I'm a Master in India

The crowd cheered and shouted, heading south. Ashish, who had originally just been standing on the side watching the fun, couldn't resist the call of the dancing crowd and joined in.

He darted out from the roadside, joining the dense, spastic, twisting crowd. He wasn't good at it, dancing unsteadily and stumbling, but he kept pushing towards the center of the dance group.

He stretched out his arms to balance himself, as if crossing a shallow river on a row of stones. Occasionally, he would suddenly turn, lean to the side, and then burst into laughter.

His yellow shirt flashed within the crowd as he danced. The carnival procession moved down the long street, heading south, south.

Girls threw out brilliant pigments, red, yellow, green... bursting in clusters, falling like rain from the sky onto the continuously surging crowd.

The somewhat discordant drumming led the mighty procession without pause. More revelers on the street were constantly infected by their enthusiasm and joined in.

The momentum grew even stronger; the cheering, already like thunder, now echoed throughout the entire street.

Mumbai was full of such carnival processions, some narrow alleys were even completely blocked.

The Sul Slum procession's goal was always clear; it swept up more and more people directly towards South Mumbai, directly towards the bustling Haines Road.

The target was getting closer and closer, and Amor signaled to the musicians. The drumming changed, becoming more passionate.

The men in the procession slowly gathered towards the front, while the women and children gradually fell behind.

The Palace! Right before their eyes!

Amor raised the flag and shouted, "For the Sun God, Surya! Purify sin!"

He led the charge, and the men followed him, rushing towards the magnificent building.

The musicians' drumming changed again, automatically separating from the procession. The women and children continued forward with the musicians, splitting the entire procession into two.

There was a lot of security arranged near The Palace, more than before, as if guarding against something.

It was Holi today, and the security personnel had relaxed their vigilance, standing at the entrance with smiling faces, watching the fun.

When Amor led his people rushing over, they didn't react at all.

One, two, three... dozens, the security guards were shocked. They raised their sticks to try and drive the crowd away. Some were even preparing to draw their guns.

But at some point, the men had tools in their hands: wrenches, iron pipes, steel rods.

They were originally workers, so it was reasonable for them to carry wrenches, hammers, and such things with them, right?

The guards at The Palace raised their guns in panic, preparing to aim at the person holding the flag at the very front.

But his vision blurred, a wrench flew over, hitting him directly in the face.

The guard fell to the ground screaming, his face covered in blood. The surging crowd beat him with the hammers in their hands and struck him with the iron pipes.

In no time, the head of the guard holding the gun was bashed in, creating a hole.

Red and white were smeared all over the ground.

The others were terrified, screaming and running away.

It was useless, there were too many people. The hundreds of guards at The Palace were swallowed up by the crowd in the blink of an eye.

Amor's orders were to leave no one. None of The Palace's thugs would walk out of this gate today.

Ron knew that Mrs. Elizabeth had only been in Mumbai for two years. Her foundation was still shallow, and all her staff were at The Palace.

She wasn't like the Dawood Gang, whose people were spread throughout the entire city of Mumbai, making it difficult to clear them out all at once.

The Palace was her pride, but it was also the best target for concentrated fire.

Following the flag, the crowd rushing in behind became hundreds, thousands... tens of thousands!

The gate of The Palace was like a breached dam, a dark, surging flood, pressing forward relentlessly.

The people, wooden doors, and railings blocking its path were knocked open, torn apart, and swept away.

The flood surged from the first floor to the third floor. Every room they passed was kicked open, and the people inside were screamed at and driven out.

The sound of shattering glass, the sharp screeching of metal railings, the screams and shouts of the crowd...

Under the impact of tens of thousands of people, the massive and heavy The Palace was as fragile as a paper window pane.

The carnival on the streets continued, colorful powders obscured the sky, and people danced and laughed.

Suddenly, there was a hint of white among the brilliant colored powders. No, that was thick smoke!

The massive fire shot up into the sky almost instantly, and the heat forced the celebrating crowd to flee in disarray.

"It's burning! It's burning!" people shouted as they ran.

The fire spread too quickly; there was no way to rescue it. People could only stand far away and watch this den of iniquity being licked and swallowed by the flames.

Amor's group had already rushed out of The Palace. They watched the massive fire rage along with the crowd on the street.

The musicians who had left earlier had somehow circled back. The sounds of drums, flutes, and trumpets drifted over.

The procession began to move again. Amor led his people towards the north; they had one more place to charge, but this time it was for themselves.

The crowd watching the spectacle gradually dispersed, and soon only scattered figures remained on Haines Road.

The street was like an overturned paint palette, a complete mess.

Inside a car in the corner, Ron slowly rolled up the window and closed his eyes.

Anil waved his hand, the driver started the car, and it gradually drove away.

...

The massive fire at The Palace burned for three days and three nights. It was completely destroyed.

It coincided with Holi, and Mumbai was celebrating everywhere. Even if firefighters wanted to help, they were powerless.

Because the streets were impassable, the parade processions and floats completely blocked the main streets and alleys.

It wasn't until the fifth day that this block returned to normal. The Palace building was still there, as were the stairs and the rooms upstairs, but it was all blackened and had no possibility of reopening.

From beginning to end, no one came to investigate, including the police. It was as if they had received some kind of order.

In the streets and alleys, people gradually stopped mentioning The Palace. It was as if it had been forgotten.

But soon, Haines Road welcomed two uninvited guests.

"Are you sure you want to go up?" Ron asked, looking at the black ruins from inside the car.

"We have to see it with our own eyes," Mary said firmly.

"That fire burned for three full days. Maybe she's just a piece of charcoal by now," Ron said, spreading his hands. "My people have been keeping an eye on this place. No one came out until the fire went out."

