The whistle of a horse was very short.
It sounded only once before being swallowed by the wind in the forest.
If Xiao Yuan and the others had not already been holding their breath and lying in wait in the darkness, they would almost have thought it was merely the sound of a pine branch snapping under the weight of snow.
The empty carts slowly proceeded along the western road.
The wheels crushed over the accumulated snow, making a dull sound. Thick cloth covered the carts, and from a distance, they looked little different from the carts that had previously been loaded with military grain. The two guards accompanying the carts had changed into bandit clothing. Their backs were hunched, their steps deliberately loose and careless, as though they had just gone through a chaotic battle and were impatient to get the carts away.
The forest was very quiet.
So quiet that it seemed as though no one was lying in ambush.
But Xiao Yuan knew that someone was watching.
Another quarter of an hour passed before a tiny spark suddenly appeared beside the snowy road ahead.
The light was very small and was quickly snuffed out.
The guard escorting the carts did not stop. He merely followed the prearranged signal and muttered in a low voice, “What are you rushing for? The carts got stuck twice. My legs are nearly frozen off.”
The words were crude, and his tone sounded like a bandit.
A lowered voice soon came from within the snowy forest.
“Why are there only five carts?”
The guard escorting the carts spat.
“Several carts overturned up ahead. The Gray-Clothed Master told us to send the ones that could still move first. The ones behind are still being dragged.”
There was silence in the forest for a moment.
Lying behind the snowy slope, Xiao Yuan heard people conversing in extremely low voices. They were too far away for him to hear everything clearly, but he vaguely caught a few words.
“Overturned carts.”
“The Prince of Su.”
“The Gray-Clothed Master.”
“Western Depot.”
Western Depot.
Xiao Yuan’s eyes shifted slightly.
Blackpine Ridge indeed had more than one grain storage site.
After a moment, three people emerged from the forest.
Two were dressed as bandits. The other wore a gray short jacket and had his face covered with cloth, revealing only a pair of eyes. He did not approach the grain carts immediately. Instead, he raised a hand and signaled for the people behind him to inspect both sides of the snowy road.
Very cautious.
They were not ordinary bandits.
The guard escorting the carts lowered his head and pretended to adjust the reins, but his hand had already quietly settled over the short blade hidden in his sleeve.
The man in gray walked to the first cart and lifted a corner of the thick cloth.
The inside of the cart was completely empty.
In that instant, his eyes changed drastically.
“There’s a trap!”
Before the words had even fallen, Xiao Yuan had already leaped down from the snowy slope.
His long sword left its sheath, its cold gleam rushing straight toward the gray-clothed man’s throat.
The man reacted extremely quickly. He drew his blade and blocked, his body retreating sharply. He was fast, but Xiao Yuan was faster. The first sword suppressed his blade, and the second had already swept past his wrist.
The blade fell into the snow.
The gray-clothed man groaned and turned to flee into the forest.
The guards had already sealed off his escape route.
The ropes buried beneath the snow were suddenly pulled taut. Two bandits were directly tripped and fell. Another had just begun to blow his whistle when an arrow pierced his shoulder and pinned him against a pine tree. The whistle caught in his throat, becoming only a short muffled cry.
Xiao Yuan kicked the gray-clothed man to his knees in the snow.
The tip of his sword rested against the man’s neck.
“Where is the Western Depot?”
The gray-clothed man clenched his teeth and remained silent.
Xiao Yuan looked at him. There was no anger in his eyes, only icy calm.
“You don’t have to tell me.”
He raised his eyes toward the guards escorting the carts.
“Search him.”
The guards immediately stepped forward. Soon, they searched a bronze token, a small map wrapped in oil paper, and half a fragment of sealing wax from the gray-clothed man’s robes.
A character was engraved on the bronze token:
Liang.
The small map was extremely simple, marking only a few mountain paths and several secret signs. One location had been circled, with two characters written beside it.
Western Depot.
As for the sealing-wax fragment, it bore a partially damaged seal impression.
It was neither the Eastern Palace seal nor the official seal of the Northern Frontier Transport Office.
Instead, it was a private cross-page seal commonly used on grain-transport documents from the Ministry of Revenue.
