The first sign of Madam Hollow's counter came on the morning of the fourth month.
It came, by the careful preceding small private courier line of the Royal Bureau, from Wei Mingfan's preceding small private quarterly file. The file's small folded slip read:
> *Su Yan. By the careful preceding small private hour of the past three months, Madam Hollow has — by my preceding read of every careful preceding small private intelligence-line — completed her preceding small private internal investigation of the careful preceding small private extraction. The careful preceding small private investigation has registered — by the careful preceding small private hour of Hu Caiyu's preceding small private testimony — the careful preceding small private *substrate-anchor pair*'s preceding small private signature, *the careful preceding small private extraction party's preceding small private composition* (fifteen Foundation Late and above operatives plus one substrate-cultivator plus one wood-spirit substrate companion), and the careful preceding small private *teleport corridor's preceding small private endpoints* (one in an unidentified careful preceding small private cell of an abandoned regional facility, the other in the careful preceding small private central facility itself).* > > *Madam Hollow has — by my preceding read — *not yet* identified the careful preceding small private extraction's preceding small private origin kingdom. She has, by my preceding read, *narrowed* the careful preceding small private possibilities to *six* kingdoms in three different mortal-tier continents. The kingdom of Beicang is, by her preceding read, *one* of the six. She is, by my preceding read, *currently dispatching small careful preceding small private investigation teams to each of the six*.* > > *The team scheduled for the kingdom of Beicang will, by my preceding read of the careful preceding small private intelligence-line, arrive at the careful preceding small private south gate of Cloud Sky City within the careful preceding small private hour of two months. The team's preceding small private composition is — *six Foundation Late operatives, two Sovereign Origin Stage Three specialists, and one Sovereign Apex commander*. The Sovereign Apex commander, by my preceding read of every careful preceding small private intelligence-line, is — *Madam Hollow herself*.* > > *— Wei Mingfan, by the careful preceding small private hour of the standing arrangement.*
Su Yan read the slip.
He read it twice.
He inclined his head.
He inked the brush. He wrote, on a clean half-sheet of plain rice paper, three small careful preceding small private private notes — one to Cousin Su Lin, one to Hua Lin, one to Master Mu — informing each of the careful preceding small private hour of two months and the careful preceding small private composition of the careful preceding small private incoming team.
He sent them.
He sat at his writing-table for the count of perhaps a quarter of an hour.
Then he stood. He went to his mother's writing room.
He slid the lattice open.
Lin Wanyue was at her writing-table, working.
She looked up.
"Yan-er."
"Mother. Madam Hollow is coming."
She inhaled, slowly. She set her brush down.
"When."
"Two months. South gate of Cloud Sky City. Six Foundation Late, two Sovereign Origin Stage Three, herself at Sovereign Apex."
His mother held very still for the count of perhaps five breaths.
Then, by her preceding preference, she *smiled* — very small, very precise, the careful preceding small private smile of one Aeon-of-the-Verdant-Year who had — in the careful preceding small private hour of nine years and three months of preceding small private custody, by the careful preceding small private hour of one written eleven thousand four hundred pages of preceding small private encoded notes — preceding-time *anticipated* the careful preceding small private hour, and had, by her own preceding preference, *prepared for it*.
"Yan-er." Her voice was steady. "By my own preceding preference, *good*. The careful preceding small private hour of the next two months will, by my preceding preference, *resolve* a great many careful preceding small private private accounts I have been preceding-time keeping for the careful preceding small private hour of nine years."
She inclined her head.
"By my own preceding preference, the careful preceding small private kingdom of Beicang will, by the careful preceding small private hour of two months from this morning, *receive* Madam Hollow at the careful preceding small private hour of *my* preceding small private preference, *not hers*. The careful preceding small private kingdom will, by my preceding preference, conduct the careful preceding small private hour of the meeting at the small careful preceding small private *foundation platform of your Mirror of the Caged Sky*, where my preceding small private preceding work for nine years has, by the careful preceding small private hour, *prepared* the careful preceding small private trap that will, by my preceding read, *seal* her."
Su Yan held very still.
"Mother. *Seal* her."
"Yes."
"By my preceding read of the careful preceding small private hour of three months ago, Master Qing's preceding small private final teaching included — *no instruction* on careful preceding small private substrate-sealing of a Sovereign Apex Hollow Veil commander."
