Chapter 96 - Ninety-Four: The Man Who Came Home Twice

Chapter 96: Chapter Ninety-Four: The Man Who Came Home Twice

The footsteps grew louder.

One step.

Two steps.

Three.

Lin Yue tightened her grip on Shen Rui’s hand.

Behind them, the golden gate remained firmly shut. Before them, the path leading to the Return House disappeared beneath a soft veil of silver mist.

Moss stood in front of the group, holding its gardening fork like a general preparing for battle.

"Everyone stay behind me."

Lumi floated behind Lin Yue.

"Of course."

"I’m serious!"

"So am I. You look much more suitable for being eaten first."

"LUMI!"

"What? I said you look suitable, not delicious!"

Lin Yue closed her eyes briefly.

She had survived a transmigration, discovered a magical space, encountered a mysterious archive, met another version of herself, and learned that her husband might be connected to a forgotten ancient keeper.

Yet somehow, a flying creature with the survival instincts of a steamed bun remained her greatest daily challenge.

"Lumi," she said sweetly, "if you say one more word about eating Moss, you can help him weed every vegetable bed."

Lumi immediately zipped behind Shen Rui.

"I suddenly remember that I am very quiet."

"Excellent," Shen Rui replied. "Try to remember it for longer than five minutes."

The footsteps stopped.

A figure emerged from the mist.

It was a young man wearing a dark, travel-worn robe. His hair was tied loosely behind his head, and his sleeves were stained with soil. One hand held a small lantern. The other carried a wooden basket filled with green vegetables.

He looked exhausted.

He also looked extremely annoyed.

The stranger surveyed the group.

Then he looked at Moss.

Then at the golden gate.

Finally, his eyes settled on Shen Rui.

He dropped the basket.

"Rui’an?"

Shen Rui froze.

The stranger took one uncertain step forward.

For a heartbeat, his expression softened with relief.

Then he marched straight toward Shen Rui, grabbed him by the shoulders, and shook him.

"YOU! You finally came back!"

"Excuse me—"

"Three hundred and twenty-seven years!"

The stranger shook him again.

"Three hundred and twenty-seven years of waiting! Do you have any idea how many vegetables I’ve had to harvest alone?"

Moss made an offended noise.

"Alone? I have been here the entire time!"

"You are a scarecrow."

"I AM THE SENIOR STEWARD!"

"You scare birds."

"I maintain a seed vault!"

"You frighten the occasional squirrel."

"That squirrel was a criminal!"

The stranger waved a hand dismissively.

Then he turned back to Shen Rui.

"Where have you been? Why didn’t you send a message? Why didn’t you return? And why—"

He stopped.

His eyes narrowed.

"Why do you look so young?"

Shen Rui carefully removed the stranger’s hands from his shoulders.

"I would appreciate it if you stopped shaking me long enough for me to answer."

The stranger stared at him.

Then his gaze dropped to Shen Rui’s joined hand with Lin Yue’s.

His expression changed.

"Oh."

Lin Yue lifted an eyebrow.

"Oh, what?"

The stranger looked at Shen Rui.

Then at Lin Yue.

Then back at Shen Rui.

A slow, mischievous smile spread across his face.

"Ohhhhh."

Shen Rui’s expression became dangerous.

"Don’t."

"I haven’t said anything!"

"You are thinking very loudly."

The stranger laughed.

"Rui’an, you disappeared for centuries, and the first thing you do when you return is bring home a wife?"

Lin Yue blinked.

"Bring home a wife?"

The stranger looked delighted.

"Wonderful! Excellent! Finally, someone sensible has married him!"

"Excuse me," Shen Rui said.

"Don’t interrupt. This is an important historical occasion."

The stranger seized Lin Yue’s free hand and bowed dramatically.

"Madam Keeper, I welcome you to the Last Garden. I sincerely apologize for my friend’s terrible manners, his appalling habit of keeping secrets, and his tendency to vanish whenever important work appears."

Lin Yue slowly turned toward her husband.

Shen Rui looked at the ceiling.

"Interesting," she murmured. "It seems your reputation preceded you."

"I have never met this man before."

The stranger gasped.

"Never met me?"

He clutched his chest.

"Rui’an! After everything we’ve been through!"

Lumi popped out from behind Shen Rui.

"Were you friends?"

"Best friends!"

"Did he owe you money?"

The stranger paused.

Then he looked directly at Shen Rui.

"He owes me three hundred and twenty-seven years’ worth of gardening assistance."

Lin Yue burst out laughing.

Shen Rui sighed.

"I knew this journey would become expensive."

