The execution was ludicrous, terrifying, and just barely successful.
James held the heavy red bicycle horizontally, balancing its length across the sheer, ten-foot gap. It was a makeshift, wobbly plank of wood, metal, and misguided enthusiasm.
Mei, seeing the tactical necessity, didn't hesitate. She grabbed Professor Zhou, whose protests were muffled by the sheer spectacle, and shoved him across the bicycle-plank. The professor scrambled across the vibrating, unstable bike, looking like a squirrel crossing a wire, and tumbled onto the solid earth on the other side.
"Your turn, James!" Mei yelled, already covering their position with the fishing knife.
James held the bicycle steady. He placed the metal caddy—the true one—into the inside pocket of the Professor's jacket. "Keep that safe, Professor! It appears to be my greatest vulnerability!"
He then launched himself onto the bike-plank, moving with a desperate, uncoordinated flurry. The bike swung wildly, and James lost his footing. He didn't make it to the other side. He grabbed the professor's outstretched hand, hanging over the chasm, the bike clattering uselessly into the gap below.
Mei, with a powerful, one-handed grip, grabbed James's belt and hauled him up. The trio collapsed together on the far side of the destroyed bridge, covered in dust and mud.
"Right," James gasped, pushing himself up. "I think that counts as a successful extraction. Now, the final sprint."
They were now on the final stretch of the tea path, which led directly up to a large, wooden gate visible through the fog: The Dragon's Well Estate.
Suddenly, the air filled with the whine of engines. Not a car, but two powerful all-terrain motorbikes, tearing through the tea terraces below, cutting off any possible retreat. They were driven by two of Xi's armed operatives.
Mei took one look at the terrain and the incoming threat. "Final option. The service lift! It's a vertical cable lift used for carrying tea leaves! It's slow, but it's the only way to avoid the main entrance and the incoming bikes."
She pointed to a flimsy, rusted cage attached to a wire cable, disappearing up the final, sheer cliff face of the estate's stone perimeter.