After the meeting dispersed, the door of the eastern side room of the main courtyard opened once again.
Xiao Yuan stood beneath the corridor with his hands behind his back, watching Su Muchen return to the southern courtyard without saying a word.
He did not follow him. He merely watched with those deep, ink-black eyes as Su Muchen’s slightly slender yet exceptionally resolute back disappeared from view.
Xiao Yuan knew very well that Su Muchen was going back to that world called the “modern world” to find his own unique weapon for the storm that had swept across both worlds.
When Su Muchen pushed open the door of the guest room in the southern courtyard again, the smell of blood inside had not dispersed. Instead, it was even stronger.
The military doctor had just finished changing Xiao’s bloodstained clothes and bedding and was now standing outside the inner room, respectfully waiting.
Su Muchen closed the door behind him, shutting out the wind.
He walked to the bedside and sat down, looking at Xiao lying against the bolster pillow, his face pale as paper.
The irritation in his eyes had long since faded, leaving behind only a rare tenderness and heartache.
Su Muchen had just confirmed Xiao’s condition with the military doctor and learned that Xiao had woken up once.
But he had not eaten anything from last night until now.
Su Muchen walked to the bedside and crouched down. After checking that the battery of the life monitor on Xiao’s wrist was nearly depleted, he took a spare monitor from the medical supplies Su Qianqian and the others had prepared and put it on Xiao.
He glanced at the information displayed on the monitor: low blood pressure, rapid heart rate, slightly rapid breathing, normal body temperature.
He then checked the wounds on Xiao’s body caused by the black threads.
They had already begun to scab over. His recovery speed was indeed considerably faster than that of an ordinary person.
“Xiao. I’m going to draw a little blood.”
Su Muchen softened his voice, a rare tenderness in his tone.
Xiao opened his eyes a slit and blinked slowly. His long lashes drooped as he gave a weak “Mm.”
He neither asked why nor struggled unnecessarily. He simply quietly allowed Su Muchen to pull his arm over.
Su Muchen lowered his head.
He tied the tourniquet, tore open an alcohol swab, disinfected the area, and precisely inserted the sharp blood-drawing needle into the vein.
Dark-red blood slowly flowed through the transparent tube and into the test tube.
Xiao watched the entire process numbly. It was as though the blood being drawn from his body belonged to someone else, unable to stir even the slightest ripple in his eyes.
After drawing the blood, Su Muchen removed the needle, quickly pressed a cotton pad over the puncture site, and secured it carefully with medical tape.
After finishing all this, Su Muchen did not immediately stand.
He looked at Xiao and simply sat there quietly.
“Regarding Sheng Chengxiu, Jingyuan and I are already handling it.” As Su Muchen organized the blood-drawing equipment, he spoke gently to himself as though discussing everyday matters. “The net of Tingxue Pavilion and the Shadow Guards has already been spread out. Put these matters aside for now. Get some proper rest. Don’t think about anything.”
Xiao closed his eyes, his breathing weak and quiet.
Su Muchen was not used to him being this quiet.
The quieter he was, the more frightened Su Muchen became.
“If you want to stay in Dasheng, then stay. I won’t force you to go back.”
Su Muchen put the test tube away. His voice became even softer, as though coaxing him. “But you have to promise me one thing—you’re not allowed to run around. Take your injections and medicine obediently, and eat properly. Understand?”
The room was silent for a long time.
So long that Su Muchen thought he would not respond.
Only then did Xiao laboriously raise his right hand. A long, slender finger devoid of color trembled as he pointed toward the sandalwood desk not far away.
Su Muchen followed his gaze.
Scattered across it were the “Jiguang” glasses that Xiao never let out of his sight, his wireless Bluetooth earphones, and some delicate modern accessories.
During the emergency treatment last night, Su Muchen had taken all these important belongings off him.
“Those things… are useless.” Xiao tugged faintly at the corner of his mouth, his voice dry and weak. “Take them back. They can’t… stay in Dasheng.”
