Afternoon in Changning Alley.
Su Muchen was squatting in the backyard, moving the few pots of mint he had finally managed to save to a new spot where they could receive sunlight.
He patted the dirt from his hands and was about to return to the front room when he heard footsteps coming from the entrance.
They were not Xiao’s footsteps.
They were slower and more unfamiliar, like someone who did not often come here and was hesitating over whether they should come inside.
When he reached the front room, he saw a mail carrier in a green uniform standing at the entrance, holding an envelope and seemingly trying to figure out where the doorbell was.
When the mail carrier saw him come out, he gave a slight nod. “May I ask if you are Mr. Su Muchen?”
“I am.”
“Registered mail. Please sign for it.”
Su Muchen paused.
Registered mail.
He had not heard that term in a very long time.
Modern people rarely used physical letters anymore, let alone registered mail.
He took the envelope.
Looking down at it, he saw that the sender’s section was blank. There was no name, no address—only his name and the address of Guichen Studio, neatly written in the center.
The handwriting was neat. It was not printed, but handwritten.
Yet he genuinely could not remember whose handwriting it was, nor could he think of anyone who would send him a letter.
He signed for it, then carried the envelope back into the shop and placed it on the counter.
Xiao was scrolling through a tablet behind the counter. His gaze casually swept over the letter, and then his movements stopped.
“Who sent it?” he asked.
“I don’t know. The sender’s information is blank.”
Xiao put down the tablet and held out his hand. “Let me see.”
Su Muchen pushed the envelope toward him.
When Xiao took it, he did not open it immediately. He first turned the envelope over, inspecting the seal, the paper, and the postmark.
Then he pressed it.
He picked it up and shook it, listening to the sound.
Then he lifted it to his nose and smelled it.
His fingers paused along the edge of the envelope, as if confirming something. Only then did he tear open the seal and remove the letter inside.
The stationery was off-white and folded neatly.
As Xiao unfolded the letter to read it, his expression did not change.
But Su Muchen noticed how focused his gaze was.
Then Xiao’s brow moved ever so slightly.
It was not a frown. It was more like restrained surprise.
Su Muchen leaned over and looked down at the letter.
The handwriting was neat, and the contents were brief.
─────────
To Mr. Su Muchen and Mr. Su Jinye:
This Thursday, at two o’clock in the afternoon.
Meeting Room Three of the Yunjing City Medical Association.
If the two of you are willing, you may come to discuss medical cooperation for impoverished families in remote areas.
Sheng Chengxiu
─────────
Su Muchen was silent after reading it.
Sheng Chengxiu would not send an invitation for no reason. This was undoubtedly another trap.
But the other party had not only given them time to prepare.
He had also arranged the meeting at a third-party venue.
The letter contained no coercive language whatsoever.
Nor were there any threats.
It merely stated:
—Three days from now, I will be waiting there.
Therefore, they did not necessarily have to accept the invitation.
Xiao did not speak either.
His gaze remained fixed on the letter.
More precisely, his gaze had fallen on another piece of paper.
There was another note tucked inside the letter.
Written in the same handwriting, it contained two lines:
“—At that time, both the original copy and the existing translated version of the Sheng Family’s Fragmentary Manuscript will be brought to the site.
If the two of you are interested, you may examine them on-site after the meeting concludes.”
Su Muchen noticed his reaction and expression. Xiao rarely revealed such a solemn look.
At least, he had never seen it in front of him.
Xiao gently placed the letter on the counter. He remained silent, deep in thought.
Su Muchen asked, “Should we go?”
Xiao did not immediately say, “We can’t go,” or, “It’s a trap.”
Instead, he remained silent.
This meant Xiao had other thoughts.
Xiao did not answer right away.
He looked at the note, his fingertips pausing along its edge.
As though he had yet to settle on a decision.
Su Muchen said again, “This could be a trap. But it could also be—”
“Real,” Xiao said.
Su Muchen looked at him.
