- Night Return to the Astrological Bureau
Northern Song Dynasty, Bianjing, Xu-shi Third Mark (Approx. 8:45 PM).
When Qian Yiyan pushed open the duty office door at the Astrological Bureau, the candle had already burned halfway down.
The round trip to Yongqiu was one hundred and twenty li, two horses run to death. Her official robes were splattered with mud, her hair bun disheveled, but the hand holding the sword was steady.
Someone was waiting for her in the duty office.
Not Shen Kuo, nor Lei Huan.
It was a middle-aged civil official in deep purple brocade robes and a Diaochan crown------Wang Shouzhong, the Director of the Palace Domestic Service. He stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the "Chart of the Sphere-Heaven and Field Allocation" on the wall. Hearing the sound, he turned slowly. His fair, well-fed face wore that habitual, ambiguous half-smile.
"Vice-Director Qian, your journey was arduous."
Qian Yiyan's steps halted for a moment. She leaned the Shouque Sword by the door and clasped her hands in salute. "I did not know the Director was gracing us with your presence. This humble official has been discourteous."
"No matter." Wang Shouzhong waved a hand, pacing to the desk. His gaze swept over the Measuring Heaven Ruler, the jade pendant, and those scorched, yellowish paper scraps brought back from the Temple of Primordial Heaven. "I heard Vice-Director Qian went to Yongqiu today. Concerned, I came specifically to ask... were there any gains?"
The words were gentle, the subtext prickling.
Her trip to Yongqiu was a secret operation. For Wang Shouzhong to know this clearly meant only one thing: within the Astrological Bureau, or by her side, there were eyes and ears of the Empress Dowager.
"This humble official did indeed go to the Temple of Primordial Heaven," Qian Yiyan said without changing expression. "There were some anomalies within the temple. Some artifacts from the previous dynasty were discovered and have been recorded. Specific details will be reported to the Empress Dowager and the Director after they are collated."
"Artifacts from the previous dynasty..." Wang Shouzhong picked up a paper scrap, holding it up to the candlelight for a closer look. "This is Master Shao Kangjie's handwriting, is it not? Left behind when he borrowed the 'Ling Xian' from the Secret Library in the seventh month of Tiansheng Year One?"
Qian Yiyan's heart tightened. He even knew this?
"The Director's discernment is sharp."
"This old servant's discernment is not sharp." Wang Shouzhong put down the paper scrap and sighed. "Vice-Director Qian, you are young, driven, wish to uncover the truth for your father. This filial piety, I understand. But some matters... knowing too much is not necessarily a blessing."
He took two steps closer, lowering his voice. "Do you know why Shao Yong suddenly petitioned to retire due to illness and return home? And do you know the true reason why your father, Qian Weiyan, 'fell from a pagoda to his death' half a year after Shao Yong left the capital?"
The candle flame danced in his eyes, reflecting a bottomless gloom.
Qian Yiyan's fist clenched inside her sleeve, nails digging into her palm, her face remaining calm. "Please enlighten me, Director."
"In the seventh month of Tiansheng Year One, on the night of the full moon, an unusual glow appeared in the Purple Forbidden Enclosure," Wang Shouzhong said slowly. "That night, in the main hall of the Astrological Bureau, Shao Yong, your father, and the Chief Astronomer Li Weiqing held a closed-door secret council until dawn. The next day, Chief Astronomer Li submitted a memorial claiming illness. A month later, he died suddenly. Half a year later, Shao Yong retired due to illness and returned home. Another half year, your father fell from the pagoda."
He paused, his voice dropping even lower. "And after that night, strange things began happening in the palace. First, weeping ghosts were heard at night in the Cishou Hall. Then, black mold grew on the beams of the Funing Hall. Later... Her Majesty the Empress Dowager began having that dream."
"A golden dragon falling into the courtyard, transforming into black water," Qian Yiyan finished.
Wang Shouzhong gave her a deep look. "The Empress Dowager's phoenix-body has thus weakened day by day. Imperial physicians are helpless, Buddhism and Taoism ineffective. Until three months ago, a mystic presented a strategy------it requires the 'Twin Keys' as a guide to set the 'Inverse-Track Array' to resolve this calamity."
