“Are you saying that the First Military City of the Northern Frontier has now been renamed Linbei City?”
Inside Returning Dust Studio, Su Muchen was frowning as he listened to Xiao Yuan explain the current situation of the First Military City of the Northern Frontier. But when he heard that name, he suddenly stopped.
It was as though he was confirming that he had not misheard, or perhaps trying to digest some information that did not feel quite real.
“Mm. It is a city bordering the Northern Frontier, hence Linbei.”
Xiao Yuan nodded. His tone was ordinary, and he did not feel there was anything special about the name at all.
He had always prioritized practicality when naming things, unlike Xia Lanshi, who favored poetic names.
But he noticed that Su Muchen’s brows were drawing tighter and tighter, and even the fingers holding his pen had stopped.
“What is it?”
Su Muchen opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, then closed it again.
He lowered his head and stared at the three characters in his notebook, trying his best to keep his expression within the bounds of “calm.”
But the corner of his mouth still twitched uncontrollably.
From behind the counter came an extremely soft sound of suppressed breath, almost distorted from being held back.
Xiao was looking down, his tablet lying on the desk, while both his shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
Su Muchen slowly turned his head and glanced at him, lightly glaring to tell him to restrain himself.
Xiao did not look up. He let out a low laugh before forcibly swallowing it back.
He turned his head away, his shoulders shaking even more violently.
Su Muchen took a deep breath and turned back toward Xiao Yuan.
The emotions in those eyes struggled briefly before finally being covered by a layer of forcibly maintained composure.
“‘Linbei’ has a different meaning in the local dialect here.”
He tried his best to make his tone sound like he was simply stating an objective fact.
Xiao Yuan tilted his head slightly. Pure confusion appeared in his calm eyes.
“What meaning?”
Su Muchen racked his brains and finally squeezed out an explanation that would not hurt Xiao Yuan too badly.
“It is a very domineering way of referring to oneself. Very down-to-earth.”
He paused, then added, “It’s pretty good.”
Xiao Yuan was silent for a moment, as though carefully pondering the meaning of those words.
Then he slowly nodded and said thoughtfully, “I see. I didn’t expect it to have that meaning as well.”
Xiao Yuan felt that he had learned another local expression.
Xiao thought Su Muchen’s ability to make things up was truly impressive.
A palace-intrigue novel could be described as “folk literature researching vicious competition within the imperial family.”
And now he had turned the local-dialect meaning of Linbei into “a domineering, down-to-earth self-reference.”
But Xiao Yuan’s explanation that followed completely made Su Muchen forget the absurdity brought about by that name.
“The situation inside the city is worse than what was written in the military reports.”
Xiao Yuan sat before the counter, his hands clasped together.
“The granaries are nearly empty. The medicinal supplies ran out half a month ago. The wounded soldiers are using wood ash to stop bleeding and snow to cool their wounds. More and more people are falling ill, and isolation has already begun. There are multiple damaged sections of the city walls and gates.”
There were simply too many things that needed to be dealt with, all piled on top of one another. On top of that, no one knew when the Northern Di would attack again.
The situation in Linbei City could now be described as extremely precarious.
Su Muchen put down his pen, his brows furrowing tighter.
He opened his notebook and quickly wrote down several key words.
Food depleted.
Medicine exhausted.
Epidemic spreading.
More than half the wounded.
City damaged.
External unrest.
“What about the civilians?”
“There are a little over seven thousand people inside the city, mostly the elderly, women, and children. The able-bodied men were incorporated into the defenses during the siege. More than half were killed or wounded.” Xiao Yuan’s voice lowered slightly. “There are even more dead outside the city. On the way north, I saw…”
He paused, as though searching for a suitable word.
In the end, he only said, “I saw things that cannot be written in a memorial.”
Su Muchen looked up at him.
Xiao Yuan did not avoid his gaze. He merely fell silent for a moment before slowly describing the scenes he had witnessed along the way.
People who had frozen to death by the roadside, still clutching empty cloth bags in their hands; villages where nine out of ten households were empty, with a family of three curled up and frozen to death inside a dilapidated house; refugees fleeing with their families, their eyes so numb that they no longer even had the strength to ask for help.
His tone was very calm, as though he were reading out a military report, but Su Muchen could hear what lay beneath that calmness.
Those scenes had already been deeply burned into Xiao Yuan’s heart.