“The greatest risk isn’t that it’s a trap,” Xiao said in a steady voice. “It’s that it’s real.”
Su Muchen fell silent for a moment.
He understood what Xiao meant.
If it was a trap, they could guard against it.
If it was fake, they could expose it.
But if it was real…
They would not be able to stop themselves from wanting to see it and study it.
They would be pulled onto the chessboard Sheng Chengxiu had designed, unable to refuse.
Because this was indeed information they urgently needed to verify.
“Do you want to go?” Su Muchen asked.
This time, he was not asking, “Are we going or not?” but rather, “Do you want to go?”
Xiao pondered.
He lowered his head and looked at the note, allowing both his emotions and reason to settle.
After a long while, he finally seemed to have reached part of a conclusion.
“I want to.”
Then he raised his head and added, “That’s why I can’t answer you right now.”
Su Muchen did not press him further.
He understood that this was not a decision that could be made immediately.
Standing beside the counter, he watched Xiao fold the letter and note back up and return them to the envelope.
◆◇◆◇◆
Toward evening, Xiao walked alone into the backyard.
He did not turn on the lights.
The light in the backyard came from the dim yellow glow of the streetlamps filtering in from Changning Alley, falling across the stone pavement like a layer of diluted light.
He leaned against the wall, holding the envelope in his hand without opening it again.
Memories of the past surfaced in his mind as he sorted through them.
At first, he had not known that this fragmentary manuscript existed. He had never seen it either.
He had not known that the Sheng Family possessed something like this.
If he had known back then, if… he had learned earlier about the Sheng Family’s plans and the contents written in the manuscript—
Would he have been able to stop everything?
But he had not known.
He had never had the chance to know.
And now, the original manuscript and its translation would be waiting for him in the meeting room three days from now.
That letter.
Sheng Chengxiu was not inviting Su Muchen, nor was he inviting “the owner of Guichen Studio.”
He was inviting the “Gatekeeper.”
Because he was the only one who would truly understand the value of that fragmentary manuscript.
It was a trump card in Sheng Chengxiu’s hands.
This game was a desperate gamble for both sides.
Xiao lowered his head and looked at the envelope in his hand.
“…This is the only chance.”
He had eventually learned of the Sheng Family’s fragmentary manuscript, but he had never had any opportunity to come into contact with it.
The Sheng family had guarded both the contents and the physical manuscript extremely carefully.
And Sheng Chengxiu only allowed people at the very core of his organization to access it.
Most of the time, Sheng Chengxiu kept the manuscript in the most secretive location of the Sheng consortium.
He had tried several times to investigate it, but had never managed to obtain even fragments of its contents.
The only thing he could confirm was through deduction: the manuscript likely contained information written by the Sheng Family’s ancestors in the past, information related to the Gate.
Otherwise, the Sheng Family would not have known about the Gate, nor would they have been so obsessed with it.
The night descended heavily, enveloping the backyard in a deep blue glow that intertwined with the dim yellow streetlight.
Xiao remained in the backyard for a long time.
Then he returned inside the shop and took a sheet of paper from the drawer beneath the counter.
He sat before the counter and wrote the first line on the blank page:
“If we accept the invitation—”
Then he began listing items one by one:
Personnel deployment (on-site, perimeter, backup).
Infiltration of the surveillance system (one hour in advance).
Contingency plan for communications interference.
Emergency evacuation routes.
Predictions regarding the conditions Sheng Chengxiu might propose.
Possible rhetoric Sheng Chengxiu might use.
Methods for verifying the authenticity of the fragmentary manuscript.
Plans for on-site audio and video recording.
Response plans should Sheng Chengxiu display any abnormal behavior.
Follow-up procedures if the fragmentary manuscript is genuine.
Follow-up procedures if the fragmentary manuscript is fake.
…
He listed more than twenty items in total. His handwriting gradually changed from neat to hurried.
The faster he wrote, the more it seemed as though he were racing against thoughts rapidly taking shape in his mind.