The stranger finally introduced himself as Yan, the last human caretaker of the Return House.

Unlike Moss, Yan was not an ancient spirit or a magical machine. He was a living person who had been preserved by the Last Garden’s protective system after the settlement disappeared from the world’s records.

The protection had kept him alive.

Unfortunately, it had also left him with an extraordinary amount of time to develop strong opinions about gardening.

And an even stronger opinion about Shen Rui.

"You always did this," Yan complained as he led them toward the Return House. "You would make a promise, disappear into some mysterious corridor, and expect everyone else to keep things running."

Shen Rui glanced at him.

"Did I really?"

"Yes."

"What kind of person was I?"

Yan stopped walking.

For the first time, his teasing expression softened.

"You were the sort of person who would stay awake repairing a broken water channel because you knew a village depended on it. You would give away your last meal and pretend you weren’t hungry. You would argue with the First Observer for hours, then quietly do whatever was necessary to help her succeed."

He looked at Shen Rui.

"You were stubborn, frustrating, and far too willing to carry everyone’s burdens."

Lin Yue glanced at her husband.

"That part sounds familiar."

Shen Rui gave her a helpless look.

"Must you agree with everyone who insults me?"

"Only when they provide convincing evidence."

Yan laughed.

Then he added, more quietly, "But Rui’an never believed he could save the world by himself. That was his best quality."

They reached the Return House.

It was a simple building made of pale stone and dark wood. Unlike the imposing archive, it contained no towering shelves or glowing symbols. There was a table, a few chairs, a small cooking stove, and an assortment of handwritten records.

A kettle sat over the fire.

The room smelled faintly of ginger tea and freshly baked bread.

Lin Yue’s shoulders relaxed.

For the first time since entering the hidden world, she felt as though she had stepped into an ordinary home.

Then she noticed the enormous stack of documents covering the table.

Yan followed her gaze.

"Ah. Those."

"What are they?"

"Unfinished reports."

"How many?"

Yan considered the question.

"Would you like the honest answer or the answer that allows me to keep my dignity?"

"The honest answer."

"Thousands."

Moss marched inside behind them.

"Most of them concern his refusal to maintain proper records."

Yan pointed at the scarecrow.

"And most of his reports consist of complaints about birds!"

"They are a serious agricultural threat!"

Lumi floated over the table.

"Is the bread for guests?"

Yan looked at it.

"Some of it."

Lumi clasped its claws together.

"I have always admired responsible leadership."

"Don’t touch the bread."

Lumi froze.

Yan narrowed his eyes.

"Especially the round loaf."

"Why?"

"Because it’s not bread."

A faint golden line appeared across the loaf.

Lumi drifted backward.

"Oh."

Lin Yue looked at the object.

It was a small, round container made of compressed golden leaves. A tiny crescent had been stamped into its lid.

"Is that an archive capsule?"

Yan nodded.

"It’s the last intact record of the original return path."

The room fell quiet.

At last, they had found something that might connect the scattered pieces of their mystery.

Yan placed the capsule on the table.

"The First Observer created the original archive to preserve knowledge and help isolated settlements survive. The Golden Space protected resources. Heartline connected people. But the return path was different."

He opened a drawer and removed a simple hand-drawn map.

"The return path was meant to bring people back to the places and people they had chosen. It wasn’t a weapon, a shortcut, or a way to rewrite history."

Lin Yue studied the map.

Three locations were marked with small symbols: a seed, a broken compass, and a crescent-shaped doorway.

"The seed preserves what can grow," she murmured.

"The compass helps find what has been lost," Yan continued.

"And the path allows people to return," Shen Rui said.

Yan nodded.

"Exactly. The original archive wasn’t designed to make one perfect world. It was designed to help imperfect worlds survive together."

Lin Yue’s expression grew thoughtful.

"So the Origin wanted to preserve everything, then became convinced that the only way to prevent suffering was to remove uncertainty."

"Yes."

"And the Possibility Weaver creates alternatives because it believes people can be happier in worlds where nothing goes wrong."

"Correct."

Lin Yue looked at the little golden capsule.

"But both of them misunderstand something."

Yan waited.

"People don’t only want a world where nothing bad ever happens. They want the freedom to live their own lives, make their own choices, and return to the people they love."

Shen Rui’s fingers brushed hers.

The warmth of his hand was a quiet reminder of the life they had chosen.

Their marriage had not been perfect.

They had argued over work, worried about family, struggled with the mysteries of the Golden Space, and occasionally disagreed about whether magical objects should be touched, tasted, or placed in storage.

