The black water came up to Pei Jing’s hips. Every step dragged at his boots. He stopped beside a fallen pillar and listened to water drip from the roof of the vault.
Thirty paces ahead, a row of limestone pillars marked the entrance to a hall. Six bronze guards stood between them. Each was nine feet tall, with plates that overlapped like the scales of a carp. Four arms came out of each torso, and each arm held a long sword. The bronze armor had gone green, and dark iron showed through the joints, but a lump of lodestone still gave off a blue glow behind the grille in every chest.
Something clicked inside the nearest guard. A second click followed, then a hiss. Its foot came down and sent a wave through the water.
Pei Jing slipped into the shadow of the fallen pillar. He slowed his breathing and lowered the Cloud-Splitter until the water covered it.
Behind him, the surface broke. Two men in salt-stained robes came up clutching leather floats. One was tall and had lost an ear. He carried a brass trident. The other was broad, with a tiger-skin sash and a hatchet in each hand.