Xiao Yuan took the fragment of sealing wax. His expression slowly darkened.
Ministry of Revenue.
Transport Office.
Blackpine Ridge.
The Crown Prince’s hand had reached deeper than he had expected.
Seeing his expression, the gray-clothed man suddenly gave a cold laugh.
“Prince Su, so what if you take this grain back? The Northern Frontier is so vast. Can you save one village and one town? Can you save the entire grain route?”
Xiao Yuan lowered his eyes and looked at him.
“That is not something you should be asking.”
The gray-clothed man froze.
Xiao Yuan said indifferently, “Take it back and ask your master.”
The man’s expression changed slightly.
He finally realized that Xiao Yuan had not killed him immediately because he wanted to force a few words out of him.
He wanted to turn him into evidence.
Living evidence.
The man was just about to grit his teeth when the guard swiftly dislocated his jaw and removed a small wax pill containing poison from between his teeth.
The guard said quietly, “Your Highness, there really is poison.”
Xiao Yuan glanced at it.
“Bind him.”
As the gray-clothed man was dragged away, fear finally appeared in his eyes.
He was not afraid of death.
But he was afraid that he would not be allowed to die.
For people like him, remaining alive in Xiao Yuan’s hands was more terrifying than death.
◆◇◆◇◆
The Western Depot was hidden deeper inside Blackpine Ridge.
It was not a cave, but an abandoned logging camp that had been deserted for many years. Wooden fences and pine branches concealed it. From the outside, it looked like nothing more than an old forest shed crushed beneath the snow. Without that small map, even an ordinary person walking right past it might not notice that a massive quantity of grain was hidden inside.
Xiao Yuan did not immediately lead his men in.
He observed the surroundings for a quarter of an hour.
There were not many people inside the Western Depot.
Perhaps because the main force was at the mountain hollow and on the western road escorting the grain, only a dozen or so people had been left here to guard it. Most were bandits, while there were another three gray-clothed men. The grain sacks were piled very high. By a rough estimate, there were at least thirty carts’ worth remaining.
The guards’ eyes reddened at the sight.
“Your Highness, if this grain is really transported away, the Northern Frontier military camp…”
He did not finish.
Because everyone understood the consequences.
Without grain, an army would fall into chaos.
If the border troops went hungry, it would no longer be a matter of a few villagers freezing to death.
The entire Northern Frontier defense line would loosen.
The enemy would not even need to launch a large-scale invasion. They would only have to wait for Great Sheng to starve its own border troops into collapse before tearing open a breach.
Xiao Yuan stared at the grain sacks. There was no delight in his eyes, only an even deeper chill.
The Crown Prince did not know that the Northern Frontier was short of grain.
He knew.
That was precisely why he was even more ruthless.
“Don’t burn it. Don’t raise an alarm,” Xiao Yuan said quietly. “Seal off three sides. Leave only the eastern entrance.”
The guards immediately understood.
Leaving one opening was so that people could escape.
Those who fled would think they had a way out and would run toward the place where they could truly seek help.
And that path would lead them to the people further behind Blackpine Ridge.
Xiao Yuan had not brought enough men to hold the entire Western Depot by force.
But he did not need to kill everyone in one night.
What he wanted was the grain.
The evidence.
The living captives.
And the line behind them.
After the guards dispersed, Xiao Yuan stood in the snow and lowered his head to glance at his right hand.
The wound cut by the crack of the Door was not deep and had already stopped bleeding.
But in the cold night, it still gave off a faint sting.
He suddenly remembered Chi Banyue saying that she would report back to Su Muchen.
If Su Muchen found out, he would probably frown first.
Then, with a cold face, ask whether he thought his hand was expendable.
At the thought of this, the faintest trace of a smile passed through Xiao Yuan’s eyes.
The next instant, he raised his eyes.
That trace of a smile disappeared completely.
He drew his sword.
“Move.”
◆◇◆◇◆
The door to the rear room of Guichen Studio trembled for a long time, but never truly opened.
Su Muchen stood before the door, holding the newly organized supply list in his hand, his eyes fixed motionlessly on the crack beneath the door.
