Chapter 668: The Seventh Night

The shard was still repeating when Vyra finished the second record.

"Copy’s clean, Young Master. Every frame the original still holds, including the seal on the second man’s shoulder." She secured both crystals in separate cases. "Which one goes to the Palace?"

"Both, once an elder takes custody. Until then, keep them apart."

Seraphine returned from the streets while Vyra was fastening the second clasp. "Nobody watching the building. I checked the surrounding roofs as well."

"Good. Help Loriel when she’s finished."

Loriel came out carrying her notes and a small case of sealed samples. She had recorded a cause of death for each of the fourteen victims, along with the residue left by their killers. At the bottom of the last page, she had drawn the position of a woman’s hand beside an overturned bowl.

Leon glanced at the drawing, then back at her.

"She was eating," Loriel said. "I wanted the person reading it to know."

He left the page where it was.

The report went out within the hour. He described the Qiao seal, the recorded reference to Ninefold Ridge, and the standing contingency that had killed the workshop’s staff. He included the diverted delivery, its location, and the six days remaining before the seventh night.

Then he made his request.

Authorisation to secure the shipment. Qingyue and my household can assist, but I need someone empowered to take custody and deal with any wider response. We do not know who will receive it.

He sent the message and went outside. The tinsmith two doors down was still working.

Ji answered four hours later.

"You followed the evidence properly," she said through the plaque. "Elder Shan will command the interception. He leaves within the hour."

Leon straightened. "He can reach the crossing in time?"

"Well before you. Take the eastern road and meet him there. He will contact you on arrival."

"And our part?"

"Help identify and secure the cargo. Shan will handle the escort and any reinforcements. Once the prisoners and records are in his custody, your assignment is finished."

That last sentence improved Leon’s evening considerably.

"I understand, Master."

"Tell Qingyue the arrangement. Her presence will be useful, if she wishes to continue."

"She will."

"I thought so," Ji said. "Keep the originals safe. I want to see what they tried so hard to remove."

They left at dawn, and the road east took four days.

There were two waystations, a ferry, and an inn where Ira lost a handful of silver at dice to a horse trader. She spent breakfast explaining why she would have won if he had stayed for another game.

"He stayed for six," Vyra reminded her.

"That was before I understood him."

Leon slid the last steamed bun onto Ira’s plate before she could propose following the man.

On the third evening, Qingyue found him outside the waystation, looking over the road map Shan had sent.

"Will you return straight to the Palace afterward?" she asked.

"Through Moonfall. I’d like to see the Shens before we leave."

"So would I." She rested her arms on the railing beside him. "Three raiders dead, their leader and observer still sealed, and the family still has to wonder who else is watching their gates."

"The prisoners gave us the Qiao name."

"They did. But the clan can deny a prisoner. I want the records of the person who ordered the tool. Something they can’t dismiss as a thief trying to save himself."

Leon folded the map.

"They helped me when they had plenty of reasons to turn a stranger away. I’d prefer to leave them with more than another warning."

Qingyue looked down the dark road. "Then let’s bring something back."

White Reed Crossing was a ford, a customs post, and a small collection of warehouses serving the eastern road.

The river ran shallow over pale gravel. Reeds crowded the near bank, with a worn track between them and the buildings. Two officers sat beneath the customs lantern, inspecting an axle while its owner complained about the delay.

Shan met them in a warehouse office wearing a clerk’s brown robe. There was grain dust on one sleeve.

"Tomorrow night," he said, once the door closed. "Nine wagons. The manifest lists refined ore and finished ironwork."

He put a sketch on the desk.

"Four of the wagons were loaded separately in Moonfall. My people followed them out. Those are the ones we secure first."

"Escort?" Leon asked.

"Six hired guards and four cultivators travelling behind them. Two Golden Core, one Nascent Soul, and another concealing his cultivation." Shan tapped the rear of the convoy. "Nothing observed so far should trouble us. The problem is preventing them from destroying what they carry."

Qingyue drew a finger across the ford. "I’ll take the far bank. Anyone trying to leave through the water comes to me."

"Thank you. I’ll contain the rear escort. Leon, wagons four through seven are yours. Take the people riding with them alive. My disciples will secure the ordinary carters and close the road."

Shan moved four small weights onto the sketch.

"We wait until the wagons reach the approach and the rear escort falls behind. That gives us space to act on both groups at once. If anyone looks ready to burn a case, don’t wait for a second signal."

Leon studied the marked positions, then passed the sketch to Seraphine.

The convoy arrived an hour after full dark.

Leon watched from the reeds as the first wagon rolled down toward the ford. Its wheels sank into the softer ground beside the approach, and the driver called back for the others to slow.

The four cultivators remained behind the last wagon, watching the road they had come down. One turned his horse to look toward the warehouses.

Shan stepped out before the man completed the turn.

Pressure closed around the rear escort. A blade came halfway free of its sheath and stopped. The concealed cultivator threw himself sideways, shedding his disguise in a burst of dense qi, but Shan caught him with the others before his feet touched the ground.

Leon was already moving.

Seraphine reached the front of wagon four first. A guard swung at her from horseback. She turned his sword with hers, struck him across the jaw with the hilt, and pulled him clear of the animal as he fell.

On the opposite side, Ira drove three guards away from the cargo. Her lance struck gravel between their feet, throwing up a line of heat that sent them stumbling into open ground.

"Stay there," she told them, and one dropped his weapon immediately.

Vyra climbed onto wagon five as its driver reached under his seat. She caught his wrist, removed a striker from his fingers, and pressed him facedown against the boards.

A narrow curtain of flame rose around the outside of the cargo bed, held clear of the covered cases.

"Wagon five is secure!"

Loriel guided a frightened young driver out of the roadway before his panicking horse could drag him beneath a wheel. She sent him toward the customs post, where Palace disciples were gathering the carters, then crouched beside Seraphine’s unconscious guard to check his breathing.

Across the water, Qingyue stopped a man running along the shallows. He saw her waiting and tried to turn back. The water rose around his knees and held him where he stood.

Most of the convoy surrendered within moments.

The courier in wagon seven did not.

He slipped over the far side carrying a sealed case, using the wagon to hide him from the road. Leon caught the movement through the gap beneath the cargo bed and followed.

The man went onto the open gravel. His free hand closed around a talisman.

Space stirred around his boots.

Leon sensed the transfer forming before its light appeared. The talisman was fixing its departure point, gathering the connection it needed to carry both the man and his case away.

He could reach the courier. Striking him would be easy. But the talisman was already active, and the man’s arm was clamped around the case’s fragile seal.

Stop the passage first.

Leon reached past the courier and caught the forming spatial connection.