The concrete stairway leading down into the subterranean parking garage smelled of cold damp cement, engine exhaust, and stale snowmelt.
A row of yellow sodium vapor lamps flickered weakly along the low ceiling, casting long, distorted shadows across sixty empty parking bays.
At the far end of the underground bay, Grandma Chen’s white electric shuttle van was parked near the exit ramp. Tie Niu and Master Yan had just driven the first armored cargo convoy of fifty spirit-herb lots out the north service gate.
Lin Mo walked down the ramp holding Little Guo’er’s hand.
Behind them followed Chu Lingxiao, her footsteps making zero sound against the concrete, her long dark coat fluttering lightly. Dr. Gu Qinghe walked beside her, carrying a wooden satchel of medical bandages and herbal ointments.
The instant Lin Mo’s shoes touched the level floor of the garage, the temperature in the basement plummeted twenty degrees.
A sinister, vibrating hum echoed through the reinforced concrete pillars!
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
