Tian Yi hastily opened the wooden doors, but stepped into the room as quietly as she could. She didn’t want to wake anyone up, as agitated as she was. She placed the candle on the solitary table and looked around her.

At first glance, Song Teng’s study room seemed less like a study room and more like a storeroom. That was perhaps because it was originally a storeroom Song Teng had converted into a study. They had spare rooms that could have been used for this very purpose in the house, but Song Teng had insisted on this arrangement, claiming that the poor air circulation and limited space were exactly the environment he needed to be able to think. Tian Yi never understood the decision.

The room was long and narrow, cramped to the brim with shelves of old journals and case files along the wall and packed with boxes of fading documents on the ground. The tiny table at the very end of the narrow room was an island in a sea of paper.

However, despite the chaos and disorder, the room was suspiciously spotless, without even a speck of dust in sight. Tian Yi came here far more often than she would like to admit. The study room was one of the last refuges for her memory of her late husband, the last reminder of who he had been. The turnt-out folders and unorganized mess were like pieces of Song Teng, reflections of the diligent and clumsy person he had been. Every time she carefully tiptoed her way over the mess of case reports and patrol findings, she felt like her husband was with her again, smiling apologetically at her as she brought him tea in the dead of the night.

Tian Yi came here often, on the pretense of borrowing another case journal as reference, but really to reminisce. Every time she did, she would take out the broom and cloth and wipe down the entire room, careful not to disturb any of the items and let them lie in the disorganized pile they started in. It was her way of preserving him in her memory.

However, Tian Yi didn’t have the same delicacy tonight as she usually did. She knocked over two stacks of loose papers and a bunch of stationary as she ransacked the table, trying to find what she knew had to be there. The table was small, but unusually intricate in its design for the Undercity, with one large drawer and five smaller drawers on the side. Each of these drawers was locked shut and required a key to open. Fortunately, while Song Teng was the owner of this room, he was a little too harebrained to be trusted with the only set of keys. The spare keys were hidden in a secret compartment under the table.

Tian Yi knew this, of course, and quickly opened the drawers one by one. At last, she found what she was looking for. A stack of brown papers loosely bound together with string in one corner. She flipped through its contents briefly and confirmed that it was Song Teng’s personal diary.

He was a meticulous man with a very particular habit of writing everything down. This helped with paperwork as the captain of the enforcers, but it also meant that he kept a record of his day-to-day life and his private thoughts. Most of the time, these writings were privy to his eyes alone. Even Tian Yi wasn’t allowed to read them, as they often contained confidential information, and she knew well enough not to ask about them. Under usual circumstances, she would have respected his privacy, as she had even after receiving news of his death, but the circumstances now were anything but usual.

If Song Teng knew anything about this secret of the Undercity that the mayor was intent on hiding, it would certainly be found in this crude, handmade diary.

Tian Yi flipped through the pages, reading entry by entry, verifying when they were written by the dates written in the corner of each page. Hours passed by and the candle slowly dwindled to a tiny stub, the light flickering unsteadily as the last of the wick threatened to turn into ashes.

Tian Yi threw the stack of diaries back into the drawer and laid down three pieces of paper on the table. The entries went as far back as four years ago, but these were the only diary entries that made any allusion to the mayor’s secret. Song Teng was a wary man. He had covered his tracks. Even though the contents of his diary would have been extremely useful if it fell into the hands of Fang Chen Yu, it omitted all of the key details vital to the city’s security, often only making faint references to the most important things.

Tian Yi rearranged the entries in chronological order and reread them again:

21st October 1932

Wei De Xin has made his decision. It is not surprising. Lin Zheng Yao was the only real voice of objection. While the rest of us understand the risks to this plan, we are drawn to it like moths to the fire. We have all lost far too much. Truthfully, I do not know if the mayor’s idea is a good one. It may be our only hope for salvation, or it may be our undoing. Only time will tell. Now that we have decided to go through with it, the only thing I can do is do my best to make sure it goes well.

Like many of us do, I have my own concerns. I understand the need for secrecy, but to exclude all of us, even Nazirudin, from the inner workings of this plan seems foolish to me. Peng Li Yan might be a good friend of the mayor and an important figure in the Undercity, but to trust him solely with the details is unwise. He is an ordinary man with no means of protecting himself against external influence, magical or otherwise.

The mayor was very insistent on doing things this way. I wonder why. Does he find us untrustworthy? He has entrusted the background security checks to me. He didn’t include the inner circle as part of the background check, but perhaps it would be prudent to take some precautions when it comes to something as dangerous as this.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I suppose this was the only logical reaction after everything we have been through. In some ways, I understand Lin Zheng Yao’s perspective. After what we have all witnessed, it is tempting to just give up and cherish what little we have left down here. I think if this had been ten years ago, I would have been the mayor’s loudest supporter, but there are still people I need to protect. Tian Yi, Ru Yi, I want to show you a better tomorrow. I hope we are not making a mistake.

Tian Yi turned the paper over and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. It was hard to read Song Teng addressing her directly. Nevertheless, the entry was useful. It gave her a better idea of what the mayor was trying to accomplish. She didn't know what exactly the secret was, but she had a pretty good guess as to the purpose of the project. She couldn’t be sure of her deduction, however. If she was right, then Song Teng wasn’t exaggerating. This could be an incredibly dangerous secret. Tian Yi pushed the thought out of her head and focused on the other information she had gleaned.