Twin Keys. Inverse-Track Array.
Qian Yiyan remembered the inscription on the crystal shard in the subterranean hall of the Temple of Primordial Heaven: "To halt the disaster, seek the 'Twin Keys.' One in this world, one in the Other Side."
"The Director means..."
"This old servant means nothing." Wang Shouzhong resumed his smiling expression. "I merely remind Vice-Director Qian that the Empress Dowager is extremely concerned about the matter of the 'Twin Keys.' If Vice-Director Qian makes any discoveries in your investigations... the Empress Dowager's health should be the priority."
With that, he drew a scroll of bright yellow silk from his sleeve and gently placed it on the desk.
"This is a handwritten decree from the Empress Dowager. Effective immediately, all investigations by the Astrological Bureau regarding 'anomalies,' 'the Other Side,' and 'Shao Yong's relics' must be reviewed by the Palace Domestic Service. Additionally, Her Majesty bestows upon Vice-Director Qian a palace entry token, permitting you to enter the palace to report at any time."
A promotion in name, control in reality. Granting her the privilege of palace entry also placed all her investigations under the surveillance of the Empress Dowager------or rather, Wang Shouzhong.
Qian Yiyan looked at the silk scroll, silent for a moment, then bowed. "Your subject receives the decree and offers thanks."
"Vice-Director Qian is an intelligent person." Wang Shouzhong nodded with satisfaction, turning towards the door. Just before crossing the threshold, as if suddenly remembering something, he looked back.
"Oh, the day your father fell from the pagoda, there was someone below. An old eunuch doing cleaning saw the whole thing. He said your father did not 'lose his footing,' but rather... jumped himself. Before jumping, he said one sentence to the air."
"What sentence?"
"He said------" Wang Shouzhong imitated a tone both despairing and relieved, "'Brother Yong, I go first. That gate... must never be opened.'"
After the imitation, the ever-present smiling mask on his face abruptly froze. His pupils lost focus. His voice was no longer his own, becoming shrill and aged, as if possessed by another, long-dead soul: "Can't open it... if it opens the shadows will come alive... will flow out from the walls... Eunuch Wang was eaten by a shadow... eaten..."
Before he could finish, he jolted awake, cold sweat instantly soaking his temples.
Qian Yiyan keenly captured this fleeting flash of genuine terror. She later learned through Lei Huan's private inquiries that when Wang Shouzhong first entered the palace as a youth, he had relied on an older eunuch, also surnamed Wang, who was like a father or elder brother to him. And that old eunuch was the very same palace attendant who, following the "Purple Forbidden Anomaly" incident in Tiansheng Year One, was the first to claim he "saw a shadow eating people" during night duty and subsequently went mad and took his own life.
Gate.
Qian Yiyan stood rooted, watching Wang Shouzhong's figure disappear into the corridor's darkness. It felt as if all the blood in her body had congealed in that moment. Her father's death, Shao Yong's scheme, the Empress Dowager's illness, Wang Shouzhong's hatred... all clues seemed twisted together, drawn towards that "Gate."
Her father killed himself.
For "that Gate."
And Shao Yong was "Brother Yong."
The candle crackled and spat, bursting into a spark. Outside the duty office, the night watchman's clapper sounded: Hai-shi (9-11 PM), the air is dry, beware of fire.
She slowly sat back in the chair and picked up the dragon-shaped jade pendant. It glowed softly in the candlelight. The two pinpoints of black light in the dragon's eyes had vanished, as if they had never existed.
The night deepened. Qian Yiyan tried to calm her mind in the duty office, but felt incessantly unsettled. Closing her eyes, the images interwove: Wang Shouzhong's terrified gaze from the day, the legend of her father's fall, the star chart in the Empress Dowager's medicinal brew... Finally, they all coalesced into a low, continuous "humming," faintly reverberating inside her skull. It wasn't a sound, but a presence, as if a colossal, immeasurably vast, ice-cold, heavy "Gate" hung in the night sky above Bianjing, its invisible weight already beginning to press upon the mortal world. She was the only one who could feel this "weight."
But Qian Yiyan knew they were merely lying in wait.
