Autumn fog came over the walls of Cangzhou and settled on the tile roofs. Copper mirrors on the watchtowers swept the streets with the Nine-Dragon Mountain-Locking Grand Array. No one on the night patrol looked up as Pei Jing came to rest on the roof of the Ministry of Rites.
He pulled his hood close. Below him, amber lanterns moved from one intersection to the next. He ate strips of dried beef with salt and ginger. The qi elixir in his pewter gourd tasted like tree bark, but it warmed him after the meat.
He took out the Black Mountain Whetstone and oiled it. Fog and the distant palace bell covered the scrape of the Astral Bone Blade. Two hundred strokes on each side settled his breath. He wiped the edge and put both tools away.
He had spent three weeks listening to the array. Every twelve seconds the mirrors sent a fresh wave over the city. For a moment between waves, the pressure eased. His Phantom Tread let him move through that change without leaving a trace the mirrors could read.
Pei Jing stepped off the roof. He crossed from the tiles to a wall and from the wall to the beams of the Forbidden Pagoda. Cold sweat gathered under his collar while he followed seven overlapping notes. He slipped through when two of the ward notes met. His knees hit the beams, but the wards passed without seeing him.
