In the study of the main courtyard, the candle flame swayed faintly.
Xiao sat calmly, lifting his brush and drawing two circles in ink on the xuan paper spread across the desk.
Inside the circle on the left, he wrote one character: “Present.”
Inside the circle on the right, he wrote another: “Dasheng.”
Then, between the two circles, he drew a thin, elongated line.
“You always thought before that the Gate could only be opened in one way.”
Xiao picked up two Go pieces, one black and one white.
He placed the black piece inside the circle representing Dasheng on the right and lightly tapped it with his fingertip.
“Your Highness, you open the Gate in Dasheng.”
His fingertip followed the ink line toward the left.
“The other end of the Gate has always been connected to the anchor point at the Guichen Studio. When you return, you must also return through there.”
Then he placed the white piece inside the circle representing the modern world and pointed at it.
“Mu’an, you open the Gate in the modern world.”
His finger returned to the right.
“The other end of the Gate has always been connected to Dasheng’s ‘underground ancient gate.’”
Xiao raised his eyes, his deep gaze moving between the two men.
“With this method, the Gate can only connect to fixed anchor points in the other world. There are no exceptions.”
Su Muchen nodded slightly.
That had indeed always been the case.
Every time he came to Dasheng, he inevitably appeared inside that lightless underground ancient gate. And whenever Xiao Yuan went to the modern world, he always appeared in the back room of the Guichen Studio.
When they left, they likewise had to pass through those two fixed anchor points.
It was an iron law that, in their understanding, could not be broken.
Xiao, however, let out a soft laugh.
“That is only because you have always been traveling as ‘one person.’”
Xiao Yuan frowned slightly, a trace of thought passing through his dark eyes.
“So?”
Xiao used his brush to cross out the line before drawing another one.
He looked toward Xiao Yuan.
“Your Highness, you are the Gate Master who opens the Gate.”
Then he looked at Su Muchen.
“And you are the Gate Key who provides him with the power to open it.”
“Before, one of you was in the other world and the other was in this world. Therefore, the Gate could only follow the oldest ancestral rules and rigidly connect back to the two fixed anchor points.”
Xiao’s slender fingers picked up the white piece and moved it to the right, placing it beside the black piece inside the circle representing Dasheng.
“But now, you can stand side by side in the same world. Naturally, the rules are different as well.”
Xiao pointed at the two pieces sitting beside each other.
“Suppose you are both in Dasheng now. This time, Your Highness opens the Gate. Its exit will still connect precisely to the Guichen Studio.”
“I know that,” Su Muchen nodded.
“No, you don’t.”
Xiao shook his head, his gaze sharpening.
“Before, if you wanted to return to the modern world, you had to go to the underground ancient gate. But now, there is another way.”
He raised his hand and drew a straight line between the two pieces sitting side by side and the character representing the modern world.
“You only need to pass through the Gate opened by Your Highness. The exit will be the Guichen Studio.”
Xiao’s tone was certain.
Su Muchen froze for a moment.
The enormous convenience of this mechanism immediately flashed through his mind.
“You mean…”
“Exactly.”
Xiao nodded.
“You can use the Gate opened by the Gate Master. We call this a ‘Shared Gate.’”
“Remember, what truly determines the exit isn’t the Gate itself, but the person who opens it.”
He moved both pieces to the left, placing them inside the circle representing the modern world.
“The reverse is also true. If you are both in the modern world, Mu’an opens the Gate this time. When Your Highness passes through it, the exit will be the underground ancient gate.”
Su Muchen suddenly understood.
“So… it isn’t that the rules of the Gate have changed. It’s that we never thought to use the Gate opened by the other person.”
“Exactly.”
Xiao smiled faintly.
However, Xiao Yuan’s sharp instincts immediately caught another crucial point.
He asked solemnly, “What if we separate in the future?”
The smile disappeared from Xiao’s lips, and his expression became serious again.
He ruthlessly pushed the two pieces apart, placing them at opposite ends.
“Then it goes back to the old rules. As long as you are in two different worlds, the Gate can only operate according to the rigid anchor-point system.”
