"Mister Su!" said Jingyan. He leaped up from the dais he'd been resting on to, his heart pounding with anticipation of something new finally happening in his residence, "Come inside to take a seat. This is Zhanying, my bodyguard."
"Good afternoon," said Su Zhe. He inclined his head toward Zhanying, and fell in pace with Jingyan as he led them indoor.
"Sorry for the mess," said Jingyan. In the past few days, he'd been aimlessly reading a few pages from different books or scrawling half-finished artworks on large pieces of …show more content…
He walked further into the room, his hand pressing into specific stones in the wall. Jingyan committed the pattern to his memory, watching carefully as Su Zhe pressed a brush into the stone inkwell on the desk and turned the brush-turned-handle four times counterclockwise and once clockwise.
Beyond the small room was stone staircase that descended into an unlit passage. The sunlight that fell through his closed window only reached the end of the stairs, lighting the steps in a manner that was eerie and foreboding. After that was complete darkness and Jingyan was reminded of stories he'd heard about triggered traps, brutal murders and insidious spirits. Su Zhe stepped onto the first step of the stairs then turned to ask, “Is Your Highness afraid of the dark?"
Jingyan exhaled slowly, relaxing muscles that he didn't knew were tense. There was nothing to be afraid of in the darkness, even in claustrophobic secret passages. "I've never been afraid of the