Li Ming slept in Tao’s workshop, wrapped in a blanket that smelled of cedar shavings, the smooth oval of ironwood held tight in his hand. It was a sleep of profound exhaustion and slow repair, like a bone knitting in a cast. When he woke, the frantic, shattered feeling was gone, replaced by a deep, familiar ache—the ache of a storm that has passed, leaving behind scoured-clean ground.Tao was already at his bench, patiently coaxing the shape of a diving hawk from a block of dark walnut. He nodded as Li Ming sat up. “Wen will be expecting a report. Feel up to the walk?”The journey through the mountain’s secret veins to Mirror Lake was different this time. Li Ming wasn’t a refugee or a student. He was a wounded warden returning to a sanctuary he had helped protect. He moved with Tao through passages the woodcarver knew intimately, his forest-sense now mingling with a growing understanding of the mountain’s inner architecture. He felt the ancient watercourses Tao had mentioned, the foss

The peace of the calibrated kingdom was shattered by a visitor. But this was no polite Librarian of the Green Word, nor a spiritual knock. This was a violent, clumsy, and profoundly loud intrusion.It happened at dawn. Li Ming was in the outer library, running his fingers along a shelf of scrolls detailing basic herbal remedies, a section he was learning for practical survival. Suddenly, the mountain itself seemed to flinch.A tremendous BOOM echoed from the direction of the main entrance, a sound of shattering stone and shearing metal, followed by a psychic shockwave that felt like being slapped with a wet plank of pure arrogance.The Archives’ new security detail, the Futile Guard cluster, erupted in a silent, coordinated scream of alarm within Li Ming’s mind. UNAUTHORIZED BREACH! DIRECT IMPACT! FORCE: EXTREME! SOURCE: SINGLE, DENSE, ANGRY!The four council echoes snapped to attention."What in the name of shattered peaks was that?" Bai’s voice was a roar."No finesse. No search. Ju