But every day, they had chosen each other again.

And that mattered more than any forgotten title.

Yan studied Lin Yue for a long moment.

Then he smiled.

"You sound very much like the First Observer."

Lin Yue shook her head.

"I might share her memories one day. That doesn’t mean I have to make all her choices."

"Good answer."

Moss nodded approvingly.

"Much better than the last person who tried to run this place."

Yan pointed at it.

"You once locked yourself inside the seed vault."

"To protect the seeds!"

"You forgot the key!"

"The seeds were safe!"

Lin Yue covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.

Aster’s projection flickered above the table.

"One important question remains."

Everyone turned toward it.

"Does the archive establish that Shen Rui is Rui’an?"

Yan’s expression became serious.

"No. It establishes that Shen Rui carries a fragment of Rui’an’s identity and that the return path recognizes him. Whether he is Rui’an himself, a continuation of that life, or someone who inherited the keeper’s role remains unknown."

Shen Rui looked down at his hands.

"So I might never recover the full truth."

"You might," Yan replied. "But the path was never meant to force someone to remember."

He tapped the golden capsule.

"It was meant to let someone choose to return."

Later, while Yan prepared tea, Lin Yue and Shen Rui stepped outside.

The Last Garden stretched beneath the ancient tree, peaceful in the soft golden light. Somewhere among the vegetable beds, Lumi was negotiating with Moss for permission to taste a suspiciously large pumpkin.

Their voices drifted across the path.

"I only want to inspect it!"

"WITH YOUR MOUTH?"

"I am a very thorough inspector!"

Lin Yue smiled.

Then she looked at Shen Rui.

"You’ve been quiet."

He leaned against the wooden railing.

"I was thinking about what Yan said."

"Which part?"

"That Rui’an gave away his last meal."

Lin Yue blinked.

"That’s what you’re thinking about?"

"I was wondering whether he was always that foolish."

She stared at him.

Then laughed so hard she had to hold the railing.

"Shen Rui! Of all the ancient mysteries, you are concerned about whether your possible former self was bad at managing food?"

"I take food security seriously."

"You married a farmer. You are going to take food security seriously whether you want to or not."

He smiled.

Then his expression grew quieter.

"Lin Yue, what if remembering changes me?"

She stopped laughing.

He looked toward the garden.

"What if the things I did before become more important than the things I do now? What if everyone starts seeing Rui’an when they look at me, and forgets the man I am today?"

Lin Yue moved closer.

"Then I’ll remind them."

He looked at her.

"How?"

"By telling them that Rui’an may have kept a path open for someone else, but Shen Rui still has a wife who expects him home for dinner."

His eyes softened.

"And if the memories are painful?"

"Then you won’t have to face them alone."

"What if I discover that I made a terrible mistake?"

"Then we’ll figure out what happened, learn from it, and decide what to do next."

She touched his cheek.

"But listen to me carefully. I didn’t marry a name in an ancient archive. I married the man who stood beside me when I was frightened, who trusted my judgment even when he didn’t understand the danger, and who once spent an entire afternoon repairing a chicken coop because I said the hens looked unhappy."

"They did look unhappy."

"One of them attacked you."

"It was a disagreement over property."

She laughed softly.

"I married you, Shen Rui. Whatever you discover about Rui’an, that doesn’t change the life we’ve built together."

For a moment, he said nothing.

Then he covered her hand with his.

"I don’t know whether I can recover everything I’ve forgotten."

"You don’t have to recover everything today."

"And if the path leads somewhere dangerous?"

"We’ll prepare properly."

"And if it leads somewhere absurd?"

She considered this.

"Then we’ll bring snacks."

He laughed, drawing her into his arms.

She rested her forehead against his chest.

For a little while, neither of them spoke.

There were still too many unanswered questions. The Origin remained a threat. The Cartographer’s maps were incomplete. The Possibility Weaver had found a way into a supposedly hidden settlement.

And somewhere beyond the return path, a forgotten part of Shen Rui’s past was waiting.

But he was here.

She was here.

Their hands were joined, their future was still theirs to choose, and there was a farm waiting for them back home.

Lin Yue considered that a very good place to begin.

Then Shen Rui kissed her forehead.

"Thank you."

She looked up.

"For what?"

"For choosing me."

Her heart warmed.

"I’ll continue choosing you, provided you fulfill your contractual obligations."

He blinked.

"Contractual obligations?"

"Farm maintenance. Watering. Repairs. Carrying fertilizer sacks."

"Anything else?"

She pretended to think.

"Occasional compliments."