Su Muchen did not say anything comforting. He knew Xiao Yuan did not need that kind of consolation.
He merely lowered his head, wrote several lines in his notebook, then looked up.
“What do you need most urgently right now?”
“Medicine.” Xiao Yuan answered immediately. “Food comes second. The wounded are waiting for medicine, and the civilians are waiting for food. If the epidemic isn’t brought under control, the city will collapse on its own without the Northern Di even needing to attack.”
Su Muchen nodded and turned his notebook toward Xiao Yuan. A list of supplies had already been written on it.
Antipyretics, anti-inflammatory medicine, hemostatic medicine, povidone-iodine, gauze, bandages, masks, gloves, oral rehydration salts, nutritional powder, compressed biscuits, dehydrated vegetable soup packets.
The list densely filled half a page, with a priority level marked after every item.
“For the medicine, I’ll prepare an emergency batch first.” Su Muchen tapped the paper with the tip of his pen. “Anti-inflammatory and fever-reducing medicine take priority. Hemostatic and dressing supplies come next. As for food, we’ll send a batch of high-calorie compressed food first. We’ll get through this period before worrying about the rest.”
Xiao Yuan looked at the list but did not speak immediately.
The lamplight fell across his slightly lowered brows and eyes, softening his usually cold face.
“Mu’an, that’s too much,” he said quietly.
Su Muchen froze.
“What?”
“This list.” Xiao Yuan raised his eyes. “Given the current load the Gate can handle, we can’t transport this much in one trip.”
Su Muchen lowered his head and glanced at his list, remaining silent for a moment.
He had indeed written too much.
He had been thinking about giving Linbei City the best and most sufficient supplies possible, but had forgotten that the Gate had its limits.
“Then we’ll send it in batches.”
He picked up his pen and drew several lines through the list.
“Send the most critical things in the first batch. All the medicine goes first. Compress the food into the smallest possible volume. The rest can wait for the second batch.”
Su Muchen added, “Also, I need a detailed map of Linbei City. The internal layout, water sources, areas where civilians are concentrated, the wounded soldiers’ camp, the granaries. The more detailed, the better.”
Xiao Yuan did not ask why.
After this period of working together, he was already accustomed to Su Muchen’s habit of taking control of the overall situation before taking action.
“All right. I’ll bring one next time. I can draw a rough layout for you first.”
Xiao Yuan picked up the pen on the desk and quickly drew a simple layout of Linbei City.
It was based on the latest layout map that Xia Lanshi had drawn while ill. Xiao Yuan had already committed it to memory.
“Where is the largest well in the city?”
Xiao Yuan immediately marked the well’s location.
“Is it far from the wounded soldiers’ camp? If the patients and civilians are using the same water source, the epidemic will only spread faster.”
“I’ve already assigned people to control it.” As he spoke, he drew the rough layout of the military camp.
“And soil samples,” Su Muchen said, his tone as natural as if he were assigning the most ordinary task. “The trial planting at Hanchuan has already produced preliminary results. If the soil around Linbei City is suitable, we can try planting cold-resistant crops in the military farms outside the city when spring begins next year.”
Xiao Yuan looked at him, his gaze shifting slightly.
“You’re thinking very far ahead.”
Su Muchen did not raise his head. He simply continued writing in his notebook.
“We have to think far ahead. Your winter over there is still very long.”
The sentence was spoken very calmly, yet it made Xiao Yuan fall silent for a moment.
He remembered those empty villages, the corpses curled up in the snow, and the refugees walking numbly along the official roads.
Winter was still very long.
That was the most brutal reality of the Northern Frontier.
Xiao Yuan began to realize that Su Muchen’s way of thinking about problems was completely different from everyone else in Great Sheng.
Military strategists thought about defending cities.
Generals thought about fighting wars.
Officials thought about taxes and grain.
But Su Muchen was always thinking about how to let people survive.
Not just now.
But in the future, too.
Xiao walked over and picked up a supply list to look through. He could not help giving a bitter smile.
“Young Master, you’re not sending supplies anymore, and you’re not raising an army either.”
“What else would I be doing?”
“You’re raising an entire city. That’s going to cost quite a lot.”
Linbei City had seven thousand civilians and more than thirty thousand soldiers. It was not as though they would eat this batch and be done.
They had to eat tomorrow.
And the day after.
And all the way until next spring.
