When Xiao Yuan returned to Dasheng, the wind and snow had still not stopped.
The door closed behind him, the cold white light disappeared, and the temporary camp in Black Pine Ridge was once again left with only the brazier and the snowy night.
The personal guards stood watch outside the tent. Hearing the movement, they immediately turned around.
“Your Highness.”
Xiao Yuan raised a hand, signaling them not to make a fuss.
He now had a waterproof bag that did not belong to Dasheng on him. Inside were several documents, medicines, and supplies organized by Su Muchen. The wound on his right hand had been rebandaged, and there was still a faint scent of rice porridge from Returning Dust Hall lingering between his lapels.
That little scent was quickly scattered by the northern wind and snow, but the warmth in his stomach remained.
Xiao Yuan entered the tent. The first thing he did was neither look at the account books nor summon anyone for a discussion.
He took out the several bags of high-calorie food Su Muchen had stuffed into his hands.
The personal guard had originally thought His Highness was going to distribute supplies, but instead saw Xiao Yuan lower his head, glance at the packaging, and then open one of the bags according to the markings Su Muchen had written beforehand.
The personal guard: “……”
Xiao Yuan looked at him indifferently. “Dr. Su’s medical instructions.”
The personal guard immediately lowered his head. “This subordinate understands.”
What exactly he understood, he actually could not say.
Anyway, by now everyone in the army knew that as long as the three words “Dr. Su” were brought up, many things that originally seemed impossible would suddenly become reasonable.
For example, Prince Su would tend to his wounds on time.
For example, Chief Secretary Xia would be forced to rest.
For example, Miss Chi could actually keep watch over someone while they drank nutritional fluids.
And now there was another one.
Prince Su had begun eating on schedule.
Xiao Yuan finished one bag and drank some warm water.
Not much.
But it was enough that if Su Muchen were present, at least he would not immediately frown.
Only then did he take out the documents from the waterproof bag one by one.
Evidence sealing and record-keeping format.
An investigation summary from the Sheng Corporation’s modern side.
A revised risk assessment for the Returning Dust Medical Sect.
A preliminary emergency support plan for the military grain route.
Several bags of medicine and rehydration fluids marked with their intended uses.
There were also wound-care supplies for Zhao Ping, Old Chen, and the wounded soldiers at the Northern Watchtower.
Every package had clear writing on it.
What could be used.
What could only be used in small amounts.
What could not be mixed.
What required the wound to be cleaned first.
Xiao Yuan looked at those words, and a faint warmth surfaced in his eyes.
Su Muchen always said that he was merely doing what he should.
But every instruction he wrote down and every package he prepared seemed to forcibly stuff a little of the modern world’s order into this land of wind, snow, and blood that was Dasheng.
It was not extravagant, nor mysterious.
Yet it could save lives.
Footsteps sounded outside the tent.
“Your Highness, Chief Secretary Xia has arrived.”
Xiao Yuan composed his expression.
“Enter.”
Xia Lanshi entered the tent wearing a thick cloak, supported by Chi Banyue.
His complexion was still pale, but his spirits were better than the previous night. Chi Banyue had clearly been watching him closely. There was no snow on his hair, and he was even holding a hand warmer.
Xiao Yuan glanced at him.
“What are you here for?”
Xia Lanshi said gently, “I heard Your Highness had returned. I presume there must be important matters.”
Chi Banyue chimed in from the side. “I stopped him. I couldn’t.”
Xia Lanshi gave a light cough.
“I walked very slowly.”
Chi Banyue sneered. “Pretty proud of yourself?”
Xia Lanshi: “……”
Xiao Yuan did not make him stand for long and gestured for him to sit.
“Su Muchen has something for you.”
Xia Lanshi had originally still wanted to say something, but upon hearing this, his eyes immediately lit up.
Seeing his reaction, Chi Banyue could not help saying, “Dr. Su is more effective than medicine now.”
Xiao Yuan pushed the medicine bag marked “Xia Lanshi,” the nutritional powder, and a simplified recuperation guide toward him.
Xia Lanshi lowered his head and looked.