When the final line landed at the very bottom of the page, he paused for a while before writing down:
He looked at that line without crossing it out.
He stared at it for a long time.
The surroundings were utterly silent.
That line was written extremely messily, almost impossible to make out.
Only the final two characters had been written with great force.
“—Sacrifice to the Gate.”
Xiao reviewed everything he had written and committed it to memory.
Then he folded the paper and took it to the backyard.
And burned it.
The firelight briefly illuminated his face before fading away.
Xiao gazed into the distant night sky.
Although there was no rain tonight, there were no stars or moonlight either.
Only thick clouds blanketed the sky, carrying the foreboding sense of an approaching storm.
In this game, it was not yet clear who was the hunter and who was the prey.
He admitted that Sheng Chengxiu was indeed a troublesome opponent.
What made Sheng Chengxiu troublesome was not merely his extraordinary obsession.
More importantly, after every failure, he would identify the flaws and readjust his strategy.
Then, on his next move, he would adopt a more efficient approach.
He would not repeat the same mistakes.
He was an evolution that would never stop.
He would also use intelligence to identify his opponent’s weak points and strike with precision.
An opponent like this would become increasingly dangerous the longer he was allowed to remain unchecked.
Therefore, regardless of the eventual outcome,
He had already decided where his next step would lead.
◆◇◆◇◆
Late at night.
When the door to the back room was pushed open, cold white light spilled out first, followed by Xiao Yuan’s figure.
When he stepped into Guichen Studio, his shoulders still carried the chill characteristic of late spring in the Northern Frontier.
The snow there was melting, and the night wind was damper than it had been in previous days.
Out of habit, he first looked toward the counter to confirm Su Muchen’s presence.
Tonight, Su Muchen was indeed sitting behind the counter, his head lowered as he wrote.
When he heard the door open, he looked up. His gaze first swept over Xiao Yuan from head to toe, checking his complexion and confirming that there were no new injuries before withdrawing, just as usual.
“You’re here.”
But Xiao Yuan noticed it.
After saying those two words, Su Muchen did not look at him again as he had in the past. Nor did he add, “How are your wounds?” or, “Have you eaten?” Instead, he lowered his head and continued writing, as if trying to make himself look busy.
Moreover, Xiao was here tonight as well.
That seat should have been empty, because tonight was not Xiao’s duty night. Yet at this moment, he was sitting in a chair by the window, an old book in his hands and a teacup beside him, looking as though he had merely happened to be there reading.
Xiao Yuan’s gaze lingered on Xiao for a moment before falling back onto Su Muchen.
He said nothing.
Su Muchen did not avoid him.
He simply no longer took the initiative to approach him.
Xiao Yuan noticed that subtle difference.
As for the reason, he thought it might have something to do with his conversation with Xiao last night.
He walked to the counter and, as usual, placed a wooden box on the table.
Su Muchen put down his pen, took the wooden box, opened it, and checked the several documents inside.
His movements were no different from before, but their conversation remained strictly on matters of business.
“The preparations for spring farming in the Northern Frontier have already begun,” Xiao Yuan said.
“How is the soil?” Su Muchen asked without looking up as he examined the documents.
“Better than expected. The trial crops in the river valley have already sprouted.”
“That’s good,” Su Muchen said.
Then he closed the documents, put them back into the wooden box, and did not ask anything else.
Xiao Yuan stood across the counter from him, sensing that an invisible barrier between them was slowly being pulled apart.
He did not press him. He simply continued talking about matters in Linbei City.
Pei Yi’s injuries, Xia Lanshi’s current physical condition, Qian Younian’s grain records, Xu Wenshan’s documents.
Every matter was reviewed, confirmed, and recorded just as usual.
But while exchanging information, Xiao Yuan learned something.
“Sheng Chengxiu sent an invitation?” he asked.
Xiao did not look up. His tone was as calm as ever. “Mm. Three days from now, at the Yunjing City Medical Association.”
