After going down a few steps in the tunnel, Vandiyathevan reached level ground. There was a faint light. He walked about ten feet. He heard a sound like a wheel spinning and suddenly, darkness enveloped him. Fear gripped him. He had broken his resolve of not interfering in unwanted business again. He thought about the important job that he had undertaken, and now he was trapped in this tunnel.
"I don't know where this will take me. I don't know what kind of dangers await me there. What an idiot I have been."
These thoughts slowed him down. He turned around and started walking back. His feet felt the steps, but he could not see the trapdoor through which he entered the tunnel. "Someone must have closed the door from outside," he thought.
He tried to open the closed door repeatedly. In the meantime, he heard someone talking at a distance. He heard different voices. Perhaps, it was from the place where he entered the tunnel. It may be the voices of the people at the entrance of the Ayyanaar temple. Idumbankaari had been expecting someone and lit the lamp. Maybe they had come. He would have to wait until a safe time.
If it were Ravidasan and his gang, they would be there for a long time. "Why have they assembled here? What are they talking about? What are they conspiring?"
The Veera Vaishnavan would be noticing all this. There was no point waiting near the trapdoor now. Vandhiyathevan thought it was better to go further down the tunnel. He started walking again. The passage was rough. He guessed that the tunnel would lead to the palace of Kadambur Sambuvarayar. He wondered where in the palace it would lead him to. Would it lead to the treasury? Or the royal ladies' quarters? He knew of such tunnels that existed in palaces. In times of emergencies, the royals and ministers could escape out of the palace through these tunnels. The fact that he saw Idumbankaari come from the tunnel made him believe that it would most likely lead to the treasury. He thought this gang was robbing Sambuvarayar's wealth, just as they were using Nandini to steal Periya Pazhuvettarayar's wealth.
He wondered what could be the reason for this, at the time when Aditya Karikalan and his entourage were visiting the palace. He remembered what he saw and heard at the Thirupurambiyam Pallipadai. The sight of the fish-emblemed long sword in the hands of Nandini came to mind. He thought that these fellows might be here for a task far more sinister than just robbing the treasury. If he was able to find where this tunnel leads, he might be able to thwart this attempt.
It seemed like a very long time since he had been walking, while in reality, it was not. The absence of air circulation made him gasp for air. He was sweating profusely. He was trying to remember how far the temple could have been from the palace. By his calculations, he should have hit the palace walls by now. Just at that time, from nowhere, there was a faint whiff of cold air, and he could see a faint glimpse of light in the distance. He heard voices — voices of soldiers who were most likely positioned on the encampments on the palace walls. He could see that the vent was for air circulation, and not big enough for someone to get out.
He wondered if this tunnel would lead him to the treasury. He also wondered if this treasury would be similar to the one in Pazhuvettarayar's palace — filled with gems and jewelry. He remembered the skeleton in the middle of the riches as a warning too.
He stumbled and realized that he was at the bottom of a stairwell. The thought of the stairs leading to the ladies' chambers made him smile. He remembered the dark-skinned Princess Manimegalai, sister of Kandanmaran, and the time when he wished to marry her. He reached the top of the stairs and looked around.
He was shocked to see several grotesque animal eyes staring down at him. Tigers, lions, bison, elephants, eagles, owls — they waited to pounce on him. But why weren't they pouncing on him? His feet touched something. It was a crocodile with its mouth open. How could a crocodile which was mostly a water animal be here? He breathed a sigh of relief. He remembered someone telling him that the Sambuvarayar family enjoyed hunting as a sport. These were stuffed animals from the hunts.
He walked around the game room. He went close to the animals and touched them. He made sure that they were not alive. The way he came had closed by itself. He thought briefly if he should just go back the way he came.
He went around the room, feeling and tapping the walls, searching for a door. He could not find one. He grew angrier by the minute, thinking about the predicament that he had gotten himself into. He stopped exasperated in front of an elephant.
He swore at it and said — "It was because of your movement that I noticed the tunnel and I have gotten into this mess." In an act of frustration, he pushed the tusk of the elephant. The wall behind the elephant moved slightly and Vandhiyathevan saw an opening. He peeked out and saw the Princess Manimegalai sitting on a chair, quite close to the wall that had just opened. For a moment, she froze in shock. So did Vandhiyathevan. And then she screamed. Vandhiyathevan, in shock, removed his hand from the tusk, and the wall closed back. Silence filled the room again.