There was silence inside the door for two seconds.
Then it opened.
Su Muchen stood behind the door, looking at Xiao.
Su Muchen looked a little thinner than he had five days ago, the lines of his jaw more pronounced.
The dark circles beneath his eyes were very obvious.
When he saw the person standing at the door, the corners of his lips curved slightly.
“You came.”
His tone was very relaxed.
As if he were forcing himself to hold on.
Xiao did not answer.
His gaze first swept over Su Muchen from head to toe, confirming that there were no obvious external injuries.
Then it fell on the silver bracelet around his wrist.
He took an extremely small tool from his pocket and pressed it against the seam of the bracelet.
Su Qianqian’s voice came through the communication channel. “Bracelet model matched. Implanted cyclic signal detected. Locking mechanism confirmation in progress… fifteen seconds.”
Xiao’s movements did not stop.
His fingertips pressed steadily against the tool, as though he were doing something he had already practiced countless times.
Fifteen seconds later, the bracelet’s clasp made an extremely soft sound. The silver metal came loose from Su Muchen’s wrist and fell to the floor.
Xiao left the bracelet where it was.
“Let’s go. We’re going home,” he said.
Su Muchen followed him out of the room.
The surveillance cameras on both sides of the corridor remained at their normal angles.
The access-control systems unlocked one by one before they reached them, like a path that was being dismantled ahead of them.
They passed through the corridor, went past the elevator, walked down the stairs, and passed through the logistics passage on the north side.
Throughout the entire process, they did not encounter a single person.
Su Muchen was somewhat incredulous.
These past few days, he had been unable to get out of this damned place no matter what he did.
Now, however, he was passing through it as though there were no one here.
He was even somewhat leisurely about it, walking out instead of running.
A gray transport vehicle was parked at the entrance to the loading area, its engine still running.
When Su Muchen got into the vehicle, he looked back at the white building facing the sea.
The sunlight was falling upon its white exterior walls, making it look quiet and harmless.
Then he withdrew his gaze and sat inside the vehicle.
The transport vehicle drove steadily away along the harbor road.
Su Qianqian’s voice came through the communication channel. She finally sounded somewhat more relaxed.
“The north logistics passage has returned to normal footage. The access-control system has been reset. The bracelet signal has been cleared.”
Su Ningning’s voice followed.
“The south equipment room repairs are complete. Power has been restored. No abnormalities reported.”
Xiao sat in the passenger seat, his gaze fixed on the road ahead.
He did not answer. He simply took off his glasses, wiped them with a lens cloth, and then put them back on.
Su Muchen sat in the back seat, looking down at his empty left wrist.
A bracelet that he had been unable to remove had once been worn there.
It was only after leaving the island that he finally dared to relax.
“Don’t worry. Sheng Chengxiu should be overwhelmed right now. He won’t have time to come looking for you.”
Xiao said it with a smile.
There was a trace of mischief in that smile, along with some schadenfreude.
Only after hearing this did Su Muchen feel slightly more at ease.
The transport vehicle continued onward. The sea breeze seeped in through the gaps in the windows, carrying the scent of the ocean.
The outline of the white building gradually grew smaller in the rearview mirror.
Su Qianqian’s voice came again, already back to her usual pace.
“All the substitute footage is gradually releasing surveillance permissions. Everything is expected to completely return to normal within three hours. No abnormal records will remain.”
Xiao gave a quiet hum and said nothing more.
When the vehicle drove onto the road leading to the pier, he turned his head and glanced at Su Muchen through the rearview mirror.
Su Muchen was looking out the window.
Under the afternoon sunlight, the surface of the sea shimmered with broken-gold light, like a road.
“Phone.”
Xiao held out one hand toward him.
Su Muchen took his phone from his pocket and handed it to him.
Xiao did not even look at it. He only asked, “Is there anything important inside?”
Su Muchen thought about it.
“No. The important data is all saved on my laptop.”
Then he watched as Xiao opened the car window and tossed it toward the sea beside the road.
His phone followed a perfect parabola into the sea, splashing the water before sinking.