"I compliment you every day."

"Not enough."

"Then I shall increase the frequency."

"And the quality."

"Your demands are becoming unreasonable."

"Would you like to renegotiate the marriage contract?"

He pulled her closer.

"Absolutely not."

"Good answer."

From the vegetable beds, Lumi suddenly shouted, "MOSS! THE PUMPKIN IS VERY DELICIOUS!"

Moss’s furious voice followed.

"YOU WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO EAT IT!"

Lin Yue closed her eyes.

Shen Rui sighed.

Their peaceful moment had lasted approximately forty seconds.

A new record.

That evening, Yan showed them the final page of the return-path record.

It was a simple drawing of a garden surrounded by three paths.

One led toward the Golden Space.

One led toward Heartline.

The third disappeared beyond the edge of the page.

Beneath it, the First Observer had written a message:

No path should demand that a person become someone else before allowing them to come home.

Lin Yue read the sentence twice.

It was not a command.

It was not a prophecy.

It was a promise about what the original archive had been meant to protect.

Yan touched the page.

"The Origin forgot why the archive was created. The Weaver forgot that a possible life isn’t automatically better than a real one. And the Cartographer forgot that a map should help people find their way, not decide where they are allowed to go."

Shen Rui looked toward the doorway.

"And the Keeper?"

Yan smiled faintly.

"The Keeper was supposed to make sure the way home remained open."

Aster projected a new line of text above the table.

RETURN PATH STATUS: STABLE.

Then another appeared.

HEARTLINE CONNECTION: RESTORABLE.

Lin Yue’s eyes widened.

"Does that mean we can reconnect the hidden settlements?"

"Potentially," Aster replied. "The Last Garden contains the original anchor required to restore several damaged Heartline routes. However, the process requires cooperation from the settlements themselves."

Lin Yue smiled.

"Good. I wouldn’t want a network that connected everyone without asking whether they wanted to join."

Yan nodded approvingly.

"Now you understand why this place was hidden."

Lumi floated into the room with a pumpkin seed stuck to its cheek.

"Does reconnecting the settlements mean more people can visit?"

"Yes," Lin Yue replied.

"And bring food?"

"Possibly."

Lumi gasped.

"I support international cooperation."

Moss appeared behind it.

"You support anything that can be eaten."

"Those things are not mutually exclusive!"

Shen Rui laughed.

For the first time, the future seemed a little less frightening.

They had not solved every mystery, but they had discovered something far more useful than another ancient prophecy: a way to begin repairing what had been broken.

And perhaps that was how the happy ending would begin.

Not with one grand victory.

But with a garden, a network of willing friends, a handful of seeds, and people who finally understood that no one should have to choose between remembering the past and living in the present.

Unfortunately, the Last Garden had one final surprise.

As Lin Yue prepared to leave the Return House, the golden capsule opened by itself.

A thin sheet of paper slipped onto the table.

On it was a familiar symbol: a crescent moon wrapped around a tiny seed.

Below the symbol were seven words.

THE FIRST OBSERVER WAS NOT THE FIRST.

Lin Yue stared at the message.

Shen Rui stepped beside her.

"Another mystery?"

She exhaled slowly.

"Yes."

"Is it a dangerous mystery?"

"I don’t know yet."

"Does it require us to leave tomorrow?"

She looked at him.

"Probably."

He sighed.

"I knew we should have stayed home and planted potatoes."

Lin Yue burst out laughing.

Then she folded the paper and slipped it into her pocket.

"Don’t worry, husband. We’ll plant potatoes when we get back."

"And if we don’t get back soon?"

"Then we’ll plant them here."

Shen Rui looked around at the hidden garden.

"Do you intend to turn every mysterious place we visit into a farm?"

"Only the promising ones."

He shook his head, smiling.

"I married a woman who sees a secret ancient civilization and immediately evaluates its soil."

"And you love me for it."

"Among many other reasons."

She slipped her arm through his.

"Good. Because I have a feeling we’re going to need a great deal of patience, a great many seeds, and an unreasonable amount of fertilizer before this adventure is over."

Behind them, Lumi shouted, "I VOLUNTEER TO TASTE-TEST THE HARVEST!"

Moss roared, "YOU ARE NOT EATING THE SEED VAULT!"

Their laughter echoed through the Last Garden.

For the first time in centuries, the Return House’s lights shone warmly into the night.

And far beyond the hidden settlement, a single golden line appeared on a map that had been blank for three hundred and twenty-seven years.

The path home was no longer lost.

But someone—or something—had just begun drawing the map that came before it.

To be continued...