Su Muchen walked over and put the glasses and earphones into the medical case one by one.
He rummaged through the pile of miscellaneous items, his brows drawing together slightly.
“Where’s your folding knife?”
“…On me.” Xiao’s answer was brief.
“Okay. I’ll take these back.” Su Muchen closed the case and turned to look at him. “You can keep the folding knife for self-defense. But Xiao, I’m warning you, you can’t use it for anything else.”
Xiao’s hollow eyes moved slightly. Meeting Su Muchen’s stern yet deeply concerned gaze, he rasped,
“…I don’t have a self-harm hobby.”
“That’s good.” Su Muchen breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ll be going back to Guichen Studio later. Is there anything you need me to tell them, or anything you want me to bring over?”
Xiao fell into a long silence of thought.
His physical and mental state had robbed his brain of its vitality. At present, even thinking about a simple question seemed extraordinarily difficult.
After a long while, he finally exhaled a sentence in a breathy voice.
“Find Ningning… then bring McMillan.”
Su Muchen froze, the movement of his hands stopping.
“What?”
“TAC-50.” Xiao’s voice was devoid of emotion.
“What is that?” Although Su Muchen did not understand, the coldness behind those words instantly put him on alert. “What do you want to do?”
Xiao was silent for a moment before speaking again in a breathy voice.
“That is… something that can eliminate a target… from very far away.”
Su Muchen stared at his lifeless face, and a chill spread through his heart.
He began following Xiao’s logic downward.
“You want to… kill Sheng Yuanli before Sheng Chengxiu makes his move?”
Xiao did not answer.
“Or… the Emperor of Dasheng, and the Crown Prince?”
Su Muchen’s voice trembled slightly, but he was not angry, because he knew that what was sick in the person before him was not his body, but his mind.
He pinched his palm and tried his best to make his tone calm and impossible to refuse.
“Are you planning to assassinate all of them? I’m telling you, that won’t solve the problem. It will only solve you.”
Yesterday, Xiao had only gotten as far as talking about Sheng Yuanli and had not finished explaining before he suffered three full minutes of torture.
He did not know what would happen if Xiao really went to assassinate those people.
But even without the door’s restrictions, he would never allow Xiao to do such things.
Xiao had never expected Su Muchen to actually bring that weapon to him.
He sank wearily into the pillow and replied faintly,
“…Forget I said anything.”
But the deadness in his eyes clearly said: If he really had one, he truly would do it.
Using one life to drag the madmen of both worlds into hell with him—given his current state, that would be the most worthwhile release.
“That kind of thing is forbidden.” Su Muchen rejected him outright. “Anything else practical that you need me to bring?”
Xiao thought for a long time again.
His mind was completely blank. He could hardly think of any material thing he still needed to remain alive.
Finally, he barely breathed out two words.
“…Clothes.”
Su Muchen glanced at the loose Dasheng inner robe he was wearing.
“You’re injured at the shoulder. These crossed-collar Dasheng clothes fit you well, and they also attract less attention. Changing back into modern clothes would actually be more troublesome.”
Xiao had always kept his hair long, so wearing Dasheng clothing did not look particularly out of place on him. In fact, it suited him quite well.
Xiao’s eyelashes trembled.
“…Then there’s nothing else.”
He could not think of anything else he needed, nor did he want to continue thinking.
“Then is there anything you want me to tell Su Huaishan, or Qianqian and the others?”
“Tell the old man…” Xiao paused, then closed his eyes in self-mockery. “He doesn’t need to wait for me. As for Ningning and Qianqian…”
He fell silent for a long time again before finally murmuring,
“…Forget it. There’s no need for me to explain anything.”
After finishing all of this, Xiao seemed to have exhausted every bit of strength he possessed. Even lifting his eyelids had become difficult.
Su Muchen picked up the medical case and walked to the head of the bed.
Looking at this man, who normally calculated everything with meticulous precision, Su Muchen’s tone became slightly stern.