"You underestimate her too much. She's an instructor, extremely cunning."

"Alright, be careful yourselves. I'll be right here. Call if you need anything."

Mrs. Elizabeth was an obsession for Mary and Lena. They had to settle things with her.

The main facade of The Palace was almost completely intact due to the marble protection. But the metal sheets, wooden boards, and carved curtains on the windows had been burned to a horrific state.

The main entrance was blocked by debris piled up haphazardly, so the two had to look for an entrance elsewhere.

There was a narrow alley on the side street that led directly to the back of The Palace. Compared to the grandeur of the main gate, this narrow alley was very dirty.

Mary and Lena carefully stepped over the black, foul-smelling puddles covered in scum, and skirted around piles of greasy garbage mixed with pigment powder.

After exchanging glances, both held their breath. It was too smelly.

The walls and fences on both sides of the alley were roughly constructed from stones, bricks, and cement. They looked old and were covered in disgusting moss and plants.

They checked building by building along the street corner, finally managing to follow the clues and find the back door.

Mary pushed the low wooden door embedded in the tall stone wall, and it immediately opened.

The two walked into the spacious backyard. This place, which was originally a luxurious and beautiful quiet resting area, no longer existed.

Heavy ceramic vases had been pushed over and shattered all over the ground. Clods of earth and flowers were scattered on the ground, a complete mess.

The furniture in the courtyard had been smashed and burned. Even the tiles paved on the ground were cracked in many places, as if hit with a hammer.

Lena found a blackened door leading inside. It wasn't locked.

She nodded at Mary, pulled out the dagger from her waist, pushed the door inward, and the rusty metal screeched noisily.

"Be careful, that Abu is not an ordinary person," Mary cautioned her.

"I've been waiting for this day for too long," Lena said, taking a deep breath and stepping through the door.

It was very dark inside. Broken plates, jars, wine glasses, and other vessels were scattered haphazardly among the black furniture remnants and fallen beams on the floor.

Mary suddenly felt a bit of regret. They should have brought a flashlight. In the pitch-black darkness, every step was dangerous.

She carefully skirted around the kitchen on the first floor and walked up the long corridor leading to the front of the main hall.

The rooms they passed were mostly destroyed by the fire. Some of the ceilings had fallen down.

Charred brackets protruded from the holes above, resembling the remains of some giant beast.

Near the main hall, they found the stairs. It was the same staircase that Ron and Hella had taken to rescue her friend back then.

The wallpaper on the staircase, which was once so colorful and textured, was now burned and peeling off the blistered walls.

The wooden stairs were carbonized, and the carpet laid on them was burned into rolls of fibrous ash.

Lena tested it with her foot; it seemed reasonably reliable.

"I'll go up first." She nodded at Mary, then stepped lightly onto the stairs.

"If things aren't right, come down immediately."

"I'm prepared, I brought something."

Lena gripped the dagger in her hand and slowly walked up. With each step, she first stepped lightly, then firmly pressed down.

The charred stairs made a faint creaking sound, like the groan of ancient rotten wood.

Upon reaching the second floor, Lena first cautiously looked around, then let out a soft whistle.

Mary followed the path she had taken up the stairs, but halfway up, one of her feet suddenly stepped into empty space.

That wooden board couldn't withstand being stepped on twice in succession and broke.

Mary braced herself with her hands on the stairs ahead, her body flipped nimbly upward, and she quickly climbed to the second floor, stepping repeatedly.

It was darker here than downstairs. The two leaned against the wall to adjust for a moment before continuing forward.

There was a large hole in the floor of the second-floor corridor. Fortunately, Mary was alert and led Lena around it with small steps.

Signs of the fire's devastation were everywhere. Many walls had holes, and blackened debris was scattered in the corridor.

Yet, some areas were completely intact and looked very clean.

The coexistence of former grandeur and present precariousness made the building feel even more eerie.

Mary and Lena walked down the wide corridor towards the other end. Suddenly, the floor beneath their feet broke open directly, like thin paper.

The two suddenly stumbled, lost their balance, and crashed into the wall beside them. The wall collapsed, and they both fell down together.

Everything happened too quickly, there was no time to react. Fortunately, the inside of the wall wasn't completely hollow, and the two landed with a thud.

"Damn it, the walls here are like they're made of paper," Lena cursed.

"They were originally paper, wallpaper," Mary said, pulling at the tattered cloth in front of her.

It turned out that the wall they had just leaned on was actually just a layer of plywood with intricately patterned wallpaper pasted on it.

After the fire, this place had long lost its support.

"It looks like a secret passage," Lena said, stomping her foot hard.

"The rumors outside were right, she really did like to peek at guests from secret corridors."

Mary brushed the dust off herself and looked around. The corridor was very low and stretched forward, curving around corners following the shape of the rooms.

They moved forward in the corridor. As they passed rooms, they could see metal railings embedded in the walls, set at different heights.

Below the higher metal railings, there were stepped wooden ladders. Mary took a few steps forward and stood on the top step of the wooden ladder.

Through the heart-shaped openings in the metal railings, the scene inside the room was visible at a glance: a cracked mirror on the wall, a burned-down bed, a blackened bedside table.

"This is where she stood to peek," Mary said, frowning with strong distaste.

"She's a lunatic, a pervert!" Lena cursed sharply.

The two didn't want to stay here any longer. They moved forward, and at a certain point, the slope of the corridor steepened sharply.

Intuition told them that going up from here would lead to the third floor.

Rumor had it that Mrs. Elizabeth was on the third floor; she had her own secret space.

Mary and Lena exchanged glances and, at the same time, tightened their grip on the daggers in their hands.