The morning they left the hometown was colder than the day they arrived.
Mist clung to the small courtyard. The old house stood quiet behind them, windows shut, secrets sealed back under the floorboards.
Suo Ran locked the door slowly.
The sound of metal clicking into place felt heavier than it should.
"Gege…"
His little brother stood near the gate, gripping the strap of his small backpack. He had insisted on wearing it even though he wasn't going to school today.
His eyes were red.
"You're really going back?"
Suo Ran forced a small smile. "I have work."
"I can come with you."
The words came too quickly. Too hopeful.
"I won't be noisy. I'll listen to everything."
Lian Ziho stood beside the car, watching quietly. He didn't interrupt.
Suo Ran crouched down.
"You have school. And this is your home."
"I don't like it when you leave."
That hit harder than anything inside the house had.
Suo Ran pulled him into a tight hug.
"It's not forever."
The boy sniffed. "Promise?"
"…Promise."
Lian ziho stepped forward then, holding out something small.
A wooden keychain shaped like a fox.
"I saw this yesterday," he said lightly. "You can guard the house while we're gone."
The boy blinked, immediately distracted. "For me?"
"For the bravest man here."
That earned a tiny proud smile.
Suo Ran glanced at Lian ziho, a quiet gratitude in his eyes.
They got into the car.
As the vehicle rolled away, the boy stood by the gate, waving until they turned the corner.
Suo Ran didn't look back immediately.
But in the rearview mirror, the house seemed smaller.
Lonelier.
The road stretched long and quiet.
Mountains slowly faded into open highway.
Lian ziho drove.
Suo Ran sat in the passenger seat, one hand resting on his bag.
Inside it, beneath folded clothes, was an envelope.
Old documents.
His father's handwriting.
He hadn't told Lian ziho.
He didn't know how to.
Lian ziho noticed the silence but didn't press.
"You didn't sleep," he said after a while.
"I'm fine."
"You say that a lot."
Suo Ran didn't respond.
Wind brushed against the windows.
Half an hour passed before exhaustion finally caught up with him. His eyes closed slowly, head tilting toward the side.
The car hit a small uneven patch of road.
Suo Ran shifted slightly.
And without meaning to, his head leaned against Lian's shoulder.
Lian ziho froze.
His hands tightened slightly on the steering wheel.
He could have adjusted.
He didn't.
Suo Ran's breathing deepened, steady and soft.
He looked peaceful.
Too peaceful for someone carrying so much weight.
Lian ziho kept driving.
Carefully.
Not too fast.
Not too slow.
He didn't move even when his shoulder began to ache.
Because for once, Suo Ran looked like he wasn't fighting something invisible.
And that was enough.
They reached the city near sunset.
Traffic noise replaced mountain wind.
Reality returned.
Suo Ran woke as the car slowed near his apartment.
He straightened immediately. "Sorry."
"It's fine."
The word came softer than usual.
They stepped out.
Across the street, leaning against a streetlight, stood Cai Lang.
Cai Lang arrived before them.
He had seen them leave days ago.
Now he watched them return.
His expression didn't change.
"You're back."
Suo Ran nodded. "Yeah."
"How was it?"
"Quiet."
Cai Lang's eyes shifted briefly to Lian ziho.
Then back to Suo Ran.
"Did you find anything?"
A pause.
Suo Ran's fingers tightened around the strap of his bag.
"Just old things," he said calmly. "Nothing useful."
Lian ziho remained silent.
Because he truly didn't know.
Cai Lang watched Suo Ran for an extra second.
Measuring.
Not convinced.
But he didn't push.
"Rest," Cai Lang said. "You look tired."
His tone was controlled.
Too controlled.
That night, Cai Lang didn't go home immediately.
Instead, he drove somewhere else.
His father's company building stood tall and quiet.
He didn't enter.
He didn't need to.
He had already started pulling records days ago.
Security movements.
Private shipments.
Restricted cultural archive transfers.
One code kept appearing.
Scroll Archive Unit 7.
The same unit Suo Ran had been assigned to monitor.
Coincidence?
He didn't believe in that.
His phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
He answered without hesitation.
"You should stop digging."
The voice was distorted.
Cai Lang's jaw tightened. "Who is this?"
"Tell the boy to stay away from the scroll."
The line went dead.
Tell the boy.
Not tell you.
That meant Suo Ran.
They weren't warning him.
They were warning about Suo Ran.
Cold anger rose in his chest.
Who exactly was watching?
And how long?
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of Suo Ran's building..
Lian ziho stood alone under the dim lights.
The city looked normal.
Peaceful.
But something felt off.
He didn't know about the documents.
He didn't know about the hidden envelope.
But he knew Suo Ran was hiding something.
Not from him specifically.
Just… in general.
He wasn't sure which was worse.
Footsteps approached.
Suo Ran joined him quietly.
"You're not sleeping either."
"No."
They stood side by side.
A comfortable distance.
Close enough to feel presence.
Far enough to avoid questions.
"Thank you for coming with me," Suo Ran said after a while.
Lian ziho glanced at him.
"You didn't have to thank me."
"I still am."
Silence settled again.
The wind lifted slightly.
"You seemed different," Lian ziho said carefully.
Suo Ran stared at the skyline.
"Maybe I am."
Lian ziho wanted to ask more.
He didn't.
Instead he said, "If you ever need help… you don't have to carry it alone."
Suo Ran's expression softened slightly.
"I know."
But he didn't elaborate.
And Lian ziho understood something quietly painful—
There was a wall he wasn't invited past.
Yet.
Down on the street below..
A black car idled in shadow.
Inside, a man lowered his phone slowly.
"They're back," he reported.
"And?"
"The target hasn't opened it yet."
Silence.
Then:
"Accelerate."
The call ended.
The man looked up toward the rooftop.
His gaze cold.
"If he won't open the scroll willingly… we'll make him."
Back upstairs—
Cai Lang finally returned to the apartment building.
He looked up toward the rooftop and saw two figures standing close under the dim light.
He didn't interrupt.
He didn't call out.
He simply watched.
For a moment too long.
Something about the distance between them felt fragile.
Like a balance about to break.
His phone vibrated again.
This time, it wasn't an unknown number.
It was a message.
A photo attachment.
He opened it.
The image was grainy.
Taken from afar.
Suo Ran.
Standing in the old hometown house.
Holding something.
An envelope.
Cai Lang's breathing slowed.
They were being watched even there.
And that meant..
This wasn't just about the scroll.
It was about what Suo Ran found.
Cai Lang looked up at the rooftop again.
He didn't know whether to warn him.
Or protect him from a truth that might destroy everything between them.
Above him, Suo Ran suddenly felt a strange chill.
As if someone had just stepped closer to a line that shouldn't be crossed.
The wind shifted again.
And far across the city...
A sealed archive case was placed on a metal table.
Inside it...
An identical scroll casing.
And beside it..
A single order.
"If necessary, remove him."
Suo Ran didn't know yet.
But the moment he left his hometown....
The countdown had already started.