Just like that "Gate," like that "Other Side," like the secret her father and Shao Yong had buried with their lives------nothing had ended. It was only beginning.
And she stood at the very center of the vortex.
- National Security Archives Vault
Modern Day, Ministry of State Security, Sublevel Seven Archives Vault.
Lu Baoyi swiped through three biometric locks. The alloy door slid open with a soft sigh of air, like a release of breath. Inside, constant temperature and humidity, an indigo-blue glow, the air tinged with the heady mix of paper and server heat.
Lin Wan was already at the console, dark circles under her eyes, fingers flying over the keyboard.
"Engineer Lu, the 'Qian Yiyan' materials you requested." She didn't turn, eyes fixed on the scrolling text stream on the main screen. "But... there's a small problem."
"Small problems usually mean big trouble." Lu Baoyi walked to her side, placing a can of coffee from the passing vending machine by her hand. "For energy. Sugar-free, you said last time it was too sweet."
Lin Wan paused slightly, muttered a "thank you," then returned to the topic. "Historical records of females named 'Qian Yiyan' number exactly three. One official history, two fragments." She pulled up the search results. "History of Song: Biographies of Exemplary Women officially notes: Qian Yiyan, descendant of the King of Wuyue, Vice-Director of the Astrological Bureau, specialist in astronomy and calendrics, unmarried, died in the fourth year of Tiansheng, aged twenty-two."
Died Tiansheng Year Four. Twenty-two years old.
Lu Baoyi's heart sank. That was 1026 AD. That is... this year.
"Cause of death?"
"Written as if not written at all------'died of a sudden illness.'" Lin Wan continued scrolling. "Miscellaneous Records of Bianjing adds some character details: aloof personality, skilled in swordsmanship, liked staying up alone in the Astrological Bureau duty office watching the stars. A surviving fragment of the Qian Family Genealogy adds a cryptic annotation------" She zoomed in on the scan, a line of small characters highlighted by a red box:
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"This woman's fate pattern is peculiar. At her birth, celestial anomalies appeared. A Daoist said she 'carries twin tracks, is not of this world.'"
Carries twin tracks, is not of this world.
Lu Baoyi stared at the eight characters, his mind automatically replaying the line from the crystal shard in the Temple of Primordial Heaven's subterranean hall: "The Key of the Other Side is named 'Qian Yiyan.'"
"Keep digging," his voice lowered. "Dig into how her father Qian Weiyan died. Dig up everything findable about Shao Yong's life. Dig up all abnormal celestial phenomena, natural disasters in Bianjing between Tiansheng Year One and Four, and... those who died under unclear circumstances."
"Already running." Lin Wan hit enter.
During the data retrieval wait, Lu Baoyi wandered deeper into the archives vault. There stood a row of special safes storing the physical relics of the "Chiyou" project. He used his clearance to open Safe Three. Inside, only one item:
A leather-bound notebook.
His father Lu Yuan's diary.
Lu Baoyi took a deep breath, put on white gloves, and took out the notebook, opening it. The diary started three years ago, chronicling the "Chiyou" project from inception to collapse. The early entries resembled proper scientific records, but the writing grew increasingly erratic and emotional towards the end.
He flipped directly to the last few pages.
[Date smudged]
Shao Yong brought up that 'Gate' again today. He says he's found a stable method to open it, missing only the final component------the 'Twin Keys.' One key is in this world, the 'resonator' prototype he and Qian Weiyan tinkered with back then. The other key is in the Other Side, it's the 'fate pattern' of Qian Weiyan's daughter, Qian Yiyan.
I asked him, what's your goal in going through all this trouble to open the Gate? He said, to 'fix a BUG.' A thousand years ago, he and Qian Weiyan tried to open a passage between the two realms. The code had errors, leaving a permanent rift. Now the rift is expanding. Only by reopening the Gate, entering the source in the Other Side, can they patch it from the root.
Mad. The old man's completely mad.
[Next page]
Shao Yong convinced the higher-ups. Those people say if there truly is 'reality-fixing' black tech behind the Gate, it's worth a gamble. I objected. Useless. Experiment scheduled for three days later.
[Final page, writing like ghostly scribbles]
They started. The moment the resonator activated, I knew we were done for. That wasn't a 'Gate.' It was... something else. It was crawling over from the other side.
