Chapter Three: The Street Written into Being

“A Calendar Corrector,” she said. Ye did not deny it. “The return of the ten days cannot be reversed. We can only decide, on the final day, who remains outside the gate.” Intercalary Lane contracted behind him. Districts swallowed by written roads reappeared, overlapping like a misprinted image. On Lin's burned map, the pinholes rearranged themselves into a sentence: *Return the First Forgotten, and the city shall be preserved.* Su stepped back. Lin folded the calendar record into an acid-free sleeve and placed it inside his coat. “A document made from the ashes of eleven thousand people has no right to decide for anyone.” Far away, the ten-marked clock struck three.