“Everyone stays behind the gate,” Luo said. “No one crosses the black marks.”
The candidates retreated to the painted line outside the entrance. The light in the corridor dimmed as they moved, but it did not vanish entirely. Thin pale strokes remained visible on the floor beyond the narrow opening.
Gu held the survey copy up beside the gate. “I recognize the outer geometry. The spacing around the frame belongs to the original project.”
“Your project?” Yan asked.
“Part of it.” Gu touched the paper but not the stone. “I helped design the defensive tests here. We wanted to measure formation stability under controlled pressure. I thought the array would read how the structure held, not identify where a person’s foundation failed.”
Yan studied the dark lines. “Which marks are yours, and which were changed?”
Gu traced the old drainage channels on the copy. “These shallow grooves. They moved qi outward to keep the pressure even.” He stopped at the heavier lines that angled toward the blank center. “These are later. They direct it inward.”
“Who redrew them?”
