The surviving official broke and ran the moment the hall's doors sealed shut behind the vanished figure, scrambling past the two bodies toward a side exit, and Wei Liang caught him before he'd covered ten steps.
"Stop," Wei Liang said, gripping his arm. "You're the only one left who can tell us anything useful."
"There's nothing to tell that gets any of us out of this alive," the official gasped, eyes still wild with the shock of watching two colleagues die in seconds. "She doesn't leave loose ends. I'm dead the moment she decides I'm no longer worth keeping around to talk."
"Then talk fast, while you're still worth something," Liu Che said, stepping in close, voice hard despite the horror still fresh in the room. "Who is she. What's her name. Where does she operate from beyond this est
