Chapter 97 - Ninety-Five: Home, Sweet Home, and One Very Unwelcome Visitor

Chapter 97: Chapter Ninety-Five: Home, Sweet Home, and One Very Unwelcome Visitor

Lin Yue had reached an important conclusion.

Ancient mysteries were exhausting.

Ancient mysteries involving her husband’s forgotten identity were even more exhausting.

And ancient mysteries that required her to listen to a talking scarecrow argue with a magical dragon about pumpkin ownership were enough to make her reconsider every decision that had brought her here.

"I am going home," she announced.

Shen Rui looked up from the map Yan had given them.

"So soon?"

Lin Yue stared at him.

"Shen Rui, we have uncovered an ancient archive, found an alternate version of me, discovered that you might have been an ancient keeper, and opened a hidden garden that has been missing for three hundred and twenty-seven years."

She pointed toward the doorway, where Lumi was attempting to convince Moss that pumpkin seeds counted as emergency supplies.

"I have also learned that a scarecrow can hold a grudge longer than most people hold a marriage."

"I heard that!" Moss shouted.

"Good!"

Shen Rui laughed.

Lin Yue folded her arms.

"Besides, our farm has been left alone for days. The vegetables need watering, the irrigation channels need checking, and I suspect the chickens have begun making poor decisions without adult supervision."

"Chickens make poor decisions even with adult supervision," Shen Rui observed.

"Exactly. Which is why we must return immediately."

Yan stood beside the Return House door, looking suspiciously pleased.

"You could always stay here."

Lin Yue glanced at the thriving vegetable beds.

"The soil is excellent, but the irrigation system needs repairs, the seed-storage records need reorganizing, and somebody has been planting beans too close to the squash."

Moss gasped.

"THE BEANS ARE PERFECTLY FINE!"

"They’re competing for nutrients."

"They are expressing themselves!"

"They are starving each other."

"Plants cannot starve each other!"

Lin Yue gave him a patient look.

Moss lowered his fork.

"I dislike you."

"You’ll like me when I improve your harvest."

"I will tolerate you."

"That’s practically affection."

Yan covered his mouth to hide a laugh.

Shen Rui leaned toward Lin Yue.

"You’ve been here less than a day, and you’ve already made enemies with the senior gardener."

"Correction. I’ve made him aware of his gardening deficiencies."

"Should I be worried about what you’ll do when we return home?"

"Yes."

He smiled and took her hand.

"Then let us return home before you decide to reorganize the entire ancient world."

"Don’t tempt me. I have several ideas about drainage."

"Of course you do, dear wife."

The journey back through the return path was considerably easier than the journey in.

The golden seed glowed steadily, the broken compass pointed toward the correct passage, and the ancient gate opened without asking them any philosophical questions.

Lin Yue was grateful.

She had reached her daily limit for mysterious doors.

Unfortunately, Lumi had not reached its daily limit for mischief.

The little creature emerged from the Last Garden carrying a small cloth bag.

Moss stood behind it, holding a gardening fork.

"Put those back!"

"They’re souvenirs!"

"They’re my seeds!"

"Souvenirs from your garden!"

"YOU CANNOT TAKE MY SEEDS WITHOUT PERMISSION!"

Lumi looked at Lin Yue.

"Can I take the seeds?"

"No."

It looked at Shen Rui.

"Can I take just three?"

"No."

"Two?"

"No."

"One?"

"Lumi."

The little creature sighed dramatically.

"I live in a world where generosity is apparently illegal."

Yan walked over and placed a small packet of seeds into Lin Yue’s hand.

"These are a gift. They’re hardy varieties that were developed here to survive poor soil and unpredictable weather. You may find them useful in your Golden Space."

Lin Yue’s eyes brightened.

"Thank you. I’ll test them carefully before planting them in larger quantities."

Moss sniffed.

"Finally, someone who understands that seeds are not toys."

Lumi raised a claw.

"Are they edible?"

"NO!" everyone shouted.

Lumi looked wounded.

"Fine. I shall cultivate a more sophisticated palate."

Shen Rui slipped an arm around Lin Yue’s shoulders.

"Ready to go home?"

She looked at the seed packet, then at the golden path stretching before them.

"Yes."

For a moment, she thought about everything they had discovered.

The First Observer.

The original archive.

The Origin’s obsession with control.

The Possibility Weaver’s endless alternatives.

The forgotten settlements connected by Heartline.

And Shen Rui’s possible past as Rui’an, the Keeper of the Last Return Path.

They still had questions.

So many questions.

But now they had something they hadn’t possessed before.

A direction.

And for Lin Yue, a direction was far more useful than a prophecy.

"Come on, husband," she said. "We have a farm to return to."

Shen Rui bowed slightly.

"As my capable and terrifying wife commands."

"Excellent. You may begin by carrying the seed packets."

