Chapter Five: Between Four Hands

Xingyao seized the tuning key, inserted it into an inconspicuous hole in the piano's side, and turned it half a rotation counterclockwise. Every voice stopped. For the first time, Gu Chongshan's expression changed. "Where did you get that key?" Shen Yan moved in front of Xingyao. "From someone you failed to kill." Chongshan motioned for the guards to seal the doors. Minglan pressed her phone. Fire alarms erupted throughout the manor. Sprinklers fell, throwing corridors and reception rooms into confusion. She pulled Shen Yan and Xingyao through the servants' passage and into the old music archive. The moment they stopped, Xingyao wrote: YOU TOUCHED IT A SECOND TIME. Shen Yan could not deny it.