The first line on the paper read:
—Xia Lanshi is currently in a state of high expenditure, extreme cold, and high pressure. Please do not regard “I can still hold on” as an indication of good health.
Chi Banyue burst out laughing.
Xia Lanshi fell silent for a moment.
Xiao Yuan glanced at it as well.
Then he said very calmly, “Very accurate.”
Xia Lanshi: “……”
He suddenly felt that the dignity of being a chief secretary was being weakened by two worlds at once.
Chi Banyue took the guide and read it quickly.
“Eat at least three times a day. If you have no appetite, eat small amounts more frequently. If your coughing worsens, your fingers become cold, you develop a fever, dizziness, or chest tightness, immediately stop handling military affairs. Continuous work at night must not exceed……”
When she reached this point, her eyes lit up.
“Must not exceed one shichen.”
Xia Lanshi: “……”
Chi Banyue happily put the paper away.
“I’ll keep this.”
Xia Lanshi said helplessly, “Miss Banyue.”
Chi Banyue smiled. “Dr. Su wrote it.”
Those five words had now become one of the most weighty military orders in the northern frontier.
Xiao Yuan took out another document.
“This is the evidence sealing and record-keeping format. Su Muchen said that from now on, the grain case, fire oil, Black Pine Ridge, and the Transport Bureau are all to be recorded according to this.”
Xia Lanshi’s expression immediately became serious.
He took it. After reading only the first few lines, surprise appeared in his eyes.
“Location of discovery, time of discovery, discoverer, original condition, movement records, people who handled it, method of sealing, person who reviewed it……”
He flipped through the pages one by one, slowing down as he read.
“This method is excellent.”
Chi Banyue leaned beside him. “More detailed than the yamen’s case records?”
Xia Lanshi said quietly, “It’s not merely detailed. It can prevent people from denying things.”
Xiao Yuan nodded.
“So from now on, act accordingly.”
Xia Lanshi carefully put the document away, his expression solemn.
“Dr. Su’s method is enough to equal half a volume of legal casework.”
Chi Banyue rested her chin on her hand.
“If word gets out, Dr. Su is probably going to gain another title.”
Xia Lanshi thought for a moment.
“It cannot be Divine Physician.”
Chi Banyue laughed. “I know. Dr. Su is a physician, not a god.”
Xiao Yuan looked at the two of them and suddenly remembered Su Muchen’s frowning expression when he had said, “The next step after becoming an immortal is becoming a demon.”
A very faint smile passed through his eyes.
But soon, he took out the secret letter.
The atmosphere inside the tent instantly sank.
Xia Lanshi took it. When he saw the words “If you encounter a physician surnamed Su, do not kill him. Capture him first,” his eyes gradually turned cold.
Chi Banyue saw it as well.
The smile on her face completely disappeared.
“They want to capture Dr. Su?”
Xiao Yuan said, “At the very least, they have already listed Dr. Su as someone to investigate and capture.”
Killing intent rose in Chi Banyue’s eyes.
“They’ve really reached their hands this far.”
Xia Lanshi lowered his eyes to the letter.
“This also proves that they believed the Returning Dust Medical Sect line.”
Chi Banyue asked, “Is it good or bad that they believed it?”
Xia Lanshi was silent for a moment.
“Both.”
The good thing was that the door was temporarily concealed.
The bad thing was that Dr. Su himself had been pushed into the enemy’s sight.
Xiao Yuan looked at Xia Lanshi.
“Su Muchen already knows.”
Xia Lanshi was startled.
“What did Dr. Su say?”
Xiao Yuan was silent for a moment.
“He said that this means I successfully created an identity for him, but it also means the risk has increased.”
Xia Lanshi gave a soft laugh.
“That does sound like something Dr. Su would say.”
Xiao Yuan lowered his eyes.
“He also told me to inform him first next time.”
Chi Banyue looked at him. “Did Your Highness agree?”
“Yes.”
Chi Banyue smiled.
“Your Highness certainly agrees to Dr. Su’s requests more and more readily these days.”
Xiao Yuan glanced at her indifferently.
“You may write this into the medical report.”
Chi Banyue: “……”
This man had learned how to fight back, too.
Xia Lanshi lowered his head and drank some water, a genuine smile rarely seen on his lips.
