Having followed Hamid, but leaping down with much more care, Amin and Karim found themselves at the tunnel's surface. If not for the light that shone through the hole at the top, the tunnel would have been pitch black. Not even the triplets' advanced eyesight could see through the darkness which lay in front of them.
"Don't worry, guys, I'll handle this," Karim said as he stepped in front of the other two, holding up one of his fingers, bringing into existence a small ball of fire just above its tip.
"Let's just make sure to close this up once we come out," Amin declared as he pointed up at the hole above them. "The fall must be this deep so regular people can't access it, huh? Clever."
Without any hesitation, the three boys made their way through the tunnel. The tunnel was reasonably narrow, only allowing two of the three boys to stand next to each other, therefore Hamid was forced to follow close behind the other two. Yet during their walk, nothing of interest was seen. The walls were exactly what they'd expect them to be, and so too was everything else — in fact, there wasn't really anything for them to look at. They simply walked and walked, hoping to find what they believed to be the end of the tunnel.
"Seems like Iman really thought this tunnel through, huh? Must've taken ages to create. I wonder if she was actually the one who made it," Amin thought out loud.
At one point, however, the triplets came to a crossroads. They were met with a difficult decision. Not necessarily because the options could be reasoned with, but because one wrong prediction could foil their mission, wasting their time and forcing them to return to the Palace before discovering anything.
"Which way should we go, Amin?" Hamid worriedly asked.
"Bet you didn't know anything about this, Amin, did you?" Karim said provocatively.
"Hmmm. I think I remember Iman mentioning something about turning right. We should go that way."
Karim let out an obviously forced laugh, choosing not to follow Amin's lead. "I don't trust you if you only 'think' it's right. I say we go left and—" As Karim began walking down the path on their left, his eyes bulged and his nose began to itch almost immediately. Karim puffed his cheek, took a breath and covered his nose with both of his hands. "What the hell is that smell? Smells like somebody died down there! Maybe we should go right."
Amin and Hamid looked at each other, somewhat enjoying the entertainment Karim had put on but also relieved that he was going to come with them, for without him they couldn't see where they were going.
"Let's move a bit quicker," suggested Amin, "I don't know how long this tunnel is and we're running out of time."
And so the triplets began running at a reasonable pace down the tunnel, taking advantage of their extreme stamina. It wasn't long, however, until they reached the dead-end they had been looking for. Unlike the entrance to the tunnel, they found themselves standing within a wide, circular area that could have fit at least 50 people. While they appreciated the extra space, they knew it meant finding the exact spot of exit was going to be difficult.
"Leave it to me," Karim said with confidence as he took the lead and readied himself to jump head-first at where he thought the hole would be. He leapt in the air, and instead of finding the exit, his head was met with a big crash. Upon impact, a loud noise echoed down the tunnel as Karim dropped back to the ground. He rubbed his head to suppress the pain as Amin shook his head.
"You would assume that the exit hole is somewhere right next to the end of the tunnel, wouldn't you? Also, look at the collected dust and random bits of stuff on the floor, I'm guessing that it has come from every time the top has been broken and opened."
"Maybe stop trying to outdo Amin for once and just listen to him. That's what I've been doing," said Hamid, who reached out to help Karim up.
Amin walked onto the exact point where he had found the dust and propelled himself into the air, leading with his right fist in the hope that he would punch his way out. And that he did. He appeared in a similar bush to the one they had found the entrance in. However, the noise levels surrounding it were different. He could hear various people talking, shouting and complaining to one another as they walked around.
He ushered the other two to jump up and catch up with him, before analysing the area and waiting for their opportunity to jump from the bush so as not to get caught or arouse suspicion.
"What exactly are we looking for anyway? We can't just go around asking for information from anyone."
"I agree. Let's walk around a bit and see if we find anyone doing something at all similar to those people burning the haystack of father."
Finally leaving the bush, they began perusing the area, looking for something that told them someone hated their father and would be willing to tell them anything they desired.
"This isn't even the same village as the last one," Karim discerned, "Who knew there were this many villages so close to the Inner Capital. And that they are…so dull and, well, have nothing really going for them."
Time went on as they walked around, keeping their heads down and keeping an eye out for anyone they thought might be worth talking to. Yet as they continued to walk, they all noticed something they couldn't simply ignore. Upon walking past two houses which left a small gap in between them, they noticed a hooded figure rapidly crawling through a manhole cover that sat at the end of the path.
The triplets looked at each other, all clearly having thought the same thing.
"We all saw that, right?" Karim asked. "That's suspicious enough for me. I say we go and check it out."
Now standing above the manhole cover, the three debated what to do next.
"What should we do? What if they hear us going in?" Hamid pondered.
"I say we go in and see what's down there. No need to be scared. If someone threatens us, we just kick their ass and force them to give us some information," Karim answered assertively, slamming his right fist into the palm of his left hand as a grin appeared on his face.
Amin lectured the two again. "Obviously we won't be initiating anything. But I have to admit, Karim's right. We'll protect ourselves, for sure, but if we play our cards right, all we have to do is talk. Let's go down and see what happens. We don't have much choice and, having gotten this far, I am not going back empty-handed."
Shortly after, they looked around, seeing that no one was looking and chose to enter whatever world the manhole cover was hiding. They found a ladder which helped them make their way down to the floor with ease, turning around as Karim realised he wasn't going to be needed to keep the room alight.
The area was similar to the exit of the tunnel they had come from, except this time lit torches surrounded the place, making it easy for them to navigate around.
"Looks like no one is here," Amin said, "Let's go furth—"
A croaky voice suddenly appeared from further down the path which the tunnel led to, causing the boys to ready themselves and subconsciously jump into their battle stances.
"I see you have entered without invitation. Who are you, and how did you find us?"