301: Behind the door is

[Old District · Wutong Road Back Alley]

The evening light cast long shadows in the narrow alley, with old walls on both sides covered in mottled moss stains and watermarks.

A faint, damp, musty smell lingered in the air, but what drew more attention were some incongruous traces at the corners of walls or under eaves—scattered plastic fragments, nail holes, and a few small cable ends left behind after being roughly torn off.

According to the municipal maintenance records Shen Mingyuan had previously retrieved and sporadic complaints from nearby residents, attempts had been made several times to install public security cameras here, but without exception, they were always damaged or dismantled by unknown means within a short time, eventually left unresolved.

This targeted "cleaning" kept the alley in a deliberately maintained state of "blind spots."

Shen Mingyuan stood at the alley entrance, his sharp gaze sweeping over these silent pieces of evidence. Remote investigation had outlined the contours, but only by being here in person could one feel this meticulously maintained "abnormality."

All the missing persons' last traces vanished here, and surveillance failed here—this was no coincidence. Illness, despair... What was the purpose of targeting those with such traits?

The recovery of memories was slow and stubborn; the face of The boy in blue remained blurry, but a nearly instinctive sense of closeness and protectiveness grew clearer with thought—they must have played together, in some sealed-off summer.

He stepped into the alley, his footsteps echoing in the unusually quiet environment. His fingertips brushed over the rough brick walls as his eyes carefully examined every crevice that might hide clues.

"Hey, found anything?"

The voice came from behind and to his side, carrying a familiar casualness. Shen Mingyuan instinctively replied:

"No, it's been thoroughly destroyed. Even the most recent installation traces have been cleaned up. This kind of 'maintenance' is too deliberate..." He stopped mid-sentence, abruptly turning his head.

Lu Jianchuan was leaning against the wall inside the alley entrance, arms crossed, having stood there for who knows how long. His face showed no particular expression, just a slight raise of his eyebrows with an "as expected" understanding.

"Brother Lu? What are you doing here?" Shen Mingyuan was somewhat surprised.

"Saw you." Lu Jianchuan straightened up and walked over, his gaze also sweeping over the remnants of the cameras, frowning slightly—he had seen this during his time as a police officer, usually characteristic of certain illicit places to prevent evidence collection.

"Golden Bone mentioned a bit about your memory issues and your reaction after receiving the pills.

Knowing you, and with your 'Detective nose' sharper than a hound's, you wouldn't ignore such obvious clues. Pushing your action patterns a little, finding this place wasn't hard."

He paused, looking at Shen Mingyuan, "But you, why are you focused on here? This alley is eerie; colleagues at the old district Police Station all know—install as many cameras as you want, they'll break, and in the end, it's just left as an unsolved case."

Shen Mingyuan exhaled, pointing at the damage traces: "That's one reason. The more direct reason is, today I met a seven- or eight-year-old child who triggered a strong resonance deep in my memory—I'm certain I knew him as a kid."

Lu Jianchuan's pupils slightly contracted: "Seven or eight years old? You now... He hasn't changed at all?"

"That's the strangest part. Surveillance caught him, clear and unmistakable; he just ran into this alley, and then," Shen Mingyuan pointed deeper into the alley, "never came out. No angles we could find captured him leaving."

Lu Jianchuan fell silent for a few seconds, seemingly digesting this information that defied common sense.

"The legends about this alley... I heard a few versions when I was a beat cop. The most popular one says that people in extreme pain, with no way out, inexplicably come here, and then... 'go to a painless kingdom.' Of course, no one took it seriously, just dismissed it as nonsense."

He looked around the overly quiet alley, "But if it's linked to what you encountered and these missing persons cases..."

"Then it's not a legend." Shen Mingyuan interjected, his eyes refocusing, "It's a clue."

Lu Jianchuan flexed his wrist, looking at Shen Mingyuan: "So, great Detective, planning to go in alone to investigate? Your build,"

he gestured at Shen Mingyuan's lean physique, "and your two guns' style, are better suited for controlling situations at medium to long range, right?

Places like this, pitch-black with many corners and poor visibility, are where you're most likely to get ambushed. Even in games, an ADC without a front line to scout the bushes is easy to die."

Shen Mingyuan caught the concern and teasing in his words, a faint, almost imperceptible smile tugging at the corner of his mouth: "Yeah, classic tactical mistake. So,"

he turned sideways, making a "please" gesture, "Officer Lu, experienced front-line comrade, interested in conducting some 'on-site investigation' together? In case there really is a 'painless kingdom' reception desk, it's good to have backup."

Lu Jianchuan snorted a laugh, walking forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Shen Mingyuan: "Let's go. See what's here, playing tricks and stealing kids—no matter how old that kid really is."

The two used flashlights, almost inch by inch, inspecting this not-very-long back alley. They tapped walls to listen for sounds, checked ground crevices, and didn't overlook any seemingly suspicious bumps or depressions.

