CHAPTER 128: CHAPTER 128: HIDDEN CIPHER

Li Wei broke the silence with a request, "Councilman Pei, I am need of the parchment cipher used to access the inner archives beneath the main pavilion. There is a greater evil encircling and there is no time to wait for the bureaucratic process of approval."

Pei Zheng did not agree immediately, this was an offense that would warrant execution. Despite the massive debt he owed to Li Wei for freeing his homestead from a sinister evil, "That is quite the request...."

"I would not bother you with such a request, if the lives at stake were not worth the risk." Li Wei placed his hand on thhe councilor’s shoulder and said, "This is all I will ask of you..."

After a resigned sigh the councilman slowly left the room leaving Li Wei and Pei Wong alone, "Pei Wong, you and I are more alike than you realize..."

The candles guttered in their holders as the last of Lord Pei Zheng’s footsteps faded down the corridor. The silence that followed was almost alive—a stillness pregnant with unspoken thoughts and the weight of what Li Wei had demanded. The faint patter of rain against the windowpanes filled the void between them.

~Tap... tap... tap-tap...~

Li Wei stood motionless, his gaze fixed on the latticed window where the storm’s reflections shimmered like restless spirits. Pei Wong, uncertain and pale, shifted his stance, his hands twitching at his sides.

"What... what did you mean, Sir Li?" the young man asked finally. "You and I—alike? I cannot claim to walk in your shadow. You command spirits, battle curses, and speak as if the world itself bends to listen."

Li Wei turned to him, eyes calm yet piercing, the faint blue light of the Pearl still lingering beneath his sleeve. "You mistake likeness for parity, young master. I did not mean our power, but our folly. You gamble with coin; I have gambled with fate. Both debts, once owed, must be paid."

Pei’s brow furrowed. "Then you believe this greater evil you spoke of—it’s connected to the idol?"

Li Wei nodded slowly, pacing the room. His sandals whispered against the woven reed mats. "What we faced beneath this house was but a fragment of the original curse sealed beneath the Western Ruins. The idol was a key, not a crown. If the tide rises there again, this city will drown in more than water."

He stopped beside the table where the shattered teacup still lay in shards. He crouched, brushing a fingertip over the porcelain. "Even broken things tell stories," he murmured. "This one speaks of greed hurried by fear."

Pei blinked. "You mean my father—"

Li Wei straightened. "Your father’s ambition is not unique. Every councilman here has bartered a piece of their conscience for profit. The archives beneath the pavilion hold their records, vile truths written in cipher so that Heaven itself might not read their shame." He met Pei’s eyes, voice low and deliberate. "That is why I need the parchment. What festers below may be more than mere ink."

As if on cue, the door slid open again. Lord Pei Zheng entered, his expression a mixture of fear and reluctant resolve. In his hands he carried a small lacquered box wrapped in crimson silk.

"I should be drawn and quartered for this," he said, his tone heavy. "The Cipher of the Inner Archives is not to leave my possession at all costs. Yet if what you say is true... execution is a smaller price than extinction."

He placed the box on the table and withdrew the silk. Within lay a roll of parchment bound by threads of gold and sealed with a sigil of twin dragons. Strange runes shimmered faintly upon the surface, as though written in starlight that refused to fade.

Pei Wong leaned forward in awe. "It’s beautiful..."

Li Wei, however, did not reach for it immediately. Instead, he regarded the elder Pei with a solemn nod. "You have done a dangerous kindness, Lord Pei. Know that I will not let it end in vain."

Pei Zheng sighed, rubbing his temples. "Once you break that seal, your path will be marked. The Council has eyes in every quarter. They will know."

"Let them ," Li Wei replied. "Perhaps their sight will reveal to them their own rot."

He unbound the golden threads with a motion deft and practiced. The parchment unfurled with a faint snap. At once, the runes flickered and rearranged themselves, aligning into spirals and interlocking rings that pulsed with soft light. The air thickened with old qi, ancient and dignified.

Pei Wong stepped back. "It feels... alive."