Xiao stood behind him, not standing too close.
The door panel trembled faintly in the rainy night.
Very lightly.
It was as though someone on the other side was knocking through thick snow and wind, or perhaps it was merely wood making a faint sound after absorbing moisture.
Su Muchen waited for a long time.
The white light did not appear.
At last, he asked quietly, “What does this count as?”
Xiao looked at the door.
“An echo.”
“A door can have echoes?”
“Sometimes.” Xiao said, “When the distance on the other side is too great, the causal weight is too heavy, and a complete path cannot be opened, the Door will produce an echo first. It means that someone on the other side is connected to you, but cannot come through for the time being.”
Su Muchen’s fingers tightened around the supply list.
“Xiao Yuan?”
Xiao did not answer immediately.
Su Muchen turned back to look at him.
Xiao sighed.
“Most likely.”
Su Muchen’s expression darkened at once.
“Most likely?”
“Muchen, if you want me to tell you with certainty, I can’t.” Xiao lowered his voice. “The Door isn’t a telephone. It doesn’t have caller ID.”
Su Muchen: “…”
If the atmosphere had not been so tense, he really wanted to throw the stack of papers in his hand at Xiao’s face.
The Door trembled lightly again.
Su Muchen immediately turned back.
This time, he did not wait for it to open on its own. Instead, he gently placed his palm against the door panel.
Xiao’s expression changed.
“Muchen.”
“I’m not pushing it,” Su Muchen said. “I’m just touching it.”
His palm rested against the wooden door.
The door panel was cold.
Cold enough that it did not feel like the temperature inside a modern room.
That chill slowly seeped into his palm, as though through a thin layer of wood, he could touch the snow of the Northern Frontier in the dead of night.
Su Muchen closed his eyes.
For an instant, he seemed to truly hear something.
Not a voice.
More like a distant vibration.
Wheels crushing snow.
A blade leaving its sheath.
Someone giving a low command.
And another kind of deeply suppressed sense of danger.
Su Muchen abruptly opened his eyes.
“He’s fighting.”
Xiao was silent for a moment.
“Perhaps.”
Su Muchen looked at the door.
Suddenly, he really wanted to push it open.
He really wanted to cross over.
He really wanted to see with his own eyes exactly where Xiao Yuan was, whether he was injured, whether he was once again gambling his life to change the situation.
But his hand remained against the door panel, and in the end, he did not exert any force.
He remembered what Xiao had said.
Those who force it open would lose their lifespan, damage the path, and harm the person connected to them.
He also remembered Xiao Yuan’s words.
Wait for me to come back.
Su Muchen slowly withdrew his hand.
“I won’t force it open.”
The words sounded as though they were meant for Xiao to hear.
But they also sounded as though they were meant for himself.
Something flashed rapidly through Xiao’s eyes.
“That’s rare.”
Su Muchen gave him a cold look.
“Can you compliment people normally?”
Xiao smiled.
“I mean it sincerely.”
Su Muchen ignored him and returned to the counter. He opened the supply list from earlier and added another column.
Emergency Plan for the Northern Frontier Military Grain Route.
Xiao walked over. When he saw the title, his brows shifted almost imperceptibly.
“How did you think of the military grain route?”
Su Muchen did not even look up.
“Han River, Qingshi Village, Northern Watchpost. The grain was intercepted layer by layer. It can’t merely be local embezzlement. Xiao Yuan should not just be saving villages now. He’s probably pursuing the entire grain route.”
Xiao fell silent for a moment.
“You really are very much like that Chief Administrator of yours, Xia Lanshi.”
Su Muchen’s fingers paused over the keyboard.
“Is that a compliment?”
“It is.”
“Then thanks.”
His response was extremely perfunctory.
But Xiao looked at him, his gaze becoming increasingly complicated.
This time, things really were different.
Su Muchen not only understood what Xiao Yuan had to face.
He had already begun to guess, from across the Door, where the true blade in the Northern Frontier lay.
Perhaps the Door’s refusal to open was not merely a restriction.
It was also forcing them to stand firmly on their own.
Forcing Xiao Yuan not to depend on the Door.
