Reunion

By afternoon, the funds had arrived in Chen Xuan's account as promised.

Seeing his balance instantly jump to seven figures, he finally felt considerably more at ease.

If he had earned this much working a regular job before, he would have been jumping for joy. But now, his heart was as still as water. He did not feel particularly thrilled over this income of more than two million. Even Chen Xuan himself found that a little surprising. After thinking it over, he figured it was probably because he was no longer supporting only himself—an entire Ability Store rested on his shoulders as well.

Now that he had money, the first thing to do was contact wholesalers and restock the goods the store had used up over the past few days.

That posed no difficulty at all.

He had handled orders for a fast-food restaurant before, and he still had local suppliers' numbers on his phone. Besides, many businesses had kept up with the times and set up their own official accounts. Follow one, leave a message, and an order could be placed. Larger orders even came with discounts.

After all, as long as the money was there, they did not care who was buying the goods.

"Cigarettes, drinks, and instant noodles are running out fastest... There are also two empty display counters. Maybe I should stock some everyday household goods..."

Chen Xuan tapped away at his calculator while scribbling notes in a notebook.

Then, without warning, the light around him dimmed sharply.

"A power outage? That can't be right... I just paid the electric bill..."

He grabbed the mouse and shook it. The monitor still lit up.

It was not a power outage.

The light outside had darkened.

But it was only two in the afternoon.

Chen Xuan had originally intended to turn on the lights, but he quickly noticed that the scene outside the window had changed—the sudden darkness was not caused by an eclipse. The store entrance had shifted locations again. Through the plastic door curtain, he saw a ring of wooden walls outside, with a straight corridor directly ahead.

The buildings standing so close together blocked the sunlight, making it seem as though the sky had suddenly gone dark.

Huh, the store had finally appeared somewhere other than the wilderness this time?

Chen Xuan cleared his throat, straightened his collar, and waited for customers to arrive.

Yet after waiting for a while, he still saw no sign of anyone.

What was going on... Where were the customers?

Chen Xuan frowned and slowly walked to the entrance, looking over the surrounding area. The store had indeed not landed in some deserted mountain wilderness this time, but its location was still strange... The space on both sides was narrow, and aside from the wooden-planked corridor in front of the door, there was no other path.

No matter how he looked at it, this did not resemble a street. It was more like the courtyard of some wealthy household.

After stepping out of the store and looking back, Chen Xuan discovered that the door and the frames on either side had blended perfectly into the structure, as though it had always been a room built into the courtyard.

Judging from the corridor and the architecture, this was still an ancient Chinese-style setting.

Suddenly, he heard a man and a woman arguing. One of the voices sounded quite familiar.

The voices came from the end of the corridor opposite him, less than ten meters away.

"...The method I proposed would resolve the current crisis with the least possible impact and calm the people's anger. Why will the Prefect not use it?"

Liu Shuyue asked coldly.

"Is this His Majesty's intention?" Shen Fang still wore a polite, faint smile, as though he could not sense her displeasure at all.

"It is my intention."

"Then forgive me, but I cannot agree." He shook his head. "The reason is quite simple. The wealthy families and merchants in the city have done nothing wrong. I have no reason to forcibly requisition their money and grain under the guise of borrowing it. Besides, if they start causing trouble, they will be far more difficult to handle than that lot outside."

"If serving the people were always so simple, then anyone could take up the post of Prefect. Long City and Hexi have both suffered disasters, and there are countless refugees fleeing for their lives. A few thousand may not seem like much now, but what about ten thousand? A hundred thousand? By then, it will be too late to pacify them!"

"But isn't there an immortal master like you?" Shen Fang smiled dismissively. "With you here... they cannot stir up much trouble. I have already had people spread the word. Whether commoners or noble clans, they are all praising you as Great Qi's pillar of stability—Who's there?!"

His expression abruptly changed as he looked toward the side door.

Chen Xuan happened to appear in the doorway, and their eyes met.

For a moment, the scene fell silent.

"Uh... Are you having a meeting? I'll leave you to it, then..." Chen Xuan waved and prepared to head back the way he came. He had only followed the voices to see what was happening. Who would have thought that this man's expression could change so quickly? He had seemed perfectly amiable while speaking with Liu Shuyue moments ago, yet in the blink of an eye, his face had turned vicious.