“My phone! Also, you’re polluting the ocean.”
“Your phone isn’t clean anymore. Throw it away.”
Su Muchen looked at the sea with heartache in his eyes.
First, Xiao Yan had blown up one of his phones.
Now Xiao had thrown away this new one too.
Although the phone was cheap and he had not owned it for very long, it had still cost money.
“I’ll get you something more advanced when we get back. We’ll change your phone number too, so you won’t get deceived again.”
Xiao only mentioned it casually.
But when Su Muchen heard this, he suddenly lowered his eyes.
“…Sorry. I caused you all trouble.”
Su Muchen’s voice was somewhat dejected.
He did not know exactly how much money this rescue operation had cost.
Perhaps those numbers meant nothing to Xiao, but he really did not want to trouble other people.
“I saw the messages and photos, and then heard your voice. I really thought something had happened to you, so…”
Su Muchen thought that if he had confirmed things more carefully at the time and been more cautious, he would not have been deceived.
He often saw all kinds of AI-scam news online and thought those people were stupid, yet he had never expected that he would have such a day himself.
Xiao did not know what kind of message had tricked Su Muchen into going out.
Now that he heard the reason, it turned out to have something to do with him.
His feelings became somewhat complicated.
Although Su Muchen no longer remembered it.
When they were children, Xiao had seen him before.
At that time, Su Yunxiang was still alive and had brought Su Muchen to Guichen House.
And at that time, he had only recently been chosen by the Door to become a Gatekeeper.
He had been young then and had not yet completed the Gatekeeper’s training, yet he had been chosen by the Door and was given the family’s high hopes.
When he saw Su Muchen, he had an intense premonition in his heart.
That he would be the Key to the Door he would guard in the future.
But at the time, he had actually been very unwilling.
He had hoped not to be chosen by the Door, yet he had been chosen.
And Su Muchen would eventually inherit everything belonging to Guichen House, including the Door.
But at that time, he could still choose to turn around and leave.
Or “close the Door.”
After spending so much time together, the relationship between him and Su Muchen had long since become more than merely Gatekeeper and Key, shopkeeper and employee.
The days at Guichen House had given him a far greater feeling of home than his original family ever had.
Su Muchen was very simple, and his way of caring about people was clumsy.
Yet he was also the person who treated him the most like a human being.
Xiao rubbed his head and said with a smile, “You’re silly. Your big brother isn’t that easy to kill.”
Su Muchen waved his hand and pushed his hand away.
Then he finally remembered something.
He stared at Xiao.
“How many tracking devices have you actually hidden on my things?”
He remembered that day when he had merely searched casually and found six tracking patches on himself, and he had not noticed any of them before.
“Want to know?”
Su Muchen nodded.
Xiao thought for a moment.
“A lot.”
“You could at least warn me first.”
“All right. Almost every piece of clothing has one. Bags and shoes too.”
“…”
Su Muchen thought to himself that the new phone Xiao was going to give him wouldn’t happen to be a model with the back door to Chenghui Group wide open, would it?
Xiao seemed to read his thoughts. He smiled slightly.
“Accept your fate. The Keys of every generation have gone through this.”
Su Muchen silently sighed.
If someone had told him from the beginning that being the shopkeeper of Guichen House was actually a high-risk profession, he would have run away first.
When the vehicle passed through the harbor gate, they were not stopped.
The license plate and pass were both legitimate, because they had originally been legitimate.
All abnormalities had already been erased before they occurred, leaving only a few nearly invisible traces deep within the system, like ripples on the surface of the water, slowly spreading before disappearing.
“Oh, right. This is for you.”
Xiao tossed a card to Su Muchen.
Su Muchen caught it and took a look.
It was a chip identification card that could be used for entering and leaving the country. The photograph on it was indeed him, but the name and other information did not match.
“Sheng Chengxiu used another method to get you ‘legally’ out of the country. Now going back is a little troublesome, so we can only use ‘another method’ to get you back.”
