Muo asked Yan to meet him in the ancestral hall courtyard. A stone basin stood at its center, wide enough to catch rain from the roof. Fine lines ran from its base toward the central ward.
“If you use Tidal Draw here, the gathered power could strengthen the ward while we plan a larger replacement,” Muo said. “The household contribution would remain active. One practitioner cannot guarantee protection for every island.”
Yan looked at the channels under the basin. “Would the family shares stop during the test?”
“No. We cannot shut off the current system until another source is proven.”
“Then the test adds my power while the descendants keep paying.”
Muo did not deny it. “The island must keep its storm defense.”
Yan felt the familiar tension between helping in front of him and refusing a structure that treated the help as an excuse to continue every collection. He liked the idea of trying the technique at the basin. The sea qi would enter the ward directly, and he wanted to see its effect. But this was not the same as testing an option the households could choose.
“I won’t become a more efficient cover for a system that keeps collecting from people who never agreed,” he said. “I’m willing to test a pylon with local control and a clear shutdown. This basin combines my power with the contracts as if they were interchangeable.”
