Shen Bao's fingers curled slowly against the stone.
"Move," Xin said.
He pulled Master Zhou upright and dragged him through the interior door. Princess Mei was already inside, back against the wall, cradling her broken arm. Three palace guards flanked her, the only ones still standing.
The door shut behind them.
"That buys thirty seconds," one guard said.
"Then stop talking and move," Mei said.
They moved fast through the interior corridor, Xin taking Master Zhou's weight on one shoulder. The old man was conscious but wrong — his breathing was shallow, his cultivation signature almost undetectable. Whatever he had done in the courtyard had cost him enormously.
"The other half," Xin said while they moved. "Tell me."
"Not here."
"Master Zhou—"
"Not. Here." His voice was firm despit
