“Go!” Master Liaoran urged and pointed to the staircase on the right: “You go down this one, I’ll go down the other.”

“Master, are you alright?” Marcus asked with a frown. He had never seen the master this way - he was pale, sweaty, and with gray, bruise-like marks scattered around his neck and his shoulders.

“Fighting the corruption is difficult. This monk can still manage.” Master Liaoran shook his head then forced a smile: “Remember Marcus, when everything here is done, there is some more to be done.”

“I understand fully, master.” Marcus nodded. The scroll given to him before they embarked on this quest, was kept securely in his inner jacket pocket and had always kept his focus on it.

Master Liaoran took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a brief moment, the color of blood came back to his face, just a little. “Go.” He uttered with a slightly hoarse voice: “And be careful - they could still come after us, even as we went down there.”

“What do we need to do when we go down there?” Tae Kuo asked.

“The central pillar’s base will be locked. And it could require the efforts of several in order to open. That, this monk could not do alone.”

“Go it.” Tae Kuo nodded at the master: “Please take care as well, Master.”

“What is ‘The Utter Unclean’? ” Marcus asked Tae Kuo the moment they entered the dark staircase. There was only a little bit of lighting provided by some small lights embedded in the walls on both sides behind very thick and foggy glass, thus they all needed to be extra careful with each step.

“It’s some kind of by-product of evil rituals. ” Tae Kuo shook his head: “You know the kind of black tarry slime that oozes from the cracks and crannies of haunted places or even just deserted residential areas? It’s a bit like that but intensified by more than a thousand-fold. It’s - corrosive to an unimaginable degree. A droplet of it can turn a whole city block into haunted houses, killing everyone in a matter of days in the process.”

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“How could anyone use it?” Mick asked.

“No one could. It must be diluted before it could be contained and weaponized.” Tae Kuo frowned: “But even so, it’s hard to think someone could fight it just using their own strength…”

“Will he be okay after this?” Marcus interrupted Tae Kuo.

“I don’t know, detective. Wish I knew.”

The staircase was not long, only the narrowness and the poor lighting made their journey down trying and depressing. The moment they came out of the staircase and the wall in which it was embedded, they found themselves at the end of a bridge leading to the central pillar. The bridge was just wide enough for a small car to drive on, with waist-tall handrails on both sides and humble but somehow dirty looking gray tiles on the surface.

Master Liaoran appeared on the bridge to their right, apparently the staircase he chose led him farther away from where the entrance was.

Far ahead from Marcus and Gloria’s position was the pillar with a hexagon base made of matte semi-transparent white crystal. The final and unoccupied bridge was connected to a closed red metal door on the other side.

“You go first, I’ll stay at a safe distance.” Master Liaoran nodded at Marcus and Gloria from his position, as he sat down in a meditative pose: “Tell me know what you see. If this monk gets too close, the uncleansed unclean could affect the arrays at the base.”

“Understood.” Marcus took a deep breath, concentrated his Qi and began walking forward. His eyes shifted regularly to the other bridge and the road beneath his feet. The giant hole made by the debris from higher levels was still dropping smaller pieces of stone and bricks, most of which just fell to the bottomless hole below, some of which fell onto the empty bridge.

The group without Master Liaoran reached the base of the central pillar after less than five minutes. And immediately they saw what was inside of the base: a stone plate, the size of a car, and shaped like a sword.

“A sword plate.” Tae Kuo gasped as he went around the base, trying to find a spot where he could see through the foggy and matte crystal wall. He tried out several spots, then turned towards Master Liaoran: “Master - there’s a sword plate in here!”

“A sword plate?” Master Liaoran asked: “Are you certain?”

“Yes! He’s right!” Marcus answered for Tae Kuo as he circled the entire crystal chamber: “Looks like there’s no door from around - does it open from below?”

“Are there any symbols around the base? Or are there any symbols on the wall? ” Master Liaoran asked.

The rest of the group immediately studied the entire crystal chamber, from almost every angle they could fix their eyes on.

“I’m afraid there’s nothing.” Gloria shook her head and said to the master: “And the thing’s completely sealed off from every corner. Where do you suggest we look?”

“No. This monk could understand what it was for now. It would seem it was designed in a way that those with physical bodies would not be able to enter.” Master Liaoran sighed: “Which means, this would require one to be the same way in order to do what we need to do.”

“No! You can’t!” Just this moment, two gray shadows appeared in the air above the crystal chamber.