Lin Mo turned down the southern drainage corridor, his boots clicking rhythmically against the wet basalt stones.
Tie Niu followed two paces behind, his heavy knuckles cracking like dry branches. Chu Lingxiao walked lightly on their flank, her left hand resting on the wooden hilt of her cold-iron sword.
Old Soldier Wei hurried alongside them, his breath tight with anger. “Chairman Lin, that damp corner in Sector Five belongs to Old Master Mo—Mo Tianji! Twenty years ago, the Hidden Spirit-Merchant Guild poisoned his eyes because he refused to appraise fake blood-jade for a capital chaebol and warned innocent buyers instead!”
“Poisoned his eyes for giving an honest appraisal?” Lin Mo said deadpan. “Sounds like the exact kind of chief appraiser Taichu needs on payroll.”
They rounded a jagged corner of green-veined rock.
The corridor opened into a low-ceilinged alcove smelling of stale sulfur and damp moss. A wooden sign hung crookedly over a smashed doorframe: Heavenly Secret Jade Appraisal.
Inside the alcove, two iron tables had been flipped onto their sides. Broken porcelain cups, magnifying lenses, and bundles of dried mountain herbs lay crushed in the muddy slush.
Guild Deacon Jia (Goodness: 4/100) stood in the center of the wreckage, wearing an embroidered silk robe smeared with coal soot. Behind him stood eight burly Guild enforcers holding heavy iron truncheons.