After a moment, as if remembering something, his gaze fell beside Xiao Yuan.
“Your Highness, the letter……was it delivered?”
The tent fell slightly quiet.
Chi Banyue immediately looked at him.
Xiao Yuan nodded.
“It was delivered.”
Xia Lanshi’s fingers tightened slightly.
His expression remained calm, with only his fingertips revealing a trace of emotion.
“Did he read it?”
“He did.”
“Did he say anything?”
Xiao Yuan looked at him.
Xia Lanshi asked very softly, as though merely asking casually.
But everyone in the tent knew that this was not a casual question.
Xiao Yuan said, “He didn’t reply immediately.”
A trace of disappointment appeared in Xia Lanshi’s eyes, then was quickly suppressed.
“I see.”
Xiao Yuan paused.
“But Su Muchen told him to reply.”
Xia Lanshi raised his eyes.
Chi Banyue immediately laughed.
“Dr. Su told him to reply?”
“Yes.”
Chi Banyue burst out laughing.
Xia Lanshi was stunned for a moment, then could not help lowering his head and smiling as well.
After laughing, he said softly, “Dr. Su really is……”
He did not finish.
Yet he felt the heaviness that had pressed against his chest all night suddenly disperse a little.
Xiao had not refused.
At least he had not refused immediately.
That was already very good, better than he had expected.
◆◇◆◇◆
Second floor of Returning Dust Hall.
Su Muchen had said he would sleep for four hours.
In reality, he slept for three and a half.
When he woke, the daylight outside the window was already glaring. Yun-jing City after the rain looked as though it had been washed clean, and the stone-paved roads in the alley reflected a faint sheen of light.
He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling for several seconds before remembering that he had been driven upstairs to sleep by Xiao and Xiao Yuan working together.
Just thinking about this made him rather unhappy.
What made him even unhappier was that he had actually fallen asleep.
His phone vibrated once.
Lawyer Liang sent him a message.
The Folk Culture Preservation Association had sent over preliminary cooperation materials. The documents requested entry into Returning Dust Hall to conduct “inventory of old objects,” “spatial photography,” “historical structural surveying,” and “oral interviews.”
Su Muchen looked at those words and gave a cold laugh.
Spatial photography. Historical structural surveying.
What beautiful wording.
Translated, it meant: Let us come into your house, look around, and draw some plans and take some photographs while we’re at it.
He sat up and replied to Lawyer Liang.
—Temporarily do not accept any requests for on-site entry. We can first provide photographs of non-core areas and publicly available materials. If the other party insists on conducting an on-site survey, require them to explain the legal basis and intended use of the data.
After sending it, he added another sentence.
—For any meeting, I require audio and video recording, and you must be present.
Lawyer Liang replied quickly.
—Received. Their intentions are very strong. I recommend that you temporarily avoid contacting any association personnel alone.
Su Muchen replied, “Understood.”
He washed his face and went downstairs. To his surprise, Xiao was still sitting behind the counter writing a letter.
This was rare.
Xiao usually used his phone and tablet. His fingers were faster than anyone else’s when typing on a screen, and he rarely wrote by hand.
But at this moment, he was sitting upright, with a sheet of letter paper in front of him.
The tip of the pen had been resting on the paper for a long time without moving.
It was as though writing one sentence was more difficult than handling a chest of gold.
Su Muchen approached and glanced at it.
Xiao immediately raised his hand to cover it.
“Peeking at your cousin’s letter isn’t very nice, is it?”
Su Muchen remained expressionless.
“I haven’t even seen it clearly.”
Xiao: “……”
“And besides, you covered it too slowly.”
Xiao fell silent.
Su Muchen had indeed only seen a few words.
—Young Master Huaiyu, your letter has been received.
And the next line.
—Take your medicine on time, and do not stay up late at night.
Su Muchen raised an eyebrow.
“Not bad. Very practical.”
Xiao adjusted his glasses.
“You can go eat breakfast now.”
Su Muchen did not leave. Instead, he sat down opposite him.
“You plan to write only medical instructions?”
Xiao said nothing.
Su Muchen looked at him.