Relying solely on Returning Dust Studio and the Gate would make it difficult to support all of them.
Hearing this, Xiao Yuan said, “I’ll send more gold over.”
Xiao, however, shook his head.
“This isn’t just a matter of money. Don’t forget, the Sheng Consortium has been watching Returning Dust Studio and Su Muchen all this time. As long as the funds and supplies entering or leaving Returning Dust Studio go through normal channels, they’ll be able to trace them.”
Xiao’s tone was as calm as ever, but those words weighed heavily between them. It was a problem they had no choice but to face.
Su Muchen had thought about this too.
It was a problem they would have to face sooner or later.
“Then don’t use the name ‘Returning Dust Studio.’ Use ‘Returning Dust Cultural Preservation Association.’”
“Returning Dust Cultural Preservation Association?”
This was the first time Xiao Yuan had heard the name.
Su Muchen immediately gave him a brief explanation.
“On the surface, it’s for antique restoration, preservation of folk-cultural records, disaster emergency backup exhibitions, and charitable donations. We can legally move large quantities of supplies under those names.”
“Something like a commercial firm?” Xiao Yuan asked.
“Not exactly,” Su Muchen explained.
“You can understand it as another name. Supplies, warehouses, and funds will all go through that side. Other people can trace the things, but they won’t be able to trace their true purpose.”
Xiao Yuan nodded.
This was somewhat similar to how he operated on the Great Sheng side. He, too, had plenty of supplies and financial transactions that could not be conducted openly.
“The establishment process for the Returning Dust Cultural Preservation Association is still underway,” Xiao said helplessly. “But for now, we can operate under the name ‘Returning Dust Cultural Preservation Project.’ I’ve already rented a warehouse.”
“You already rented one?”
Su Muchen froze.
“That fast? When did you rent it?”
“A while ago.”
“When exactly is ‘a while ago’?”
“When you said last time that you wanted to establish a public welfare organization related to Returning Dust Studio.”
“You already knew we’d need a warehouse at the time?”
Xiao looked up at him.
“Better to be prepared. Returning Dust Studio would need one sooner or later.”
Xiao saw that Su Muchen seemed rather surprised and merely shrugged.
“Anyway, we have a warehouse now. We only need to put a name on it. I’ll handle the remaining accounts on my side.”
Although Su Muchen knew Xiao was extremely capable, and although he seemed to spend all day swiping through his tablet, he could accomplish countless things without even leaving the building. Still, he had not expected him to be this capable.
He was practically every boss’s dream employee.
“Xiao.”
“Hmm?”
“Starting today, you’re getting promoted.”
“To what position?”
“General Affairs Director of Returning Dust Studio.”
“That sounds impressive.”
“You’ll be responsible for procurement, warehousing, logistics, finance, and miscellaneous matters.”
“…”
“Oh, and you’ll also double as the gatekeeper and security guard.”
“Cousin.”
“Hmm?”
“Isn’t this just dumping all the work on me?”
Su Muchen patted him on the shoulder.
“Those who are capable do more.”
Xiao sighed helplessly and asked, “Then do I get a raise?”
“Returning Dust Studio is currently operating at a loss. Once operations get on track, I’ll consider giving you a raise.”
“You know that’s usually how a boss starts drawing a pie in the sky, right?”
Xiao Yuan silently watched the way they interacted and thought:
Perhaps this was what ordinary brothers were supposed to be like.
Although he had many brothers and sisters, they barely interacted with one another. Not only that, they even hated each other.
Outside the window, the night was deep.
Inside Returning Dust Studio, the faint electrical buzz of the old lightbulb mingled with the occasional soft rustle of turning pages.
The indoor lighting was dim and yellow, while the air carried the atmosphere and scent unique to old houses and antiques, making the passage of time seem to slow down as well.
Xiao Yuan liked the time he spent here very much.
No matter how tense his mind and body were, he would gradually relax.
It was as though every difficult problem could be solved here.
The Northern Frontier, the imperial court, the Northern Di, the epidemic.
Those things weighing upon his shoulders had not disappeared.
They simply seemed farther away whenever he stepped into Returning Dust Studio.
Their discussion eventually came to an end.
Su Muchen closed his notebook and looked at Xiao Yuan.
“One more thing.”
“Hmm?”
“Have you slept at all these past two days? Have you eaten anything?”
