By the time the Seventh Team arrived at the photo studio, shattered glass already littered the floor.
The moment a team member stepped inside, the sinister chill in the shop made him shudder.
"Captain, what happened here?"
Lu Wenchuan stood beside the shattered mirror, holding a shard of glass. His expression was grim.
"A mirror gate left by the Old Gods Society."
The team member's expression changed. "Where are they?"
"They escaped."
"Again?"
Lu Wenchuan looked up.
The team member immediately corrected himself. "I mean, they're really good at running."
Xu Zhihan stood beside the counter without joining their conversation.
His attention was still on the half-sheet of talisman paper.
After the shadow had been interrogated until it shattered, traces of markings remained on the talisman paper. They matched the patterns on the mirror's frame. The Old Gods Society hadn't stumbled upon Xu Mingji on a whim. They had been watching the Xu Family for a long time.
Xu Mingji was simply an easy opening to exploit.
People like him harbored resentment, hatred, and frustration. They were ideal tools.
Xu Zhihan remembered Xu Mingji kneeling on the floor, sobbing and begging him for help. His gaze remained unmoved.
Fools did foolish things. It was nothing unusual.
But he wouldn't let the Old Gods Society get away with using Xu Mingji to test him.
Lu Wenchuan walked over and put the mirror shard into an evidence bag.
"What did you see in the mirror just now?"
Xu Zhihan lowered his eyes. "A corridor."
Lu Wenchuan said nothing.
Xu Zhihan added, "The Divine Throne."
The team member was taking notes. At those words, his hand shook, and he nearly dropped his pen.
Lu Wenchuan glanced at him. "Step outside for now."
The team member immediately nodded and took the others outside to secure the area.
Only the two of them remained in the shop.
Lu Wenchuan looked at Xu Zhihan. "Your Divine Throne?"
Xu Zhihan was silent for a few seconds.
"Probably."
At the word "probably," Lu Wenchuan's brow twitched.
Even Xu Zhihan could be uncertain.
That was rare.
Xu Zhihan leaned against the counter, his face a little pale. The Divine Throne in the mirror had stirred something within him, and his chest still felt uncomfortable.
It wasn't an injury.
It felt more like certain memories were trying to return.
But those memories were too cold.
So cold that he instinctively wanted to push them back down.
Lu Wenchuan didn't press him. He only said, "That masked person called you 'my lord.'"
"Mm."
"And called me the gatekeeper."
"Mm."
"Do you know what a gatekeeper is?"
"No."
Lu Wenchuan raised an eyebrow. "You don't?"
Xu Zhihan looked at him. "Should I?"
"It sounds like something from the same set of lore as you."
Xu Zhihan frowned. "What lore?"
Lu Wenchuan chuckled. "Forget I said anything."
He walked to the door and glanced out into the night.
"The break in my lifeline isn't normal. Maybe it has something to do with this gatekeeper they mentioned."
Xu Zhihan watched him.
Lu Wenchuan spoke calmly, as though he were talking about someone else.
Xu Zhihan suddenly remembered their first meeting, when Lu Wenchuan had asked how much time he had left.
When told that he had six months if he was unlucky and three years if he was lucky, Lu Wenchuan had merely nodded and said that wasn't bad.
This man had always been annoyingly calm about his own death.
Xu Zhihan spoke. "Aren't you curious?"
Lu Wenchuan turned around. "Of course I am."
"Then why haven't you investigated yourself?"
"I have." Lu Wenchuan's tone grew more subdued. "The trail was cut off halfway through."
"By whom?"
"My teacher."
Xu Zhihan looked at him.
The smile on Lu Wenchuan's face faded considerably.
"Before he died, he burned my file. He left only half a sentence."
"What was it?"
Lu Wenchuan looked at the mirror shards, his voice dropping slightly.
"When the door opens, don't look back."
Xu Zhihan was quiet for a moment. "Sounds like last words."
"They were."
This time, Xu Zhihan fell silent.
He wasn't good at comforting people, nor did he have any interest in offering useless platitudes.
After a while, he only said, "How stupid."
Lu Wenchuan froze.
Xu Zhihan continued, "He might as well have left nothing instead of half a sentence."
Lu Wenchuan looked at him, then suddenly laughed.
"If my teacher heard that, he'd probably come back to life out of sheer anger."
Xu Zhihan said flatly, "We can talk when he does."
Lu Wenchuan's smile deepened.
