By the time Song Zhixia arrived at the Photo Studio, her expression was darker than the night.
Two members of the Medical Team followed her, carrying portable equipment.
The moment she stepped inside, she looked at Lu Wenchuan.
"You'd better have a good explanation."
Lu Wenchuan pointed at the shattered mirror on the floor. "The Old Gods Society's Mirror Gate. It was an emergency."
Song Zhixia sneered. "An emergency, so you brought a patient fresh out of the infirmary straight to the scene?"
Lu Wenchuan readily admitted, "My fault."
Xu Zhihan stood beside him and said coldly, "I chose to come."
Song Zhixia looked at him. "You're at fault too."
Xu Zhihan frowned. "I didn't ask you."
Song Zhixia said, "I wasn't waiting for you to ask."
Lu Wenchuan turned his head and smiled, then immediately suppressed it.
Xu Zhihan glanced at him. "What are you laughing at?"
Lu Wenchuan said, "I'm not laughing."
Song Zhixia couldn't be bothered with either of them. She attached the device to Xu Zhihan's wrist.
Xu Zhihan didn't like it much, and his fingers twitched.
Song Zhixia looked up. "Don't move."
Xu Zhihan stared at her.
Song Zhixia stared back.
A few seconds later, Xu Zhihan looked away.
Lu Wenchuan raised an eyebrow.
All right.
Dr. Song won.
The test results came back quickly.
Song Zhixia studied the screen, her frown deepening. "Your mental fluctuation is unstable. What did you see just now?"
Xu Zhihan said nothing.
Lu Wenchuan answered for him. "The Divine Throne."
Song Zhixia's hand paused. She looked up at Xu Zhihan. "Yours?"
Xu Zhihan said, "Yes."
Song Zhixia drew a deep breath.
She probably had plenty of things she wanted to yell at them about, but in the end, she forced herself to hold back and merely took out a vial of medicine.
"Drink it."
Xu Zhihan said, "No."
Song Zhixia said, "It stabilizes mental fluctuation."
"Does it taste bad?"
"Terrible."
"Then no."
Song Zhixia remained expressionless. "You can drink it yourself, or I can pour it down your throat."
Xu Zhihan looked at her, his expression growing colder.
Lu Wenchuan said quietly beside him, "Drink it. We'll go to the old residence in half an hour."
Xu Zhihan turned to him. "Are you coaxing a child?"
Lu Wenchuan's expression was solemn. "I wouldn't dare."
Song Zhixia held the medicine right in front of him. "Stop stalling."
Xu Zhihan finally took it.
The medicine really did taste terrible.
After drinking it, he wore a pronounced frown.
Lu Wenchuan immediately offered him a piece of candy.
Xu Zhihan looked at the candy.
So did Song Zhixia.
The two Medical Team members stole glances at it.
Xu Zhihan's expression grew colder still.
"I don't want it."
Lu Wenchuan placed the candy in his palm. "It's mint."
Xu Zhihan looked down at it for two seconds, then unwrapped it anyway.
Song Zhixia's expression turned a little peculiar.
Her stare made Lu Wenchuan uncomfortable. "Dr. Song, why are you looking at me?"
Song Zhixia said calmly, "Because you're finally being useful."
Lu Wenchuan said, "..."
Xu Zhihan held the candy in his mouth and said nothing.
The mint masked the taste of the medicine, making it barely tolerable.
As the medicine slowly took effect, the lingering image of the Divine Throne in his mind faded a little.
But one sentence remained.
A god should not be softhearted.
The Masked Man hadn't said those words.
They seemed to have surfaced from his own memories.
Had he heard those words in his previous life?
And who had said them?
Xu Zhihan couldn't remember.
But he knew he had indeed grown softhearted now.
He had saved Xu An, He Xiaoyun, and the living passengers on the Night Bus. He hadn't let the evil spirit devour Xu Mingji, either.
In the past, perhaps he shouldn't have done any of those things.
A god only needed to judge.
There was no need to take an extra step for anyone.
Xu Zhihan lowered his eyes, finding the thought irritating.
Song Zhixia put the device away. "You can go to the old residence in half an hour, but you can only stay for one hour. Lu Wenchuan, keep an eye on him."
Lu Wenchuan nodded. "Understood."
Xu Zhihan said coldly, "I don't need anyone watching me."
Song Zhixia said, "You do."
Xu Zhihan said, "..."
Lu Wenchuan nearly laughed aloud.
Before leaving, Song Zhixia added, "If anything goes wrong, I'll yell at Lu Wenchuan first, then you."
Xu Zhihan watched her leave and said flatly, "She has a terrible temper."
Lu Wenchuan smiled. "Yours isn't much better."
Xu Zhihan looked at him. "Do you want me to yell at you?"
Lu Wenchuan said, "No."
Half an hour later, the two of them went to the Xu Family Old Residence.
The old residence stood on the outskirts of the city and had been unoccupied for years. The iron lock on the courtyard gate was rusty, and dead vines covered the walls. Xu Zhihan took out the old key.
He inserted the key into the lock and gave it a gentle turn.
The gate opened.
Lu Wenchuan glanced at it. "This lock still works?"
Xu Zhihan said evenly, "Lin Wan left it."
Lu Wenchuan stopped joking.
They entered the courtyard.