“It’s obvious the other person doesn’t just want to receive medical instructions.”
Xiao sighed.
“Muchen, when did you become so fond of meddling in other people’s business?”
“Your younger cousin cares about his older cousin.”
Xiao: “……”
That sentence really was karma coming back around.
Su Muchen leaned against the back of the chair and looked at him.
“If you don’t want to reply, you don’t have to. But since you’ve already started writing, don’t make it sound like a customer-service template.”
Xiao lowered his head and looked at the letter paper.
“There isn’t much I can say.”
“Then say what you can say.” Su Muchen said, “He asked about his benefactor. At the very least, let him know that you’ve received his feelings. Not every response has to reveal the truth.”
Xiao raised his eyes to look at him.
Su Muchen’s tone was calm.
“Aren’t you very good with words?”
Xiao smiled bitterly.
“Sometimes, the more you care, the harder it is to say.”
Su Muchen was startled.
That sentence was far too unlike something Xiao would normally say.
He was silent for a moment and did not press him further.
Before standing up, he merely said in a low voice, “Don’t make him keep guessing. Patients tend to overthink things.”
Xiao lowered his head and looked at the letter paper.
After a long while, he softly hummed in acknowledgment.
Su Muchen turned and went to the back kitchen to find breakfast.
Behind the counter, Xiao picked up his pen again.
This time, he did not hesitate for nearly as long.
“Young Master Huaiyu, your letter has been received.
“As for the treatment previously, it was because when the door opened, I happened to be by his side. Young Master need not take it to heart.”
When he reached here, he paused.
He stared at the four words “happened to be by his side” for a long time.
It sounded too much like a lie.
Yet he could not write the truth.
He closed his eyes briefly and continued.
“I have only met Young Master once. How could I have saved you several times?
“What you heard while ill may not necessarily be true.
“As for the fragrance of cold plum burning wood, there are many similar scents in this world.
“As for matters from childhood, if Young Master cannot remember them clearly, then do not remain attached to them.
“A person cannot spend an entire lifetime chasing after a vague shadow.
“Do not sit for long and exhaust your mind. Take your medicine on time, and do not stay up too late at night.”
After writing all this, even Xiao himself fell silent.
This was neither a denial nor an admission. It merely pushed the questions back into the fog once again.
He could not take another step forward.
The door would not allow it, and fate would not allow it.
At least, not now.
He held the pen. After a long while, he added one final sentence.
“If Young Master is still willing to write, I will reply.”
At the signature, he hesitated for a very long time.
In the end, he did not write Su Jinye.
Nor did he write “Gatekeeper.”
He only wrote one character.
“Xiao.”
Beside it, he drew a simple little owl.
◆◇◆◇◆
After finishing breakfast, Su Muchen began reorganizing the shop’s safety checklist.
Xiao had said they needed to change the locks. He had not been saying it casually.
The back door, second floor, entrance to the old storeroom, surveillance wiring, access-control sensors—all of them needed to be inspected again. Since Sheng Corporation wanted to conduct spatial surveying, it meant they might have already begun suspecting that there was something wrong with Returning Dust Hall’s internal structure.
That door in the back room naturally could not be allowed to be seen by anyone.
But the other hidden compartments and the old storeroom inside Returning Dust Hall likewise could not be exposed.
Su Muchen wrote on the checklist:
One: Completely seal off all non-public areas.
Two: Rearrange the areas open to outsiders, concealing the routes leading to the rear courtyard and back room.
Three: Establish a public exhibition area to divert outsiders’ attention.
Four: Screen all old objects before photographing them. Do not expose Su clan talismans, Returning Dust markings, or clues related to the anomalous goods.
Five: Record on video whenever anyone connected to Sheng Corporation enters the shop.
When he reached the fifth item, he paused, then added another:
Six: When necessary, set up decoy exhibits and observe what the other party is actually interested in.
Xiao came over holding the freshly sealed letter. Seeing this item, he raised an eyebrow.
“Young Master, you’ve started baiting people too?”
Su Muchen did not even raise his head.
“I learned it from Xiao Yuan.”
Xiao laughed.
“If His Highness knew, he would probably be very gratified.”
