Silver Light Guardian

By the time Cai Yue'er arrived at the Soul Guidance Teaching Building, it was already broad daylight.

She stood at the entrance of the stairs, panting, one hand propping herself against the wall, the other pressed to her chest.

She hadn't run this fast in a long time.

The third-floor corridor was long, and sunlight streamed in from the window at the far end, casting checkered shadows on the floor.

The corridor was quiet, so quiet she could hear her own heartbeat—thump, thump, thump, pounding against her eardrums.

Her laboratory was at the very end of the third floor. A sign hung on the door that read, "No Admittance."

The corners of the sign were curled; she had hung it up three years ago.

Three years.

For three years, she had excavated that core formation from ruins and studied it.

She had traced every circuit by hand, deduced every layer of structure repeatedly, and even the metal casing of the core had been polished by her, bit by bit.

She took a deep breath and walked quickly down the corridor.

Her footsteps echoed in the empty hallway, growing more urgent.

Then she stopped.

She stopped at the laboratory door.

The door was closed.

Not locked, just closed.

A faint light seeped from under the door, not the white light of a soul guidance lamp, but a soft, quiet silvery-white.

Cai Yue'er raised her hand, hovering it before the door.

She didn't push it open.

She stood there, her fingers only an inch from the door panel, but that inch felt like a chasm.

Because she didn't know how far along he was.

If he was assembling the core, if he had disassembled the core formation and was reassembling it, if she were to push the door open now, the change in airflow, the vibration of sound, even just the interference from the soul power fluctuations on her person—

"Boom."

Cai Yue'er's eyelids twitched.

She retracted her hand.

It was at this moment that Feng Wuyu finally caught up, appearing at the end of the corridor, panting heavily.

"You—why are you running so fast—" he leaned against the wall, gasping for air.

Cai Yue'er ignored him.

She stood at the door, staring at it, her expression like that of a bomb disposal expert facing a live wire.

Feng Wuyu caught his breath and walked over, following her gaze to the door.

"Why aren't you going in?" he asked, reaching out to push the door.

"Slap."

Cai Yue'er smacked the back of his head.

The sound was crisp, echoing in the corridor for three seconds.

Feng Wuyu stumbled forward from the blow, his head buzzing, stars dancing before his eyes.

He clutched his head and turned around in disbelief: "You—why did you hit me?!"

"Be quiet."

Cai Yue'er's voice was very low, almost a whisper, but there was an undeniable sternness in her tone, "He's inside."

"So what—"

"He's working on the core."

Cai Yue'er's voice dropped even lower, so low that Feng Wuyu had to lean in to hear clearly, "I can feel the soul power fluctuations. Very subtle, very stable, but constant."

Feng Wuyu paused, then lowered his voice as well: "What level core?"

"A level 7 core made of soul-forged mithril."

"He really got it? Where did you hide it?"

"In a hidden compartment inside the room."

"..."

Her expression was complex, a mixture of heartache, nervousness, and an indescribable emotion, like anger, or perhaps... shock.

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly turned and strode towards the other end of the corridor.

"Where are you going?" Feng Wuyu called out in a low voice.

"To find Xiao Fang."

"What are you looking for him for?"

"To find out when Jingheng went in."

Cai Yue'er's retreating figure disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

Feng Wuyu stood in place, looking at her back, then at the tightly shut door. He hesitated, then didn't follow.

He leaned against the wall opposite the door, arms crossed, staring at the door.

A faint, silvery-white light seeped from under the door, steady and pulsing like a breath.

He suddenly remembered what Yun Jingheng had said in his forging room last night.

"Forging is truly magical, to be able to create such a divine object."

At the time, he had felt heartbroken.

Now, he suddenly felt... not so heartbroken anymore.

After a while, hurried footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor.

Cai Yue'er returned, followed by a middle-aged man.

It was Director Fang of the Soul Guidance Department, a man in his forties wearing a wrinkled white lab coat. He had clearly been dragged out of bed, his eyes still squinted, a look of bewilderment on his face.

"Director Fang," Cai Yue'er's voice was urgent, "that laboratory on the third floor, do you have the key?"

Director Fang rubbed his eyes and yawned, "Yes... yes, I do. What is it, Elder Cai?"

"Did anyone come to you for the key last night?"

Director Fang thought for a moment, "No."

"Then how did you open the door?"

"I didn't open it."

Cai Yue'er and Feng Wuyu froze simultaneously.

"Then who opened the door?" Feng Wuyu asked.

Director Fang scratched his half-bald head, "That lock has been broken for half a month, never got it fixed. You just need to push it hard to open it."

Feng Wuyu: "..."

Cai Yue'er's eyelid twitched again.

"When did he go in?"

She asked, "Did anyone see?"

"Him? Who went in?"

"Yun Jingheng."

"...?!"

