Alisa, Nell, Lya, Oswald, and Rupert met for breakfast at the hotel. Lya seemed calmer but insisted in re-arranging the table implements for better feng-shui. Nell showed them an article in the morning's Shanghai Courier on page 11 that described their brush with death on Friday night.
Alisa then motioned for a Vietnamese man dressed in a business suit to come over to the table. "This is Mr. Ng. Because of the incident on Lantern Street the bank has provided me with a bodyguard. Not that I had anything to do with that fracas, of course - the bank is simply concerned about my safety, what with all the kidnappings and civil unrest. Mr. Ng is a former policeman in the French Concession and is completely trustworthy."
Rupert informed the group that he had returned to the Stumbling Tiger bar and left a note with Fergus. The note said, "Dark Mistress set sail on Fri. 8th for parts unknown. Concerned about cargo and destination. Contact Rupert Madasheck, Astor House Hotel." He told Fergus to give the note to Jack Brady should he ever drop by the bar and left a generous tip.
The group then split up for the day. Oswald returned to the hospital to keep an eye on Sydney. The doctors told him that she was out of immediate danger but would require continued rest. He spent much of the day making telephone calls to different hotels trying to locate an old family friend whom he had heard might be in town.
After returning Lya to her room, Nell decided to investigate the strange occurrence at the Seamen's Club. Grabbing her umbrella, revolver, and Brownie camera, she walked south along the Bund and thought about possible connections between the subterranean attack on the Mosque of Ibn Talun in Cairo, the fiery deaths at the Garden of the Purple Clouds of Autumn, and the watery devastation at the Seamen's Club. Was there a connection?
Nell took several photographs of the Seaman's Club exterior, as well as other Bund landmarks. The damaged section was clearly visible, and repairs were underway. She struck up a conversation with a local inebriate, who told her that he had been nearby when "octopus-like critters came out of the river, tore down the wall, and sloshed into the building like they was in a big hurry". According to him, the room that was destroyed had formerly been occupied by an ex-marine named John Brody - "a big, husky fellow, never said much" - but he had checked out the day before the incident. Other inebriates verified the information, and told her that they had seen similar tentacled creatures in the South China Sea and off the coast of Australia. She also learned that the best drink to order at the Seamen's Club was a rum concoction called a "Pirate Lilly". Thanking them for their help, Nell took a group picture of the smiling, toothless drunks and hurried back to the Astor House hotel. Could "John Brody" be Jack Brady? Were agents of the Evil Ones actively looking for him? And are they actively looking for us, pondered Nell. She resolved to visit the office of the Shanghai Courier and do more research on the strange events of recent months.
Rupert and Alisa (guarded by Mr. Ng) walked to the Public Gardens, where they met Mr. Mutsu as previously agreed. He showed them a handbill (translated into English) that had been circulated at his business. He said that interested workers had been told to go to a warehouse on Chung-San road in the Pootung district to learn more. Rupert speculated that this group might be using Chinese nationalism as a front to attract recruits for a sinister cult, with global connections. Mr. Mutsu agreed and suggested that they scout out the area.
The group took the ferry across the Whangpoo river and disembarked into a grimy district of factories and warehouses. Riding in two rickshaws (Rupert and Mutsu, Alisa and Ng), they slowly travelled past the address of the cult headquarters. They saw a large, boarded-up warehouse that occupied an entire city block. Ng and Mutsu noticed two men standing in shadows near a padlocked door and a man crouching on a roof across the street with a rifle. Mutsu speculated that this might be the site where the cult was preparing a "super-weapon" that would annihilate the foreigners in China. They returned to the ferry landing and decided that careful preparation would be needed before assaulting this place. Rupert noted that the ferry operated every half hour from 5 AM to 9 PM, and then hourly until midnight.
The group returned to the Astor House Hotel where they met Nell and Lya for lunch. Due to the nature of their conversation they decided to order room service from Alisa's suite, with Mr. Ng standing guard outside the door. Rupert showed Mr. Mutsu the Sword of Akmallah which had been entrusted to him by Achmed Zehavi in Cairo. Mutsu was quite impressed and said that wielding a such a weapon indicated both great honor and great responsibility. Rupert then introduced Mr. Mutsu to Lya, who began asking him numerous questions about Japanese occult traditions. Mutsu seemed visibly annoyed at Lya's insistent questions and urged her to focus on the matter at hand.