The old residence was dark and covered in dust. Lu Wenchuan switched on his flashlight, sweeping its beam down the corridor and revealing yellowed old photographs on the wall.
Xu Zhihan paused.
Lin Wan was in one of the photographs.
She stood in the courtyard, holding a young Xu Zhihan in her arms. Xu An and He Xiaoyun stood beside her, while He Guilan stood a little farther away, wearing a faint smile.
That was what the Xu Family had looked like before it had rotted completely.
Xu Zhihan looked at it for a few seconds, then looked away.
"Let's go."
Lu Wenchuan didn't hurry him.
The study He Xiaoyun had mentioned was at the far end of the second floor.
The door lock had been replaced, but Xu Zhihan used the key to release a concealed latch. Dust billowed out when the door opened, and Lu Wenchuan instinctively raised a hand to shield him.
Xu Zhihan looked at him.
Lu Wenchuan's hand was still suspended in midair.
"Lots of dust."
Xu Zhihan said coldly, "Unnecessary."
Lu Wenchuan lowered his hand and smiled. "All right. Unnecessary."
The study was simply furnished.
A desk, a bookcase, and a floor lamp. There was nothing on the desk, and the bookcase was mostly empty, as though someone had hurriedly cleared it out.
Xu Zhihan walked to the desk and pressed his hand against its edge.
Nothing.
He moved to the bookcase.
Still nothing.
Lu Wenchuan crouched to inspect the floor and soon found a spot that sounded hollow when he tapped it.
"Here."
Xu Zhihan walked over.
Once they pried up the floorboard, they found a wooden box hidden beneath it.
The box was old, with Lin Wan's name carved on the outside.
Xu Zhihan opened it.
There wasn't much inside.
A letter.
A map.
And a small jade tablet made of the same material as Xu An's Peace Amulet.
A short inscription was written on the envelope.
For Xiaohan to open personally.
Xu Zhihan stared at those words, his fingertips motionless for a long time.
Lu Wenchuan stood beside him without making a sound.
Xu Zhihan opened the letter.
The paper had yellowed, but the handwriting remained well preserved.
Lin Wan's handwriting was gentle, yet hurried.
[Xiaohan, if you're reading this letter, it probably means Mom couldn't take you away.]
As Xu Zhihan read the first line, the ache in his chest stirred again.
This time, it was clearer than before.
It was as though someone from long, long ago was softly calling to him across time.
Xiaohan.
Xu Zhihan disliked this feeling.
Too tender.
And too painful.
He continued reading.
[The Xu Family wants to use you as a vessel to nurture a gate. That gate doesn't belong to this world. Xu Chengyuan knows. Zhou Man knows. They all know.]
[Xu An isn't a tool meant to bear misfortune in your place. He's a child Mom wants to take away. Mom promised him she would take both him and you away together.]
[If Mom fails, you must remember: don't trust the Xu Family, don't go near mirrors, and don't turn around when you hear the voice of the Divine Throne.]
Xu Zhihan's fingers tightened slightly.
Don't go near mirrors.
Don't turn around when you hear the voice of the Divine Throne.
Lu Wenchuan saw those lines too, and his expression darkened.
Mirrors.
The Divine Throne.
Lin Wan had known all along.
Xu Zhihan kept reading.
[Xiaohan, you are not a monster.]
[If one day you feel different from everyone else, don't be afraid.]
[You can be cold, you can stay silent, you can dislike the Xu Family, but don't let them turn you into something that only knows how to pass judgment.]
[Even gods can be softhearted.]
When the last line met his eyes, Xu Zhihan remained motionless for a long time.
Even gods can be softhearted.
It was the exact opposite of the words that had just echoed in his mind.
Gods should not be softhearted.
Even gods can be softhearted.
The two sentences collided, as though tearing him in two different directions.
Xu Zhihan closed his eyes, his face deathly pale.
Lu Wenchuan immediately reached out and held his shoulder, lowering his voice. "Xu Zhihan."
Xu Zhihan did not open his eyes.
Countless fragments flashed before him.
Lin Wan sat beside the bed, stroking his head.
Xu An held his hand and said, "Don't be scared, Xiaohan."
He Xiaoyun slipped him candy in secret.
Outside the door, He Guilan said softly, "Madam, the car is ready. We'll leave tonight."
Then came red threads, a bowl of medicine, a basement, a mirror.
And a lofty, cold Divine Throne.
Many people knelt beneath the Divine Throne.
A voice said:
Gods should not be softhearted.
Another, very gentle voice said:
Xiaohan, you can be softhearted.
Xu Zhihan's eyes snapped open, the taste of blood rising in his throat.
Lu Wenchuan steadied him. "Don't push yourself."
Xu Zhihan clutched the letter, his voice very low. "Lin Wan knew who I was."
Lu Wenchuan looked at him. "She knew you were special."
"More than that."
Xu Zhihan looked at the map inside the box.
A spot beneath the Xu Family Old Residence was marked on it.
Two words were written there.
Door Bone.
Lu Wenchuan saw it too.
He frowned. "What is Door Bone?"
Xu Zhihan picked up the small jade token.
The instant it touched his hand, he heard a faint sound from beneath the old residence.
As though something had awakened.
Xu Zhihan's gaze slowly turned cold.
"Let's go down and take a look."
This time, Lu Wenchuan did not stop him.
Because he had heard it too.
Beneath the old residence, something was knocking on a door.