Hearing this, Su Muchen could not help thinking: He was a law-abiding, upstanding citizen, yet after taking over Guichen House, he had begun wandering into the gray areas.
Now he had illegal entry and exit and forged identification documents too.
The only thing left was whether he would get caught.
“I really thank you guys.”
There was not the slightest trace of gratitude in his tone.
“No need to thank me.”
◆◇◆◇◆
By the time they returned to Yunjing City, it was already deep into the night.
When the vehicle entered the old city district, the streetlights of Changning Alley were shining in the night.
Warm yellow light spilled from inside the door of Guichen House, falling across the stone pavement in front of it.
When he saw Guichen House, an inexplicable feeling of emotion and nostalgia rose in Su Muchen’s heart.
It was as though he had already been gone for a very long time, and had finally returned.
His heart finally settled down too.
When he pushed open the door of Guichen House, the copper bell by the entrance made a crisp, familiar sound.
The first thing he saw was not the familiar counter and shelves, but traces of the entire Guichen House having been rearranged.
The counter had been pushed against the wall. Several tables had been pushed together, covered with laptops, tablets, folders, and several tangled cables.
A temporary map was stuck to the wall, with a certain location circled in red pen and several lines of symbols beside it that he could not understand.
The entire shop looked like a small command center.
In the middle of that pile of equipment and documents stood three people.
Su Qianqian was sitting at the far right of the joined tables. Several streams of real-time data were still open on the screen in front of her.
When she saw Su Muchen enter, she raised her head, and a relieved expression of “You finally came back” appeared on her face.
Su Ningning had taken an earlier flight back than them.
She held a glass of water in her hand.
She first gave him a thorough visual inspection, confirming that there were no obvious external injuries.
Then she relaxed slightly and said nothing.
And Xiao Yan stood by the window.
When he saw Su Muchen walk in, his gaze first fell on Su Muchen’s face.
He confirmed his complexion and eyes, then moved his gaze downward, sweeping over his entire body. Only after confirming that he was unharmed did his expression finally soften.
Su Muchen stood at the entrance, watched simultaneously by several gazes.
He counted silently in his heart: Xiao, Qianqian, Ningning, and Xiao Yan.
Every one of them was here.
He felt some tightly wound place inside him finally loosen a little.
He had really come back.
It was like returning home.
Xiao Yan walked toward him.
When he reached Su Muchen, he did not ask anything. He merely opened his arms slightly and gently drew him into an embrace.
The strength was very light.
So light that it seemed as though he were afraid of accidentally breaking him.
“Mu’an.”
Xiao Yan’s voice was low and soft.
“It’s enough that you’re back.”
These were not words spoken through the Door.
They were real words, without distance, close enough that he could feel the breath brushing against his ear.
Su Muchen felt Xiao Yan’s palm against his back. Through a layer of clothing, its warmth slowly seeped in, landing without hesitation between his shoulder blades.
Su Muchen stood there and, this time, did not pull away.
He paused for a moment, then leaned his head against Xiao Yan’s shoulder and closed his eyes for a moment.
He lightly inhaled, then slowly exhaled.
The air inside Guichen House carried the mixed scent of old wood, aged paper, and dust, making him feel at ease.
It was completely different from the smell of disinfectant, air conditioning, and the humid, stuffy scent of tropical plants on the island.
Xiao Yan’s body carried the faint scent of agarwood intertwined with pine. It was extremely light, only noticeable when they were this close.
He had never had a home before.
When Su Jiancheng threw him out, he had been too young to know how to define the word “home.”
Later, his grandfather had given him a brief period of warmth, so brief that he had not had time to experience it properly.
He had always thought that he did not care.
Only now did he discover that he actually had.
He remained beside Xiao Yan’s shoulder for a moment before saying quietly, “I’m back.”
His voice was very soft.
But Xiao Yan heard him.
Xiao Yan did not let go of him. He merely maintained that gentle embrace.
But the strength of his hands unconsciously deepened by a fraction.
He smelled a different scent on Su Muchen.
That unfamiliar, slightly pungent smell concealed Su Muchen’s original soap scent.