"I knew there would be a catch."

"There is always a catch."

They stepped through the golden passage together.

Behind them, the Last Garden’s lights glowed warmly beneath the ancient tree.

For the first time in centuries, the return path remained open.

And somewhere in the hidden network, another forgotten place began to wake.

The first thing Lin Yue noticed upon returning to her Golden Space was the smell.

Fresh earth.

Growing vegetables.

Flowering fruit trees.

Warm bread.

And something faintly burnt.

She stopped.

Shen Rui stopped behind her.

Lumi peeked around his shoulder.

A thin column of smoke rose from the workshop.

Lin Yue slowly turned toward her husband.

"Did we leave something cooking?"

"No."

"Did you repair anything before we left?"

"No."

"Did Lumi touch anything?"

Lumi gasped.

"Why am I always the first suspect?"

"Because last time you touched something mysterious, it attempted to eat your tail."

"That was a misunderstanding."

Aster’s projection appeared.

"Clarification: the object attempted to absorb Lumi’s magical energy."

"See?" Lumi said triumphantly. "It wasn’t trying to eat me."

"It was trying to digest your energy signature."

"Which is completely different!"

Lin Yue rubbed her forehead.

"Fine. We’ll investigate the smoke first."

They hurried toward the workshop.

The door stood open.

Inside, a small copper kettle sat on a heating plate, releasing a thin ribbon of smoke. Beside it lay a broken wooden handle, several scattered screws, and a handwritten note.

Lin Yue picked up the note.

DEAR LIN YUE,

WE WERE TRYING TO FIX THE WATER PUMP.

WE MAY HAVE IMPROVED IT.

WE MAY ALSO HAVE MADE IT ANGRY.

PLEASE DO NOT BE UPSET.

P.S. LUMI SAID IT WOULD WORK.

She slowly turned toward the little creature.

Lumi was already backing toward the door.

"I would like to point out that the note contains several unverified allegations."

Shen Rui picked up a loose screw.

"Who wrote it?"

"Probably someone who wishes to remain alive," Lin Yue replied.

They stepped outside.

The irrigation pump stood beside the main water channel.

It was turning.

Very quickly.

Water shot from the outlet in a spectacular fountain, arcing over the vegetable beds and showering the unfortunate cabbage plants.

A group of workers stood nearby, soaked to the skin.

One of them raised a hand.

"Good news! The pump works!"

Another wiped water from his face.

"Bad news! We cannot turn it off!"

Lin Yue stared.

Shen Rui stared.

Lumi floated behind a barrel.

Then Lin Yue started laughing.

She laughed until tears gathered in her eyes.

Shen Rui looked at the wildly spinning pump.

"I suppose the water supply is no longer a problem."

"Not unless the water decides to leave the farm entirely!"

He stepped toward the mechanism.

"Let me take a look."

Lin Yue caught his sleeve.

"Carefully. If you make it worse, I’ll assign you to dig the drainage channels by hand."

"Would you really do that to your beloved husband?"

"Of course not."

He relaxed.

"I would give you a shovel."

He looked at her.

She smiled sweetly.

He sighed.

"I married a terrifying woman."

"You married a practical woman."

"Those descriptions are not mutually exclusive."

Together, they examined the pump.

The workers had managed to increase the water pressure, but the old pressure-release valve had jammed. Shen Rui loosened the outer casing while Lin Yue redirected the excess water into an empty storage pond.

After several minutes of careful work, the pump slowed.

Then it stopped.

The workers cheered.

Lumi emerged from behind the barrel.

"I believe we have demonstrated the value of innovation."

Lin Yue turned toward it.

"Your next innovation will be washing every cabbage in this field."

Lumi looked at the drenched vegetables.

"They are already washed."

"Then you’ll dry them."

"But—"

"And repair the broken wooden handle."

Lumi drooped.

"Perhaps I should have remained in the ancient garden."

Shen Rui patted its head.

"You would have been assigned to weed the onion beds."

Lumi looked horrified.

"Cruelty. Absolute cruelty."

Lin Yue smiled.

Home, she decided, was wonderful.

Even when it was wet, noisy, and full of creatures who should never be allowed near machinery.

By sunset, the farm had returned to something resembling normal life.

The irrigation pump worked properly.

The vegetables had been rescued.

The workers had received hot tea and fresh bread.

And Lumi had learned that drying cabbage leaves was considerably less entertaining than eating them.

Lin Yue sat beneath the old pear tree with Shen Rui beside her.

Between them lay the map from the Last Garden.

Aster had copied its most important markings into a new record. The restored Heartline anchor was stable, and the first communication route had begun reconnecting to the hidden settlements.

It was a small achievement.

But it was real.

Lin Yue traced the golden lines on the map.

"The Last Garden was hidden because the Cartographer only recorded it as a botanical preservation site."

