Wuchen wrenched free and pressed the brush’s end to the floor. The Registry hall folded. The desk slid away, then appeared at the far end of a corridor that had not been there before. Yan recognized the seal’s pattern from the earlier passage. The walls would return him to the same pillar if he followed them without choosing a line.
He set his foot against the first mark and used Heaven-Burial Step. His foundation reinforced along the path he had practiced. He crossed the folded distance and landed beside the command desk. Wuchen was already turning the brush toward him.
A second seal opened across the floor. Its edge cut between Yan and the ledger on one side and the scribes on the other. They were crowded near a side passage, with loose reports at their feet. Wuchen had arranged the fold so that Yan had to choose which side to protect.
Yan split a small branch of Soul-Lantern awareness. One weak projection appeared near the scribes; another formed beside the desk. They could carry sight and a short signal, but not the force of his body. Yan kept his attention on Wuchen and gave the projection by the scribes one instruction: point to the side door and signal the clerks out.