Song Teng’s writing confirmed her thoughts. Peng Li Yan was a central figure in this secret; the man behind the operation of the secret. The rest of the mayor’s inner circle was peripheral to it. They knew what the mayor was planning, but they did not know the specifics of the plan, how or what was being carried out behind the scenes. If there was a traitor and that traitor was planning to take the mayor down, they would almost certainly be targeting Peng Li Yan. However, the mayor should be well aware of this possibility as well. As long as he kept an eye out for the Peng Li Yan, the head of the Worker’s Association would be safe. There was no doubt as to the mayor's power.

Nothing else really stood out about this entry. However, what really concerned Tian Yi was the next one:

5th May 1933

Wei De Xin has shrugged off my concerns once again. No matter how much evidence I show him and what I tell him, he blatantly refuses to listen to my advice. He might be more senior and he might hail from a far superior lineage compared to my master, but it is absolutely ridiculous that he continues to treat me according to the archaic and outdated traditions of Taoism! We live in a completely different world from the surface world and he clings on to these relics of the past. I have proved myself worthy of my station in every way! It was silly of me to think that he would treat me any differently.

Perhaps it is this arrogance of his that made him entrust the details of that plan entirely to one person, but this same arrogance is making him overlook certain things.

There is absolutely no doubt that Lin Zheng Yao was associated with Fang Chen Yu prior to the founding of the Undercity. I have more than enough witness statements and evidence to cement that as truth. There is no evidence yet that they have remained in contact since, but the fact remains that an individual like that taking up a key position in the government of the Undercity is a threat to everyone’s safety. Even disregarding the possibility of him being a mole, the risk of Lin Zheng Yao being susceptible to blackmail or emotional appeals to a shared history leaves him incredibly vulnerable to compromise. He also frequently travels outside of city walls to survey and oversee the mining operations, which would be a perfect opportunity to contact forces from the Nameless Town, or for him to be harmed in one way or another.

Wei De Xin might have his reasons to trust him, but I cannot afford the same peace of mind. He has insisted I not reveal what I know to our other compatriots. I have pondered on the decision and decided to keep the information to myself. At the end of the day, my conjectures are mine alone. In fragile times like these, it is best not to sow further discord.

Lin Zheng Yao seems like a perfectly agreeable and amenable man who is also very capable at his job. So long as his presence is a benefit to the people of the Undercity, it would be best to let him remain there. Then again, plenty of villains have appeared like good, honest men on the surface.

I will continue my surveillance of him and adjust my response as necessary.

The entry gave Tian Yi a very immediate suspect in Lin Zheng Yao. If there was a traitor in their midst, it was quite likely to be Lin Zheng Yao. Then again, this entry was dated over a year ago without any response from Song Teng, which likely indicated the lack of any suspicious activity on his part. Tian Yi thought momentarily and decided to put a pin on the idea. She turned her attention to the last entry:

15th June 1934

Yue Ran has reassured me that he will keep things running just fine while I am gone.

I have considered the possibility of bringing Song Yu back with me for a few years now and Tian Yi has always been encouraging of the idea. I wonder how he and his son are faring. I dismissed the idea several times, owing to the danger of the Nameless Town and Song Yu’s own rebellious attitude, but Yue Ran is right. The Darktide is approaching faster and stronger than ever. If I delay this trip any longer, I cannot be sure they will live to see the new year.

There are many things that worry me in the Undercity as well. Recent events seem to suggest some sort of dark undercurrent in the shadows. There have been several odd incidents in a row now, many of which I haven’t had the time to fully investigate due to the Darktide. Tensions are running high between us and the Union. More and more resources are being funneled into the city’s defenses. I can’t help but wonder how the project is proceeding. Wei De Xin has neglected to keep us informed on the progress. Well, we’ve tried not to ask either. I might not approve of his methods, but at the end of the day, when it comes to keeping a secret, maintaining a policy of ignorance is among the most effective methods.

I wonder if it is the right decision to go for my brother now. I suppose it has to be. Even if my stubborn younger brother is beyond redemption, I have to save Ru Meng. I promised his mother to keep them both safe.

I trust Yue Ran to keep the enforcers running in my absence. Hopefully, the trip won't take longer than a week. I’ll miss you, Tian Yi.

Tian Yi folded the paper and put it into her pocket. She was silent for a long time after that. She tried her best not to imagine a future where Song Teng had made a different choice. She knew he couldn't have. He was a good husband, a good brother and a good uncle. He would have made the same choice even if he knew the outcome.

This entry wasn’t as useful as the previous two, but Tian Yi could not put it out of her mind. All she could think about was his last words to her: I’ll miss you, Tian Yi.

He didn’t even say it to her on the day he left. He just gave her a lousy hug and a peck on the cheek. She was happy to have found the diary entry, but sad in a way she couldn’t explain.

Tian Yi shrugged her feelings aside. There were more important things to attend to. She reviewed all the information she now had and slowly, a plan hatched in her mind.