Sun and Lin arrived at the boundary with the rest of the candidates. The new inspection rope ran farther from the gate than the old one, leaving enough space for the group to stand without crowding the entrance.
“Why are we still waiting?” one of the candidates asked. “If the next stage is delayed, we could lose our placement.”
Luo answered before Yan could. “The survey is incomplete. The route inspection will happen in daylight. You may observe from behind the marked line, but no one enters the ruin today.”
Wei crossed his arms. “A missing map is a poor reason to rush into a sealed ruin.”
The candidate frowned. “If we wait until every page turns up, we may never go in.”
“Then Luo can decide whether the missing page matters,” Wei said. “You don’t have to test the door for him.”
Sun studied the gate. Her eyes followed the dark marks down to the threshold. “That pale line followed Yan’s step yesterday. Will it react to every candidate?”
Gu shook his head. “I don’t know.”