Su Muchen remained expressionless.
“I wasn’t praising him.”
“Mm,” Xiao said. “But he would take it as praise.”
Su Muchen: “……”
He discovered that Xiao Yuan could still annoy him even when he was not present.
Xiao placed the letter on the counter.
“I’ve finished the reply.”
Su Muchen glanced at it.
“Not speaking in riddles?”
Xiao was silent for a moment.
“I did my best.”
Looking at his expression, Su Muchen suddenly felt that this letter probably still contained quite a lot of riddles.
But being able to reply was progress.
He did not tease him further. He simply placed the envelope into the document bag that would be given to Xiao Yuan.
“When the door opens next time, let him take it back.”
Xiao nodded.
Su Muchen lowered his head and continued organizing the materials.
After a moment, he suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, right.”
Xiao looked at him.
“That name of yours……Su Jinye. Who gave it to you?”
Xiao’s expression paused slightly.
Su Muchen did not look at him, asking as though casually.
“An elder?”
Xiao lowered his eyes.
“Mm.”
“The meaning is terrible, about the same as mine.”
Xiao froze.
Su Muchen continued, “Something like ‘burn into ashes and still keep watch through the night.’ It sounds like child labor exploitation.”
Xiao: “……”
He looked at Su Muchen and suddenly laughed.
“Are you comforting me?”
“No.” Su Muchen remained expressionless. “I’m criticizing the Su clan’s naming standards.”
Xiao’s smile became even more pronounced.
Su Muchen lowered his head and typed on the document, his tone very calm.
“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to use it. A name isn’t fate, anyway.”
Xiao’s smile slowly faded.
A name isn’t fate.
The words were very light.
Yet it was as though, unintentionally, they had pried open a crack in something that had been buried for a very long time.
Xiao looked at Su Muchen.
“And you?”
Su Muchen’s fingers paused.
“What?”
“You don’t like the name Muchen either, do you?”
Su Muchen was silent for a moment.
“I don’t.”
Xiao said nothing.
Su Muchen looked at the screen, his voice very low.
“My father casually threw it at me. It was like he was saying ‘bathed in dust.’ Very perfunctory. But after being called it so many times, I became too lazy to change it.”
Su Muchen was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, “How about I come up with another name too?”
Although legally he would still have to use Su Muchen, at least the people close to him could call him by it.
However, after thinking about it for the entire morning, he still could not come up with a name he was satisfied with.
◆◇◆◇◆
On the Dasheng side, Xiao Yuan remained at Black Pine Ridge until the afternoon.
The decoy ledger had been “stolen.”
And it had been stolen very smoothly.
A bandit whose guard had deliberately been loosened slipped into a temporary tent during the change of shifts and stole the fake ledger containing the codes for Jia Warehouse, Liang, Black Pine, and the Northern Route. Before he had even escaped half a li, people sent by Xiao Yuan were already following him from a distance.
When the personal guard reported back, there was a hint of admiration in his voice.
“Your Highness, he really went to find the people on the southeastern line.”
“Follow him,” Xiao Yuan said.
“What if they meet?”
“Record it.”
“What if they try to burn the ledger?”
“Let him burn it.”
The personal guard froze.
Xiao Yuan said calmly, “It’s fake.”
The personal guard: “……”
Right.
He had almost forgotten. That fake ledger had been written for the other side to see in the first place.
Xiao Yuan looked toward the main stronghold of Black Pine Ridge.
Now the grain had been seized, the accounts sealed, the prisoners detained, and the fake ledger sent out.
Next, all that remained was to wait for Sheng Yuanli’s side to make a move.
Only, this game could not be dragged out for too long.
Although a batch of the northern frontier’s military grain had been recovered, that did not mean the entire grain route had been restored. Hanchuan, Qingshi Village, the Northern Watchtower, and the frontline military camps all still needed to be connected again.
Before the imperial court realized what was happening, he had to seize control of this lifeline of the northern frontier.
“Send an order to Qin Feng,” Xiao Yuan said. “Use Hanchuan as the transfer point and establish three temporary grain stations. At Qingshi Village, the Northern Watchtower, and the ravine along the western route, keep two ledgers at each—one open and one covert.”