“Xiao, you’re sick. When I bring the medicine back, you have to take it. If you don’t, I’ll stuff all the medicine directly into your mouth.”
Xiao kept his eyes closed. He neither objected nor became angry.
Su Muchen looked at him and felt the tip of his nose sting.
He slowly crouched down and looked levelly at the man on the bed, whose injuries had left him so terribly fragile.
Every word was heavy as a thousand pounds.
“Before… you were always the one standing in front, shielding me from Sheng Chengxiu, shielding me from the entire Sheng Corporation.”
“Now, it’s my turn.”
“You’ve already done enough, Xiao. Leave what comes next to us. Even if the sky collapses, we’ll be the ones holding it up in front first.”
Su Muchen reached out and gently placed his hand on Xiao’s uninjured shoulder.
“You only need to recover properly. Rest for as long as you want. I’m giving you an extended vacation.”
The person on the bed still gave no response.
Su Muchen forced down the heat in his eyes, stood up, and carried the case toward the door.
Only when his hand rested on the heavy wooden door of the guest room did two words finally drift slowly and weakly out of the deathly silence behind him.
“…Young Master.”
Su Muchen’s body suddenly trembled.
He was rooted firmly to the spot and did not dare turn around.
Because he was afraid that if he turned around, his tears would fall uncontrollably.
Xiao had called him “Young Master.”
It made Su Muchen remember the rainy night when they had first met inside Guichen Studio.
That night, when he was at the lowest point of his life, Xiao had been waiting inside that ancient shop.
Smiling, he had told him that he was an employee of the shop.
It turned out that long ago, he had already been protecting him all along.
He had simply never noticed.
That single “Young Master” made Su Muchen’s heart feel as though a piece had been forcibly gouged out.
He knew Xiao was not trying to shirk responsibility or refusing to deal with the enormous storm behind the door anymore.
Rather, it was because he had taken everyone’s lives and the safety of both worlds as his own responsibility.
In the end… he had crushed himself beneath it.
He should have noticed Xiao’s abnormal state sooner.
They had been so close…
“…Mm.” Su Muchen clenched his teeth hard and squeezed a faint response out of his throat. “Wait obediently for me to come back.”
Then the wooden door opened and closed. Cold wind rushed inside before dissipating, and the room once again fell into dead silence.
Only after the sound of footsteps had completely disappeared at the end of the courtyard did Xiao slowly open his eyes.
Those eyes had always bled without shedding tears. Even after experiencing countless brushes with death, they had never once blinked.
Yet now, they were completely hollow.
He did not cry.
His tear glands seemed to have withered long ago.
When he had been young and his parents had sent him to the Gatekeeper Special Training Center, he had not cried either.
When important people were absent, he could not shed a single tear.
He slowly raised his uninjured hand and, somewhat nervously and tremblingly, touched the crook of his elbow where Su Muchen had just drawn blood, now covered with medical tape.
His fingertip pressed against the spot, as though he wanted to feel something there, to find something.
But very soon, he gave up struggling.
He closed his eyes once more.
◆◇◆◇◆
Su Muchen passed through the underground ancient gate and returned to Guichen Studio.
As he crossed that cold white halo, warmth suddenly enveloped him, making it somewhat difficult for him to adapt to the change in temperature.
In the past, Xiao Yuan had actually been able to cross from the frigid environment of the Northern Frontier to Guichen Studio without changing expression.
When Su Muchen landed, his footsteps were somewhat unsteady.
As always, Guichen Studio was filled with the faint scent of old wood, and the heating was plentiful.
Su Qianqian, who was typing on the keyboard at the front desk, and Ningning, who was holding a tablet while organizing data, both heard the commotion and suddenly raised their heads.
“Su Muchen?!”
Su Ningning exclaimed. When she saw Su Muchen dressed in a light blue-gray ancient robe and carrying a medical case, her expression instantly changed.
“Where’s Xiao? He didn’t come back with you?!” Su Ningning hurried over.