Then he curled his index finger and struck the tabletop heavily.
Knock.
His expression became unusually grave.
“But don’t celebrate too soon. This Shared Gate method has three absolute rules that must never be violated.”
Xiao raised one finger, his voice cold.
“First: one Gate recognizes only one master.”
“Once a Gate is opened, its exit is completely fixed. If Your Highness opens it today, then the rules and exit of this Gate are entirely determined by Your Highness. The Gate Key absolutely cannot change course halfway through.”
“If the two forces collide inside the passage, the passage will collapse instantly. You will either be completely torn apart inside the cracks of space-time, or become lost within the ‘Gate Gap’ and turn into a ‘Lost One.’”
Xiao Yuan and Su Muchen exchanged a glance, both their expressions turning solemn.
Then Xiao raised a second finger.
“Second: ten paces.”
“Only within a distance of ten paces can the resonance between the Gate Master and Gate Key be maintained. Once the distance between you exceeds that, the resonance will break, and the Gate will automatically revert to the oldest rules and recognize only the fixed anchor points.”
Xiao looked at Xiao Yuan, his tone carrying an almost cruel warning.
“Therefore, on a battlefield, if the enemy scatters you and you end up a hundred paces apart, can you open a Gate and directly pull Mu’an, who is far away, into the Guichen Studio?”
“Impossible.”
“The Shared Gate becomes ineffective beyond ten paces. He must either go to the underground ancient gate and open a Gate himself, or you must carve a path through thousands of enemy soldiers and get back within ten paces of each other before the Shared Gate can take effect.”
The air in the secret room seemed to freeze.
The cruelty and decisiveness hidden behind this rule left both men silent for a moment.
Dark currents surged through Xiao Yuan’s eyes as he etched this absolute rule deeply into his mind.
At this moment, Xiao slowly raised a third finger.
His gaze became extraordinarily deep.
“Third: the person who opens the Gate does not have to travel through it.”
The words left both Xiao Yuan and Su Muchen stunned.
“What does that mean?” Su Muchen asked blankly.
“It means exactly what it says.”
Xiao looked at them calmly and spoke word by word.
“Once the Gate is opened, until it closes, it is merely a passage. The person who opened it may choose to enter, or may choose not to.”
“That’s all.”
Xiao reached out and gathered the black and white pieces into his palm.
The candlelight flickered.
He looked at Xiao Yuan, then at Su Muchen, his voice as soft as a sigh.
“Remember. The Gate was never meant to be used for traveling.”
Su Muchen frowned.
“…Then what is it for?”
“I’m telling you about the Shared Gate method not so that you will treat it as an ordinary shortcut. There may be risks. It absolutely cannot be used as a routine method.”
Xiao calmly gave them his final answer.
“I’m only telling you this—”
“When necessary, you can send him away, and he can send you away.”
“As for whether the person who opens the Gate ultimately stays behind… that is entirely their own decision.”
The study fell into a deathly silence.
Xiao Yuan immediately understood.
Xiao was telling them this information so that if an accident occurred, they would have another emergency means of escape.
And when an accident truly happened, the Gate might not necessarily be able to open normally or remain stable.
This was merely an option to be used when all other possibilities had been exhausted.
After a moment, Xiao Yuan’s cold, low voice broke the silence.
“What is a ‘Lost One’?”
He had returned to the unanswered point in the rules.
Xiao’s gaze darkened slightly as he explained.
“The passage of the Gate is not always completely stable. You know that. Once the Gate becomes unbalanced, it can easily create a ‘Gate Gap.’ As for Gate Gaps, Your Highness should have seen a few scattered references to them in The Guichen Records.”
Xiao Yuan nodded.
Xiao continued.
“A Gate Gap is a crack that exists between Gates. You can imagine it as a gray region belonging to no world.”
“No one knows what it looks like, or whether time even flows there.”
“And the ‘Lost Ones’ are those unfortunate beings who accidentally fall into the Gate Gap and are never able to leave.”
His tone became extremely grim.
“Those who fall into a Gate Gap gradually lose their physical form in the endless void. Their will and memories peel away bit by bit.”