Shen Rui nodded.

"And now that the return path has been restored, the other settlements may be able to reconnect."

"Provided they choose to."

"Provided they choose to," he agreed.

She looked up at him.

"Do you think we can repair the archive?"

"I think we can try."

"Even with the Origin still active?"

"We don’t need to solve everything in one day."

Lin Yue leaned against his shoulder.

"That’s a surprisingly sensible answer."

"I occasionally have them."

"Rarely, but yes."

He kissed the top of her head.

For a while, they watched the sunset.

Then Shen Rui spoke again.

"Lin Yue?"

"Hmm?"

"If I really was Rui’an, do you think I would have been happy?"

She considered the question carefully.

"I think you cared deeply about the people around you. I think you carried more responsibility than one person should have had to bear. And I think you probably forgot to eat while trying to repair something important."

He laughed softly.

"That sounds familiar."

"But I don’t think we know enough to decide whether you were happy."

She turned toward him.

"What I do know is that you can be happy now."

His eyes softened.

"With you?"

"With me. With the farm. With the people who depend on us. With the life we haven’t finished building."

He took her hand.

"Then that is the future I want."

She smiled.

"Good. Because I have plans."

"Should I be worried?"

"Very."

"How many plans?"

"Several."

"Do any of them involve me carrying fertilizer?"

"All of them."

He groaned.

Lin Yue laughed and kissed his cheek.

"Think of it as an opportunity to build character."

"I already have character."

"Then you can build muscles."

He pulled her into his arms.

"I suppose I can endure it for the sake of my wife."

"Such devotion."

"I am an extraordinarily devoted husband."

"Then you won’t mind helping me reorganize the seed storage tomorrow."

His smile disappeared.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Could we perhaps enjoy one peaceful day first?"

"Certainly."

He looked relieved.

"After we finish the seed storage."

"Lin Yue!"

She laughed so hard that Lumi, passing by with a basket of cabbage leaves, stopped to stare.

"What did I miss?"

"Your master has been assigned more work," Shen Rui said.

Lumi considered this.

Then it grinned.

"Excellent. Can I assign him my cabbage-drying duties?"

"No," Lin Yue replied.

"Cruelty," Lumi whispered. "This household is built on cruelty."

The following morning, the first message arrived through Heartline.

It appeared as a small golden light above the workshop table.

Aster projected the message onto the wall.

TO THE KEEPERS OF THE RESTORED PATH.

WE HAVE HEARD THE GARDEN’S BELL.

OUR SETTLEMENT IS READY TO RECONNECT.

BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM.

A pause followed.

Then another line appeared.

THE ORIGIN HAS SENT SOMEONE TO SPEAK WITH YOU.

Lin Yue straightened.

Shen Rui moved beside her.

"Someone from the Origin?"

"Possibly," Aster replied. "The signal carries an Origin signature, but it is not identical to the Cartographer’s transmissions."

The golden light flickered.

A final line appeared.

THE MESSENGER REQUESTS A MEETING.

IT CLAIMS TO HAVE BEEN THE FIRST PERSON THE ORIGIN EVER SAVED.

Silence filled the workshop.

Lin Yue stared at the message.

The Origin had once been built to preserve memory and protect worlds.

The Cartographer had turned maps into instruments of control.

The Possibility Weaver had offered alternative lives in place of real ones.

And now someone claimed to have known the Origin before it became what it was.

Someone who might remember why everything had begun.

Shen Rui glanced at his wife.

"Are we going to meet this messenger?"

Lin Yue folded her arms.

"Eventually."

"Eventually?"

"After breakfast."

He blinked.

"Breakfast?"

"Shen Rui, we are not meeting a potentially ancient and mysterious messenger on empty stomachs. We have learned absolutely nothing if we do that."

Lumi shot into the room.

"I support this policy!"

"You support eating," Aster observed.

"And I am very consistent."

Shen Rui laughed and reached for Lin Yue’s hand.

"Breakfast first, then?"

"Breakfast first."

"And afterward?"

She looked at the glowing message.

"Afterward, we find out what the Origin was trying to save in the first place."

Outside, the Golden Space shimmered in the morning light.

The restored Heartline glowed faintly beneath the soil, connecting the farm to places Lin Yue had never seen and people she had never met.

The future no longer looked like a narrow path leading toward one inevitable ending.

It looked like a field full of seeds.

Some would grow quickly.

Some would need care.

Some might fail.

And some might become something wonderful that no one had thought to plant.

Lin Yue squeezed Shen Rui’s hand.

Whatever waited ahead, they would face it together.

But first, she had a farm to run, a mystery to solve, and a husband who still had not learned the proper technique for drying cabbage.

Life, she decided, was wonderfully unreasonable.

And she wouldn’t have it any other way.

To be continued...