Gordon pushed Frankie forward so he could join the rest of his companions. Grant ans his friend set down their weapons.

"Sorry Grant he found me shortly after I left the casino. I helped him find this place."

"Oh don't be sorry Frankie you did just fine," said Gordon, smiling. "Ok so now that we're all back together why don't you catch us up to speed Mr. Foreman?"

Grant recounted everything that had happened since finding the abandoned chapel building and entering the underground hideout of the Taiping cult. Gordon listened with an annoyingly disinterested face.

"Ok so where is the treasure then?" said Gordon. "Does he know?"

Grant looked down at the pastor Gordon was pointing at. "Maybe. But there is no need to ask. You've found it."

"What?"

Grant gestured to the creature behind him. "Can money buy something like this?"

Gordon frowned and walked around the creature's body, looking at it up and down. "Looks like a mutated gorilla dog hybrid or something."

It was a creature brought to life by some lost form of supernatural alchemy," said Grant. "The pastor here torched a few of his congregation and their flesh was used to make this creature you see before you."

Gordon squinted at Grant, his brain clearly working to process what had just been said. "So how is this the treasure?"

Grant laughed. "Can you imagine the scientific applications for this kind of product? I bet the military would love to analyze this creature. Imagine all those monsters from your favorite video games and comic books brought to life. Makes the T Rex look like last years model. My guess is that Hong was a delusional demon worshiper. His miracles were just the result of his dealings with....." Grant broke off for dramatic effect, he put on a half faked look of horror and realization.

"What?" Gordon said, his anxiousness and curiosity sounding out clearly in his tone.

"The other side," said Grant, locking eyes with Gordon. "If you catch my drift. Something dark is at work here Gordon. I suggest we get the fuck out out of fairy tale land while we still can."

"The ashes came out of that golden urn," said Makenna, who seemed to be playing along. "Looks like something you'd see in a sorcerer's cupboard, except that it is the real deal."

Gordon walked over to the knocked over urn and stooped down. His arm reach out to touch it.

"No!" Grant barked. "Don't touch it!"

Gordon immediately hopped back. "Why? Why shouldn't I touch it?"

"Jesus man just look what it did to the people! Who knows what will happen if you touch the residue inside."

"I'm going to have to somehow move this creature out of the country," said Gordon. "This is the find of the century. Like finding a crashed UFO in your backyard."

"Now wait a second we got here first," said Grant, stepping forward.

"Stop right there," said Gordon, holding up his hand. Two of his henchmen raised their guns.

"Ok ok cool it you win," said Grant. "Just let us live."

Gordon laughed. "Well I must admit the treasure wasn't what I expected but I'll take the secrets to real sorcery over a few coins any day."

"So then what happens now?" said Grant steadily.

"Well your free to do as you please!" said Gordon, with a chuckle. "Competitions over Foreman. But I swear if you so much as hint to someone that I might have been to one to find this creature first."

"I will be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life right?" said Grant with a sigh. "Yeah I think I got it."

"Good," said Gordon, with a bright smile. "Now I'll be back with some proper tools to move this thing. So long Grant. You'll never see me again I promise you that."

"That sounds real nice," said Grant with a grin.

With that Gordon and his men left, much to Grant's disbelief.

"I can't believe we actually fooled him," said Makenna.

"Hey if you saw the mythical beast bleeding out inside a underground church hidden for over a century your sense of belief would be pretty malleable I imagine," said Frankie.

"Man its good to see you again," said Grant. "I'm sorry we parted on the wrong note."

"It's my fault," said Frankie. "What's important is that we're here and we're here together."

"Right then lets look for the real treasure now," said Grant.

Grant explained to Frankie the arched doorway that opened and closed rapidly like it had some kind of sensor.

"It's so seamlessly cut out of the wall that you barely notice the outline of the door even from up close," said Frankie.

Makenna stepped up to it bu the door didn't budge. Waving her hand around and jumping up and down produced no results either.

"Maybe it has a mind of its own," said Monty. "Maybe it recognizes us as intruders."

"I don't see any buttons, levers, or switches," said Makenna. "This chamber is big but pretty plain."

Grant knelt in front of the door and brushed his hand over it. It was as smooth as marble and there were no markings of any kind. A faint but unmistakable smell caught his nose.