“When a Gate remains open for too long or its power spirals out of control, the lingering fragments of consciousness wandering there will be attracted by the Gate’s fluctuations and attempt to break free from the Gate Gap.”
“And exterminating and suppressing them… is another duty of us Gatekeepers.”
Su Muchen felt a chill run down his spine.
On the surface, the Gate connecting two worlds brought immeasurable convenience and power.
But behind it lurked countless deadly taboos and abysses.
He suddenly realized that when the Gate had lost control in the past, a “Gate Gap” might have appeared then as well.
Those unfortunate people who had been swept inside—if they had somehow survived—were probably no longer human or ghost, but had become “Lost Ones.”
Thinking of this, he glanced at Xiao.
Fortunately…
Although Xiao had gone through such a catastrophe back then, he had not been swallowed by such a terrifying place.
As his thoughts shifted, he suddenly thought of a crucial question.
“Then if the Gate is opened by Jingyuan or me… can you pass through it?”
Xiao barely hesitated before calmly shaking his head.
“No.”
He stated the indisputable fact plainly.
“The rank of a Gatekeeper is different from that of the Gate Master and Gate Key. Opening and passing through a Gate both require permission from the Gate’s laws. And I am not included among those permitted to pass.”
A faint, bitter smile appeared at the corner of Xiao’s lips.
“So even if you open a path back to the modern world for me, I will still be rejected by that invisible barrier.”
“I cannot return.”
Su Muchen nodded slightly, a complicated emotion flashing through his eyes.
Looking at Xiao’s calm eyes, he actually understood very well.
Xiao’s decision to remain in this era was not merely because of this rule or because he had temporarily lost the ability to open Gates.
It was also because he still had reasons and obsessions here that he had to protect.
However, Su Muchen’s question had given Xiao Yuan another idea.
His gaze darkened as those penetrating black eyes turned toward Xiao.
“What about the reverse?”
Xiao fell silent for a moment.
He lowered his eyes as though searching his memories for relevant information.
After a moment, he slowly shook his head.
“In the past, there has never been a Gate Master or Gate Key who entered a Gate opened by a Gatekeeper.”
“Because the laws forbid it?” Xiao Yuan pressed, his tone sharp like that of a military commander.
“Or because no one has ever dared to try?”
Xiao met his gaze and raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not sure.”
“If Your Highness is curious enough to take the risk, once I regain my ability to open Gates, I wouldn’t mind letting Your Highness be the first to go in and explore the way.”
There was a rare hint of teasing in his voice.
“No!”
Before Xiao Yuan could even speak, Su Muchen had already grabbed his hand.
He immediately and anxiously interrupted Xiao.
“Absolutely not! It’s far too dangerous. You can’t even try it!”
Seeing Su Muchen looking as though he were facing a mortal enemy, clearly terrified that Xiao Yuan might actually go and attempt it, a trace of amusement flashed through Xiao’s eyes.
He restrained his playful expression and said seriously, “Relax. I was only joking. As a Gatekeeper, how could I possibly gamble with the lives of the Gate Master and Gate Key?”
Xiao Yuan also reassured Su Muchen.
“Don’t worry. I was only confirming the information. I’m not actually going to try it.”
Then he turned serious as he said to Xiao, “Unless absolutely necessary, don’t open the Gate casually.”
“Now that you’re no longer alone, you need to do everything you can to stay alive as long as possible.”
“Don’t make Huaiyu grieve.”
Xiao froze slightly.
He had not expected Xiao Yuan to say this to him.
“Your Highness is absolutely right. I will certainly be more cautious from now on.”
Xiao’s tone remained calm, but for the first time, there was a trace of warmth in the way he addressed him as “Your Highness.”
Then he took a deep breath.
His gaze swept over Xiao Yuan and Su Muchen in turn, his tone becoming more solemn than ever before.
“In any case, no matter when or where, you must always maintain a sense of reverence toward that Gate.”
“If you wish to make use of the Gate, you must submit to its absolute laws.”
Xiao’s gaze was deep, as though it pierced through time itself, delivering his final warning.