Shen Mingyuan's flashlight beam stopped on a half-embedded, rusted circular iron cover in the ground at the corner of a wall, with a blurred sewer symbol carved on it. "Could it be here?" He crouched down, knocking on it with his knuckles, producing a dull echo.

Lu Jianchuan also crouched to look: "You think he went into the sewer? Not impossible... But logically, when missing persons reports were filed before, the Police Station and later investigators would have prioritized checking such obvious places." He motioned for Shen Mingyuan to move aside a bit, reached out to grip the edge's pull ring, and yanked hard.

"Creak—"

The iron cover was lifted a crack, and a heavy, stale, foul air immediately surged out. The flashlight beam shone down; below wasn't the imagined spacious pipe or maintenance passage for people, but densely packed, almost clogged old pipelines and sedimented mud and rubble, with extremely cramped space—even a cat would struggle to squeeze through, let alone a child or adult.

"Seems not here." Lu Jianchuan frowned, resealing the iron cover tightly, "This state doesn't look like it's been disturbed recently."

Shen Mingyuan nodded, his gaze shifting to the large green trash bin on the other side of the alley emitting a sour, rancid smell. "Then... under the trash bin? Classic secret passage trope." He felt it was a bit far-fetched even as he said it, but together with Lu Jianchuan, they moved the heavy bin aside from left and right.

Underneath, besides damp ground, a few rotten vegetable leaves, and a startled cockroach scurrying away, there was nothing. The ground was solid concrete.

"Where could he have gone?" Shen Mingyuan straightened up, looking around this alley that seemed to have nowhere left to hide. It had all the eerie traits of an urban legend site, yet was too 'normal'—aside from those deliberately damaged camera traces, it looked just like thousands of ordinary back alleys, piled with clutter, faded ads, and mottled walls.

His gaze finally settled on the only dark red wooden door at the deepest part of the alley, which looked like the back door of some building. The door was old, with peeling paint, but the frame and hinges seemed sturdy enough, not completely abandoned.

"Besides this, there's nowhere else." Shen Mingyuan took a few steps closer, sweeping his flashlight up and down the door panel, "But isn't this too obvious? A normal back door, belonging to some household or small shop's back entrance. Open it, and you're inside the building. If there are no cameras inside, or if cameras were also dealt with..."

"Whatever." Lu Jianchuan interrupted his hesitation, walking forward, raising his hand, and knocking three times on the door panel with his knuckles, not too lightly or heavily.

"Knock, knock, knock."

The sound was particularly clear in the silent alley, even a bit abrupt.

The two held their breath and waited.

A few seconds passed, with no response from inside—no footsteps, no inquiries, not even a change in light seeping from under the door crack.

Lu Jianchuan frowned, knocking three more times, this time with slightly more force.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Still, there was only dead silence. Only the faint sound of distant street traffic made the silence behind this door seem even deeper and more off.

"No one?" Shen Mingyuan whispered, his hand already instinctively reaching inside his trench coat—where the disguised model of the "twin stars" pistol was usually kept, also his preparatory move to summon the armor at any time, "Or... not wanting to answer?"

Lu Jianchuan lowered his hand, turning to Shen Mingyuan, lowering his voice: "Should we force our way in? Even with official backing, we could explain afterward, but it's not formal search procedure, so it's a bit of trouble."

Shen Mingyuan didn't answer immediately; his gaze swept over the empty, dead-silent alley again, finally returning to this eerily silent door.

All clues pointed here—that child, those vanished sufferers, the deliberately maintained surveillance blind spots... Reason told him he needed more procedural preparation, but the Detective's instinct and that lingering sense of familiarity urged him on.

"Do you have any other clues or a better way?" Shen Mingyuan retorted, his voice very soft.

Lu Jianchuan was silent for a moment, shaking his head: "No. The other party clearly doesn't intend to open the door. Let's go in and look; if it's really just ordinary residents inside, we apologize, compensate, write reports. But if..." He didn't finish, but the meaning was clear.

Shen Mingyuan took a deep breath and nodded: "Move lightly, try not to damage too much."

"Got it." Lu Jianchuan flexed his shoulders, took two steps back, turned sideways to gather strength, then suddenly slammed his shoulder into the door panel near the lock bolt.

"Thud!"

A heavy, muffled sound echoed in the alley. The old wooden door shook violently, dust falling in showers, but the frame was sturdier than expected.

Lu Jianchuan spat, adjusted his stance, and slammed again.

"Thud—crack!"

The second time, accompanied by a clear sound of wood breaking, the lock structure finally gave way. The hinges groaned under the strain as the dark red wooden door swung inward, hitting the wall inside and bouncing back slightly, revealing behind it a thick darkness that the flashlight beam couldn't immediately fully dispel.

An indescribable scent, completely different from the alley's damp mustiness, quietly wafted out from the darkness inside the door.

The two instantly went on alert; Shen Mingyuan's hand was already gripping the hard object under his trench coat, and Lu Jianchuan tensed his body.

The door was open.

What was inside?