The first mistake was assuming the convoy had vanished.
The second was assuming that someone had made it disappear.
Lin Han would discover both mistakes before sunset.
But by then, the search party would have found something far more troubling than a missing shipment.
The messenger was still kneeling when Commander Meng Zhen entered the courtyard.
Dawn had barely broken over the eastern hills. The station's lamps burned beneath the covered passages, and the cold morning air carried the smell of damp earth.
Tian Bo stood beside the messenger.
Han Rui arrived moments later, clutching a bundle of transport records.
Lin Han remained near the loading platform.
He had been preparing the morning issue when the alarm spread through the station.
Now every man in the courtyard seemed to be waiting for the commander to speak.
Meng Zhen looked at the messenger.
"Repeat your report."
The man bowed.
"Commander, the supply detachment assigned to Shiqiao passed the northern crossing. It failed to reach the next checkpoint."
"How many carts?"
"Four, Commander."
"How many escorts?"
"Eight soldiers, according to the departure record."
"Who commanded them?"
"Corporal Deng."
"Last confirmed sighting?"
"The northern crossing station, during the previous day's morning watch."
Meng Zhen turned toward Han Rui.
"Was that convoy expected at Shiqiao?"
"Yes, Commander."
"What did it carry?"
"Grain, preserved provisions, and replacement equipment."
"How much grain?"
Han Rui consulted the records.
He gave the quantity.
Meng Zhen considered it.
"Enough to matter."
"Yes, Commander."
"Was the convoy carrying the postponed allocation?"
"Only part of it. The main replacement remains unconfirmed."
The commander looked toward the eastern road.
For several moments, he said nothing.
Then he asked, "What do we know about the road?"
Tian Bo answered.
"The northern crossing was passable when our last patrol returned. There are two narrow sections beyond it, and a southern track that rejoins the main road near an abandoned watch post."
"Bandit activity?"
"Unconfirmed reports of theft farther east. Nothing established along this section."
"Weather?"
"Rain several days ago. The lower road may still be damaged."
Meng Zhen nodded.
"Then we do not have a vanished convoy."
The messenger looked confused.
"Commander?"
"We have a convoy that has not arrived."
The distinction silenced the courtyard.
Meng Zhen continued.
"That may mean delay, damage, diversion, or attack. We will determine which."
He turned to Tian Bo.
"Prepare a search detail. Six mounted soldiers, two spare animals, and a cart carrying tools and provisions."
"Yes, Commander."
"Take a medical attendant."
"Yes."
"And someone who can compare the movement records with what you find."
Han Rui stepped forward.
"I can accompany them, Commander."
Meng Zhen shook his head.
"I need you here to prepare the outstanding allocations."
He looked toward Lin Han.
"Send the laborer."
Lin Han froze.
Tian Bo hesitated.
"Commander, Lin Han has limited experience beyond the supply roads."
"He can count carts, recognize load markings, and keep a rough account under supervision."
"Yes, Commander."
"Then he may be useful."
Meng Zhen turned toward Lin Han.
"You will follow Sergeant Tian's instructions. You will not separate from the detail, question witnesses independently, or handle official documents without permission."
Lin Han bowed deeply.
"Yes, Commander."
The commander studied him.
"And do not invent a conspiracy merely because a cart is late."
Lin Han lowered his head.
"I understand."
They departed shortly after sunrise.
The search party consisted of Tian Bo, six mounted soldiers, a medical attendant named He Ning, Lin Han, and two drivers responsible for the spare cart and animals.
The soldiers rode ahead.
Lin Han traveled beside the supply cart, carrying a small bundle of rough-count slips and spare cord.
The road was still damp.
Water collected in the deeper ruts.
Several sections had been repaired with stones and timber, but others remained uneven.
Lin Han watched the ground carefully.
At first, he tried to identify tracks belonging to the missing convoy.
He soon abandoned the attempt.
Too many vehicles had passed.
The road carried merchants, farmers, official messengers, and military transports.
Wheel marks overlapped.
Hoofprints disappeared beneath newer impressions.
Mud preserved some traces and destroyed others.
He had imagined that a missing convoy would leave a clear trail.
The road offered no such kindness.
They reached the northern crossing before midday.
The station keeper emerged when he saw the soldiers.
He was an older man with a bent back and a narrow face.