I pulled the master switch. Too late. Shao Yong looked at me and laughed. He said: 'Brother Lu, you're mistaken. It's not crawling over. We are being... absorbed by it.'
Reading this, Lu Baiyi felt the vault's climate control was a bit cold.
I have to record this. If anyone later reads this diary, remember: Shao Yong didn't want to fix anything. He wanted to... (followed by a large smear of ink)
Behind that Gate there is no technology, only------
The diary stopped abruptly here.
On the bottom right corner of the last page was a simple, chilling symbol drawn in what looked like blood: a circle with a vertical line through the middle.
Lu Baoyi stared at the symbol. He recognized it------on the crystal shard from the Temple of Primordial Heaven, in all of Shao Yong's surviving notes, even in the residual data from the "Shadow Devouring" incident in Lab Three. It had appeared.
This was Shao Yong's logo.
Also the trademark of the "Gate."
He closed the diary, a chill crawling up his spine. His old man had warned him long ago that Shao Yong's purpose wasn't pure. But why? What did a thousand-year-old man want to obtain through that "Gate"?
"Engineer Lu!" Lin Wan's exclamation pulled his thoughts back. "The retrieval results are in, but... it's a bit uncanny."
"How so?"
"Based on cross-referencing historical materials, in Tiansheng Year Four------the year Qian Yiyan died------Bianjing and its surroundings experienced a total of nine unexplainable 'anomaly' events." Lin Wan called up a map with nine red markers. "Timed from the first month to the twelfth month, one per month. Locations were all important structures or ley line nodes. And the ninth event's location was precisely..." She zoomed in on the final red marker.
The Astrological Bureau.
"Timing?" Lu Baoyi's voice tightened.
"Historical records are vague, but based on associated events, roughly around... the twelfth month of Tiansheng Year Four." Lin Wan paused. "As for Qian Yiyan's time of death, records only state 'Tiansheng Year Four,' no specific month. But the Qian Family Genealogy adds the knife-twist: 'Died in the Astrological Bureau duty office. Time: a winter night, heavy snow falling from heaven.'"
Winter night. Heavy snow. Twelfth month.
Lu Baoyi slowly stood up. He remembered Shao Yong's words left at the Temple of Primordial Heaven: "Time is short." Also, from the "Chiyou" project files, the fulfillment time of the final blacked-out prophecy: three days ago.
But now it seemed that might not have been "fulfillment," but rather... "countdown initiation."
"Lin Wan." He turned, tone leaving no room for debate. "Pull up the superimposed comparison of the ancient Bianjing map and modern satellite imagery. I want the precise coordinates of those nine 'anomaly' sites. Also, contact the National Astronomical Observatory. Request access to 'Sky Eye' observation time for the next three months------I need 24/7 monitoring of spacetime curvature fluctuations at those coordinate points."
"Engineer Lu, you suspect..."
"I suspect it's not nine independent instances." Lu Baoyi stared at the nine red dots on the screen. "But a single... backdoor malware program that started installing a thousand years ago and is about to start running right under our noses."
- Night Conversation in Cishou Hall
Northern Song Dynasty, Bianjing, Cishou Hall Side Chamber.
Qian Yiyan knelt on the cold golden bricks for half a shi-chen. The side chamber was lit by a few bronze lamps, dim. The air was thick with the strange mingled scent of strong sandalwood and medicinal herbs. From behind the hanging curtain came the sound of suppressed coughing, one bout after another, tightening the heart.
"Vice-Director Qian."
The Empress Dowager's voice came from behind the curtain, weaker than days prior, yet still carrying undeniable authority.
"Your subject is here."
"The journey to Yongqiu. Were there gains?"
Qian Yiyan retrieved the dragon-shaped jade pendant from her bosom, presenting it with both hands. "Reporting to Your Majesty, at the Temple of Primordial Heaven subterranean hall, your subject discovered this object. It retains the aura of Master Shao Yong and shares its origin with the 'Shadow Devouring' incident in the Secret Library."