"I smell blood," said Grant. "Rourke come here."

Rourke knelt beside Grant and sniffed up and down. "Yeah I know the smell better than most. It's blood."

Monty tried as well. "I don't smell anything."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Clearly you haven't bled enough then," said Rourke, patting him on the shoulder. "Or bled someone else."

"What does it mean?" said Makenna.

"It means the door demands an offering of blood," said Frankie. He took otu a pocket knife and slashed his palm without hesitation, impressing Grant.

Frankie winced as he wiped his palm on the doorway, smearing a good amount of blood, however the door still did not move.

"Maybe we need a lot more?" Frankie pondered out loud.

"The person we saw come through didn't have any noticeable wounds so no I don't think it is a matter of quantity," said Grant. "Perhaps it can detect intruders after all...."

"The beast!" Frankie exclaimed ,running over to the dead creature. He dipped his hands in its dark blood and ran back over. The door slid open so suddenly and quickly that they all jumped back startled.

"Good thinkign Frankie," said Grant. "Alright lets move out before Gordon gets back."

"Wait what if he notices the blood?" Makenna asked. The door closed as Rourke who, was the last to come through, passed under it. Frankie smeared blood on the door again and it opened. Backing away it then closed and the blood on its surface began to disappear as if being absorbed.

"Looks like that's taken care of too," said Grant.

As they continued through the hallways carved into the earth with brick ceilings and floors, they passed by many plain and empty chambers filled with things that the church members had left behind. A lot of it was everyday supplies such as pots and pans, furniture, and simple food. It was strange to see the evidence of 21st century living within the halls of a historic site once long lost to history.

The deeper they delved the more apparent it become how seldom the members of the church ventured this far into the hideout.

After a long walk down a path lit only by their flashlights they came at last to the end. A pairs of massive stone doors blocked their way. In the center was a circular piece that seems to bind the two halves of the door together.

"It's like one of those Taiping coins," said Makenna. "But its upside down."

Makenna stepped up to the wheel and gripped its edges with her hands before turning it right side up. The doors shuddered before sliding open slowly, revealing a large chamber with a higher ceiling. The plain dirt floor ended three feet past the entrance, with the rest of it composed of large stone square tiles each at least half a foot wide.

Grant looked up as he stepped in. Shining his light he could see that the ceiling had a beautiful artwork painted onto it. It seems to depict a man he could only guess as Hong addressing an a gathering of Taiping people.

"These stone tiles have Chinese characters on them," said Monty.

"Yeah they look like they sink down too," said Makenna. "See the usually wide spaces between them?"

"Ok so we step on the wrong tile and we trigger something?" said Grant.

Makenna gestured to the holes in the walls. "Somehow I don't think those dispense gumballs and candy."

"Right."

"So its a very archaic keyboard then," said Monty. "You input the password by walking a path in the right order."

Grant shone his light at the end of the room. A tall statue of Hong stood there.

"Maybe we should go back and question the pastor," said Monty.

"No Gordon might be back," said Rourke. "We figure this out ourselves."

Grant shined his light over the tiles, studying them. There were ten columns of seven tiles, each with their own unique characters.

"The password would be something related to the Taiping or Hong specifically," said Grant. "There are ten columns of seven tiles leading up to the statue. So logically the password or pass phrase rather, is seven characters in length."

"This isn't going to be easy," said Makenna.

"Seven characters," Frankie muttered to himself. "Hong wrote a famous poem shortly before the Taiping Rebellion started which laid out the foundation for the Taiping's ideology. Each line was exactly seven characters in length."

"But he must have written many poems in his lifetime," said Grant. "So which one would it be?"

The team sat and waited as Frankie took his time studying the tiles. He was absolutely still for nearly and hour, crouched in front of the passphrase floor and staring ahead.

"I'm going to guide you Grant," said Frankie at last. "I'll stand here and guide you every step of the way.

Grant stood up. "Are you sure you have the right poem in mind?"

Frankie turned and nodded. "Trust me."

Frankie reached out and tested one of the tiles before anyone could protest. The tile sunk into the floor from the pressure Frankie was applying with a creaking sound.