Tian Bo dismounted.
"Four military carts passed here yesterday?"
"Yes, Sergeant."
"Who commanded them?"
"A corporal. I did not know his name."
"How many soldiers?"
The keeper hesitated.
"Several."
"How many?"
"Perhaps eight."
Tian Bo looked toward Lin Han.
"Record the estimate, not a confirmed count."
Lin Han nodded.
"Yes, Sergeant."
The keeper watched uneasily.
Tian Bo continued.
"Did they stop?"
"Briefly."
"For what?"
"Water."
"Did they request repairs?"
"No."
"Did they report trouble?"
The keeper hesitated.
"One driver complained about the road."
"Which driver?"
"I don't know his name."
"What did he say?"
"That the eastern descent had become difficult for heavily loaded carts."
Tian Bo considered this.
"Did the convoy continue along the main road?"
The keeper nodded.
"Yes."
"Did you watch them reach the eastern bend?"
The man hesitated.
"No, Sergeant."
"Then you saw them leave by the eastern gate."
"Yes."
"That is what we will record."
Lin Han wrote carefully.
The distinction mattered.
The station keeper could confirm the departure.
He could not confirm the route beyond the crossing.
Tian Bo questioned the guards.
Their accounts agreed on the general time.
But one guard remembered a damaged harness.
Another recalled that the rear cart moved more slowly than the others.
Neither had considered the details important enough to report.
Lin Han examined the notes.
The convoy had left the crossing.
Its condition was uncertain.
Its route beyond the gate remained unconfirmed.
They had learned something.
But not enough.
The search continued eastward.
The road descended through a narrow valley bordered by low hills.
A dry streambed ran beside it.
The ground became rougher.
At one bend, Tian Bo halted the detail.
He pointed toward the roadside.
"Look."
Lin Han approached.
A section of the road had been disturbed.
Several stones had been displaced.
The earth beside the ditch was deeply marked.
Something heavy had been dragged or pushed from the road.
One soldier dismounted.
"An accident?"
"Possibly," Tian Bo answered.
He examined the ground.
"Could be a cart leaving the road."
Lin Han crouched beside a rut.
The impression was wide.
A wheel had pressed deeply into the soft earth.
Nearby lay a broken piece of wooden binding.
Lin Han picked it up.
The wood was fresh at one end.
"Sergeant."
Tian Bo approached.
Lin Han showed him the fragment.
"Could be from a cart frame."
"Could be."
The sergeant examined it.
"Does it identify the missing convoy?"
"No."
"Then keep looking."
They searched the roadside.
A soldier found a damaged iron fitting.
Another discovered a strip of torn cloth caught beneath a stone.
Neither bore a clear identifying mark.
Lin Han looked toward the valley.
The road continued east.
But a narrow track descended toward the streambed.
It was barely wide enough for a cart.
He remembered the route description.
A southern track rejoined the main road near an abandoned watch post.
"Sergeant."
Tian Bo turned.
"That track."
"What about it?"
"Could a loaded cart use it?"
"With difficulty."
"Would a damaged cart be safer there?"
The sergeant looked toward the descent.
"No."
Lin Han hesitated.
"Then why would someone take it?"
Tian Bo studied him.
"That is what we need to discover."
They followed the southern track.
The spare cart remained on the main road with two soldiers.
The others proceeded cautiously.
The ground descended toward a shallow stream.
Reeds grew along its banks.
The track was narrow, but its surface was firmer than the muddy road above.
Lin Han noticed wheel impressions near a patch of exposed earth.
They were clearer than those on the main road.
Several carts had passed.
But the marks did not establish when.
The soldiers continued.
After a short distance, they found the first sign of the missing convoy.
A broken wooden board lay beside the stream.
Its surface bore a faded military supply mark.
Lin Han recognized the style.
He had seen similar marks on equipment loaded at the eastern station.
Tian Bo examined it.
"One of ours."
A soldier looked toward the trees.
"Then they came this way."
"At least some of their equipment did," Tian Bo answered.
He turned toward Lin Han.
"Record the location."
Lin Han wrote.
His hand trembled slightly.
The evidence was no longer merely suggestive.
Something belonging to the military transport had reached the southern track.
But whether the convoy had moved voluntarily or under force remained unknown.
They found the first cart beneath a stand of trees.
