Villain Path

Chapter 73. Which Shen have your eyes seen?

"I see the way! Follow me!"

Following Annis, Shen and Al went outside, crossed the terraces and galleries, passed the Winter Pavilion, entered another part of the estate, moved through several rooms, and in the end reached the central building and stopped in front of a bas-relief depicting two magnificent peacocks.

"It's over there," Annis pointed out.

"You're pointing at the wall."

"The thread goes right there."

"Are you sure?" Shen hesitated.

"If I am not seeing things in the first place, then I'm sure."

Shen walked over and ran his fingers over one of the peacocks. Next, he leaned his cheek against the wall, then sat down and looked up at it, got up and once again ran his fingers over the stucco.

"I think there's a joint," he said, pressing down hard on the wall, but it didn't budge. "Maybe there is some kind of secret mechanism?.."

Shen took an even closer look at the relief image. Then he tried to press on the peacocks' eyes, but it did nothing. Then he stepped back and sized up the bas-relief from afar. He approached again and began to examine each flower separately.

"Maybe I'll just try to push the wall harder?" suggested Al. "I'm pretty strong."

"If this is a secret passage, then it is unlikely that its creators were constantly competing in strength with the wall," Shen responded, still enthusiastically examining the flowers.

"What was that brush? Who are we looking for?" Annis asked.

"This is a mystery that we are yet to unravel. Don't stand there like statues, come over here and try to find the latch!"

Al and Annis followed the order, but they didn't have to bother with it for long: soon the rose under Shen's fingers clicked and moved. Shen pushed the wall, and the secret door swung open without effort.

The room inside was submerged in darkness, but there were tall candlesticks on both sides of the entrance. Shen snapped his fingers and lit several nearby candles. He took one of the candlesticks from the stand and stepped into the darkness.

Pursued by a dim light, darkness fled to distant corners. The left wall of the small room was occupied by bookshelves, the right one had a niche.

"Do you see where the thread goes next?" Shen asked Annis.

"Looks like there is a passage here... Follow me."

To the right, behind the niche, an inconspicuous narrow arch was hidden in the darkness. Annis walked into it, Shen and Al hurried after. The path led them into a corridor that split into several passages. Annis went to one of them, lighting it up. A narrow wooden staircase led steeply downward.

"There," stated the girl.

"Teacher, don't you think all of this is a little strange?" Al said at last.

"In fact, there is nothing strange about the estates of wealthy influential people having their own secret rooms or secret passages. They don't usually talk about it, but everyone knows it."

"And why do we climb into one?"

"Aren't you having fun?" Shen asked in a sad, disappointed tone. "But I love all sorts of secret passages or just abandoned places. As a child, I didn't get enough of playing like this, so..."

They talked as they descended the narrow stairs. Annis went first, followed by Shen, and Al brought up the rear and looked at the back of his head. Hearing such a naively childish answer from the teacher, he was somewhat confused. He still did not understand whether Shen acted as a child or was speaking in such a tone, because he considered them to be children.