第3章云牵月3CloudTetered Mo（第6页）

"

Washedealtwith?"

"

Oprequiredhimalive.Ibroughthimin.Threedayslater，hebitdownonaidecapsule…bitterwaytogo."

Hisgazelingeredonthefileinherhands，asifdiscussingtrivialities.

"

FirsttimeIrealizedwhattheNightwatcherswantedfromhimrobablyworthmorethanmyentirecareerbined."

Xwassilent.Shemovedtotheothersideoftheworkbench，unlockedametalcase，arievedanobjeotaon，butaworher-boundnotebook.

"

FoundinoneofCrimsonTide’ssafehousesafterhedied，"

shesaid，handingitover."

Mostlyencrypted.I’vecrackedabouteightypert.Butsomeses…differentcipher.Couldn’tbreakit."

Santalitookthenotebook.Thecoverwasscuffed，ersstainedadarkreddish-brown—blood，perhaps.Heope.Onthefirstpage，asentencewasscrawledinhurriedCyrillic:

【Правдастрашнеесмерти—вотеёдар.】

（Truthismoreterriblethah—thatisitsgift.）

Thescriptwasforceful，nearlygougingthepaper.

Heflippedthrough.StandardGenesisTencryptiondominated，butinterspersedwerestrangesymbolsanddiagrams—unlikeanyknowncode，morelikeapersonalshorthand.

AndSantalireizedafew.

TheWhiteshadtaughtthemtohimatsix，alongsidetheirletters.“Somewords’tbewritten，onlydrawn——thesesymbolsareourcipher.”

Hisfiracedthenotations，tremblingslightly.

Thesymbolsweresimple，buttheirbinedmeaningchilledhim:

**[??isthekey]

[Thealtarrequires??]

[Tenisnotthelimit，butthecage]**

Hishandmovedunsciouslytothewoundonhisabdomen.HelookedupatX.Herdarkeyeswerefixedonhi

"

Yhese?"

Hervoicewassoft.

Santalinodded."

ime.Thesearen’tsentences—justfragments.And…"

Heturoaspecificpage，hisfingerhaltingasifheldbyaninvisibleforce.

Onitwasadrawingthatdefiedsimpleprehension—lessanillustration，moreasigil.Aperfectcircleenclosingtenpointsarrangedwithulingmathematicalprecision.Linesectedtheminadizzying，non-humanpattern，asifgrownratherthandrawn.

"

Whatisthis?"

Xwhispered.

Santali’svioleteyesseemedtolookthroughthepaper."

Idon’tknow，"

headmitted.Thenheadded，"

ButtheWhitestaughtsimilarpatterns.Calledit…"

Hepaused，choosinghiswordswithcare，

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