It lay on its side.
One wheel had broken away.
The axle was damaged.
Several grain sacks had spilled into the mud.
The harness had been cut.
A dead animal lay nearby.
The smell reached them before the full scene came into view.
Lin Han stopped.
A soldier raised his spear.
Tian Bo ordered the men to spread out.
"Search the area. Carefully."
The soldiers moved between the trees.
Lin Han remained beside the sergeant.
He looked at the overturned cart.
Its side rails were damaged.
The load had shifted violently.
But the sacks had not all been removed.
Several remained beneath the frame.
Others lay scattered nearby.
There were no bodies.
No obvious signs of a prolonged fight.
Lin Han felt his pulse quicken.
"Sergeant."
"What?"
"The grain."
Tian Bo looked at him.
"Count what remains."
Lin Han approached cautiously.
He examined the sacks.
Some had burst.
Others were intact.
He counted those still secured to the cart.
Then those lying nearby.
The total was lower than the assigned load.
But the difference could have been caused by spillage, transfer, or removal.
He recorded only what he could verify.
Tian Bo examined the cut harness.
"Clean cut."
A soldier nodded.
"Someone used a blade."
"After the accident, perhaps."
"Or before."
Tian Bo looked at him.
"We do not know."
Lin Han studied the ground.
The mud around the cart was heavily disturbed.
There were footprints.
Hoofprints.
Wheel impressions.
But the rain had softened their edges.
He could not determine how many people had been present.
Nor could he establish the order in which events had occurred.
The scene offered evidence of a damaged cart.
It did not yet explain the missing convoy.
A shout came from farther downstream.
"Sergeant!"
Tian Bo moved immediately.
Lin Han followed.
They found a soldier kneeling beside a man lying beneath a fallen branch.
The man wore a torn military transport tunic.
Blood stained his shoulder.
His face was pale.
He Ning hurried forward.
The medical attendant examined him.
"Alive."
The man opened his eyes.
He tried to speak.
Tian Bo crouched beside him.
"Can you hear me?"
The injured man nodded weakly.
"Name?"
"Xu... Xu Liang."
"Your assignment?"
"Driver. Rear cart."
Tian Bo glanced toward Lin Han.
The name matched one of the drivers recorded on the departure list.
"Where are the others?"
Xu Liang swallowed.
"East."
"How far?"
"I don't know."
"What happened?"
The man closed his eyes.
"Wheel broke."
Tian Bo waited.
"Then?"
"We stopped."
"Where?"
"On the main road."
"Why did you come down here?"
Xu Liang's breathing became uneven.
"Men came."
The soldiers exchanged glances.
Tian Bo leaned closer.
"What men?"
"Travelers."
"Merchants?"
"I don't know."
"Armed?"
The driver hesitated.
"Some."
Lin Han felt cold.
Tian Bo continued.
"Did they attack?"
Xu Liang shook his head weakly.
"Helped."
The sergeant frowned.
"Helped?"
"They said... road ahead was blocked."
"Who said?"
"A man. Gray robe."
"What did he tell you?"
"Use the southern track."
Xu Liang coughed.
He Ning placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Enough. He needs rest."
Tian Bo nodded.
"One more question."
He looked at the driver.
"Who ordered the convoy to follow them?"
Xu Liang's eyes moved uncertainly.
"Corporal Deng."
Then he lost consciousness.
The search party remained near the stream while He Ning treated the injured driver.
Tian Bo examined the overturned cart again.
Lin Han stood beside him.
"Sergeant."
"What?"
"The driver said the travelers helped them."
"Yes."
"Then the convoy may have changed route voluntarily."
"Perhaps."
"But the harness was cut."
"After the cart overturned, it may have been necessary to free the animal."
Lin Han looked toward the dead animal.
"That would explain it."
"Possibly."
The sergeant studied the ground.
"Do not decide too quickly."
Lin Han lowered his head.
"Yes."
Tian Bo continued.
"The driver was injured. His memory may be incomplete. He may have misunderstood what happened."
Lin Han nodded.
The warning was familiar.
But this time, he felt its weight.
At Heiyang, he had built theories from numbers.
Here, he was standing among broken equipment and spilled grain.
The evidence was physical.
Yet it remained uncertain.
The soldiers found the second cart near the abandoned watch post.
It stood upright beneath a damaged roof.