"Assassin!"

"Protect the Prefect!"

The guards standing in the four corners of the room finally reacted. Drawing their sabers, they swarmed toward Chen Xuan.

"Stop!"

Almost at the same instant, a cold rebuke rang out, making everyone shudder.

It was not a verbal command, but a decree that struck directly at the soul!

Chen Xuan discovered that he, too, had been frozen in place... He remained standing there with one hand raised, as though he did not care at all about the officers rushing him. To the Prefect and the others, that attitude was utterly contemptuous—arrogant to the extreme!

Fortunately, he could still move his head.

He slowly turned toward Liu Shuyue and forced out a smile. "Hello."

"Immortal master?" Shen Fang was similarly unable to move. He was frozen in the posture of having sprung up from his chair and recoiled, making it obvious that he was highly practiced at dealing with assassination attempts.

A crack appeared in Liu Shuyue's previously cold expression. After a moment of silence, she formed a hand seal and released everyone from their paralysis. "You misunderstand, Prefect. He is someone I know."

Shen Fang froze for a moment, then gave Chen Xuan several more looks, his gaze full of strange suspicion. "The gatekeeper never reported him to me. Did you bring him into the residence?"

"...Yes."

Chen Xuan was not sure whether it was just his imagination, but he felt that she had forced those words out through clenched teeth.

"Oh..." After drawing out that meaningful response, Shen Fang returned to his earlier cordial expression. "You should have told me sooner, immortal master. Then this misunderstanding would not have happened. May I ask how this young brother is addressed?"

"There is no need to ask. You will not see him again." Liu Shuyue walked toward Chen Xuan. "Come with me."

Chen Xuan sensed that the atmosphere between the two sides was not quite right. Without asking further, he followed her directly.

Once outside the courtyard, Liu Shuyue saw the store entrance as well.

Her eyes widened in astonishment. "How did you open your store inside the government offices?"

"Because the River of Time is always flowing... And besides, shouldn't you be the one hoping for it to appear?" Chen Xuan replied calmly. Compared to their first transaction, he had more experience this time. Since the store chose its customers, the customer must be the key to determining where it appeared.

Liu Shuyue stiffened in shock.

"Let's talk inside the store," he offered.

After returning to the store, Chen Xuan pulled down the rolling shutter and closed the curtains. Only then did he turn on the lights, bathing the room in bright, gentle warmth.

The Shopkeeper's Rules had mentioned that closing the doors meant the store was closed for business, shutting out all interference from the outside world.

He did not know exactly what form that isolation took.

But the people who had been speaking with Liu Shuyue definitely would not be able to find this place.

"I didn't expect us to meet again so soon. Have a seat." Chen Xuan pointed to the sofa and put on an enthusiastic smile. "Would you like a cup of coffee?"

"...Thank you." After hesitating for a moment, Liu Shuyue accepted. "To you, were five years merely the blink of an eye?"

Chen Xuan's heart skipped a beat.

He looked at Liu Shuyue again—her voice and appearance were almost exactly the same as before, which was why he had recognized her immediately. Yet it was not entirely accurate to say that she had not changed at all. She was no longer dressed in those flowing white robes, and her whole presence felt more grounded, as though a willow leaf that had been drifting in midair had finally touched the earth.

She no longer felt quite so much like an "immortal."

He instantly realized that five years was probably Liu Shuyue's sense of time—she was seeing him again after five years.

"It was not merely the blink of an eye, but for me, we only met three days ago," Chen Xuan told her honestly.

"Is that also related to the River of Time?"

"You could understand it that way."

"No wonder I could not sense the slightest change in you. You are exactly as you were that day." Liu Shuyue suddenly relaxed. It was not that she let down her guard completely—even seated on the soft sofa, she kept her back straight and sat with perfect composure—but a trace of no longer concealed weariness entered her voice. "I'm sorry. I dragged you into this."

"Dragged me into what? What do you mean?" Chen Xuan asked, confused.

"You were right. It was because, deep down, I hoped this store would appear again that you were mistaken for an intruder." She spoke softly. "Though I do not wish to admit it, I have indeed encountered a problem I can no longer solve with my own abilities. Can you... help me?"

Just like five years ago...

"Of course." Chen Xuan placed a steaming cup of coffee before her. "The doors of this store will always remain open to its customers."