Ye Chen adjusted the coarse linen cloth covering his bare shoulders, his bronze eyes scanning the jagged sandstone gullies leading out from beneath the overhanging bluff.
Behind the protective Chaos glyphs, young Zhang Yue sat cross-legged near the green jade sarcophagus, his knuckles white as he rested his heavy, bent iron lever across his knees. The boy had placed two leather water canteens beside the stone box, his gaze darting toward the narrow trail with the quiet, watchful discipline of a guard dog left at a workshop gate.
"Do not step outside the perimeter line for any reason, Yue," Ye Chen said, his voice level, flat, and carrying that cold resonance that left no room for hesitation. "If a desert beast approaches the ridge, let the glyphs do their work. We will return before the
