CHAPTER 414: CHAPTER 414 I DON’T WANT TO LOSE YOU

"How do you know?" Wang Lan’s tone scared Yu Ruoyun, making her jump. Yu Ruoyun had also never seen such a terrifying side of Wang Lan. Suddenly, a sense of grievance welled up in her heart.

Pouting pridefully, she turned her face away to look out the window. "What’s there not to know? My uncle thoroughly investigates anyone who gets in touch with me. Did you think he wouldn’t tell me?"

Instantly, Wang Lan recalled the matter with Xie Sisi, which the Qing Emperor really seemed to know about. That time by the river, the Qing Emperor had even brought it up proactively. With that thought, Wang Lan’s back was soaked with cold sweat.

He couldn’t imagine how Jiang Xinyu would react upon finding out. Break up? Resentment? More likely, she would beat him up, then disappear on her own, hiding somewhere no one could find her.

If his relationship with Xie Sisi was a raging fire, then his relationship with Jiang Xinyu was like aged wine. It might seem mundane day-to-day, but living without each other would mean a lifetime of pain and regret.

"On the eighteenth of the twelfth lunar month, Xie Sisi came to Modu City, and you didn’t leave the house for seven days. On the twenty-fifth, you indulged in food and entertainment in Modu City. And on the second day of the new year, Xie Sisi took a ride back to Suzhou City..."

Each word from Yu Ruoyun struck Wang Lan’s heart like a heavy hammer, yet he didn’t pick up on the sourness in every word she uttered.

Because of an accident with Xie Sisi, you chose to accept her. So what about me? Even though I successfully obtained the Dragon and Phoenix Auspicious because of that, I did it to save you. Yet you, you don’t know anything...

"Ruoyun..."

"Don’t say it," Yu Ruoyun cut him off coldly. "I know what you want to say. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. If Jiang Xinyu finds out, it definitely won’t be because of me."

Hearing Yu Ruoyun’s words, Wang Lan’s anxious heart finally settled, and he leaned back in his seat as if drained.

"I’m not that kind of person... Between Xie Sisi and me..."

"I know!" Yu Ruoyun murmured. "So why is it that the honest ones always get hurt? If you were more faithless, more of a jerk, you could just pretend nothing ever happened."

"Can we not talk about this?" Wang Lan asked with a bitter smile, shaking his head, his ears burning from Yu Ruoyun’s words.

What else could this be but the epitome of being a jerk? Wang Lan had already admitted it to himself. During those days with Xie Sisi, he had come to see his true self. Stop making excuses, stop saying it’s all about taking responsibility.

You’re just lecherous. You just want to have a girl on each arm. You’re just coveting Xie Sisi while also thinking of Jiang Xinyu.

So, hearing Jiang Xinyu categorize him as a responsible and honest person, Wang Lan felt too ashamed to accept the description.

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Your face is red."

"I’m just feeling spirited."

"Dear passengers, the amphibious bus is about to dock. Please take all your belongings and disembark in an orderly manner. Thank you for traveling with us..."

As the docking announcement played, Wang Lan and Yu Ruoyun’s conversation ended. They left the bus one after the other, Yu Ruoyun carrying a suitcase while Wang Lan was empty-handed.

"I’m heading back first. See you at the port in three days," Wang Lan said hastily, wanting to escape. Spending even a second longer with Yu Ruoyun felt incredibly awkward.

"What does that mean? You don’t want to see me for the next three days?" Yu Ruoyun’s expression changed, and she questioned him in a stern voice.

"No... Aren’t we going back to the Pioneer Space in three days?"

"So I can’t come see you during these three days?"

"No, I misspoke. It would be my honor to be at your beck and call."

"That’s more like it. I’m going now. I still have to continue investigating the Lv Family’s affairs, and I’ll need your help later."

"No problem. But... if the Lv Family decides to pick a fight with me, you’ll have to back me up."

"Don’t worry, they wouldn’t dare."

As Wang Lan disappeared into the distance, Yu Ruoyun sighed softly. A black luxury car slowly pulled up beside her. The car door opened, and an old man with a full head of silver hair stepped out and opened her door.

"Miss!"

"Qiu Bo."

"Miss, the Eldest Young Miss has returned."

"Oh? Big Sister is back? Did Ruojin come too?"

"The Young Master also came. He has grown quite a bit, and he’s awakened his Star Martial Warrior talent. He will be a genius in the future."

Learning that her big sister was home, Yu Ruoyun’s mood seemed to brighten significantly. She pulled out her phone and tapped on Wang Lan’s profile picture. Her fingers moved swiftly. "Do you know why I agreed to keep your secret?"

She hesitated slightly before sending, ultimately deleting the message and typing instead, "I’m in the car now. I’ll let you know when I get home safe."

After sending the message, Yu Ruoyun turned her head to gaze out the window at the swiftly receding cityscape, her eyes misty as she reminisced about the life-and-death moments she had shared with Wang Lan.

"Because... I don’t want to lose you," she murmured, so quietly it was almost to herself.

"What was that, Miss?" Qiu Bo asked.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about some things. Qiu Bo, have someone secretly investigate the Lv Family. Find out what they’re planning to do smuggling Space Stones, and whether they have any ties to the Duanmu Family. Also, did they play a part in the danger I encountered at the Nine-layer Pagoda?"

"Understood. I’ll start investigating immediately upon our return."

"Good."

Back home, Wang Lan took a comfortable hot shower. As for Yu Ruoyun’s ’report your safety when you get home’? Please, I’m not a child; why would I need to report in?

He hadn’t spoken properly with Jiang Xinyu in the car, so he immediately called her.

