Yan spread Gu’s copied passages across the shelter table. The paper smelled of salt and damp ink. A lantern burned low beside the pages, and he kept one hand on Han’s clasp as he read.
The first folio showed a Soul-Lantern linked to a living bearer. Its light held a response through a prepared relay. The next passage described the limits: range, charge, and attention. The bearer had to remain aware of the signal. Yan read the lines twice, then searched the margins for another mark.
He turned each page toward the lamp, checking the faded ink where the copied diagrams met their notes. One margin described a relay that had gone dark when its bearer lost focus. Another recorded a lantern that exhausted its charge before the message reached the next station. Neither account mentioned a spirit that had dispersed.
Qinghe set the original list beside his hand. “Those are the notes Gu gave us.”
“I want to see every line.”
“Then take your time. I’ll be with the patients.” She returned to the cots and left the papers where he could reach them.
Qinghe stood beside him, waiting with a treatment ledger. “Did you find the section Gu mentioned?”