The clothes he was wearing were not Su Muchen’s either.
Nearby, Su Ningning lowered her voice until it was almost nothing more than a faint stream of air.
“I bet the direct line of the Su family’s bloodline is definitely going to be cut off this time.”
Su Qianqian replied in a whisper, “I’m in.”
“What’s the bet?”
“I’ll take one night watch shift for you.”
“Deal.”
The two exchanged a glance.
At this moment, the door was pushed open.
When Xiao walked in, he was still holding the car keys in his hand, and fine droplets of rain from outside clung to his shoulder.
His gaze swept lightly across the room.
He saw Xiao Yan’s hand resting on Su Muchen’s back.
His gaze paused on that hand.
There was no obvious hostility, more like a silent assessment.
Xiao Yan sensed that gaze and slowly released his hand, stepping back half a pace.
His movements were calm and natural, bringing an embrace that had already lasted long enough to an end.
“Did Sheng Chengxiu hurt you?”
Xiao Yan asked directly.
His gaze moved from Su Muchen’s face to his neck, then to his wrist, quickly and precisely scanning him once more.
Su Muchen shook his head.
Fortunately, Sheng Chengxiu had only used words and had not used his hands.
He had originally been afraid that the other man might go crazy in the middle of the night and attack him, but fortunately, that had not happened.
Xiao Yan said, “You’ve lost weight.”
Su Muchen froze for a moment and looked down at himself. He did not feel that he had lost that much weight.
But Xiao Yan was indeed right. These past few days, he had barely eaten properly.
“I did eat some. I was just afraid Sheng Chengxiu had put something in the food, so I couldn’t eat much.”
Xiao Yan said nothing, but the coldness in his eyes deepened slightly.
Su Muchen seemed to remember something. He reached out and rolled up the sleeve of his left arm, revealing a needle mark on the inside of his elbow.
It was tiny, surrounded by a faint bluish bruise, as though it had not been properly pressed after being punctured.
“Yesterday, he said there was an infectious disease outbreak on the island and demanded that I undergo a health examination.” His tone was calm. “If I didn’t cooperate, he would have someone ‘deal with’ Xiao.”
Xiao Yan’s gaze fell on the needle mark and did not move.
In those dark eyes, flames seemed to flicker faintly.
“In the end, I could only negotiate with him. He would only draw one milliliter of blood.”
Su Muchen lowered his sleeve again, his tone casual.
When he raised his head, he happened to meet Xiao’s gaze.
Xiao stood by the door, his gaze darkly fixed on the faint bluish bruise around his elbow. His complexion was worse than when he had entered.
His glasses concealed most of his expression. There was an extremely faint fatigue in his eyes.
Mixed with some other emotion that was deeper and heavier.
Su Muchen thought he was blaming himself. After all, Sheng Chengxiu had used “Xiao’s safety” to threaten him.
Then, when he turned his head toward Xiao Yan, he saw that Xiao Yan’s eyes also contained an extremely intense killing intent.
That gaze seemed to be saying: “Kill him.”
Nearby, Su Ningning could no longer sit still.
“I told you we should have killed him first.”
Su Qianqian also nodded beside her, looking as though she were ready to start a war at any moment.
Su Muchen felt that their reactions were a little too exaggerated.
He had not suffered any abuse. He had merely had one milliliter of blood drawn.
And Xiao remained silent.
Su Muchen felt that something was wrong with his expression.
“Xiao?”
Hearing Su Muchen call him, Xiao paused, as though he had only just come back to his senses.
Then he curved the corners of his lips.
The smile was very faint, like something temporarily hung there.
“Hmm?”
Su Muchen looked at him, somewhat worried.
“Are you all right?”
Xiao was silent for a moment.
After a while, he shook his head.
“I’m fine. Maybe I’m just a little tired.”
Su Muchen looked at the dark circles beneath his eyes and wanted to say something, but did not.
Xiao turned toward Su Ningning and Su Qianqian.
“You two have worked hard. Go find someone to take shifts and continue keeping an eye on Sheng Chengxiu. We’ll clear this place tomorrow.”