After Nell told about her findings at the Seamen's Club, Mr. Mutsu said that Japanese legends speak of the "bakemono of the sea", a type of ghost from the deeps known for terrorizing fisherman. The term also translates as "bewitching apparition" or "transforming ghoul". The similarities to the tales from the herbalist in Singapore are striking, he said. He also spoke about tales in Japanese mythology of cruel and malicious "onis" or devils. They occasionally have three eyes and are almost always giant in size and red, blue, or gray in color. A minor oni in legend resembles the demon encountered at Mr. Lung's house, he said. Meanwhile Lya sat in the corner and scribbled furiously.
Rupert suggested that they investigate the conflagration at the Gardens of the Purple Clouds of Autumn. Alisa called downstairs to the concierge and requested a local guide for the afternoon. It was agreed that Mr. Mutsu would not accompany them to the Gardens, as his presence might alienate the local Chinese.
At that point Mr. Ng knocked on the door. Stepping inside, he quietly informed Alisa that two burly Chinese men in Western clothes had walked slowly down the hall and appeared to take careful note of her door. Rupert reminded the group that he had reserved two rooms at the Palace Hotel (just in case). Lya quickly gathered up all her notes and stuffed them in a pillowcase. It was decided that this was a good time to take an excursion into the city. On the way out, Lya gave her notes to the front desk to lock up in the hotel safe. Mr. Mutsu returned to his warehouse.
Led by the hotel guide, Nell, Lya, Alisa (with Mr. Ng), and Rupert rode in rickshaws from the modern Bund district through the International Concession into the Old City in the center of Shanghai, a teeming maze of narrow streets and ramshackle buildings that was under Chinese control. They arrived at the Garden of the Purple Clouds of Autumn, a beautiful walled park with several pavilions just behind the Temple of the City Gods (where Lya made an offering). The burned-out ruins of two pavilions were still clearly visible (fortunately the world-famous Willow Pattern Tea House was unharmed). Rupert spoke to one of the bonzes, who told him that the incident had occurred on a calm, still, humid day. The fire had been confined to two pavilions, but nothing between them had burned. It was as if the flames leapt a distance of more than fifty feet. Sometime before the fire, the bonze had observed a European man and a Chinese scholar named Mr. Mu Hsien talking to the three monks in the tea house pavilion.
The group then decided to split up: Nell would take Lya shopping on Nanking Road, and Rupert and Alisa would visit the one witness cited in the newspaper article: a Mr. Liu Chen-dai of Brilliant Poppy Lane. After some confusion the guide managed to find the address, which turned out to be a music store owned by Mr. Liu. Rupert was delighted to find an assortment of traditional Chinese instruments and purchased a flute and a set of finger cymbals. He then asked Mr. Liu (who spoke very little English) about what he had seen at the Gardens. With some difficulty, Mr. Liu conveyed the following information: He had been walking in the Gardens on evening and had noticed two men - a European and a Chinese - talking with three monks in a pavilion. The European man had a book written in old Chinese (Han Dynasty) that the Chinese man was translating for him. They had some questions for the monks about something that was very difficult to understand. At that point there was a flash of light and the roof of the pavilion was ablaze. The five men ran out of the building. The three monks ran into a nearby pavilion, and the other two men ran toward the City Temple. A ball of fire leapt from the pavilion and set the second pavilion ablaze. A second fireball leapt from the tea house toward the two men but seemed to dissipate before reaching them. The two men disappeared into the City Temple. The three monks died in the fire. Rupert thanked Mr. Liu for his help and asked for a recommendation for a Chinese music teacher.
The group re-united back at the Astor House hotel, then walked to the Palace Hotel for dinner. It was agreed that Nell would accept the dinner invitation from Mr. Lin Tang-Yu, specifying Friday evening and six guests. Alisa offered to bring Mr. Ng as well, since bodyguards were not unusual on such occasions in Shanghai.
During dinner Rupert mentioned to Mr. Mutsu that he was arranging to have his book "Recollections from the Russo-Japanese War" translated into Japanese and Chinese and printed in a new edition. Mr. Mutsu said that he was extremely interested in this subject and received a copy (in English) from Rupert as a gift.