「The next day, Wang Lan slept until he woke naturally.」

It had been a long time since he last woke up without an alarm. Not even during those joyful days of the winter break spent with Xie Sisi; he was always woken unexpectedly then for his morning exercises.

He got out of bed, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and opened the refrigerator to make breakfast. With breakfast on the table, he picked up his phone and scrolled through short videos. Today was going to be a pleasant day.

"Location: Penglai. The spectacle of the South Heavenly Gate."

"The cloud-top gate, a divine kingdom reappears..."

He scrolled through several video clips in succession, all featuring a mirage known as the South Heavenly Gate. Speaking of mirages, regardless of his past or present life, they were always endlessly fascinating spectacles.

Although science explained the existence of mirages as a refraction of light, many unanswered questions remained. For instance, why do mirages display ancient architecture and cities of the past?

Furthermore, why has the original scene of a mirage—ancient or modern—never been found? For this reason, many people suggest that mirages are not simply light refractions but could also be projections of space and time.

However, mirages generally share one commonality: they occur by chance. Their appearance is always a random phenomenon; even at places where mirages frequently occur, the same scene seldom appears twice.

In one video clip, Wang Lan saw a host mention that this was the fifth time he had captured the South Heavenly Gate, and it was the first occurrence this year.

This piqued Wang Lan’s interest.

Whether in his past life or this one, the name Penglai was familiar to him. Many city names had changed, but Penglai alone remained Penglai, also known by the beautiful epithet of the Immortal Realm of Penglai.

Penglai, situated on the coast of the Bohai Sea, was rumored to have an Immortal Island floating in the sky above it, a border between the realms of humans and immortals. Of course, these were just myths, but Penglai’s frequent mirages were real.

Wang Lan opened a web browser on his phone to search for "South Heavenly Gate East Sea." Soon, countless results filled his screen.

"The most recent appearance of the South Heavenly Gate in the East Sea occurred on February 22, 5020, at 3:20 AM. Duration: twelve minutes..."

The South Heavenly Gate in the photo was majestic and vast. Although it was merely a stone gate, devoid of any actual door, its pillars and the dragon-carved engravings spiraling upon them seemed almost tangible.

The moment he saw this image, Wang Lan abruptly stood up, almost spilling the milk in front of him.

The stone gate in the photo was too familiar, strikingly similar.

Others might not feel anything; onlookers would simply think the mirage’s stone gate was just like any other in some old town. But Wang Lan had been to the Nine-layer Pagoda and seen the gate of the Fairy Cloud Sect.

Although the South Heavenly Gate in the photo differed from the gate of the Fairy Cloud Sect, Wang Lan was still certain. This is a Sect Gate, the gate of an ancient cultivation sect.

There’s something wrong with this mirage...

With this in mind, Wang Lan searched for related video materials even more earnestly. But as he sorted through them, his expression grew increasingly perplexed.

Especially when focusing on the timing of the most recent mirage, he became even more puzzled.

DING-DING-DING-DING—

His phone rang. It was a call from Yu Ruoyun.

"Hey, are you home?"

"Yes!"

"I’ll be at your place soon."

"..."

Wang Lan stared at the screen, which showed that the caller had already hung up, completely baffled. Although he and Yu Ruoyun were quite close... had their relationship really reached such a casual level?

Not even five minutes had passed before Xiao Ai announced a guest’s arrival. Knowing it was Yu Ruoyun, Wang Lan didn’t bother to look and had Xiao Ai let her up via the elevator.

Yu Ruoyun, dressed in casual attire, stepped out of the elevator and casually removed her hat. "Do I need to change shoes?"

"No need, make yourself at home. Have you eaten?" Wang Lan asked, holding half a fried dough stick.

"I can tell you just got up, you lazy pig." Yu Ruoyun casually sat on the sofa. "The Lv Family has been thoroughly investigated. Based on travel records, we conjecture they’ve smuggled a large quantity of Space Stones from the five major Pioneer Spaces over the past three years."

"But we’ve searched all their warehouses, including the well-hidden ones. Although we found some illicit items, we found no Space Stones. Therefore, I suspect the Lv Family was also involved in the incident we encountered at the Nine-layer Pagoda."

"Weren’t all the Space Stones in the Nine-layer Pagoda provided by the Duanmu Family? The accounts matched, and the records from the Kingdom of Ice and Snow were accurate too."

"But who’s to say those Space Stones all came from the Duanmu Family? They themselves trade in Space Stones. The Lv Family doesn’t. If they’re uninvolved, I can’t think of where else the huge amount of Space Stones they’ve smuggled could have gone."

"You came all this way just to tell me this? Tea or a soft drink?"

"Do you have coffee?"

"Xiao Ai, coffee."

"Right away!" the robot replied, turning towards the kitchen.

"What are you looking at? ’South Heavenly Gate in the East Sea’? What’s that?"

"A mirage that recently occurred in the East Sea. By the way, take a look at this South Heavenly Gate. Doesn’t it look familiar?"

Yu Ruoyun took the photo. "The picture’s too small. Don’t you have screen projection in your place?"

"Xiao Ai, turn on the TV wall!"

The TV wall. It really was a TV wall. If Wang Lan hadn’t revealed it, Yu Ruoyun wouldn’t have known that the background tiles on the wall were actually just the screen’s screensaver. Once the TV wall lit up, the entire wall became one massive, seamless LCD display.

The Yu Family was a top-tier wealthy family. However, their lifestyle was somewhat antiquated, and their ability to embrace new things and technology wasn’t as strong as some nouveau riche families.

Robots, smart homes—they had none of it. According to their family’s philosophy, if everything could be managed by smart homes and smart living, wouldn’t the thousands of servants they employed lose their jobs?