Lit only by the uncertain moonlight, the road ran straight as a die as far as they could see. On either side was an interminable row of identical doors. Each cell contained only a small desk and a chair. On the morning of the examination each student was put in one with his food-box. After he had been expertly searched for miniature dictionaries or other cribs, the examination papers were handed to him and the door was sealed. It was opened again only at dusk, when the completed papers were collected. In the autumn, when the examinations were in progress the place was a beehive of activity. But now it was as quiet as the grave.
'How many of those damned cells do we have to search?' Chiao Tai asked peevishly. He didn't like the eerie atmosphere.
'Couple of hundred!’ Tao Gan replied cheerfully. 'But let's first reconnoitre a bit and get the layout.'
Walking along the desolate passages and studying the numbers marking the cell doors, they soon found that the rows of cells were built in quadrangles around a paved yard. There stood an imposing, two-storeyed building, the Examination Hall, where the examiners gathered to study and mark the papers handed in.
Tao Gan halted in his steps. Pointing at the building, he said: 'That's an even better place for hiding than those cramped cells! Inside you have any amount of tables, couches, chairs, and what not!'
Chiao Tai did not answer. He had been staring up at the balcony that jutted out from the east corner of the second floor. Now he whispered:
'Hush! I saw something move up there!’
The two men looked intently at the balcony for a while. It was screened by intricate latticework, that showed but one small window. The curved end of the roof was outlined clearly against the starry sky. But nothing was stirring.
They quickly crossed the yard, went up the marble steps, and stood close to the door, so that the eaves overhead made them invisible from above. When Tao Gan found the door was not locked, he carefully pushed it open, and they went into the pitch-dark hall.
'I'll light the lantern,' Chiao Tai whispered. 'Light won't make any difference; it's her acute hearing we must reckon with!'
The light of the lantern showed that the spacious hall was octagonal. Against the back wall was the high, throne-like platform from which the Chief Examiner proclaimed the results. Over it hung an enormous red-lacquered board, bearing the engraved inscription: 'Braving the current, the Jade Gate is reached' — meaning a student would be successful if he emulated the force and perseverance of the carp swimming upstream every year. On either side of the hall were two flights of stairs. They went up the staircase on the right, calculating that that must bring them to the east corner of the second floor.
However, the circular hall upstairs did not match the symmetrical pattern of the ground floor. They saw no less than eight narrow door-openings. Tao Gan orientated himself, then entered the second on their right, drawing Chiao Tai with him. But at the end they only found two empty, dusty office rooms. They ran noiselessly out again and into the next passage. When Tao Gan had slowly pushed open the door at the end of it, he found himself on a small balcony, open on all three sides. On his right was the screened balcony they had seen from below. Across the intervening space of about fifteen feet, he vaguely saw a seated girl, bent over a table. She seemed to be reading.
'It's her!’ Tao Gan whispered close to Chiao Tai's ear. 'I recognize her profile!'
Chiao Tai muttered something. He pointed at the long rows of cells down below, crossed by the white pavement of the passages dividing them.
'Something small and black just crept along the cells to the left there,' he whispered hoarsely. 'Then another. They have no legs, only long, spidery arms!' Gripping Tao Gan's arm tightly, he added: 'They suddenly disappeared into the shadows. They aren't human, I tell you!'
'Must be a trick of the moonlight,' Tao Gan whispered back. 'Let's go get the girl, she's human all right!’
He turned round. At the same time there was a loud crash. The slip of his robe had caught on the thorny branch of a potted rose, standing on a slender base in the corner of the balcony.
They ran inside again and paused for a moment in the circular hall. Hearing and seeing nothing, they rushed into the next passage. It ended in a small reading-room. Cursing roundly, they ran back and entered the third passage. This one brought them at last to the screened balcony. But she was not there anymore.
Chiao Tai ran back to the hall and down the stairs, hoping to overtake the fugitive. Tao Gan quickly surveyed the small room. There was a narrow bamboo couch, its padded cover neatly folded up. On the table stood a diminutive cage of silver filigree. As soon as Tao Gan lifted it up, the cricket inside began to chirrup. He put it down again and picked up two folded pieces of paper. Taking them to the window, he saw they were maps. One represented the estuary of the Pearl River, the other the Arab quarter round the mosque. Chiao Tai's Inn of the Five Immortals had been marked with a red dot.
He put the maps and the cage in his sleeve and walked back to the hall. Chiao Tai came upstairs, panting.
'She fooled us all right, brother!’ he said disgustedly. 'The back door's standing ajar. How could a blind person make such a quick getaway?'
Tao Gan silently showed him the maps.
'How could a blind person study maps?' he asked crossly. 'Well, let's quickly have a look around down in the compound, anyway.'
'All right. We won't get the girl, but I'd like a second look at those weird dark things I saw creeping along. Just to make sure I'm not the one who's getting eye trouble!’
They went downstairs and out into the paved yard. Then they walked along the rows of cells in the east section of the compound, occasionally opening a door at random. But there was nothing in the small dark rooms besides the standard equipment of desk and chair. Suddenly, they heard a muffled cry.
'In the next row!’ Chiao Tai hissed.
They ran down the passage as fast as they could. Chiao Tai reached the corner well ahead of Tao Gan and was round it like a flash. About half-way down, a cell door was standing ajar. He heard the sound of a chair, crashing to the floor, then the piercing shriek of a woman. When Chiao Tai reached the door, the shrieking stopped abruptly. Just as he was about to push it open, he felt a length of smooth silk close round his throat.
His fighter's instinct made him press his chin to his breast and strain his heavy neck muscles. At the same time he threw himself with his hands on the ground and turned a quick somersault, his assailant still clinging to his back. This is the deadly countermove against a stranglehold from behind. While his full body weight crashed down on the man under him he felt a searing pain in his throat. But at that moment there was a sickening sound of snapping bones, and the silk round his neck grew slack.
He was on his feet in a trice and tore the silk scarf from his neck. Another small, squat man burst from the cell opposite. Chiao Tai tried to grab him but missed. As he went after him, he was suddenly stopped by a fearful jerk on his right arm. It was caught in a wax-thread noose. While he was trying desperately to loosen it, the small dark shape disappeared at the far end of the passage.
'Sorry!' Tao Gan panted behind him. 'I aimed my noose at the man's head!’
'You are out of practice, brother, Tao!’ Chiao Tai snapped. 'The dog escaped.' He looked sourly at the scarf and felt the silver coin tied to its corner. Then he put the scarf in his sleeve.
A slender figure came from the cell and Chiao Tai felt two soft bare arms round his neck, and a small curly head pressing against his breast. Then a second girl came out of the cell door behind him, clutching her torn trousers.