Forcing Su Muchen not to remain merely the person who sent supplies.
◆◇◆◇◆
The battle at the Western Storehouse was even faster than the one on the western road.
When the bandits saw Xiao Yuan appear, their first reaction was not to resist, but to panic.
Because they had thought Prince Su was still at Qingshi Village.
And even more so, they had thought the people escorting the grain on the western road would be able to smoothly transport the final batch away.
They had never expected that Xiao Yuan would not only intercept them on the western road, but also find the Western Storehouse in such a short time.
The men in gray tried to burn the grain.
This time, the guards were already prepared.
All the fire starters, oil jars, and piles of dry grass were suppressed immediately. Several isolation lines had already been sealed off around the Western Storehouse with blocks of snow. Even if one place caught fire, it would be difficult for the flames to quickly spread to the main grain piles.
One of the men in gray tried to escape through the eastern entrance.
Xiao Yuan did not pursue him.
One of the guards beside him was somewhat anxious. “Your Highness?”
Xiao Yuan said, “Let him go.”
The man stumbled into the forest and quickly disappeared.
A moment later, another guard followed after him from the shadows.
The remaining people inside the Western Storehouse were quickly brought under control.
More than half of the bandits were killed or wounded, while those who remained knelt in the snow and begged for mercy without stopping. One of the two men in gray was captured alive, while the other tried to swallow poison, only to have his jaw dislocated by the guards first.
This was already the second time tonight that the guards had removed concealed poison from the mouths of the men in gray.
Zhao Ping’s earlier testimony had not been wrong.
These people were not ordinary transport-office laborers.
They had received training specifically to do things that could not be brought into the light for others.
Xiao Yuan walked into the depths of the Western Storehouse.
Rows of grain sacks were piled beneath the wooden shed, covered with thick cloth. Besides millet, there were also beans, salt, dried meat, as well as several boxes of military arrows and cotton clothing.
This supply was enough to let the northern frontier breathe for a moment.
It was also enough to prove that the suffering of Hanchuan and Qingshi Village was not a natural disaster, but a man-made calamity.
As the guards counted the supplies, their voices trembled.
“Your Highness, this place alone has more than three hundred shi of grain, one hundred and sixty pieces of cotton clothing, and twenty boxes of military arrows.”
Another man carried several account books out from the corner.
“Your Highness, we found the accounts.”
Xiao Yuan took them.
There were no official seals on the covers of the account books. They only bore simple codes.
Warehouse A.
Warehouse B.
Western Storehouse.
Each book recorded incoming and outgoing shipments, quantities, times, routes, and receiving signals. Many places used aliases, but some names could not be concealed.
Northern Frontier Transport Office.
The Ministry of Revenue’s Grain Transport Officer.
Black Pine Ridge.
And there was one character that appeared repeatedly.
—Sheng.
Xiao Yuan’s fingers paused slightly as he turned the page.
Sheng.
There were also officials with the surname Sheng in the Great Sheng court.
But this character appeared too abruptly.
It did not look like a person’s name.
It seemed more like a code name.
One of the guards asked quietly, “Your Highness, what is it?”
Xiao Yuan closed the account book.
“Put it away.”
He did not immediately make a judgment.
But he had already memorized this character in his heart.
Sheng.
For some reason, he suddenly remembered the modern man Su Muchen had mentioned.
Sheng Chengxiu.
There might be no connection between the two worlds.
However, the Door had already opened.
Some coincidences could no longer simply be treated as coincidences.
Xiao Yuan put the account books into his robes, his gaze growing even darker.
“Seal the Western Storehouse. Record every grain sack, military supply, and account book item by item. No private opening. No careless moving.”
The guard lowered his head. “Yes.”
“Send someone to inform Xia Lanshi and have him prepare to receive the account books and prisoners.”
When he reached this point, Xiao Yuan paused.
“Also tell him that there is a Sheng character in the account books.”
Although the guard did not understand why, he immediately acknowledged the order.
◆◇◆◇◆
Qingshi Village received the second urgent letter deep into the night.
Xia Lanshi had only been forced by Chi Banyue to lie down for less than half an hour.