Director Fang thought for a moment, then walked to the other end of the corridor and knocked on the door of the duty room.

A young assistant poked his head out.

"Xiao Zhou, who was on duty last night?"

"Me."

Xiao Zhou rubbed his eyes and glanced at the clock on the wall, "What is it, Director Fang?"

"Did anyone enter Laboratory No. 3 last night?"

Xiao Zhou blinked, then thought, "Yes... yes, yes, yes! A kid came in the middle of the night."

"What time?"

"What time..."

Xiao Zhou scratched his head, "Let me check the records... around three in the morning. I tried to stop him then and asked which class he was from. He said he was from the inner courtyard."

"Inner courtyard?" Director Fang looked back at Cai Yue'er and Feng Wuyu.

"Yes," Xiao Zhou nodded, "He said he was working on a small project and needed a quiet place."

"He seemed quite serious, so I let him in. What... what happened?"

Director Fang didn't answer, turning to look at Cai Yue'er.

Cai Yue'er stood in place, her expression shifting repeatedly.

Three in the morning.

It was now eight in the morning.

Five hours.

He had been inside for five hours.

Five hours, and he hadn't come out.

Her lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately didn't.

She turned around and walked back to the laboratory door, standing in front of it.

The silver-white light from the crack in the door was still there, steady, rising and falling.

She closed her eyes and released a thread of extremely fine soul power to sense, carefully probing through the crack.

Then her expression changed.

It was one of... disbelief.

She withdrew her senses, opened her eyes, and was silent for a long time.

"What's wrong?" Feng Wuyu leaned over and asked in a low voice.

Cai Yue'er didn't answer.

She turned and walked to the duty room at the other end of the corridor, asking Xiao Zhou for a piece of paper and a pen.

Then she leaned against the wall, bent down, and wrote a few words on the paper.

Feng Wuyu leaned over to look.

There were only two lines of text on the paper, the handwriting very messy, clearly written with trembling hands:

"The food is by the door. Eat it when you have time."

There was no signature, no closing, no extra words.

Feng Wuyu looked at the note, opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but suddenly felt as if something was stuck in his throat.

He had known Cai Yue'er for many years.

This woman often forgot to eat her own meals.

Cai Yue'er folded the note, walked back to the laboratory door, bent down, and gently slid it under the door.

Her movements were light and slow, as if afraid of disturbing the person inside.

After sliding the note in, she stood up, took two steps back, and stared at the door for a long time.

Then she suddenly turned her head and glared fiercely at Feng Wuyu.

"Why are you glaring at me?!" Feng Wuyu looked innocent.

"If you hadn't let him go steal things," Cai Yue'er's voice was very low, but every word was like a knife.

"Would he have come to me?"

"When did I let him steal things?! He came on his own! He found the hidden compartment himself! He found--"

"Why didn't you stop him last night?"

"I--"

Feng Wuyu was choked.

He opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but Cai Yue'er was no longer looking at him.

She turned around and strode towards the end of the corridor, her boots making crisp "da da" sounds on the floor.

"Where are you going?!" Feng Wuyu shouted.

"Back."

Cai Yue'er didn't look back, "Until he comes out, I'm not coming."

"Not coming? You're not watching your core anymore?"

Cai Yue'er's steps paused.

She stood at the end of the corridor, her back to Feng Wuyu, silent for a moment.

"What's the use of watching?"

She said, her voice very light, as if talking to herself, "He's halfway through. If I go in now, it'll just make things worse."

She paused.

"Let's talk after he comes out."

With that, she left.

The sound of her boots grew fainter, finally disappearing at the staircase.

Feng Wuyu stood in the corridor, looking in the direction Cai Yue'er had disappeared, then at the closed door.

The silver-white light from the crack in the door was still steady, rising and falling like breathing.

He suddenly sighed and plopped down on the chair by the door.

The chair creaked, almost falling apart.

He sat there, arms crossed, staring at the door, his expression fluctuating between heartache, helplessness, and anticipation.

Director Fang and Xiao Zhou stood at the other end of the corridor, looking at each other.

"That..."

Director Fang spoke cautiously, "Old Feng, would you like to get something to eat? I'll have someone bring you--"

"Not going," Feng Wuyu said in a muffled voice.

"Then that child—"

"Wait." Feng Wuyu spoke only one word.

He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, but his brow was furrowed.

The corridor fell silent.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, moving in squares, very slowly.

Feng Wuyu sat there, motionless, like a guardian deity.

Xiao Zhou retreated back into the duty room, peeked out, and whispered to Director Fang, "Director Fang, that child... where exactly did he come from?"

Director Fang glanced at him, then at the closed door at the end of the corridor, and gave a wry smile.

"From the inner court, surname Yun. What do you think?"

Xiao Zhou's eyes widened, "The Pavilion Master's... son?!"