The Dragon King watched the bonfire as it blazedup toward the sky. Around the fire the air was thickand wavy. Bamboo books were stacked beside thefire, waiting to be burned.
"Hurry!" said the scholar.
They jumped down from the cart and joined thecrowd by the bonfire.
The Dragon King shouted to the soldiers. Theybegan throwing the books into the fire. The bamboocrackled as it burned.
"Stop!" cried Annie.
Jack grabbed her. "Quiet!" he said.
Annie pulled away. "Stop!" she shouted again. Buther voice was lost in the noise of the roaring fire.
"There's your story!" said the scholar. Re pointed toa bamboo book that had fallen off a waiting stack.
"I'll get it!" said Annie. She dashed over to the book.
"Annie!" cried Jack. But she had already snatchedup the bundle of bamboo strips and was chargingback to them.
"Got it! Quick, put it in your sack!" she said.
Jack put the bundle of bamboo strips in his sack.
Then he looked around fearfully. He gasped.
The Dragon King was glaring at them! Then heheaded their way.
"Seize them!" the Dragon King shouted.
"Run through the burial grounds!" the scholar saidto Jack and Annie. "The soldiers will be afraid tofollow. They fear the spirits of the ancestors!""Thanks!" said Jack. "Thanks for everything!""Good luck!" cried Annie.
Then she and Jack took off. Soldiers shouted afterthem. An arrow whizzed by.
But Jack and Annie kept running. They ran downthe path to the burial grounds. They jumped over thelow brick wall and ran between the huge mounds ofearth.
Suddenly arrows filled the air around them. Thearchers were shooting from the tower!
"Look!" cried Jack.
There was a doorway in one of the mounds. Jackand Annie ducked inside.
They were in a long hall lit with oil lamps. "It's soquiet," said Annie. She walked down the Passageway.
"Hey, there are some steps here.""Don't go any farther!" said Jack.
"Why not?" said Annie.
"We don't know what's down there," saidJack. "This is a burial tomb, remember? It's creepy.""Let's just take a quick look," said Annie. "Maybeit's the way out of here."Jack took a deep breath.
"You might be right," he said. "Okay, but go slow."He didn't want to stumble upon a dead body.
Annie started down the steep steps. Jack followed.
The lamps lit their way as they kept going down anddown. Finally, they reached the bottom.
Jack blinked. Even though oil lamps glowedeverywhere, it was hard to see at first.
When Jack's eyes got used to the strange light, hisheart nearly stopped.
"Oh, man," he breathed.
They were in a room filled with soldiers-thousands of them. |