Xiao Yuan did not answer.
His silence itself was the answer.
Su Muchen’s brows furrowed again.
He simply stood up and walked into the back kitchen. Before long, he brought out a bowl of hot porridge and placed it in front of Xiao Yuan.
The porridge contained egg ribbons and greens. Steam curled upward, condensing into a faint white mist in the cold air.
Xiao Yuan lowered his head and looked at the bowl without immediately touching it.
“Eat first,” Su Muchen said. “We’ll talk after you finish.”
He knew Xiao Yuan definitely had not slept properly during this period, nor had he eaten regular meals.
Xiao Yuan picked up the spoon and took a bite.
The hot porridge slipped into his stomach, gradually melting away the coldness and tension that had settled there.
Su Muchen sat beside him and quietly watched.
When Xiao Yuan had eaten almost enough, he pulled out a sheet of paper and pushed it toward him.
“Keep this.”
Xiao Yuan lowered his eyes and glanced at it.
There were densely written characters all over it, with Su Muchen and Xiao’s names repeatedly appearing.
“What is it?”
“The duty schedule for me and Xiao. We take turns watching the shop to guard against Sheng Chengxiu sending people to spy on us.”
Su Muchen paused, then added, “So you won’t come here one day and find no one.”
He was worried that Xiao Yuan might come over during his time off and be unable to find him.
Su Muchen pointed at the paper and explained, “Seven days a week. This line is today.”
Because Great Sheng not only had seasons opposite to theirs, but also used a different system for dates and time, he could only let Xiao Yuan calculate it himself.
Xiao Yuan picked up the schedule, his gaze unconsciously softening.
With this schedule, he would be able to know when Su Muchen would be at the shop.
Su Muchen pointed at the time conversion table noted beside it.
“This is the time system on your side, compared with the time system here.”
Xiao Yuan lowered his head and looked where he was pointing.
Although the two worlds had different seasons, their time was almost identical. Only the systems were different.
He quickly scanned through it and silently committed the table to memory.
Seeing how seriously he was studying the time, Su Muchen suddenly thought of something.
He rummaged around inside the counter before pulling out an old wooden box from the very bottom.
The corners of the wooden box had been worn white, clearly indicating that it had been stored there for many years.
He pushed the wooden box toward Xiao Yuan.
“I happened to find this antique while organizing the warehouse a few days ago. It should have been collected by my grandfather back then.”
Xiao Yuan opened the wooden box.
Inside lay a small, flat, round metal object.
Several smooth silver lines outlined the shape of a wolf’s head across the black-silver metal. It was very understated, and the surface bore tiny scratches from years of wear.
He noticed a mechanism on it and lightly pressed it.
The lid sprang open, revealing a milky-white interior.
Around it were the numbers he had already seen many times, along with hour and minute hands and a thin hand slowly turning.
At the very top was a faint crescent-moon pattern.
“This is a Western mechanical pocket watch. If you touch something electrical, it’ll break, but this won’t. It’ll let you tell the time more accurately.”
Su Muchen had let Xiao examine it before. Although the pocket watch still functioned normally and kept very accurate time, it had no brand markings, and modern people did not use such things anymore, so it could not sell for much money.
Su Muchen then taught him how to read the time and how to use it.
“Remember to wind it every morning.”
“Wind it?”
“Just turn this.” Su Muchen demonstrated.
“It’s about the same as feeding a horse.”
“Feeding a horse?”
“If you don’t feed it for a day, it’ll throw a tantrum. If you ignore it for three days, it’ll just die on you.”
Xiao Yuan could not help smiling.
He felt that this thing was indeed practical because in the military, he had to rely on people to announce the time.
Although there were also clepsydras, they were difficult to carry with an army. It was very inconvenient to know the exact time immediately, and at best, he could only get a rough estimate.
Now that he had this, things would be much more convenient. Moreover, the time system here was far more precise than that of Great Sheng.
Xiao Yuan closed the pocket watch again.
His fingertip lingered on the cover for a moment before he carefully placed it in the innermost part of his clothing.
“I’ll use it properly.”
Su Muchen had originally wanted to say, “It’s not worth much anyway.”
But when he saw the way Xiao Yuan carefully placed the pocket watch against his chest, he swallowed the words.
He suddenly felt that the value of some things had never been about their price.
What mattered more was the thought behind them and how useful they were.
“Oh, right.”