When the letter arrived, Chi Banyue had originally wanted to read it for him.
But Xia Lanshi had already opened his eyes.
“His Highness?”
Chi Banyue sighed.
“Did you sleep at all?”
“I slept for a moment.”
“Does a moment count as sleep?”
“For me, it does.”
Chi Banyue: “……”
She could not be bothered arguing with the sickly Chief Advisor and simply handed him the letter.
Xia Lanshi sat up in his clothes and read it.
When he reached the first half, his expression was still relatively calm.
The western-road grain interception had succeeded.
Zhao Ping had been rescued.
The Western Storehouse had been discovered.
The grain, cotton clothing, military arrows, and account books were all secured.
All of these were good news.
But when he reached the final line, his gaze suddenly froze.
—One character repeatedly appears in the account books: Sheng.
Seeing his expression, Chi Banyue immediately asked, “What is it?”
Xia Lanshi handed the letter to her.
After reading it, Chi Banyue also frowned.
“Sheng? There are quite a few people with the surname Sheng in Great Sheng, aren’t there?”
“There are,” Xia Lanshi said. “But since His Highness specifically mentioned it, it means he thinks it is unusual.”
Chi Banyue thought for a moment.
“That Sheng Chengxiu from Doctor Su’s side also has the surname Sheng.”
The carriage suddenly fell silent.
It sounded absurd.
One was the “Sheng” in the account books of the northern frontier grain case in Great Sheng.
The other was Sheng Chengxiu, heir to a modern Yun capital conglomerate.
Separated by two worlds and two eras.
How could they possibly be connected?
But the Door already existed.
Xiao Yuan and Su Muchen had already exchanged medicine, grain, gold, information, and lives across the Door.
If the Door could connect the fates of two worlds, then could there already be a deeper hidden thread between the two worlds?
Xia Lanshi lowered his eyes, his fingertip lightly tapping the letter.
“We cannot hastily determine that they are connected, nor can we assume they are unrelated.”
Chi Banyue looked at him.
“You’re going to tell Doctor Su?”
“If the Door opens, we tell him,” Xia Lanshi said. “If the Door does not open, record it in the confidential register first.”
He took out a new thin booklet and wrote several words on its cover.
Two-Worlds Suspicious Threads.
First Thread.
Sheng.
After writing it, he paused, then added another sentence beside it.
—The “Sheng” character repeatedly appears in the account books of the northern frontier grain case; modern Sheng Chengxiu covets Gui Chen Studio. No evidence for now. Requires investigation.
Chi Banyue looked at that line and suddenly felt a chill down her back.
“Xia Lanshi, don’t you think this matter is getting bigger and bigger?”
“From the day the Door opened, it was never small,” Xia Lanshi said softly.
He knew that Xiao Yuan had obtained an ancient Su family book from Su Muchen. It contained records concerning the Door, including references to imperial bloodlines.
Perhaps… there were also records among the royal family’s documents, but gaining access to the royal secret archives was not easy.
The wind and snow outside rose again.
The newly erected wooden plaque at the entrance of Qingshi Village swayed slightly in the wind, yet remained standing.
Xia Lanshi lowered his head and looked at the booklet titled Two-Worlds Suspicious Threads, his gaze deep and solemn.
He suddenly thought of the white jade peace pendant around his wrist.
Then he thought of Xiao appearing at exactly the right moments.
And of that man who seemed lazy, yet in reality appeared to already know many things.
If there had always been hidden threads between the two worlds—
How much did Xiao know?
And how much had he concealed?
◆◇◆◇◆
Inside Gui Chen Studio, Su Muchen suddenly stopped halfway through writing the Northern Frontier Military Grain Line Emergency Plan.
The light from the screen illuminated his face, making the dark shadows beneath his eyes even more obvious.
Xiao placed a cup of hot tea beside him.
“What is it?”
Su Muchen stared at the words he had just typed.
Modern financial channels.
Sheng Corporation monitoring.
Ancient grain line.
He stared at the character “Sheng” for a long time.
Xiao followed his gaze, his expression changing slightly before quickly returning to normal.