A palace maid lifted the curtain, took the pendant, and carried it behind. After a moment of silence, the Empress Dowager spoke again:
"The An Le Pendant... To think Kangjie left even this." Her voice held a complex emotion, like nostalgia, yet also... apprehension. "Did he leave any other words?"
"Yes." Qian Yiyan lowered her eyes. "Within the subterranean hall was a crystal-sealed message stating: 'To halt the disaster, seek the Twin Keys. One in this world, one in the Other Side.' And the key of the Other Side..."
She paused.
"Continue."
"The key of the Other Side appears to be..." Qian Yiyan raised her eyes, looking towards the curtain. "...is your subject."
Dead silence filled the side chamber. Even the Empress Dowager's coughing ceased. After a long while, a drawn-out sigh came from behind the curtain:
"Kangjie, ah Kangjie... you ultimately... still chose this path."
"Your Majesty knows?" Qian Yiyan couldn't help but ask.
"I know some." The Empress Dowager's voice was weary. "In Tiansheng Year One, Kangjie secretly memorialized the late Emperor, saying celestial signs warned of a 'Disaster from the Other Side' plaguing Cathay a millennium hence. To resolve it required 'a person of twin tracks as the key' to deploy the 'Inverse-Track Array,' re-establishing the celestial track. The late Emperor entrusted this matter to your father and Kangjie to handle secretly. But the specific details... I do not know."
She paused, her tone turning cold. "But I know this: before Kangjie left the capital, he left behind an 'array diagram.' He said this array required nine 'ley line nodes' as foundation, to be activated simultaneously at midnight in the twelfth month of Tiansheng Year Four. And the ninth array node... is at the Astrological Bureau."
A chill ran up Qian Yiyan's spine. The Empress Dowager knew everything------the array, the timing, the location.
"Then does Your Majesty know... for what purpose this array was truly established?"
"Kangjie said it was to 'repair the celestial track, eternally sever the threat from the Other Side.'" The Empress Dowager's voice suddenly sharpened. "But Wang Shouzhong secretly reported last month that while organizing Kangjie's relics, he discovered something. Kangjie's manuscripts mentioned that once activated, this array would not 'repair,' but instead would completely open 'that Gate,' allowing beings from the Other Side to... descend en masse."
She coughed violently. A palace maid hurriedly handed over an ancient-looking black medicinal cup. As the Empress Dowager took it, her thin, withered fingers trembled badly. Some of the thick, ink-black medicinal liquid splashed onto the polished golden bricks.
A horrifying scene unfolded: the splashed liquid, like a living thing, slithered across the bricks, instantly outlining a miniature yet precise star chart of the Purple Forbidden Enclosure anomaly. Even more unnerving was that this "medicinal star chart" did not immediately vanish.The "stars" within flickered on and off three times in succession, as if replaying the celestial event on a micro-scale, before finally seeping powerlessly into the brick seams, leaving behind stains like dried blood.
A sharp glint flashed in Qian Yiyan's lowered eyes. The Empress Dowager's "illness" shared the same root as the celestial anomalies and the Other Side's erosion. What she wanted was likely not merely to close the "Gate."
After catching her breath, the Empress Dowager continued:
"Vice-Director Qian, I summoned you today to entrust you with one matter."
"Your Majesty, please instruct."
"Stop that array." The Empress Dowager's voice was very low, yet each word clear. "Regardless of Kangjie's true purpose back then, that Gate... must never be opened. Your father closed it with his life. You cannot let it be reopened."
Qian Yiyan looked up. Through the curtain, she could almost see the Empress Dowager's eyes, sunken from illness yet still sharp.
"How... should your subject stop it?"
"The array requires the 'Twin Keys.'" The Empress Dowager said slowly. "The key of this world is that 'resonator' prototype, jointly crafted by your father and Kangjie back then. Kangjie took it with him when he left the capital. It should still lie deep within the Temple of Primordial Heaven's subterranean hall. As for the key of the Other Side..."
Her voice trailed off.
"It is you. Your 'fate pattern,' your innate resonance with that 'rift' to the Other Side. When the array activates, your very existence is part of the key."
Qian Yiyan felt her throat go dry. "So Your Majesty wishes to..."