"Ok first tile down," said Frankie as Grant stepped onto the tile which had the Chinese character for hand carved into it. "Now step to the tile to your immediate right."

"Wait but I thought each line had seven characters!" Grant yelled, catching himself before he stepped out. "Shouldn't I be stepping ahead?!"

"No I think its actually the first two lines of the poem," said Frankie. "So you will be stepping on fourteen tiles."

"Ok ok I trust you," said Grant, feeling sweat pour down his face and back. He stepped on the tile to his right. He never felt to uptight in his life.

"Jesus it's hard to see from here," said Frankie. "Dust on the tiles. Ok Grant now step ahead on the tile to your top right!"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"The tile right front of the tile to your immediate right!"

"Oh ok I get it, I get it!"

"Now step over two tiles to your left!"

Grant counted one under his breath as he stepped to his left, then two when he stepped again.

Frankie directed him like this for several tense minutes until at last Grant stepped off the last tile and onto the wide but short stone base the statue stood on. The statue suddenly shook and moved back by some hidden mechanism before sinking into a large hole on the floor in the tunnel behind it. A trapdoor of stone then move over it to cover up the opening.

Clearly unable to contain their excitement the rest of the team hurried on over, following the sunken tiles carefully.

Through the short tunnel they entered the largest chamber yet. Though there were no lights and the torches on the walls hadn't been lit in over a century a quick flick of the flashlight across the room had Grant grinning from ear to ear.

"This is it," he whispered.

Rourke handed everyone pocket lighters and together they all ran from torch to torch, providing adequate illumination for the chamber as a whole.

"My God," Makenna breathed.

The riches of the Taiping were spread out before them. Wooden tables displayed ornaments and art pieces on cloth. Silk clothing and sheets hung from or were placed neatly folded onto old shelves that also held scrolls and books covered in dust. Sacks and chests contained heaps of coins of different sizes and materials. Grant was pleased to see that a lot of them seemed to be gold or silver. He stumbled back a step. It was too much at once.

"Oh man oh man!" said Monty, hurrying on over to admire the wealth of riches.

"Grant look at this!" Frankie cried, rushing over to a enormous golden pineapple sitting upright on the floor by a Buddha statue.

"Wow this looks like the biggest gold piece here," said Grant.

"This must be the golden pineapple that sat on the porcelain tower of Nanjing!" Frankie exclaimed, touching the pineapple. "The tower was destroyed by the Taiping but I guess they kept some of the artifacts from the tower for themselves."

Frankie and Monty continued to hop from treasure to treasure, artifact to artifacts like children at a toy store. Rourke quietly examined the Buddha statues and artworks on the tables.

Grant put his hands on his hips and let out a long sigh.

"Wow you really did it," said Makenna. "You found the treasure."

"Does this cover your laptop?" said Grant.

Makenna picked up a jade bracelet from the nearest table. "Yeah I think this about covers it. Just barely though."

Grant laughed. "Gordon's going to be pissed when he finds out we duped him."

"Oh don't worry about that!" said Frankie, examining a porcelain bowl. "I stole a phone from one of his mercenary's and called you friend Ling of the Chinese police. She said she'll take care of it all."

"Frankie you son of a gun," said Grant, beaming.

"I have my moments despite my thin frame and one hundred percent loser posture. I bet you regret going with him over me Makenna."

"Your a terrific guy Frankie," said Makenna. "But I'm sticking to this fool."

"Grant!" Frankie called out again.

"What is it now?" said Grant, running over. Frankie was at the far corner of the room pointing to a skeleton in Taiping robes, seated on an ornate chair. On the small table beside him was several pieces of paper and a booklet.

"This is Jiang," said Grant, flipping through the booklet. "I can't read Chinese but its his handwriting and I recognize his signature."

"Looks like he spent his final moments here," said Frankie. "Died of natural causes."

"You did it," said Grant to the skeleton. "You saved the treasure and the ashes of your king. Thank you for this journey my friend."

"We might be joining him soon now that I think about it," said Rourke. "How are we going to move all of this? More importantly how are we going to get out?"

Searching the room they came to a manhole nearly identical to the one they found in Hainan. Popping off the top, Grant could see a ladder that led down to the start of a tunnel.

"Anyone else curious to see where this leads?" said Grant.