The two girls nodded.
One had already taken out her phone and begun making contact, while the other shut down the equipment on the table, her movements brisk and efficient.
Xiao’s gaze fell on Xiao Yan.
“Your Highness has also worked hard these past few days. The people of the Northern Frontier are still waiting for you.”
His tone was calm, like an ordinary reminder.
Xiao Yan looked at him.
Over these past few days, he had already spent a considerable amount of time here.
On the other side of the Door was the place he had to return to.
Now that Su Muchen had returned safely, he had no reason to stay any longer.
Xiao Yan was silent for a moment. He did not respond to the reminder, merely turning toward Su Muchen.
“Mu’an, I’ll head back first.”
Su Muchen raised his head.
Only then did he belatedly remember that embrace just now.
Not only had he not pushed him away, he had even leaned toward him himself.
The temperature of his ears climbed upward somewhat disobediently, but he did not avert his gaze.
“Mm. Thank you.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll come again.”
“Okay.”
Xiao Yan turned and walked toward the back room.
When the white light came on, his figure was swallowed by the light.
Guichen House fell briefly silent for several seconds.
Su Ningning and Su Qianqian had watched everything from beginning to end.
At this moment, they looked at each other and nodded slightly, as if confirming some conclusion that did not need to be spoken aloud.
Xiao looked at them with a smile on his face.
His tone was gentle.
“Ningning, Qianqian.”
The two stopped at the same time.
“—Have you organized all the handover materials?”
“Done, done!”
Su Ningning immediately grabbed her backpack.
“I-I’ll go find someone to keep an eye on Sheng Chengxiu right now!”
Su Qianqian had already picked up her phone and walked outside.
“I’ll contact the person taking the shift!”
The door closed behind them.
Guichen House became quiet once again.
“Mu’an, go sleep. We can talk about anything tomorrow.”
Xiao said to him.
Then he briskly locked all the doors and windows of Guichen House and activated the security system.
“You’re sleeping here tonight too?”
Su Muchen thought he would return to his old apartment to rest.
Although there was a lounge for Xiao on the second floor, the rooms in Guichen House were small, and the bed was small too. It was not nearly as comfortable as his own place.
“Big brother is afraid you won’t dare sleep alone.”
There was a trace of teasing in Xiao’s tone.
“Who’s afraid?!”
Although, over the past few days, he really had not dared to sleep too deeply, afraid that Sheng Chengxiu might do something.
“All right, hurry upstairs and sleep.”
Xiao switched off the lights that had been left on continuously for several days, one by one.
Su Muchen was tired too. Right now, he only wanted to take a proper shower and sleep comfortably.
“Then I’ll go upstairs first.”
“Mm.”
After Su Muchen went up to the second floor.
Xiao came to the back room.
When he was about to turn off the lights, his gaze swept across that Door.
He stared at it silently for a moment, then walked over and placed his hand against the door panel.
He had guarded this place for too long.
So long that he had almost forgotten certain things, certain emotions.
He gently pressed his forehead against the door panel and asked quietly, “…Why did you choose me?”
But the Door did not answer. There was only silence.
He had asked the same question countless times on countless nights.
But he had never received a response.
Among the candidates for Gatekeeper, they called him the strongest Gatekeeper in history.
But he did not think so.
Because.
Before the torrent of fate, people were so small, so powerless.
No matter how strong one’s will was, it would eventually be worn away by time.
Everyone could only drift with the current.
He did not know why the Door had chosen him.
No one could tell him the answer.
◆◇◆◇◆
Sheng Chengxiu entered that room at 3:50 in the afternoon.
He had arrived a little later today.
There had been a cross-time-zone video conference in the morning, and afterward he had confirmed several sets of data with the head of the research center.
By the time he finished dealing with these matters, he received the message that Su Muchen’s whereabouts were unknown.
The surveillance footage showed no abnormalities. There was no footage of anyone entering or leaving.
The staff had found nothing unusual, except that there had been a brief power outage in the equipment room on the south side.