"I want you to find the resonator and destroy it before the array activates." The Empress Dowager's tone brooked no argument. "Destroy the key of this world, and the array cannot be completed. As for you... I will order Wang Shouzhong to arrange for you to leave Bianjing, take refuge in the south. Once this matter is concluded, I will summon you back."
It sounded reasonable. But Qian Yiyan remembered Wang Shouzhong's half-smiling face, her father's last words before the fall, the warning in Shao Yong's message.
Did the Empress Dowager truly want to "stop the array"?
Or... did she also want the "Twin Keys," just in a different way?
"Your subject receives the decree." Qian Yiyan bowed, not letting the suspicion in her eyes show.
"Good." The Empress Dowager's voice softened. "Your father was a loyal minister. So are you. Succeed in this, and I shall not treat you unfairly. Go. Wang Shouzhong will arrange personnel to assist you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
When Qian Yiyan withdrew from the side chamber, the night was deep. Lanterns hanging under the palace corridor swayed in the cold wind, stretching and distorting her shadow.
As Qian Yiyan urged her horse through Bianjing's streets, a sudden wave of dizziness nearly unseated her. In that fleeting moment of vertigo, the bustling market before her was overlaid by a semi-transparent phantom vista of steel and harsh light, with a giant, luminous numeral flickering against the sky.The vision vanished instantly, leaving her chilled to the bone. Shao Yong's array was increasing pressure, and she, the "key," was beginning to be forcibly synced, receiving "signals" from a thousand years hence.
She tightened her grip on the pendant in her sleeve.
The Empress Dowager, Wang Shouzhong, Shao Yong, her father... each spoke a different "truth." Each used her for their own ends.
And perhaps the only one she could trust...
Was that person from the Other Side, separated by a thousand years, who had saved her with a beam of blue light in the Temple of Primordial Heaven's subterranean hall.
She raised her head, gazing at the pitch-black night sky. Winter stars were exceptionally clear. The Purple Forbidden Enclosure shone with constant, cold light in the northern sky.
Was it here, a thousand years ago, that Shao Yong beheld the "Eyes of the Other Side"?
And now, somewhere a millennium later... was that person also looking at this same stretch of stars?
- Resonance Frequency
Modern Day, Ministry of State Security Command Center, 3:00 AM.
Lu Baoyi had been staring at the geometric pattern formed by nine red dots on the screen for two hours. The pattern was dizzyingly complex, nine arcs interweaving, each arc's curvature subtly changing. The whole looked like a slowly rotating, uncanny dynamic screensaver.
"This is a modified version of a 'Casimir Resonance Array,'" he said, rubbing his sore eyes, to Lin Wan beside him, who was barely propped up by coffee."In principle, if specific frequency spacetime curvature perturbations are generated simultaneously at nine designated points, these perturbations will interfere and superimpose upon one another, eventually coalescing into a 'singularity' at the array's center------the ninth node."
"Singularity?" Lin Wan swallowed. "You mean..."
"Micro-wormhole. Or call it... a 'backdoor.'" Lu Baoyi called up the scan of the crystal shard from the Temple of Primordial Heaven. "The pattern Shao Yong left is the array's 'driver script.' He used nine ley line nodes from the Northern Song period as natural resonant cavities to set up a... slow-boot wormhole generator spanning a millennium."
"Slow-boot? A thousand years?"
"Time is just a version number for a wormhole." Lu Baoyi typed, pulling up another dataset. "The key is the 'resonance frequency.' Shao Yong found a special frequency that allows the wormhole to remain in a 'standby' state at the quantum fluctuation level, slowly drawing power until a critical point------the array's countdown completion------when it fully 'goes online.'"
He pointed to the timeline on screen. "Based on the recorded occurrence times of the nine 'anomalies,' we can back-calculate the array's activation cycle. And the next activation window is..."
[Time to next resonance peak: 47 hours, 28 minutes, 17 seconds]
Red numbers ticked down on the screen.
Almost simultaneously, every unshielded electronic device in the command center------Lin Wan's private phone with forgotten notifications, the digital clock on the wall, even the server status LEDs------flickered imperceptibly once, as if sharing a single, intangible pulse.
Lu Baoyi saw it all. He said nothing. A thought crossed his mind: "The coffin nails are already being hammered in."