“In the face of such power, only by strictly obeying its rules can you avoid a fatal calamity.”
This was the most solemn and blood-soaked warning from an ancient Gatekeeper.
Xiao Yuan and Su Muchen exchanged a glance, and both saw the same gravity in the other’s eyes.
They nodded almost simultaneously, engraving this deadly taboo firmly into their hearts.
At that moment, the heavy wooden door of the study gave a low creak as its hinges turned.
Xia Lansi entered through the doorway, carrying a towering stack of dossiers and military reports.
Xiao silently stepped forward and naturally took the heavy documents from his hands.
At the moment of the exchange, Xiao’s gaze discreetly swept over Xia Lansi’s slightly pale complexion before settling on the faint redness that had not yet completely faded from the corners of his eyes.
The corner of his lips lifted almost imperceptibly.
But in the very next instant, that smile was replaced by his usual stern expression.
He turned and placed the stack of documents on Xiao Yuan’s desk.
“Huaiyu, why didn’t you rest a little longer?”
Xiao Yuan looked at him, concern evident in his voice.
At this morning’s meeting, Xia Lansi, who was normally punctual to the minute, had been late by half an hour.
It was something that had never happened before.
Looking at that slender figure and the weariness beneath his eyes, Xiao Yuan’s heart sank slightly.
He assumed Xia Lansi had exhausted himself from recent overwork and worried that he had fallen ill again.
The moment the key words were triggered, Su Muchen immediately scanned Xia Lansi with his eyes, checking whether there was anything wrong with his physical condition.
He noticed that Xia Lansi was walking more slowly than usual today.
When he had just stepped through the door, his brows had furrowed slightly, and his complexion looked somewhat fatigued.
After coming here and observing him in person, Su Muchen had discovered that Xia Lansi’s physical constitution was truly far too weak.
A little cold wind could make him cough for half a day, and he had fallen ill again not long ago.
It seemed that the “Nurture the Chief Administrator” program needed to be restarted.
“I am fine, Your Highness. Thank you for your concern.”
Xia Lansi lowered his eyes and drew in his sleeves, concealing every trace of his private emotions beneath his cool, detached mask.
When he raised his head again, the weariness in his eyes had instantly been replaced by a sharp gleam.
“Your Highness, the capital has made a move.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan showed not the slightest surprise.
Instead, he gave a contemptuous snort.
His fingertip idly rubbed his thumb ring, a murderous intent hidden deep in his eyes.
“The North sent an eight-hundred-li urgent secret letter at this time. Naturally, those specters hiding in the shadows couldn’t resist coming to test the waters.”
Watching these people manipulate the fate of the entire realm like a game of chess, Su Muchen couldn’t help giving a bitter smile.
“Fortunately, everything is within our calculations. We laid down a decoy formation long ago.”
“A decoy formation may be good, but victory is still being sought at considerable risk.”
Xiao spoke coldly, pouring a bucket of cold water over them.
His deep gaze passed over the documents and landed directly on Xia Lansi.
“Even if the letter reaches the Grand Tutor safely, we still cannot let down our guard.”
“If that old fox Sheng Yuanli is forced into a corner, he will certainly tear off the mask and drag everyone down with him.”
Then he looked toward Xiao Yuan.
“The fox is hidden in the shadows, the tiger is in the open, and the wolf is in the distance.”
“The moment Your Highness makes a move on this chessboard, all three sides may move.”
There was more behind Xiao’s words than met the eye.
Everyone present understood that investigating the “Blood Theft Case” more deeply was no different from dancing on the edge of a blade for Xia Lansi.
Xia Lansi himself was the ironclad evidence of the blood-theft scheme.
Once the investigation went too deep, his true origins hidden beneath layer upon layer of fog would inevitably be exposed.
Regardless of whether he truly carried the Emperor’s blood, the mere suspicion that could overturn the imperial bloodline would be enough for the suspicious Emperor to ensure that he did not survive.
One wrong move, and there would be no way back.
And Xiao Yuan had even more enemies.
He was already walking on thin ice. Every move he made would inevitably be followed by his opponents’ counterattack.
