Chapter 26 · The Gatekeeper's Gambit - Chapter 26: The Real Keeper

The old man stepped through the blood-marked door like it wasn't even there.

Mo Han's hand was still on the frame, pulse hammering against his wrist where Su Jin had grabbed him moments before. The air smelled like burnt copper and something older, something that made his teeth ache. The Keeper who walked into his trial hall wasn't Wei Tiegu.

This one wore robes so faded they looked like they'd been gray for a thousand years, and his eyes had that flat shine you see in people who've stopped caring whether you live or die.

"Mo Han." The old Keeper's voice scraped out like stone on stone. "Trial Keeper of the First Gate. You are summoned for audit."

Su Jin's fingers tightened. Mo Han pulled his hand free and stepped forward. No point running. Not from this.

"Under whose authority?" Mo Han kept his voice level. Project manager voice. The kind that asks for documentation when someone tries to change the scope at the last minute.

The old man smiled. It wasn't a good smile. "The Spire doesn't need authority to question its own servants. You know that."

"The Spire gave me this gate.