The personal guard lowered his head and recorded it.
“Then send word to Zhao Ping. If the Northern Watchtower can be reestablished, he will continue to oversee it for the time being. As for the deputy officer’s internal collusion case, postpone the trial. There is no need to kill him in haste.”
“Yes.”
“Tell Chief Secretary Xia to give me the plan for rebuilding the grain route by tonight.”
The personal guard paused.
“The chief secretary’s health……”
Xiao Yuan glanced at him.
The personal guard immediately changed his words. “Should we have Chief Secretary Xia act according to his strength?”
Xiao Yuan said calmly, “Add one sentence: Dr. Su said he must not stay up late.”
The personal guard: “……”
“Yes.”
He suddenly felt that this sentence might be more effective than a military order.
After Xiao Yuan finished making his arrangements, he finally sat down and took a sip of hot water.
The personal guard handed over the high-calorie food Dr. Su had given them.
“Your Highness, Dr. Su instructed you to take this twice a day.”
Xiao Yuan looked at him.
The personal guard lowered his head, his tone extremely steady.
“This subordinate is merely reporting on your condition.”
Xiao Yuan was silent for a moment.
In the northern frontier army, a new custom seemed to be quietly emerging.
Anything they did not dare say could be blamed on Dr. Su.
He accepted the bag of food and opened it.
“Record his merit later.”
The personal guard did not react for a moment.
“Whose?”
Xiao Yuan said, “Dr. Su’s.”
The personal guard was stunned for a moment, then smiled.
“Yes.”
No one knew how this merit should be recorded, or where it should be entered.
But everyone felt that it should be recorded.
◆◇◆◇◆
Before nightfall, the first genuine letter sent out from Black Pine Ridge arrived at the abandoned temple.
The middle-aged man wearing a blue fox-fur coat was already gone.
What remained was a thinly built aide.
The bandit who delivered the letter was covered in disarray and presented the stolen fake ledger with both hands.
The aide opened the ledger. When he saw the codes Jia Warehouse, Liang, Black Pine, and Northern Route, his expression darkened.
“Only these?”
The bandit trembled.
“We could only steal these. Prince Su’s people were watching closely. We don’t know where the grain is. The western warehouse has been sealed, and Master Gray has also been captured.”
The aide flipped through several pages but did not see the character “Sheng.”
His expression relaxed slightly.
But only slightly.
“Does Prince Su know about the Sheng line?”
The bandit looked blank.
“This lowly one doesn’t know……I only heard that Prince Su was seriously wounded and is still at Black Pine Ridge.”
The aide sneered.
“Idiot. If he were truly seriously wounded, do you think you could have stolen this ledger?”
The bandit’s face turned deathly pale.
The aide closed the fake ledger and pondered for a moment.
“He probably hasn’t reached the deepest layer yet. Otherwise, he wouldn’t only be watching Jia Warehouse and the Northern Route.”
He looked at the guards beside him.
“Pass the message to Master Sheng. Black Pine Ridge cannot be kept. Cut off the Liang line. Suspend the Northern Route for now. As for Dr. Su……”
He paused.
“Continue investigating.”
The guard asked in a low voice, “Capture him alive?”
The aide’s eyes turned colder.
“If he truly exists, capture him alive. If he is merely a shadow Prince Su has released, find out who is behind that shadow.”
He put away the fake ledger.
“Also, send people to Hanchuan.”
The guard was startled.
“Hanchuan?”
“Dr. Su saved Hanchuan, and he isn’t in the army. So the traces he left behind must be in Hanchuan,” the aide said. “Find the doctors, find the medicines, find those things that should not have appeared in the northern frontier.”
He added in a low voice,
“Especially the words ‘Returning Dust.’”
Outside the abandoned temple, the wind and snow began to fall again.
The personal guard following from the shadows lay hidden in the snow, recording these words one by one.
After the light inside the abandoned temple went out, he quietly withdrew.
These words had to be sent back into Prince Su’s hands immediately.
◆◇◆◇◆
Inside Returning Dust Hall, Su Muchen rearranged the first floor.