Xu Zhihan didn't understand what was so funny.
But Lu Wenchuan genuinely seemed amused by his words.
Somehow, those few remarks eased the atmosphere in the shop a little.
Until the team member came back in.
"Captain, the analysis of the mirror gate's residue is back. It points toward the Xu Family Old Residence."
Xu Zhihan looked up.
Lu Wenchuan clicked his tongue. "So it really is the old residence."
The team member continued, "Also, Xu Mingji is awake."
Xu Zhihan barely reacted.
Lu Wenchuan asked, "What did he say?"
The team member wore a complicated expression. "He keeps crying, saying he doesn't want to die. He also says someone's watching him."
Lu Wenchuan looked at Xu Zhihan.
Xu Zhihan said coldly, "Keep him locked up."
The team member nodded. "He's already in the observation room. Dr. Song says clearing the residual talisman poison from his body will take at least two days."
Xu Zhihan gave a quiet grunt of acknowledgment.
The team member added, "He keeps asking to see you."
Xu Zhihan said, "No."
"He says he has something to tell you."
Xu Zhihan gave the same answer. "No."
The team member didn't dare ask again.
Lu Wenchuan, however, asked, "You don't want to hear it?"
"No."
"What if he remembers something useful?"
"Have him write it down."
Lu Wenchuan laughed. "You really don't want to listen to him cry."
Xu Zhihan glanced at him.
Lu Wenchuan immediately said, "Got it. Too noisy."
Xu Zhihan put away the half-sheet of talisman paper and prepared to leave.
Lu Wenchuan stopped him. "Back to the Special Investigation Bureau."
"I'm going to the old residence."
"You look terrible right now."
"I always look like this."
"This time, you look worse."
Xu Zhihan stared at him impatiently. "Lu Wenchuan."
Lu Wenchuan didn't back down.
They held each other's gaze for a moment.
Finally, Lu Wenchuan spoke first. "At least let Song Zhixia come over. If she says you're fit to move, we'll go."
Xu Zhihan sneered. "She'll say I'm not."
"That's why I'm calling her."
Xu Zhihan's gaze grew colder.
Lu Wenchuan knew he had upset him again, but this time he didn't yield.
"Xu Zhihan, whatever was in that mirror just affected you. Going to the old residence now means following the path they've laid out for you."
Xu Zhihan's tone was cold. "I know."
"And you're still going?"
"I need to know what Lin Wan wanted to take away."
Lu Wenchuan looked at him.
Deep cold filled Xu Zhihan's eyes, along with a carefully concealed trace of urgency.
He was rarely impatient.
But this time, he clearly cared when Lin Wan came up.
Or rather, this body cared.
Lu Wenchuan fell silent for a few seconds, then tried a different approach. "Even if you go now, you might not find it. The Old Gods Society just led you to see the Divine Throne. They'll exploit the state you're in."
Xu Zhihan said nothing.
Lu Wenchuan continued, "Let Song Zhixia stabilize your mental fluctuations first, and I'll go with you. One hour. It won't hold us up."
Xu Zhihan frowned.
"You're very good at bargaining."
Lu Wenchuan smiled. "Occupational habit."
Xu Zhihan watched him. After a long moment, he said coldly, "Half an hour."
"Deal."
Lu Wenchuan answered too quickly, as if he had been waiting for Xu Zhihan to relent.
Xu Zhihan felt he had been played, and his expression soured further.
Lu Wenchuan took out his phone and called Song Zhixia.
Once the call connected, he hadn't even finished giving her the address before she started berating him.
"Lu Wenchuan, where have you taken him this time?"
Lu Wenchuan held the phone farther away.
Xu Zhihan heard her.
He looked at Lu Wenchuan. "She really is noisy."
Holding back a laugh, Lu Wenchuan asked, "Want to tell her that yourself?"
Xu Zhihan shut his mouth.
Lu Wenchuan chuckled softly.
He suddenly realized that Xu Zhihan didn't snap back at everyone.
At least when Song Zhixia was genuinely angry, he would stay quiet for a little while.
In that respect, he was a little like a kid who was afraid of doctors.
The thought had barely crossed Lu Wenchuan's mind when he himself paused in surprise.
A kid?
He glanced at Xu Zhihan.
Xu Zhihan's expression was cold, his gaze enough to freeze someone in place.
Forget it.
This kid wouldn't be easy to raise.