“Are you going?” Xiao Yuan’s expression turned serious.
“We’re considering it,” Xiao said. “Sheng Chengxiu is using the Sheng Family’s Fragmentary Manuscript as bait. The benefits of accepting this appointment outweigh the drawbacks.”
Xiao Yuan’s gaze shifted toward Su Muchen, but Su Muchen did not look at him. He merely lowered his head and stared at the edge of the wooden box.
Xiao Yuan looked at him for a moment, then turned toward Xiao. “Security measures?”
“Already planned. We can have everything prepared within three days,” Xiao said.
Xiao Yuan did not ask anything further.
When Su Muchen had been kidnapped, he had already witnessed Xiao’s planning ability, command skills, and ability to take action.
If Xiao had been born in Dasheng, he would have been someone Xiao Yuan would have wanted to recruit under his command rather than have as an enemy.
He noticed that there was a certainty in Xiao’s tone when he said that, a certainty he did not completely understand.
The “planning” could encompass more than just security measures.
After the supplies had been checked, Su Muchen stood up. “I’ll help you carry them.”
He walked toward the back room, and Xiao Yuan followed behind him.
As the two of them passed through the short corridor leading to the back room, the light from the counter was blocked off, leaving only a dim lamp in the corner to illuminate the passage.
Su Muchen walked slightly faster than usual, as though eager to get through this stretch of corridor.
As if, by walking quickly enough, he could avoid something he was not yet prepared to face.
Xiao Yuan’s hand reached out in the darkness and gently caught his wrist.
The force was not heavy, yet it was precise, as though he had already anticipated the direction in which Su Muchen would try to escape.
He turned Su Muchen around and pressed him against the wall.
Enough to keep him from easily breaking free.
When Su Muchen’s back struck the wall, it made a very soft, muffled sound.
He raised his head and was about to speak when he met Xiao Yuan’s gaze.
Those ink-dark eyes appeared deeper than usual beneath the dim light, like an undercurrent that had been suppressed for a long time was slowly surging beneath the surface.
Su Muchen had become too accustomed to Xiao Yuan’s manner inside Guichen Studio.
Gentle, restrained, never crossing the line.
To the point that he had almost forgotten what that man had been like when he first met Xiao Yuan.
Xiao Yuan had merely put away his claws and fangs in front of him.
But they were still there.
And now they were showing themselves slightly.
“Why are you avoiding me?” Xiao Yuan’s voice was very low.
Su Muchen’s breathing faltered for a moment.
He wanted to argue, but Xiao Yuan’s gaze remained fixed on his face, so close that there was nowhere for him to hide.
“I’m not,” he said quietly. “Let go. Xiao is still in the front room—”
“That’s why I’m asking while Xiao is here,” Xiao Yuan interrupted him. His tone softened slightly, yet became heavier. “When he’s not here, you’ll run.”
When those words reached Su Muchen’s ears, he was about to refute them, only to realize there was nothing he could say.
He really had been avoiding him.
He had been avoiding him ever since that night.
He thought he had done it naturally enough, but Xiao Yuan had still noticed.
Xiao Yuan did not release him.
He leaned slightly forward, pressing closer.
The distance was so close that Su Muchen could feel his breath falling against the edge of his ear.
The warm breath brushed lightly across it, bringing with it a fine, tingling sensation.
“…Mu’an.” He asked softly, “Do you dislike me now?”
The words fell into the narrow corridor, very softly, almost like a murmur.
There was something in his tone that Su Muchen had never heard from Xiao Yuan before.
He was probing so carefully.
Su Muchen’s cheeks instantly grew hot.
He could smell the scent of dark wood mixed with pine on Xiao Yuan’s body.
They were so close that he could almost feel that scent slowly seeping into his own breathing.
He used all his strength to keep his voice steady.
“…No.”
His voice was so faint that it was almost inaudible.
Xiao Yuan did not release him immediately.