Its load had been removed.
The harness remained attached.
No animal was present.
The cart bore a military transport mark.
Lin Han recognized the number from the departure record.
The second cart.
He examined the frame.
The wheels were intact.
The axle appeared serviceable.
There was no obvious reason it could not have continued.
Tian Bo looked toward the empty loading platform.
"Count the remaining equipment."
Lin Han obeyed.
A few lengths of rope.
A broken container.
Several pieces of packing material.
No grain.
No provisions.
No weapons.
The cart had been emptied deliberately.
But by whom?
And why?
One soldier examined the ground.
"Many footprints."
Tian Bo nodded.
"How many men?"
"Impossible to tell."
The sergeant looked toward the road beyond the watch post.
It continued eastward.
The missing convoy might have gone that way.
Or it might have divided.
Lin Han examined the empty cart.
He noticed scratches along the side rail.
Fresh marks.
The kind left when heavy sacks were dragged across wood.
He looked toward the ground.
Several shallow grooves led away from the cart.
The load had been moved.
But not necessarily stolen.
A damaged convoy might transfer grain to other vehicles.
A frightened corporal might abandon a cart to preserve the shipment.
A group of travelers might assist with repairs.
All were possible.
Lin Han looked toward Tian Bo.
"Sergeant, the grain may have been transferred."
"Yes."
"To the other carts?"
"Perhaps."
"Or to the travelers' carts."
Tian Bo studied him.
"That is also possible."
Lin Han hesitated.
"Would Corporal Deng have authority to do that?"
"To preserve the shipment in an emergency, he might arrange assistance. But the transfer would need to be accounted for."
"Would he record it?"
"He should."
Lin Han looked toward the empty cart.
"Then we need his account."
Tian Bo nodded.
"Exactly."
The third cart was found farther east.
It had been abandoned beside the road.
Its wheels were intact.
The animal harness was missing.
The load was gone.
A broken spear lay nearby.
This time, there was blood on the ground.
Not much.
But enough to change the soldiers' expressions.
Tian Bo ordered the men to search the surrounding brush.
Lin Han remained beside the cart.
He examined the side rail.
A small piece of cloth had caught beneath a wooden peg.
Dark blue.
He did not recognize the material.
The cart's markings matched the departure record.
Three carts accounted for.
One remained missing.
And the men who had accompanied them were still unaccounted for.
The soldiers returned.
No bodies.
No clear trail.
Tian Bo looked toward the eastern road.
"We continue."
They found Corporal Deng near sunset.
He was hiding inside a ruined storage shed beside the old road.
Two soldiers remained with him.
One had a bandaged arm.
The other carried a spear with a broken shaft.
All three looked exhausted.
When Tian Bo entered, Deng struggled to stand.
"Sergeant."
"Report."
The corporal swallowed.
"We were attacked."
"By whom?"
"Men traveling with a merchant convoy."
"How many?"
"Perhaps a dozen."
"Where are your other men?"
Deng lowered his eyes.
"Scattered."
"Dead?"
"I don't know."
Tian Bo's expression hardened.
"Start from the beginning."
Deng explained that the rear cart had suffered a wheel failure.
A group of travelers had approached.
They offered assistance and warned that the main road ahead was damaged.
The corporal accepted their guidance toward the southern track.
At first, the travelers helped move the damaged load.
Then an argument began over payment.
One of the travelers demanded compensation for the use of additional carts.
Deng refused.
Weapons were drawn.
The soldiers attempted to regain control of the shipment.
In the confusion, several men were injured.
The travelers seized part of the grain and departed eastward.
Deng and the surviving soldiers scattered.
Tian Bo listened without interruption.
When the corporal finished, he asked, "Why did you not send a messenger?"
Deng lowered his head.
"We lost the horses."
"Why did you abandon the third cart?"
"We could not move it without animals."
"And the fourth?"
Deng hesitated.
"Taken."
"By the travelers?"
"Yes."
Tian Bo studied him.
"Did you authorize the original transfer of grain to their carts?"
The corporal looked away.
"I agreed to their assistance."
"Did you record the quantities?"
"No."
"Why?"
"There was no time."
Tian Bo's expression remained stern.
"Was there time to argue over payment?"
Deng said nothing.
The sergeant stepped closer.