Xiao Yuan knew his own position and had long since grown accustomed to it.
He calmly mocked himself.
“There’s also a snake.”
Su Muchen couldn’t laugh at all when he heard that.
He only felt heartbroken for Xiao Yuan.
All these people wanted nothing more than to see Xiao Yuan dead.
But what had Xiao Yuan done wrong?
Xia Lansi lowered his eyes, a layer of frost settling over his cool, refined features.
“If His Majesty notices anything amiss, what follows will be more than merely the Emperor’s wrath.”
“The entire collateral branch of the Xia clan will certainly be uprooted, and the entire clan implicated.”
“Even the Imperial Grand Tutor may be dragged into it and charged with deceiving the Emperor and acting against imperial authority.”
Stealing the bloodline of the imperial family was by no means a trivial matter.
It was the ultimate challenge to imperial authority.
It was not merely deceiving the Emperor, but also tampering with the imperial succession, interfering with the imperial bloodline, and harboring intent to rebel.
Every one of those charges was enough to warrant the extermination of an entire clan.
Even if Grand Tutor Xia had absolutely nothing to do with it, the suspicious Emperor would inevitably refuse to believe him.
Because the Grand Tutor was also surnamed Xia.
He was the head of the Xia clan’s main branch.
If the truth were exposed now, it would only mean mutual destruction.
When it came to life and death, Xia Lansi could regard those collateral branches of the Xia clan, with whom he had no familial affection whatsoever, as insignificant as weeds and abandon them without hesitation.
But he would never allow the Grand Tutor to be implicated in the slightest.
That teacher, who had devoted all his efforts to raising him and protecting him, was the one bottom line he absolutely had to safeguard in this deadly game.
He did not know whether Grand Tutor Xia had ever noticed anything.
But he needed to make everyone in the world believe one thing—
Grand Tutor Xia knows nothing.
Thinking this, Xia Lansi slowly raised his eyes.
Calculation gleamed in those red eyes that seemed tempered in ice.
“This blade is too dangerous. It is so sharp that once it is drawn, either he dies or I die.”
His slender fingers lightly tapped the secret report on top of the stack.
His tone was gentle, yet every word cut like a blade.
“So it cannot be used to threaten him. It can only be used to kill.”
“We must wait.”
“Wait until he has placed every piece onto the chessboard.”
“Wait until the moment he believes victory is already in his grasp—”
Xia Lansi leaned forward slightly.
The faint candlelight illuminated the resolve and coldness in his eyes.
“Only then will it be time for this blade to fall.”
◇◆◇◆◇
Several days earlier.
The gates of Linbei City had just opened when a fast horse shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow, clouds of dust billowing behind it.
A rider carried a bright yellow command flag on his back. It snapped loudly in the wind.
Within the territory of the Dasheng Dynasty, it symbolized the highest level of authority—absolute power before which all obstacles had to yield.
No one dared stop it.
On the official road, hoofbeats thundered like rolling drums.
The relay stations along the route had already received word and sprang into action.
Relay runners led strong fresh horses out and waited with bated breath.
The handover took only an instant.
The rider leaped onto the fresh horse, not even stopping for a drink of water, before disappearing once more into the wind and dust.
Anyone who delayed even half a moment would be committing an offense punishable by death.
Several days later, at a major relay station on the outskirts of the capital region—
“Eight-hundred-li urgent dispatch!”
A hoarse shout tore through the sky above the relay station.
The station master hurried out with his men, his expression fearful.
With both hands, he accepted the lacquer-sealed document, its seal stained with a mixture of sweat and dust.
According to regulations, he tremblingly checked the seal against the Prince Su’s insignia, the staff identification number, and the classified military seal.
Everything was correct.
This letter seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.
However, just as the station master was preparing to release the courier and change horses, a middle-aged man in a dark blue official robe slowly emerged from the shadows of the rear hall.
His expression was emotionless.
A “fish tally” identifying him as an imperial attendant hung from his waist, its cold gleam flickering in the dim light.
The atmosphere instantly became tense.
“Wait.”
The station master’s expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly bowed.
