The Forgotten Guardian by Leong Yin

Author:Leong, Yin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781737125228
Publisher: Kampung Kreepy Books
Published: 2021-11-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Joe was temporarily blinded when a searing light shone between the doors. He hadn’t expected Ch’ng to arrive so quickly. The man must have hotfooted it.

“Tham, are you in there?” Ch’ng shouted.

“Yes!” Joe pressed his face to the gap. “Can you point your flashlight away from my eyes?”

“Sorry.” The beam dipped. “We didn’t see anyone else in the temple,” Ch’ng said.

We? “Who’s with you?”

His question was immediately answered. “Who tied the doors together?” Elsie asked.

“Mother, what are you doing here?!”

“I couldn’t let Mr. Ch’ng come alone! Especially after what he found in the journal. He has no idea what it means. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Joe growled. “Just get me out of here.”

“But who tied you in?”

“I have no idea.”

“Could it be Pe—”

He cut her off. “I don’t want to hear it. I keep telling you she’s gone home.”

“Mrs. Tham, please step away from the door,” Ch’ng said. “Tham, you too.”

Joe stepped back hurriedly when the tip of a large knife poked between the doors.

Even with a much larger knife, it took Ch’ng some time to hack through the rope. Joe finally heard the rope being dragged away from the door handles. It fell to the ground with a dull thud. The heavy doors were pulled apart and Elsie rushed in.

Her flashlight swept Joe from head to toe. He was coated with grime and cobwebs, but clearly unharmed. Her beam wandered around the chamber. “Where’s Junie?” she asked.

Instead of answering her question, Joe picked up his bag and rushed next door. The other two followed on his heels.

Joe probed the tiger’s shrine with his flashlight. The room looked the same as when he left it. Junie’s jacket was still on the altar table. Unfortunately, he and Junie had stirred up too much dust for him to be able to tell whether another person had entered the chamber.

“Are you sure you didn’t see anyone else in the temple?” he asked Elsie and Ch’ng.

They looked at each other, turned back to him and said in unison, “No.”

“Is Junie somewhere else in the temple?” Elsie asked. Joe shook his head.

“Well, she’s obviously not here,” Ch’ng said. “Why don’t you text her and tell her we’re heading back to the office? She can meet us there and we can look at the journal together.”

“I can’t leave the temple,” Joe announced. “I have to stay here until she returns.”

Ch’ng frowned. “Where’s she gone?”

Joe found his mother’s eyes on him. He could tell she was beginning to comprehend the situation. “I need to search the temple in case the person who trapped me is still here,” he told Ch’ng. “Can you stay with my mother?”

The scholar nodded, his gaze moving from Joe to Elsie.

“You can’t go alone,” Elsie said. “What if the person is dangerous? Take Mr. Ch’ng with you. The search will be faster with the two of you.”

“But you’d be here by yourself,” Joe protested. “What if the person comes back?”

“I’m not afraid. Remember, I was married to your father. Besides”—Elsie bent over her purse and took out a silver whistle—“I have this.

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