Su Muchen did not miss that moment.
“Xiao.”
“Hmm?”
“Your expression just now was wrong.”
Xiao smiled.
“Was it?”
Su Muchen turned his head and looked at him.
“It was.”
Xiao picked up his teacup and avoided his gaze.
“Maybe you’re being too sensitive.”
Su Muchen was silent for a moment before suddenly asking, “How long has the Sheng Corporation’s relationship with Gui Chen Studio lasted?”
Xiao’s fingers paused slightly.
Su Muchen continued, “Sheng Chengxiu didn’t suddenly learn about Gui Chen Studio. His family has books and records, and they were able to move in precisely after my father incurred debts. This doesn’t look like something they only discovered recently.”
Xiao put down his teacup.
“The Sheng family has indeed been watching Gui Chen Studio for a long time.”
Su Muchen’s gaze turned cold.
“How long?”
Xiao was silent for a while.
“At least three generations.”
Su Muchen’s fingers slowly tightened.
Three generations.
That was much longer than he had expected.
“My grandfather knew?”
“He knew part of it.”
“What about my father?”
Xiao looked at him.
“Your father didn’t know about the Door, but he knew Gui Chen Studio was valuable. He had always wanted to sell the shop, but the rules your grandfather left behind, along with certain measures, prevented him from selling it directly.”
Su Muchen lowered his eyes.
That was very much like his father.
He did not know the core secret, yet he could always precisely take the most important thing in the family and exchange it for money.
“Why is the Sheng family watching Gui Chen Studio?”
Xiao did not immediately answer.
Su Muchen said coldly, “Can’t you tell me again?”
Xiao sighed.
“It isn’t that I can’t tell you. It’s that even I am not certain how far the Sheng family has gotten.”
The air between the two instantly froze.
The sound of rain continued falling outside the shop.
After a long while, Su Muchen slowly spoke.
“I know you have rules, but the Sheng family has already forced its way right in front of me. Can’t you tell me a little more, so I can at least be prepared…?”
Su Muchen’s expression was exhausted.
He had originally been nothing more than a fresh graduate who had not even properly entered society yet. Although he had been forced to learn independence from a young age for many reasons, that did not mean he could stand alone against a major conglomerate.
He was human too.
He could feel pressure.
He could become exhausted.
On the very first night after encountering such an enormous situation, he had even thought that perhaps he might as well die and be reincarnated, which would be better than having to face all of this.
If it had not been for Xiao Yuan’s one sentence—
“Wait for me.”
Perhaps he would have already…
Now even his way out had been cut off by the Sheng family, leaving him no choice but to rack his brain to resist.
He truly had no extra energy left to play riddles with Xiao.
Xiao did not smile.
Nor did he brush it off casually as he usually did.
He merely looked at Su Muchen, and the lazy haze in his eyes finally faded somewhat, revealing a trace of profound exhaustion.
“Muchen.”
Su Muchen stared at him.
“Who are you, really?”
Xiao fell silent.
At that moment, the Door to the back room trembled lightly again.
As if issuing some kind of warning.
Xiao closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he spoke quietly.
“My real name is Su Jinye.”
Su Muchen froze.
—Su.
That surname fell into his heart like a nail.
Xiao, no…
Su Jinye looked at him, his voice very soft.
“A branch of the Su family. From the lineage of the Door Guardians.”
Su Muchen did not speak for a moment.
He had thought that Xiao might be connected to the Su family.
He had thought that he might not be an ordinary shop employee.
He had even thought that perhaps he had some kind of bloodline connection to the Door.
But when he actually heard these words, there was still an indescribable sense of absurdity.
“So… you’re my relative?”
Since childhood, apart from his grandfather, Su Muchen had never met any other relatives. He therefore had no idea how many relatives he actually had.
And after his father died, not a single relative had contacted him.
Xiao gave a somewhat bitter smile.
“Something like that.”
He paused slightly before continuing.
“Although we share the same Su bloodline, there are still differences between us. If we trace the genealogy, we can be considered distant cousins.”
After hearing this, Su Muchen’s heart stirred slightly.