"It remembers," Li Wei said. "These sigils were written by monks of the First Dynasty, long before the Council of Commerce sullied their hands with them. They guard what should not be seen, and yet... what must be faced."

He drew from his robe a small jade brush etched with tiny talismans. Dipping it into the inkstone upon the desk, he whispered an invocation.

~Thum...~

The ink glowed faintly blue. Li Wei’s hand moved swiftly, tracing characters atop the parchment—characters that did not remain where they were written, but sank into the fibers as though absorbed.

"The cipher will reveal only to the one whose spirit aligns with its intent," he said. "Pray that my intent is enough."

The parchment flared, and for an instant the study filled with a rush of cold wind. Scrolls fluttered, lamps flickered, and the silk curtains lifted as if some unseen force passed through them.

~Wrrrshhh...~

Then, in the air above the table, a projection of light took shape—a floating seal of golden script, spinning slowly like a compass. Within it, faint images shimmered: vast catacombs, stone chambers lit by ghostly fire, and endless shelves of scrolls bound in chains of silver.

Li Wei studied the vision. "Every secret leaves a shadow, Councilman. Your archives may yet hold the one that binds the Ruins’ curse." He pressed two fingers to the spinning seal, and the image sharpened to reveal a specific chamber—a circular vault lined with crystal jars, each containing a sliver of black mist swirling like captive storms.

"What are those?" Pei Wong asked, voice trembling.

"Apparitions," Li Wei replied softly. "Fragments of spirit essence drawn from cursed artifacts. The Council has been collecting them for years, yes?" Pei Zheng hesitated. "...They were meant for study. Containment, not exploitation."

Li Wei’s gaze hardened. "Containment demands purity of will. Tell me, Lord Pei, which among your peers possesses that?" The elder man said nothing. His silence was answer enough.

Li Wei rolled the parchment closed. "Then the corruption runs deeper than we thought. Those fragments must be sealed anew—or purged."

Pei Wong took a step forward. "Let me come with you." Li Wei looked at him quietly. "You are not ready."

"I owe it to my family. To the people. You said we are alike—then let me prove it."

For the first time, Li Wei’s composure softened. "A blade drawn too soon dulls before true battle ensues," he said, then placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder. "But courage such as yours is rare. The time for your assistance will come soon."

Lord Pei Zheng’s voice rose in warning. "If the Council learns of this—"

"They already know," Li Wei interrupted, eyes flicking toward the window. Outside, amidst the receding storm, a faint glimmer moved along the outer walls—lanterns. At least six of them, their holders cloaked in gray.

"Council enforcers," Pei Zheng whispered. "By the Thousand Ancestors..."

Li Wei’s expression did not change. "They move swiftly. I expected as much." He turned to Pei Wong. "You said there’s a rear passage to the river court?"

"Yes—beneath the garden, through the koi pond’s gate."

"Then lead the way. We move before their nets tighten."

He slipped the cipher into his sleeve and extinguished the lamps with a sweep of his hand.

~Ffft—~

Darkness reclaimed the room. Only the pearl’s faint blue light remained, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat. They moved swiftly, silent as wraiths, past the sleeping corridors and down toward the garden.

The rain had ceased, leaving the night slick and fragrant. Mist curled above the koi pond, veiling the moon’s reflection. Li Wei knelt by the stone basin, pressing his palm against an engraved lotus emblem.

~Click...~

The water parted, revealing a stairway of wet stone descending into shadow.

Pei Wong swallowed hard. "This path—does it lead directly to the pavilion?"

"To its roots," Li Wei said. "The archives lie beneath all that glitters above."

From beyond the estate walls came the soft tramp of boots and the low murmur of voices. The enforcers were closing in. Li Wei glanced once toward the sky, where clouds began to drift apart, unveiling a single cold star. "Heaven lends a narrow mercy tonight."

Then he descended into the passage, the pearl’s glow leading the way, Pei Wong watched his figure vanish into the distance.

The entrance sealed itself with a whisper of water.

~Shhhhlp...~

The night swallowed his trail.