He placed some ordinary old objects on the outer display shelves, then selected several antique replicas that could attract attention but had nothing to do with the door and placed them in conspicuous locations. Anything bearing genuine Su clan patterns was all put back into the old storeroom.
Xiao watched him place a broken bronze incense burner beside the counter.
“Is this bait?”
Su Muchen nodded.
“If Sheng Corporation really sends people in, they can’t possibly be interested in everything. Let them look at a few false targets and see what category they focus on.”
Xiao picked up the incense burner and looked at it.
“This thing isn’t worth much money.”
“That’s why it’s good,” Su Muchen said. “Valuable things are actually more likely to make people misjudge.”
Xiao laughed.
“You’re becoming more and more like someone who runs a shop.”
Su Muchen lowered his head and wiped the display shelf.
“That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”
“It is a compliment.”
Su Muchen ignored him.
The bronze bell outside the shop suddenly rang once.
Both of them looked up at the same time.
A man in a gray suit stood at the doorway, holding a business-card holder in his hand, his smile so polite that there was nothing to fault.
“Hello, Mr. Su. I’m a project consultant for the Yun-jing City Folk Culture Preservation Association. My surname is He. We spoke on the phone before.”
Su Muchen put down the cloth.
Xiao stood behind him, looking languid, but the expression in his eyes had already cooled.
Consultant He smiled.
“I happened to be passing through Changning Alley today, so I thought I might as well come by for a visit. If it’s inconvenient, I can make another appointment.”
Su Muchen looked at him.
Happened to? Passing through?
That statement was about as believable as a bandit saying he had just happened to be pushing a barrel of fire oil past the ancestral shrine.
Su Muchen smiled as well.
“Inconvenient.”
Consultant He’s smile stiffened slightly.
Su Muchen picked up his phone.
“For all cooperation matters, please contact Lawyer Liang first. We don’t receive unannounced visitors.”
Consultant He quickly returned to his natural expression.
“Mr. Su, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not here to discuss cooperation today. I’m simply very interested in an old shop like Returning Dust Hall and wanted to look at the public areas.”
Su Muchen looked at him.
“This shop has not officially reopened yet.”
“What a pity.” Consultant He’s gaze passed over Su Muchen, seemingly casually sweeping across the shop’s furnishings. “But you’ve preserved this place very well. I heard the rear courtyard of Returning Dust Hall still retains its old architectural layout?”
Su Muchen’s expression did not change.
“Who told you that?”
Consultant He smiled.
“The elderly people in Changning Alley occasionally mention it.”
Su Muchen nodded.
“Then go ask the elderly people in Changning Alley.”
Consultant He: “……”
Xiao almost laughed aloud beside him.
The smile on Consultant He’s face finally faded somewhat.
“You seem to be rather wary of us, Mr. Su.”
Su Muchen said, “I am wary of anyone who comes without an appointment, without a lawyer present, and tries to ask about private spaces.”
He raised his phone. The screen showed that it was recording.
“Consultant He, is there anything else?”
When Consultant He saw the recording screen, his eyes changed slightly.
After a moment, he once again revealed a smile.
“No. Sorry to disturb you.”
He held out his business card.
Su Muchen did not take it.
Xiao reached out and accepted it.
“Take care.”
Before leaving, Consultant He glanced once more toward the depths of Returning Dust Hall.
The look was very brief.
Yet it happened to land in the direction leading toward the rear courtyard.
Only after the man had gone far away did Su Muchen put away his phone.
Xiao lowered his head and looked at the business card.
“He Qiming. Project Consultant, Folk Culture Preservation Association.”
Su Muchen said, “Investigate him.”
“Already doing it.”
Xiao took out his phone and rapidly tapped several times.
Before long, his expression turned slightly colder.
“He previously worked as an external consultant for Sheng Corporation’s cultural investment division.”
Su Muchen was not surprised.
“Add it to the Sheng investigation.”
Xiao nodded.
Su Muchen looked toward the rear courtyard.
That glance from He Qiming had made him even more certain that the other party was not interested in old objects.
They were looking for the space.
Looking for the layout.
Looking for places inside Returning Dust Hall that should not exist.
Su Muchen picked up his pen and added another item to the safety checklist.