"Corporal, I need the truth. Not the account you think will protect you."
Deng's face tightened.
For a moment, Lin Han thought he would refuse.
Then the corporal spoke quietly.
"I thought they were official carriers."
Tian Bo frowned.
"Why?"
"They showed me a document."
"What document?"
"A transport authorization."
"Whose seal?"
Deng hesitated.
"I did not examine it closely."
The sergeant stared at him.
"You changed the route of a military shipment on the authority of a document you did not verify?"
Deng lowered his head.
"Yes, Sergeant."
Silence filled the ruined shed.
Lin Han felt a familiar chill.
An order.
A document.
A man who obeyed because he believed someone else possessed authority.
He had heard this story before.
He had lived it.
Tian Bo ordered the surviving soldiers secured for questioning and medical care.
He did not accuse Deng of deliberate wrongdoing.
Nor did he accept the corporal's explanation as sufficient.
The search party prepared to return with the wounded.
Lin Han helped collect the remaining equipment.
As he worked, he noticed something beneath a broken board.
A narrow wooden slip.
Part of its surface had been scraped.
Several characters remained visible.
It appeared to be a commercial transport note.
He brought it to Tian Bo.
"Sergeant."
The sergeant examined it.
The slip contained a partial date, a cart designation, and a name.
Not Luo Jian.
Another name.
Lin Han did not recognize it.
But beneath the name was a mark associated with a commercial transport agent.
Tian Bo studied the slip.
"Where did you find this?"
"Inside the shed."
"Did you move anything else?"
"No."
The sergeant handed it to a soldier.
"Keep it with the recovered materials."
Lin Han watched the slip disappear into the man's case.
He wanted to ask whether the mark was connected to the travelers.
He wanted to know whether the same commercial network operated along the southern route near Heiyang.
But he had no evidence of such a connection.
He kept silent.
They returned to the station the following morning.
Meng Zhen received the report in his office.
Tian Bo described the broken carts, the injured driver, the abandoned equipment, and the survivors' testimony.
Han Rui recorded the findings.
Lin Han stood near the entrance.
The commander listened carefully.
When the sergeant finished, Meng Zhen asked, "How much grain was recovered?"
Tian Bo gave the quantity.
"How much remains missing?"
Han Rui calculated the difference.
The figure was substantial.
Meng Zhen looked toward the recovered commercial slip.
"Does this identify the men responsible?"
"No, Commander."
"Does it establish that the travelers were merchants?"
"No."
"Then what does it establish?"
Tian Bo answered.
"That a commercial transport document was present near the location where the survivors sheltered."
Meng Zhen nodded.
"Nothing more."
Lin Han lowered his eyes.
The commander continued.
"Corporal Deng accepted assistance from strangers, changed route, and allowed military supplies to be transferred without a verified account."
"Yes, Commander."
"That was negligence."
"Yes."
"But negligence does not explain why the travelers seized the grain."
"No."
Meng Zhen looked toward the map.
"Someone knew the convoy was vulnerable."
Tian Bo hesitated.
"Possibly."
The commander nodded.
"Possibly."
He studied the road markings.
"Or they encountered an opportunity and took it."
Lin Han listened.
The commander was refusing to choose a conclusion before the evidence supported it.
He was doing what Lin Han had repeatedly failed to do at Heiyang.
Later that afternoon, Han Rui summoned Lin Han to the records office.
The clerk spread the convoy's departure account beside the recovery notes.
"Count the losses."
Lin Han obeyed.
He recorded the grain recovered from the first cart.
The equipment found beside the second.
The supplies remaining with the survivors.
The quantities reported as seized.
He distinguished confirmed losses from quantities that could not yet be accounted for.
When he finished, Han Rui examined the figures.
"Good."
Lin Han hesitated.
"Sir."
"What?"
"The fourth cart."
"What about it?"
"It was taken with part of the load."
"According to Corporal Deng."
"Yes."
"Then record it as reported, not confirmed."
Lin Han nodded.
He amended the entry.
Han Rui watched.
"Do you understand why?"
"Because we have not found the cart."
"Correct."
Lin Han looked toward the ledger.
A missing cart.
A reported seizure.
An unverified document.
The pieces resembled the mystery at Heiyang.
But resemblance was not proof.
He had learned that lesson painfully.
That evening, Meng Zhen ordered a notice sent to the regional supply administration.
