Haven’t you heard of sleep walking?” Quill asked playfully without turning around.

Sansen had already left the chamber with Chloe. Finn couldn’t think of a response as he took up the rear behind Quill, Baolan and Zwei.

“We need to open a passage.” Quill said, “Can you get one for us?”

“Servant’s quarters are this way.” Sansen replied, leading the way, “We should be able to find one.”

“We need a deep one, if it’s too shallow then it’ll take us several hops to reach.” Quill replied.

“The disruption from tonight might make that hard.” Sansen frowned, “The servants might still be rattled.”

“Worst comes to worse, I’ve got a tincture that would do the trick.” Baolan said.

“It’s better if it’s natural.” Quill responded, “Otherwise things tend to get... unpredictable.”

Finn kept quiet in the back, not fully following the conversation. From what he could gather there were secret passages in the servant’s quarters, but why did it sound like they didn’t know if they could find them? Finn didn’t know how the servants or Baolan’s tinctures fit in either.

They continued to converse amongst themselves without offering any explanation to Finn. Finn had the impression that they would simply decline to answer if he were to ask for clarification, so he simply stayed quiet.

As they walked through the manor they passed by a number of servants and guards. They stopped and bowed their heads respectfully toward Sansen as the group passed.

Eventually they reached a quiet hallway in a separate wing of the manor.

Sansen stopped, turning to say something to Quill, but she already had a look of intense focus on her face as if she were listening for something.

Quill stepped past Sansen, her eyes scanning the hall.

“There.” She said, pointing to a door two thirds of the way down the hall.

Sansen nodded, gesturing to Chloe, “Let them in, please.”

The maid obediently stepped forward, producing a set of keys from her pocket. She quietly inserted one key into the door and unlocked it, opening the door to reveal a darkened room.

Sansen and Chloe stayed outside while Finn followed Quill, Baolan and the sleepwalking Zwei into the room. As soon as they cleared the doorway Chloe shut the door quietly behind them. A quiet click indicated that they had been locked inside.

“Light a candle, will you?” Baolan said in a hushed voice, “Not all of us can see in the dark.”

A moment later a flame flickered to light as Quill lit a candle on a small table. A small, meagrely furnished bedroom revealed itself to Finn’s eyes. Aside from the table there was a chair, a dresser with clothes messily piled in its half-open drawers and a single bed.

On the bed a young woman slept soundly under a thin sheet.

Finn’s breath caught sharply as he wasn’t expecting to see someone in the room. He’d originally thought there would be some hidden passage or other mechanism to let them exit the manor. He didn’t expect there to be someone sleeping in the room they’d entered so unceremoniously.

His eyes flickered to Baolan, who was watching Quill intently, and then to Quill. Quill was quietly looking over the woman sleeping on the bed.

“Not the most peaceful sleeper, but she’ll do.” Quill said, sighing as she pulled back the sleeves of her coat.

“Stand back a bit. And don’t scream.” Quill said, looking at Finn, “We don’t want to wake her mid-way.”