Back at the survey tent, Gu opened his old plan across the official copy. A corner of the old paper had been repaired with thin rice paste, and the seam lifted when he tried to flatten it. He placed a cup over the edge, then set the newer drawing on top.
“The maintenance corridor should connect the outer gate to a side junction,” he said. “Here.”
On the official survey, the line ended at a blank wall.
Bai unfolded the torn fragment he had sealed in its paper receipt. “There is an arrow beneath the Registry stamp.”
He laid it beside the map. The arrow pointed into the blank area, not toward the wall.
“Could be a filing mark,” Luo said.
“It could,” Bai replied. “But it aligns with the old passage.”
Yan leaned over the table. “So there may be two routes.”
