Yan Cijin crouched.
She touched one.
"Old blood."
Bai Li looked around.
"Very old."
A sound came from behind them.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
They turned.
Nothing.
Another sound came from the opposite direction.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Yan Cijin frowned.
"Something is copying us."
Bai Li nodded.
"Or listening."
They moved forward slowly.
The tapping followed.
Every time they stopped, it stopped.
Every time they moved, it resumed.
Eventually, Yan Cijin turned suddenly and threw a blade down the corridor.
It struck a wall.
Something moved.
Bai Li was already there.
Her hand closed around a thin creature emerging from a doorway.
Its body was almost human in shape, but its skin was pale and stretched tight over its bones. Its mouth was tiny. Its eyes were too large.
It did not attack.
It only watched them.
Yan Cijin stepped closer.
"What is it doing?"
Bai Li studied it.
The creature looked past them.
Toward the stairs.
Then it pointed upward.
Yan Cijin frowned.