“A second visual barrier must be installed between the public area and the rear courtyard.”
After writing it, he paused again.
Then he added another sentence.
“When necessary, create a fake ‘secret.’”
Xiao saw the line and raised an eyebrow.
“You’re going to make them steal a fake ledger too?”
Su Muchen said, “I learned it from Xiao Yuan.”
Xiao laughed.
“If he hears that, he’ll definitely take it as a compliment.”
Su Muchen remained expressionless.
“Then don’t tell him.”
Xiao smiled.
“I’ll see.”
Su Muchen gave him a cold look.
“Cousin.”
Xiao immediately lowered his head and began checking He Qiming’s information.
“I won’t say anything.”
◆◇◆◇◆
That night in Dasheng, when Xiao Yuan received the report from the abandoned temple, he was preparing to return to Qingshi Village.
The personal guard presented the recorded words to him exactly as they had been spoken.
Cut off the Liang line.
Suspend the Northern Route.
Continue investigating Dr. Su.
Send people to Hanchuan.
Especially the words “Returning Dust.”
After reading them, Xiao Yuan’s eyes gradually darkened.
The thing he had worried about most had already begun to happen.
The enemy had turned its attention toward Hanchuan.
Hanchuan had the systems Su Muchen had left behind, the packaging from the medicines he had used, rumors of the Returning Dust Medical Sect, as well as the patients and common people who had been saved. Even though Qin Feng had been extremely cautious, it was impossible to erase every trace.
Xiao Yuan asked, “When will the people sent to Hanchuan depart?”
“Tonight at the latest.”
Xiao Yuan was silent for a moment.
“Send an order to Qin Feng.”
The personal guard lowered his head.
Xiao Yuan said, “Consolidate all traces of Returning Dust Medical Sect supplies in Hanchuan. Medicine packets, oil paper, markings—none may circulate outside. The porridge stations and medical tents are to use a unified explanation. Dr. Su’s methods are only passed on through the army. He himself is never to appear.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell Xia Lanshi that Hanchuan can use the second layer of the story.”
The personal guard asked, “What is the second layer of the story?”
Xiao Yuan lowered his eyes.
“The Returning Dust Medical Sect is not one person in one place, but a branch of an overseas medical sect. Dr. Su is merely one of those who understands its methods.”
The personal guard froze, then immediately understood.
If the enemy only focused on Dr. Su, then Dr. Su could be hidden within a larger shadow.
The more the Returning Dust Medical Sect resembled a vast and vague existence, the harder it would be to capture the real Su Muchen.
The personal guard lowered his head.
“This subordinate will send the order immediately.”
Xiao Yuan stood inside the tent, his gaze falling on the letter that said “Do not kill him. Capture him first.”
He reached out and put the letter away.
This letter could not remain in Dasheng.
The next time the door opened, he would let Su Muchen know that the enemy had begun pursuing Hanchuan.
Not to make him afraid.
But to make him prepare.
Because Xiao Yuan knew that Su Muchen was not someone who stood behind a door waiting to be protected.
He would be afraid, he would be tired, he would frown, he would curse people.
But he would not retreat.
And someone who would not retreat should know where the real blade before him was coming from.
Xiao Yuan walked out of the tent.
The snowy night was deep and heavy.
Most of the lights at Black Pine Ridge had already been dimmed. Wagons of grain from the western warehouse were being sent batch by batch toward Qingshi Village and Hanchuan. In the distance, the hoofbeats of the light cavalry from Hanchuan echoed softly through the snow.
The northern frontier’s grain route had finally been pulled out, inch by inch, from the dead and the lies.
Yet the larger net had only just begun to reveal itself.
Xiao Yuan raised his head and looked south.
There were a thousand li of wind and snow between there and here, as well as a single door.
He said softly, “Wait for me.”
He was not saying it for the personal guards to hear.
Nor was he saying it for the wind and snow.
He was saying it for the person who had just become the target of two worlds at once.
The next time the door opened, he would bring back more of the truth.
And he would also bring back to the northern frontier the warmth that person had given him.
Because this road was too cold.
And he already knew that on the other side of the door, someone would leave a bowl of hot porridge for him.