“…Lord Shen.”
The man ignored the station master’s frightened expression and calmly produced a gold-edged warrant.
“By imperial order. Inspection and interception.”
The moment the station master saw the warrant, cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
This was not the first time.
Ever since Prince Su Xiao Yuan had stabilized the situation in the northern frontier, all major relay stations along the route had received secret orders concerning urgent dispatches sent from Linbei City.
—They may inspect.
—They may verify.
—They must not obstruct.
And the most important instruction:
If anything unusual is discovered, immediately send a secret report to the capital.
The man took the message tube and slowly rubbed his fingertip over the lacquer seal.
—Xiao Yuan’s Prince Su seal.
—The deputy seal of Chief Administrator Xia Lansi.
The seal was intact, together with the specially made cord binding, without the slightest sign of tampering.
It was like a series of defenses layered one upon another.
As expected, Xia Lansi’s work was flawless.
The man nodded slightly and gave a signal with his eyes.
“Open it.”
Two grim-faced clerks immediately brought over a bronze basin filled with boiling water, steam rising thickly from it.
This was delicate work that required racing against time.
One person carefully held the envelope near the steam, using heat and moisture to gradually loosen the sealing wax and special adhesive.
His face was covered in cold sweat, terrified of damaging even a corner of the message tube.
The other spread out a specially prepared sheet of blank xuan paper, ground the ink, and held his brush while holding his breath.
The entire process was terrifyingly quiet.
Only the faint rustling of paper could be heard.
Everyone present knew that they were effectively gambling with their lives against both the northern frontier’s infamous killer and the several powerful officials in the capital.
At last, the seal was opened completely without the slightest damage.
The man unfolded the letter.
His gaze was sharp as a blade, sweeping rapidly across the page.
His brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Beside him, the clerk’s brush moved rapidly, nearly becoming a blur.
This was not ordinary copying.
It was reproduction.
Every punctuation mark, every accidental ink spot, even the subtle spacing between characters was copied as faithfully as possible, in case the letter contained coded methods such as character-count ciphers or grid-point codes.
The man stared at the letter for a long time.
His gaze seemed capable of piercing straight through the paper.
He recognized every character on the page.
Yet when they were put together, the contents were so ordinary that they became suspicious.
“That’s all?”
His voice carried a bone-chilling coldness.
The clerk answered quietly, “Reporting to Your Lordship… that is everything. I have checked it three times. Not a single character is missing.”
The man remained silent for a moment.
He did not believe it.
He inspected the inside of the message tube again.
He even held the letter beside the candle flame and carefully examined it in the light, checking for invisible ink or messages written with pinpricks.
Yet he found nothing.
It really was an ordinary letter.
Despite the suspicion filling his heart, he could ultimately only nod.
His voice was hoarse.
“Seal it back exactly as it was.”
Another craftsman specializing in this work immediately stepped forward.
He reheated the sealing wax, precisely dripped down prepared wax of the same color, then used imitation molds of the Prince Su seal and Prince Su’s Chief Administrator seal—so perfect they were indistinguishable from the real thing—to press them back into place together with the specially made silk cord.
The craftsman gently wiped the seal with a fine cloth and waited for it to harden.
Unless the person who had carved the original molds examined it in person, there was absolutely no way to tell that the letter had ever been opened.
The man placed the letter back inside the message tube and coldly looked at the relay courier, who had already been frightened nearly senseless.
“Let it pass.”
“If a single word of this leaks, your entire clan will be executed.”
The courier scrambled onto his horse.
The hoofbeats soon faded into the distance once more, carrying a letter that had already “died” once.
As for the copied version, it did not immediately leave the relay station.
The man ordered the clerk to make two more copies and seal them separately inside inconspicuous bamboo tubes.
“Take different land and water routes. Send three groups along each route.”
“Make absolutely sure these reach the higher authorities before the original recipient receives the letter.”
The messengers headed toward the capital.
The man looked north, his eyes dark and sinister.
That was definitely not an ordinary family letter.
Regardless of whether there was anything wrong with its contents, the letter itself was already a problem.