He straightened slightly, still maintaining an extremely close distance.
His gaze moved from Su Muchen’s eyes to his lips, then stopped there.
The two remained silent for a moment.
The heat in the air was gradually rising, and the invisible rope between them was slowly tightening.
Su Muchen’s eyes widened.
He sensed that the situation was becoming somewhat dangerous.
He desperately turned his thoughts over, wondering whether he should make some noise to get Xiao to come over and save him, when—
Xiao Yuan slowly loosened his grip and stepped back.
He looked away and slowly exhaled, as though forcefully suppressing something.
He gently clenched his fist, pushing something back into the depths of his body.
“Mu’an,” he said, his voice already restored to its usual calmness. “I won’t force you. I’ll wait for you.”
His fingers gently touched the side of Su Muchen’s face.
The force was extremely light, as though he were touching something he did not dare handle with any strength.
That hand slowly traced down along his cheekbone, finally stopping at his chin. He gently lifted it, making Su Muchen’s gaze meet his.
Xiao Yuan’s eyes lowered.
There was an extremely faint vulnerability in his expression, something that almost did not seem to belong to him.
“Don’t avoid me anymore, all right?”
Su Muchen’s conscience was gently pricked by those words.
He had never seen Xiao Yuan make such an expression before.
It was not grievance.
It was more like a person tentatively handing over his own weak point, uncertain whether the other person would catch it.
“…All right.” Su Muchen’s voice carried a trace of helplessness. “Whatever you say.”
The corners of Xiao Yuan’s lips curved slightly.
The arc was extremely small, yet carried the satisfaction of having received confirmation.
“Remember, I will always leave a place for you in Dasheng. Whether you come or not, I will never change that,” Xiao Yuan said.
He withdrew his hand, turned around, and walked toward the cart, loading the supplies onto it.
After everything had been loaded, Xiao Yuan stopped at the doorway.
He turned his head slightly and glanced at Su Muchen, who was still leaning against the wall.
There was an emotion in that glance that Su Muchen could not completely understand.
It was not uneasiness.
It was more like he was confirming something.
Then he left.
Su Muchen remained leaning against the wall, feeling his heartbeat pounding against his chest as though it were about to explode out of him.
Just now, he had clearly seen what was in Xiao Yuan’s eyes.
That emotion that could not be ignored had been revealed before him without reservation.
Xiao Yuan’s words still echoed in his ears.
So soft, yet so heavy.
It had come too quickly, so quickly that he had been caught completely off guard.
He thought he had already built a strong enough line of defense.
But now he realized it was thinner than he had imagined, so thin that in less than two days, it had been completely broken through by the force with which he had been pressed against the wall.
“How am I supposed to defend against this…”
He murmured quietly.
He had no experience when it came to matters of the heart, nor did he have many attachments. He had simply thought that he would let things develop naturally.
He had never imagined that the person involved would be someone from another world, a man, and even the Seventh Prince of Dasheng.
Someone who had suddenly barged into his life on a rainy night.
He liked Xiao Yuan not because of his gender or status.
It had simply happened naturally.
But he also knew very clearly what Xiao Yuan would have to pay once he accepted this.
If Xiao Yuan eventually became emperor, then he…
Would only be a stumbling block in Xiao Yuan’s path.
He stood in the corridor for a long time, allowing the heat in his face to slowly fade and his heartbeat to gradually return to normal before walking back into the front room.
Xiao was still sitting in the chair by the window, the book in his hands still open to the same page.
He did not look up. He merely asked casually, “Finished carrying everything?”
“…Mm.” Su Muchen returned behind the counter and sat down.
From Su Muchen’s expression when he entered the front room to the lingering flush at the tips of his ears, Xiao had read enough information.
He merely turned another page of the book and directed his gaze back toward the night outside the window.
Three days from now.
Whose turning point in fate would it be?
He could not be certain.
Had he truly taken the right step this time?
No one could tell him the answer.
Not even the Gate.