Su Muchen had no time to explain. He quickly put the blood sample he had drawn into Guichen Studio’s simple testing machine, then grabbed the signing pen on the desk and began writing rapidly on a blank sheet of paper.
“I need some medicine. Prepare antibiotics for the later transition to oral medication. And…”
The tip of Su Muchen’s pen paused as he heavily wrote down numerous English names of medications.
He did not know whether these medicines would have any effect on a Gatekeeper’s mental state.
But Xiao had now developed typical post-traumatic stress symptoms, severe depression, self-blame, and self-destructive tendencies.
Even if they only had a tiny effect, they were worth trying.
He could only bring out everything modern medicine was currently capable of doing.
He stuffed the paper into Su Qianqian’s hands, his expression more serious than she had ever seen.
“Qianqian, use the group’s connections. I must have these medical supplies and medications today.”
Su Qianqian looked at the string of psychiatric medications on the list, and her pupils contracted slightly.
She asked nothing.
“Okay. I’ll handle it personally.”
“Also, help me connect with Su Huaishan. Immediately.”
Su Muchen stared at the progress bar on the testing machine as he gave the order in a deep voice.
Five minutes later, on the computer screen in the inner room of Guichen Studio appeared the dignified, aged face of Su Huaishan, the current head of the Su family.
“What is it?”
Su Huaishan got straight to the point, the steadiness of someone in a position of authority evident between his brows.
“Third Grand-Uncle, Su Jinye can’t come back. He’s sick.”
Su Muchen looked at the screen, his voice low and solemn.
He did not reveal the name of the illness during the video call. But Su Huaishan had already received a copy of Su Muchen’s request list, so he already understood.
“He’s extremely weak physically right now.” Su Muchen took a deep breath and relayed Xiao’s instructions word for word. “He asked me to tell you—‘You don’t need to wait for me.’”
After listening, Su Huaishan’s weathered face did not show much shock.
After a long silence, he merely let out a deep sigh, a complicated emotion flashing through his eyes.
“That damn brat…” Su Huaishan rubbed his brow, his tone carrying the helpless frustration unique to an elder toward an unpromising junior. “All right. I’ll have my secretary suppress the news. I’ll deal with the Sheng Corporation. When you see that brat, tell him this for me—once he’s rested enough, he is to get his ass back here immediately. A Gatekeeper doesn’t have to die in front of the gate to be considered responsible.”
Su Muchen nodded in agreement.
“There are two more things.” Su Muchen’s expression was stern, both hands braced against the desk. “First, Sheng Chengxiu went through the gate into Dasheng. He isn’t dead, and he has become the ‘Gate Master.’”
The moment these words were spoken, Su Huaishan’s expression on the screen changed dramatically.
“Second, I need access to the ancient texts and records concerning the Su family’s Gatekeepers.” A light flickered in Su Muchen’s eyes. “I want to investigate two things. In past gate-sacrifice ceremonies, have there ever been abnormal situations where the Gate Master awakened at the same time? And also… has the gate ever experienced a distortion of the timeline, sending someone into the past or the future?”
Su Huaishan remained silent for a full minute, seemingly assessing the seriousness of the matter.
Finally, he said in a deep voice, “Those ancient texts and records are all stored in the underground archive beneath Jiyuan. I’ll immediately dispatch a special transport team to send them to Guichen Studio. They should arrive in approximately an hour and a half.”
At the end, he looked deeply at Su Muchen and said,
“Muchen, take extra care of yourself.”
The video call ended.
At the same time, the testing machine gave a “ding” notification.
Su Muchen immediately tore off the report.
The white blood cell count was slightly elevated, while hemoglobin was low. This indicated that there was indeed mild inflammation in the body, accompanied by blood-loss anemia.
“There’s no serious infection…”
Su Muchen’s tense shoulders relaxed slightly.
But looking at the anemia reading, he knew very well that relying solely on oral iron supplements and medication, Xiao’s battered body would need several months in the Northern Frontier to recover.