Su Muchen seemed to have simply evaporated from the face of the earth, disappearing from this place without a trace.
But Sheng Chengxiu knew that someone had come to take him away.
When he entered the room, there was no one inside.
The door was unlocked.
The bed was neatly made, the curtains half-open, and outside the window, the surface of the sea shimmered with broken-gold light beneath the afternoon sun.
There was still a faint scent lingering in the air, like the scent of soap, like fabric after it had been washed clean.
Very faint.
Enough to prove that the person had once stayed here.
Sheng Chengxiu stood at the doorway for a moment.
He saw the silver bracelet on the floor.
It lay on the carpet without any signs of damage, simply lying there quietly.
He bent down and picked up the bracelet, turning it over in his hand. The structure of the clasp was intact, with no signs that it had been pried open.
He placed the bracelet on the table, then swept his gaze across the room.
The window was still locked, the walls were undamaged, and there was nothing wrong with the door lock.
The books on the desk were stacked neatly, as though no one had ever touched them.
There was a teacup on the table, with a faint ring of brown residue still remaining at the bottom.
Sheng Chengxiu walked to the desk and saw a note.
The note had been placed directly in the center of the desk.
There were only two lines on the paper, the handwriting somewhat hurried.
They were Su Muchen’s handwriting.
“—You cannot obtain trust by imprisoning a person. You cannot obtain a person’s heart through restraint.”
Sheng Chengxiu looked at those two lines.
The room was very quiet, with only the faint sound of the air-conditioning system operating.
His gaze lingered on the words “person’s heart” for a moment.
Those two words were very unfamiliar to him.
They were the least necessary thing in his life.
He picked up the paper from the desk.
His movements were very slow.
He folded the paper in half.
Then folded it in half again.
Then held it tightly in his palm.
Slowly tightening his grip.
Until the paper was crushed into a ball.
His expression did not change.
But the knuckles of the hand holding the paper ball turned faintly white, as though he were suppressing some unfamiliar emotion.
Then he loosened his hand and threw the crumpled paper into the wastebasket beside the desk.
He did not look at the paper again.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, his phone vibrated in his pocket.
He answered the call without speaking first.
The person on the other end was speaking, their voice urgent yet still maintaining a professional tone.
Sheng Chengxiu listened.
“…President Sheng, have you finished dealing with the matter on your end?” the person on the other end asked.
“What matter?”
Sheng Chengxiu said.
His tone remained as calm as ever.
“The consortium’s stock price has fallen continuously over the past three days, with the decline exceeding expectations. At first, we thought it was market volatility, but this morning we traced several abnormal transactions. The timing and scale do not look like the work of retail investors. It looks more like a deliberate financial attack.”
Sheng Chengxiu did not interrupt.
He walked back to the desk and sat down in the chair where no one was sitting anymore.
“The other side’s methods are extremely clean. There has been no violation of the law,” the person on the phone continued. “They began laying out their positions two weeks ago. Buying in batches, selling in batches, shorting, transferring positions. They have caused tens of billions in market value to evaporate. The board of directors has already noticed and is demanding an explanation as soon as possible.”
Sheng Chengxiu listened quietly.
His gaze fell upon the silver bracelet on the desk.
It was still lying there quietly.
“And also,” the voice on the other end paused slightly, “the chairman is already looking for you. He wants you to return to the country as soon as possible.”
Sheng Chengxiu was silent for a moment.
Then he said, “Understood.”
He hung up the phone and sat in the chair for a while.
The light in the room was slowly shifting. Outside the window, several seabirds were flying low over the sea, as though searching for a place where they could land.
His phone screen went dark.
He did not look at the bracelet again.
He stood up and walked toward the door.
When he reached the doorway, he paused.
He remembered Su Muchen saying “Impossible,” and that resolute, unyielding look in his eyes.
He had not given up yet.
If it was confirmed that the Door was truly what he thought it was.
Then “civilization” would be rewritten.
That was something of even greater value than money and gold.
He walked out of the room, and the door closed behind him.