187: Chapter 187 The Guardian

The wind was still howling at Liuqiao Old Station, causing the construction barriers to bang against the metal frames with a dull, muffled sound in the empty night.

Chen Jue knelt in the mud, bracing himself on his knees as he panted for a long while before catching his breath.

His knees were scraped raw, and the muddy water seeping into the wounds stung, but he had no mind to care. He only looked back at the three people dragged to the safety zone—two inspectors and one construction worker, all wrapped in thermal blankets and leaning against the earthen slope. Their eyes were slowly regaining focus, though they were still mumbling vaguely about "getting off work" and "clocking out."

Zheng Xiang crouched nearby, handing them warm water. His movements were slow but steady, placing the water within reach of each person while reminding them, "Don't gulp it down" and "Catch your breath first."

Chen Jue stared at his back for a few seconds without saying a word.

He used to think that guarding the perimeter was humiliating. He knew the monsters were inside, he knew the danger was deeper in, yet all he could do was stop people, drag them away, and apply Fire Seals, like a handyman assigned to watch the door.

But during those ten seconds, when the boundary line Lin Zhao extended from dozens of kilometers away lit up, he was dragging one person with each hand, and only one thought remained in his mind: He had to pull them back.

This post at the entrance wasn't something just anyone could hold.

"Is no one else coming from behind?" Chen Jue asked with a hoarse voice.

"Not for now." Zheng Xiang turned back, wiping away sweat. "I applied warning Fire Seals along the path; they will light up if anyone else approaches."

Chen Jue gave an "Mm" and pulled out his communicator: "Chen Shi, what's the situation now?"

"It is 19:42 real-time. The thirteen-minute discrepancy hasn't fully returned, but the reality scale has stabilized." Chen Shi's voice came through the channel, devoid of warmth as always. "There are still abnormal fluctuations deep in the old station. The Law-Suppressing Bell Shadow hasn't retreated; it has only pulled back."

"Understood."

Chen Jue put away the communicator and glanced toward the old station. The pitch-black platform looked like an open mouth, and the yellow line emitted a light so faint it was almost invisible in the night. No one could say for sure what was still hiding over there.

He didn't charge in.

In the past, he might have slipped inside to investigate, but now he stood still—the things inside could wait for reinforcements to check, but keeping an eye on the people in his hands and ensuring they weren't lured back in was what mattered most.

Suddenly, Lin Zhao's voice came through the channel, very soft and slightly breathless: "Have all the people been rescued?"

Chen Jue looked up abruptly: "Why aren't you resting yet? Your hand..."

"It's fine." Lin Zhao's voice paused, with the soft sound of Xu Minglan setting things down in the background. "Just a blister burst; I won't die from it."

"Who asked if you were going to die?" Chen Jue retorted stubbornly. "Stop using your ability recklessly. If Brother Ye comes back and scolds you, I won't stop him."

Lin Zhao let out a low chuckle, very soft, and didn't say anything more.

At the temporary medical station in Qinghe, Xu Minglan was treating the burst blister on the back of Lin Zhao's hand. As the iodophor wiped over the wound, Lin Zhao's fingertips trembled, but he didn't pull away.

"If you keep performing long-distance, cross-boundary transmissions like this, next time it won't just be a blister." Xu Minglan didn't hold back, her tone cold. "That is not how a Lamp Keeper should be used."

Lin Zhao looked at his trembling fingertips and suddenly said softly: "I used to think that the Guardian Lamp meant lighting the fire and blocking the darkness outside."

Xu Minglan's movements paused.

"It's not a wall." Lin Zhao looked out the window, where the lights of Qinghe twinkled like stars in the night. "In the end, guarding isn't about locking people inside a safety zone. It's about carving out a space for them... where they can still stand their ground."

In Xinhuo Hall, these words came through the channel and fell into the quiet band of light.

The central stele lit up slightly, and a new line of route records slowly appeared.

[ Lin Zhao: Prototype of Boundary Keeping confirmed. ]

[ Subsequent carryable Law Artifacts: To be determined. ]

Bai Ya leaned back in his chair, twirling a black crow feather between his fingertips. Hearing this, he curled the corner of his mouth: "He's on the right path."

Shen Qinghe stood beside the Fire Map, watching the faint trace between Qinghe and Liu Bridge that had briefly lit up and then extinguished. She nodded and said: "In the past, the Lamp-Keeping Zone was about enclosing land, drawing a circle to tell people 'it's safe here.' He is now providing people with a place to stand on the boundary—it's not about blocking the darkness, but about pulling back those who are about to fall in. This is true boundary keeping."

Lu Chen stood at the very front of the Fire Map, his fingertips hovering over the light point of Liu Bridge, saying nothing.

Deep within the Fire Map, the Law-Suppressing Bell Shadow lay quietly, neither ringing nor moving. The Silent Bell Law was still testing the edges of the three cities, but the people below had already grown their own boundary a step ahead.

Over at Liu Bridge, Chen Jue found a cleaner rock to sit on, staring blankly in the direction of the old station.

Zheng Xiang handed over half an energy bar: "Want some? We'll still be busy when the reinforcements arrive later."

Chen Jue took it and bit into it; it was so dry it choked him. He gulped down some water and suddenly asked: "Weren't you afraid just now?"

Zheng Xiang was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "I was afraid, of course I was. I don't know how to fight, and when I saw their eyes staring blankly just now, my legs went weak."

"Then why did you run forward?"

"I thought those of you who can fight weren't afraid, but then I saw your face was pale too." Zheng Xiang wiped his sweat and smiled a bit foolishly. "Then I felt relieved. If everyone is afraid but can still hold on, then it's not shameful."

Chen Jue was choked up by what he said. He wanted to curse, but seeing his earnest expression, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

He used to look down on these logistical tasks, thinking they were only for people without talent. But today he finally understood: Zheng Xiang knew who had low blood sugar, who had heart conditions, knew how to coax people who were terrified, and knew to apply Fire Seals and leave markers along the way—all these trivial, unglamorous things, when put together, could pull someone back half a foot from the gates of hell.

It was no easier than rushing to the front to kill monsters.

When the sky went completely dark, the reinforcement team finally arrived.

The medical staff took away the three affected people, and the relieving Lamp-Keeping team began to redeploy defenses along the perimeter of the old station. Only after Chen Jue clearly handed over the scene did he and Zheng Xiang retreat.

After walking a long distance, Chen Jue looked back.

The new Lamp-Keeping line lit up. It wasn't some earth-shattering blaze, just a small circle of warm yellow light that steadily encircled the perimeter of the old station, like a solid foothold in the dark night.

He suddenly remembered what Lin Zhao said about the "boundary."

There is no such thing as a natural boundary.

It's just that someone stood there, stopping those who wanted to walk forward, blocking the darkness that wanted to overflow. After standing there for a long time, the ground beneath their feet became a boundary.

The channel was very quiet; Lin Zhao had already fallen asleep, his breathing light and steady.

No one called them heroes.

Chen Jue's trouser legs were still stained with mud, and his palms were scraped raw; Zheng Xiang carried a half-empty supply pack, panting from exhaustion. They hadn't rushed into the core area to kill monsters, nor had they dismantled any source of anomaly; they had simply dragged three people back who were about to step into the darkness.

But the place where they had stood became a boundary.

A boundary that guards living people from falling into the abyss.

The wind swept the night across Liu Bridge. The Bell Law deep in the old station was still dormant, as if testing whether this newly grown boundary was hard enough.

Chen Jue gripped the Fire Seal sticker in his hand, not stopping his pace.

Whether it's hard enough, we'll find out when we test it.