Morning arrived without asking whether anyone had slept.
Tang Li Yue considered that rude.
The farmhouse had not gone quiet after the Qingyuan broadcast. It had merely changed kinds of noise. The alarms and gunfire were gone, but the softer aftermath remained. Footsteps crossed hallways. Water boiled. Medical supplies were counted twice. The new arrivals murmured behind quarantine partitions. The rescued ambulance sat hidden beneath a tarpaulin near the rear shed until Tang Li Yue found enough privacy to store it inside her ring.
Chen Qiao watched the entire ambulance disappear.
Then he looked toward the transfer truck.
Tang Li Yue saw the fear forming in his eyes.
"No," he said.
"No what?"
"You are going to store the truck again and bring it back dirty later."
"That is possible."
"I need emotional warning."
"You have one now."
"That is not how warning works."
Tang Li Yue touched the truck.
It vanished.
Chen Qiao stared at the empty ground.