Although the word “family” still felt somewhat distant, the thought that someone carrying blood close to his own was right beside him made him feel inexplicably reassured.
And warm.
Even so, he had no intention of letting Xiao off easily.
“The name Su Jinye isn’t bad. Why call yourself Xiao? Chuunibyou?”
“……”
The smile on Xiao’s face faded.
He did not like the name Su Jinye at all.
He even hated it somewhat.
“…I don’t like this name.”
“……”
He remembered how, from the time he was still too young to understand anything, he had already been rigorously trained as a Door Guardian.
He had been a pawn born only to guard the Door and destined to die guarding it.
What he actually had to bear was far heavier than what anyone his age carried.
He had no freedom.
No life of his own.
He could only obey the rules and live according to the Door’s will.
Su Jinye meant that even if he burned into ashes, he was to guard the Door night after night until he was completely consumed.
He hated all of it.
Yet there was nothing he could do.
Because he could not resist the Door.
He…
Did not even have the right to love someone.
He usually never mentioned his connection to the Su family and refused to use his real name, allowing others to call him Xiao.
It was merely his tiny act of rebellion.
Su Muchen could sense that he truly hated this name.
He could understand.
It was just like how he himself disliked his own name.
Muchen.
That name had been given to him by his father, meaning “bathed in dust.”
Careless to the extreme.
Ridiculous to the extreme.
“Then I’ll still call you Xiao from now on, or… Cousin?”
Upon hearing the word “Cousin,” Xiao closed his eyes and refused.
“You should just call me Xiao.”
Su Muchen could see that he seemed to dislike the title, and instead found himself wanting to tease Xiao.
“Okay, Cousin.”
“……”
“Then, Cousin, please explain how many things you’ve still been hiding from me.”
Xiao: “……”
Xiao pushed up his glasses and fell silent for once.
“Young Master, please, I’m begging you. Just call me Xiao.”
“If you want me to call you by your normal name, then provide me with more information.”
Xiao remained silent.
The corner of his eye glanced toward the Door.
He had only just wanted to speak when—
The Door to the back room trembled again.
This time, more strongly than before.
Xiao turned his head and looked at it, his gaze turning cold.
“Shut up.”
Su Muchen: “……”
It was the first time he had ever seen someone tell a Door to shut up.
And the Door actually became quiet for a moment.
Su Muchen’s emotions were so complicated that for a moment he did not know which matter he should be more shocked about first.
Xiao turned back and looked at him.
“Muchen, I truly wasn’t deliberately hiding things from you. It’s that I can’t tell you.”
His voice faintly carried a trace of pain.
It wasn’t that he did not want to speak.
It was that he could not.
He also wanted to reveal everything, so that matters could move in the direction he wanted.
But the Door did not permit it.
He was controlled by the Door.
For all eternity, he would never possess freedom.
Not in life.
Not in speech.
Not even in his soul.
Su Muchen looked at him, feeling a vague tightness in his chest.
It wasn’t that he could not understand that Xiao had his difficulties.
This person whom he had gradually come to trust like a friend, almost like an older brother, had actually known far more than him from the very beginning.
That feeling was like standing in the fog and suddenly discovering that the person beside you had been able to see the road all along, yet had never told you there was a pit ahead.
He had originally been angry.
But now that he understood, he knew the other person was simply helpless as well.
Su Muchen took a deep breath and looked at him.
“Fine. I won’t force you. If you can tell me, tell me. If you can’t, then forget it.”
Then he turned his head and glared at the Door.
“And you, don’t go too far. Our Su family doesn’t owe you anything, so stop acting so fierce!”
The room fell silent instantly.
Several seconds later, Xiao’s shoulders began trembling, and finally he could not hold back his laughter.
“What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing. It’s just the first time I’ve seen someone point at a Door and curse at it.”
The scene was rather ridiculous.
But Xiao did not say that part aloud.
Su Muchen rolled his eyes, feeling that the person who had just told the Door to shut up had no right to laugh at him.
After revealing a little of the truth, Xiao somehow felt somewhat lighter.
As if this time, he was not fighting alone.
Although there were still far too many things he could not say—
No matter what, this time, he would not merely stand by and watch.