Chapter Three: The Exile Comes Home

Chenzhou left the basement. Wanqing caught him in the corridor and handed him a thin sheet removed from the umbrella lining. It bore no writing, only five damp handprints. The fifth print lacked part of its little finger. “Is Bai Yi a candidate?” she asked. “No.” Chenzhou looked toward the door of his mother's old room. “He's the man responsible for making candidates kill one another.” Something tapped from inside the locked room. Two short knocks. One long. It was the secret signal his mother had taught him as a child.