Chapter 985 — The Rift Burn

CHAPTER 985

The Rift Burn

Shi Feng came into the hall the next morning with his ribs bound under a clean robe and the coroner’s record in his hand.

He had read it six times by lamplight. Most of it was what Situ Mingzhao had read aloud. One line near the bottom wasn’t, because the commissioner had read the findings and skipped the notes.

“Commissioner,” Shi Feng said, when the hall was seated. “May I read the commission one line of its own record?”

Situ Mingzhao looked at him for a moment, then inclined his head.

“Read,” Situ Mingzhao said.

“From the coroner’s notes,” Shi Feng said, and held up the page. “‘Both edges of the face wound dry and darkened along their length, as if seared. No sign of fire on the body or the clothing. Cause of the darkening unknown.’”

He lowered the page.

“The coroner didn’t know what it was,” Shi Feng said. “He wrote down what he saw. That was honest of him. It’s void-burn.”

A murmur went round the gallery. On the Long seat, Long Zhenlei uncrossed his arms.

“When a man tears space, the edge of the tear burns whatever crosses it,” Shi Feng said. “A sword swung through open air leaves a clean cut. A sword that drops through a rift picks up that burn on its edge and leaves it in the cut on the far side, black on both edges. There’s no other way to get it.”

He turned toward the Linghu benches. He didn’t raise his voice.

“That night I didn’t open a single rift,” Shi Feng said. “The man in the mask opened three, all around me at once, and cut through all three. I dropped my sword into the one on my left and came out of it at his face. That’s why his cut is burned on both sides. He was tearing space at me when I struck him.”

The hall was silent.

“He’s right,” Long Zhenlei said.

Everyone turned to the Long seat. The prince kept frowning at Shi Feng’s page.

“I’ve seen it on the Valley’s sparring floor,” Long Zhenlei said bluntly. “An elder thrust through a rift once and caught a senior brother on the arm. The cut was black on both edges for a month. The healers called it void-burn.” He looked at Situ Mingzhao. “The Long seat says so. Write it.”

Situ Mingzhao wrote it. His brush moved more slowly than usual.

“Deputy Commander,” Situ Mingzhao said. “Did the Commander ever tear space with that blade?”

“Three Doors of Night,” Pang Yue said at once. “His own art. He opened three rifts and cut through all of them. I’ve seen him do it a hundred times.”

Situ Mingzhao set down his brush.

He silently laid four things together: the leave papers, half mask, jade box and coroner’s record. After examining each, he faced the hall.

“The commission will state what it has,” Situ Mingzhao said quietly. “A Commander of the Lantern Guard went north on a leave his deputy never signed, dated before the guest had left the capital. He went masked. He struck the first blow, with his own blade. And he was tearing space at the guest when the guest’s sword cut him.” He paused. “The commission has a witness who says otherwise.”

He turned his head.

Cao Shuncai sat sweating in his new coat on the witness bench he’d occupied for two days. He’d stared at the jade box all morning.

“Cao Shuncai,” Situ Mingzhao said. “Do you wish to change your testimony?”

Cao Shuncai opened his mouth. His lips shook. Then he slid off the bench onto his knees and pressed his forehead to the floor.

“I never saw anything!” Cao Shuncai wailed. “I was asleep in the stable! I never saw any swordsman!”

The gallery exploded.

“He confessed!”

“Asleep in the stable the whole time!”

“The Censorate’s one witness, and he was sleeping with the horses!”

Situ Mingzhao struck the table twice.

“Who told you what to say?” Situ Mingzhao asked.

“I don’t know!” Cao Shuncai sobbed into the floor. “I swear on my ancestors, I don’t know! A man came to the waystation after the caravan left. I never saw his face. He stood outside the stable door in the dark and talked through it. He left forty taels in my rice jar and told me what I’d seen, and told me to come north when the commission sent for me. He gave me money for the coat.” He was shaking from head to foot. “When a hungry man sees silver, Commissioner, his eyes go blind! Forty taels! I’ve never had forty taels!”

The whole gallery fell completely quiet. Just forty taels had nearly ruined Shi Feng and harmed the princess. Cao Shuncai trembled.

Pang Yue rose from the commission table and walked down onto the floor. He took Cao Shuncai by the back of the new coat and lifted him to his feet with one hand.

“Commissioner,” Pang Yue said. “This man is a witness to a forged Lantern Guard leave and to whoever paid for it. I’m taking him into Lantern Guard custody. Myself.”

“The commission agrees,” Situ Mingzhao said.

Pang Yue led Cao Shuncai through the side door. Two guards followed without orders.

Shi Feng watched them go.

A man who stood in the dark and talked through a stable door didn’t want to be seen, and a man who could forge a Lantern Guard leave didn’t pay forty taels by accident. Shi Feng thought the buyer had needed a claim to start the inquiry. Cao Shuncai was expendable, never expected to withstand questioning.

He sat, pressing his side. The binding was wet again.

Long Caili finally turned toward the commission table. Shi Feng watched her briefly, relieved that the finding was close. She faced forward again and kept the silence that protected the bond.

Situ Mingzhao picked up his brush and drew a fresh sheet toward him.

“The commission will write its finding,” Situ Mingzhao said.