The report described the missing grain, the abandoned carts, and the suspected seizure by unidentified travelers.
It did not claim that the attack had been planned by corrupt officials.
It did not accuse Luo Jian.
It did not connect the incident to Heiyang.
The commander also ordered additional patrols along the eastern road.
Shiqiao would receive an emergency allocation from the station's remaining stores.
The decision reduced the station's reserves.
Han Rui recorded the change.
Lin Han watched.
Another order.
Another cost.
But this time, the commander knew exactly what he was choosing.
After sunset, Lin Han found Tian Bo beside the repair yard.
The sergeant was examining the recovered cart fittings.
"Sergeant."
Tian Bo looked up.
"What is it?"
"Do you believe Corporal Deng?"
The sergeant considered the question.
"I believe he is frightened."
"That is not the same thing."
"No."
Lin Han hesitated.
"Do you think the travelers planned to seize the grain?"
"Perhaps."
"Could they have known the convoy's route?"
"Perhaps."
"Could someone have told them?"
Tian Bo looked at him sharply.
"Lin Han."
He lowered his head.
"Yes, Sergeant."
"Do not begin again."
Lin Han remained silent.
The sergeant continued.
"We have evidence of a broken convoy, an unauthorized route change, and grain taken during a dispute. We do not yet have evidence of a larger conspiracy."
"I understand."
"Do you?"
Lin Han looked toward the damaged cart.
"I think so."
Tian Bo sighed.
"Then remember what happened to Chen Yu."
The name struck him.
Lin Han looked up.
The sergeant's expression softened slightly.
"You cannot help anyone if you turn every uncertainty into an accusation."
Lin Han lowered his eyes.
"Yes."
That night, Lin Han returned to the laborers' quarters.
He lay awake, listening to the wind beyond the station wall.
The missing convoy had been found.
At least, part of it.
Three carts had been recovered.
Several soldiers had survived.
The fourth cart remained unaccounted for.
The grain had been partly seized.
And the men responsible had disappeared along the eastern road.
The mystery was incomplete.
But it was no longer an empty space on a transport register.
It had a broken wheel.
A wounded driver.
An unverified authorization.
A corporal who had made a dangerous decision.
And a commercial slip whose meaning remained uncertain.
Lin Han closed his eyes.
He thought of the nine hundred shi at Heiyang.
Of the six hundred recorded for East Ridge.
Of the three hundred whose destination remained unknown.
He had once believed that every discrepancy concealed a deliberate crime.
Now he understood that roads produced their own confusion.
Carts broke.
Drivers lied.
Officers made mistakes.
Merchants took advantage of desperate men.
And records failed to capture the full disorder of events.
But the knowledge did not comfort him.
It made the truth harder to find.
Because a deliberate deception could hide among ordinary failures.
And the more complicated the road became, the easier it was for a guilty man to claim that nothing unusual had happened.
The following morning, a stranger arrived at the station.
He wore a plain robe and carried a travel case bound with worn leather.
His hair was streaked with gray.
His face was thin, and his eyes moved carefully across the courtyard.
He presented a letter to the gate officer.
The guard examined it.
Then called for Han Rui.
Lin Han watched from the loading platform.
The stranger spoke quietly.
Han Rui's expression changed.
He examined the letter again.
Then he led the man toward the commander's office.
As they passed, the stranger glanced toward the transport yard.
His gaze rested briefly on the writing slips in Lin Han's hands.
Then he looked away.
Lin Han thought little of it.
The station received officials, merchants, messengers, and travelers every day.
One more stranger meant nothing.
But as the man entered the administrative building, Han Rui spoke a name.
"Xun."
Lin Han looked up.
The stranger disappeared through the doorway.
He did not know who Xun was.
He did not know why a man carrying a worn travel case had been admitted to the commander's office.
And he did not know that the stranger had once spent years examining records far more dangerous than the ones kept at Heiyang.
For now, Lin Han returned to his work.
He counted the grain.
Checked the bindings.
Recorded the quantities.
And waited for the next order.
The empire continued moving.
Its roads remained dangerous.
Its records remained incomplete.
And somewhere beyond the eastern hills, a fourth cart carried grain whose destination no one at the station could yet confirm.
The convoy had not vanished.
Only the certainty of what had happened to it.