Outside the folded ward, Wei kept the assault team behind the aqueduct wall. The fourth bell had passed, and the mirrored gate had shut with Yan inside it. From the outside, the opening looked like a narrow bend in the fortress wall. From the other side, it might have been a corridor or a dead end.
A scout lay beside Wei with his wax board. “The lower gun has shifted west again.”
Wei studied the tower. “Move the decoy flags to the ditch. Don’t show a full line.”
Two soldiers crawled to the edge of the road and dragged the red cloth farther down the slope. They used empty shields to catch the crew’s eye, then slid back behind the wall. The artillery barrel followed, inch by inch.
Wei could not see Yan. He kept his hands away from the gate. A frightened soldier might rush into the ward and never find his way out. The team would listen for the bell and watch for the signal they had agreed on: a red flash from the inner gate meant hold the diversion; a white flash meant the path had opened and they should wait for orders before moving.
“If he needs us?” one of the shield carriers asked.