"By my preceding read of the careful preceding small private hour of nine years and three months of preceding small private preparation," his mother said, "*I have* the instruction. By my own preceding preference, by the careful preceding small private hour of nine years of preceding small private quiet preceding small private private preparation in the central facility's preceding small private dorm three's preceding small private writing-table — and by the careful preceding small private hour of the substrate-anchor pair you have, by your preceding preference, *kept* in the inner pocket of your outer robe since the careful preceding small private hour of the extraction's preceding small private close — I have, in the careful preceding small private hour of the past two months of preceding small private teaching, *also* been preceding-time *building* the careful preceding small private trap. The careful preceding small private trap is — by my own preceding preference — *the careful preceding small private second extraction's preceding small private substrate-anchor pair calibrated in reverse*. We will, by my preceding preference, *teleport Madam Hollow into the foundation platform's preceding small private interior, where the platform's preceding small private substrate, by the careful preceding small private hour of one Aeon-of-the-Verdant-Year's preceding small private inheritance, will *seal* her preceding small private substrate by the careful preceding small private hour of her preceding small private arrival*."
Su Yan held very still for a long count.
"Mother. The careful preceding small private trap's calibration."
"Will be calibrated, by my own preceding preference, by the careful preceding small private hour of the next eight weeks. The substrate-anchor pair you carry will, by my preceding preference, *receive* the careful preceding small private second calibration. By the careful preceding small private hour of the eighth week — exactly the careful preceding small private hour Madam Hollow will, by the Bureau's preceding read, arrive at the south gate — the careful preceding small private trap will be, by every careful preceding small private bookkeeping, *armed*."
"By my preceding read of the careful preceding small private hour, Mother — *the careful preceding small private trap will require Madam Hollow to step onto a careful preceding small private specific physical location calibrated to the substrate-anchor pair's preceding small private endpoint*."
"Yes."
"And the careful preceding small private specific physical location."
"Will be, by my own preceding preference, *the careful preceding small private south gate's preceding small private outer-courtyard arch*. The careful preceding small private courtyard's preceding small private substrate, by my preceding read, will *register* the careful preceding small private substrate-anchor pair's preceding small private endpoint when the careful preceding small private hour comes."
"By my preceding read, Mother — Madam Hollow will, by her preceding preference, *not* approach the careful preceding small private south gate's preceding small private courtyard arch. She will — by every careful preceding small private bookkeeping of the Hollow Veil's preceding standing protocol — *enter the city by some preceding small private alternative route*, on the careful preceding small private estimate that the careful preceding small private south gate's preceding small private formal arch is *too obvious* for a Sovereign Apex commander on a careful preceding small private investigation mission."
Lin Wanyue inclined her head.
"By my own preceding preference, Yan-er, *also yes*. She will *not* approach the careful preceding small private south gate's preceding small private courtyard arch by her preceding preference. She will — by my preceding read of every careful preceding small private bookkeeping I have assembled in nine years on her preceding small private operational habits — *enter by the careful preceding small private third secondary gate of the eastern wall, at the second hour past midnight on her preceding small private day of arrival*. The careful preceding small private third secondary gate will, by my own preceding preference, *also* be calibrated, by the careful preceding small private hour of the next eight weeks, with the careful preceding small private substrate-anchor pair's preceding small private second endpoint."
She inclined her head — small, formal.
"By my own preceding preference, Yan-er — *every* careful preceding small private gate of Cloud Sky City and *every* careful preceding small private secondary entry will, by the careful preceding small private hour of eight weeks, be calibrated. Madam Hollow will, by her preceding preference, choose *one*. The careful preceding small private hour of the chosen one will, by the careful preceding small private hour of one substrate-anchor pair's preceding small private armed configuration, *trigger* — and *teleport* her, by some preceding small private accident she will not have prepared for, into the foundation platform's preceding small private interior."
Su Yan inhaled, slowly.
He inclined his head — small, formal.
"Mother. By my own preceding preference, *yes*. The careful preceding small private hour of the next eight weeks will, by my preceding preference, *prepare the trap*. I will — by my preceding preference — *attend the careful preceding small private hour of the trigger's preceding small private execution* myself, with you. Linglong will attend by her preceding preference also."
His mother inclined her head.
"By my own preceding preference, Yan-er — *we will*."
The careful preceding small private hour of the *Madam Hollow trap's preceding small private preparation* — by the careful preceding small private hour of one careful preceding small private morning's preceding small private mother-son private conversation — *began*.
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