If possible, he still hoped Xiao could recover as soon as possible and return here.
After all, staying in Dasheng was itself a life-consuming act for Xiao.
The best option now was still a blood transfusion.
“Xiao won’t accept someone else’s blood, right?”
Ningning suddenly spoke while looking at the report.
As a fellow Gatekeeper, she understood Xiao’s deep-rooted stubbornness and self-destructive tendencies all too well. Xiao also had a bit of an obsession with cleanliness.
“Mm. His blood type is rare. Type A Rh-negative. Coincidentally, so am I.”
Su Muchen rolled up his sleeve, revealing his fair arm.
“No.” Su Qianqian, who had just returned carrying a medical case, immediately objected when she heard this. “You’re the Su family’s Gate Key, and the only surviving direct bloodline. Besides, you spent the entire night out in the snow yesterday. You’re nowhere near being in optimal condition right now. If you donate blood, you’ll faint as soon as you go through the gate.”
Su Muchen said, “I know my own physical condition. I had plenty of rest over there, and I ate properly.”
Su Qianqian knew that Su Muchen was a doctor himself and was more professional than she was.
She could only compromise.
“You’ve been going back and forth between the two worlds since yesterday. Two hundred and fifty cc is the most I’ll compromise. Not a drop more.”
“Two hundred and fifty cc is fine. It’s better than nothing.”
Su Muchen looked at his arm, his gaze gentle yet determined.
He silently thought to himself: Before… Xiao was always the one standing in front and shielding me. Now, at least this bag of blood can repay a little of that debt.
“Ningning, drive him there. Go to the hospital the group partners with,” Su Qianqian said.
Only then did Su Muchen remember that he was still wearing ancient clothing.
He had no choice but to go upstairs first and change out of it, lest people mistake him for some kind of ancient-costume enthusiast.
He stood in the room on the second floor.
He untied his belt and removed the robe.
Then he put his modern shirt back on.
The person in the mirror was still Su Muchen.
It was just that his eyes were no longer the same as yesterday.
Su Ningning drove him to the hospital.
After half an hour on the road, they arrived at the so-called hospital the group partnered with.
Su Muchen looked up and thought: Why does this look so familiar?
Above the hospital entrance were the words:
“Yunjing City Third District People’s Hospital.”
Wasn’t this the hospital where he had almost taken a job back then?!
Su Muchen pinched the bridge of his nose and immediately decided to stop thinking about it.
He entered the confidential VIP blood-drawing room.
Dark-red blood slowly flowed through the needle into a specially prepared sterile blood bag.
Because it was rare Rh-negative “panda blood,” and because of Su Muchen’s special identity, the hospital director personally came to supervise the procedure.
The 250cc blood bag gradually swelled.
Su Muchen’s face also became faintly pale from the rapid blood loss.
But as though he could not feel the pain, he merely stared at that bag of blood belonging to him, which was about to be sent away to prolong another person’s life.
He handed the test tube containing Xiao’s blood to the director for crossmatching.
He had just prepared to leave when the director hurried back.
“What happened?”
Su Muchen thought there had been a problem with the crossmatching test and asked worriedly.
The director merely wore a puzzled expression.
“The crossmatching test is fine. But…”
He paused, seemingly unsure how to explain.
“It’s very strange.”
“What’s strange?”
“But these two blood samples… have several extremely rare indicators. They may be related to individual physical characteristics.”
Just as the director was about to say something else, Su Ningning stepped forward and spoke in an extremely serious tone.
“Director, if the test is fine, then please destroy all the blood samples and reports as quickly as possible. If you dare keep any of them—”
Su Muchen noticed the threat in her eyes.
He knew that his and Xiao’s bloodline was special, and that modern medicine might even be capable of detecting abnormalities that ordinary people did not have.
He remembered that Sheng Chengxiu had previously drawn 1 ml of his blood, and he had no idea what kind of trouble that might leave behind.
The director did not dare ask any further questions.
He hurriedly agreed that he absolutely would not leave behind any trace.