Page 21 of Mercy Written in Blood

She stepped aside reluctantly.

"If anything moves that shouldn't, you come straight back out."

"If anything moves in there, I'll run faster than him," Ken said, pointing towards one of the workers.

The man frowned.

"Why me?"

"You smoke."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Poor lung capacity."

The others laughed. Haruki ducked through the breach.

The air changed at once — colder than the service tunnel, though there was no obvious source for the difference. The electric work lights behind him cast long shadows across the uneven floor, but their brightness seemed unable to reach the deepest corners. One of the engineers carried a portable floodlight inside and set it near the entrance, and the chamber emerged slowly from the dark.

It was larger than Haruki had first realised — nearly twelve metres long and perhaps eight wide, with a vaulted stone ceiling darkened by age. Shelves had been carved directly into the walls, some reinforced with timber that had somehow survived the centuries; many had collapsed, spilling rotted scroll cases, broken tablets and bundles of brittle paper across the floor. A central worktable divided the chamber. The journal remained where they had found it. No one had touched it since Ken's worker had lifted it briefly and, after being shouted at, returned it as carefully as he could.

Haruki approached. The leather cover was cracked and faded almost to grey, with no title on the front, no name — only a shallow impression at its centre. A flower. The same white lotus painted across the wall.

"Was that visible yesterday?" Ken asked.

"Yes."

"I don't remember it."

"You were busy explaining why someone moved it."

"That was mostly Toma."

The worker beside him looked offended.

"You picked it up first."

"I picked it up because you nearly stepped on it."

"You told me to look."

"I didn't tell you to touch."

Haruki raised a hand. The argument died immediately.

"Show me exactly what happened."

Toma pointed to the table.

"It was lying there. That corner was hanging over the edge."

"And you lifted it?"

"Just enough to move it back."

"With gloves?"

Toma hesitated.