Su Muchen suddenly seemed to remember something. He took a letter from the counter drawer.
Written on the envelope were the words: “For Xia Lanshi personally.”
Su Muchen handed the letter over, deliberately making his tone sound casual.
He felt that rather than secretly slipping it to Xiao Yuan, he might as well give it to him openly. After all, Xiao could not see the contents either way.
“It’s for Xia Lanshi. Just some notes about things he should pay attention to regarding his health.”
Su Muchen particularly emphasized the contents, and he even stole a glance toward Xiao.
Seeing him once again swiping at his tablet, he relaxed.
“I’ll deliver it.”
Xiao Yuan put the letter away and was just about to rise and take his leave.
Su Muchen also stood up to see him out.
Just then, Xiao suddenly poked his head out from behind the counter, raised his tablet, and naturally called out to him.
“Mu’an, do you want to check that batch of seeds in the warehouse first? Logistics just said they shipped the wrong batch of goods. We need to recheck the list.”
Su Muchen stopped and turned toward Xiao.
“Now?”
“Mm. They’re waiting online.” Xiao’s expression was serious, and his tone was as ordinary as though he were genuinely handling a logistics issue.
Su Muchen looked at Xiao Yuan, then at Xiao. After hesitating for a moment, he finally turned toward the counter.
“I’ll take a look.”
Xiao handed the tablet to Su Muchen, then turned toward Xiao Yuan and slightly raised his chin, signaling for him to wait.
Xiao Yuan did not move. He merely stood there and looked at Xiao.
Su Muchen took the tablet and lowered his head to check the logistics list, his brows slightly furrowed as he carefully verified everything.
Taking advantage of the moment when Su Muchen’s head was lowered, Xiao walked over to Xiao Yuan and moved his lips almost imperceptibly.
His voice was so low that only the two of them could hear.
“If Your Highness has nothing else to do, you can go for a walk over here.”
Xiao Yuan followed the direction of his finger.
It was the rough layout of Linbei City that he had drawn earlier. Xiao’s finger rested on an area in the southeastern corner of the city.
That place was blank.
He had not drawn anything there.
Because in his memory, it was merely an abandoned plot of land and was not worth marking.
Xiao Yuan lowered his eyes and looked at it, then looked at Xiao, his gaze darkening slightly.
“Go for a walk.”
Placed in this context, the phrase clearly did not mean what it literally said.
He did not ask further, nor did he nod.
He simply silently memorized the location before withdrawing his gaze, as though nothing had happened.
Xiao also casually withdrew his hand and turned toward Su Muchen, his tone returning to its usual laziness.
“Mu’an, the seeds are fine. I was mistaken.”
Su Muchen raised his head and frowned at him.
“…You just said the other party was waiting online.”
“Oh, he logged off.” Xiao said it with an utterly straight face. “Logistics is like that. People come and go in a hurry.”
Su Muchen was silent for a moment, as though he wanted to say something.
In the end, he merely placed the tablet back on the counter and turned toward Xiao Yuan.
“Let’s go. I’ll see you to the back room.”
Xiao Yuan nodded without saying anything more.
But at the instant he turned around, his eyes briefly met Xiao’s.
Xiao had already returned to his seat behind the counter, looking down at his tablet as though nothing had happened.
When Xiao Yuan left Returning Dust Studio, the horizon had already begun to brighten with an extremely faint gray-white.
A new day was about to begin in Linbei City.
There were still wounded soldiers, granaries, city walls, and countless pairs of eyes waiting for him to return.
He was bringing the first batch of supplies back from Returning Dust Studio, but from this moment onward, he had to be even more cautious.
Even though he was far away in the Northern Frontier, the Emperor’s and Crown Prince’s spies were still watching him at all times.
He had to find a way to survive among those watchful eyes.
Every step he took had to be extraordinarily careful, and the secret of the Gate absolutely could not be discovered by those people.
Otherwise, he would die.
Those people would never let someone possessing such an ability go.
Although this ability had been obtained by accident and was extremely dangerous, he treasured it deeply.
Because this Gate had allowed him to learn that there were worlds beyond the heavens, that the world was far vaster than he had imagined, and it had also allowed him to meet Su Muchen.
In the past, he had made his “plan” simply to survive.
But now, in addition to wanting to survive, he had begun to have more thoughts.
Now, he was no longer living only for himself.