190: Chapter 190 Guardian Light Board

The moment the sound returned, the first thing to ring out in the Qinghe Safe House was a weak cry.

It wasn't a wail, but a very light, thin sound squeezed out from a child's throat after holding their breath for too long, finally inhaling. The sound was so small it was almost drowned out by the wind, yet it was like a needle, piercing through the stifling pressure hanging over everyone's heads. The people gathered at the doorway froze in unison, then some gasped for air, and others sobbed quietly, like a group of people just pulled from the water.

Zheng Xiang slid down against the doorframe to the floor, letting out a long breath, his back soaked with sweat.

"This is the first time in my life that I've felt someone crying sounds so good."

The mother holding the child hugged the little girl, crying and laughing at the same time. She wanted to say thank you, but as soon as she opened her mouth, only sobs came out, unable to form a complete sentence for a long time.

Lin Zhao was still standing by the door, unmoving.

The fire line on the doorframe had not yet dissipated, like a burning red boundary marker lying between the inside and outside of the door. His palm was pressed against it, his skin scorched bright red, his knuckles trembling slightly, but he never let go.

Xu Minglan walked over, her voice lowered: "Lin Zhao."

Lin Zhao blinked, as if just pulling himself out of a certain state, his eyes still a bit unfocused: "Is it over?"

"For now."

"And the people?"

"They're all here, not a single one missing."

Lin Zhao nodded, his tense shoulders suddenly relaxing, and his body slumped straight backward. Xu Minglan had been prepared; she reached out and caught his arm, her grip steady.

The remote feed happened to cut to Chen Jue's side. He had just retreated from Liu Bridge and, seeing this scene, his expression changed immediately: "He collapsed again?"

Zheng Xiang, sitting on the ground, replied irritably: "You think guarding the door is easy? If you're so capable, come over and try it yourself."

Chen Jue opened his mouth but ultimately didn't say anything.

Lin Zhao hadn't completely passed out.

He was just too tired. So tired that he couldn't even lift his fingers, and his ears were filled with a hollow, buzzing sound. Yet he could still hear the chaotic noises in the Safe House: children crying, the elderly coughing, Zheng Xiang shouting to take a headcount, Xu Minglan asking someone to bring burn ointment, and people in the distance whispering about whether they could go home.

These sounds were messy, noisy, and not dignified at all.

But they were alive, and they were real.

He suddenly curved his lips and smiled.

Xu Minglan frowned, pressing the cotton swab in her hand against the back of his hand: "What are you smiling at?"

"There's sound now."

"You almost lost your life."

"That's still better than no sound."

Xu Minglan was so angry she wanted to rap him on the forehead, but seeing the blisters rising on the back of his hand, she just pressed the cotton swab a bit harder. Lin Zhao gasped in pain, hissing as he drew in cool air.

In Xinhuo Hall, Lu Chen was looking at the Guardian Lamp records for the outer perimeter of Qinghe.

This couldn't be counted as a beautiful victory.

No core enemy was killed, the Distant Sea Clock Tower wasn't destroyed, and they hadn't crossed the sea to save everyone on the Rhine Line. Qinghe, Jiangbei, and Linhai—all three locations were merely barely held, keeping the anomalies from seeping further in. Bai Ya had suffered a backlash, Lin Zhao had overdrawn his strength, the three-city fire map had been marked by the Law-Suppressing Bell Shadow, and the Clock Collector in the Distant Sea had also noted the Torch's lamp.

But Lu Chen knew clearly that this step was more important than anything else.

Because this time, the Torch didn't rely on one person to smash the situation open with a single punch.

It was that every lamp had held the boundary at its own feet.

Chen Jue had dragged back three people at Liu Bridge with a return rope, Zheng Xiang had blocked the entrance of the Safe House and held the line, Tide had used headlights and flashlights to set the rhythm for evacuation, Tyrannosaurus King had parked a broken trailer across the Linhai intersection as a barrier, and Jiaoyue had torn up bedsheets to map out a return path for the patients. Xu Minglan had held back the overdrawn Lin Zhao and also held together the morale of people who were about to fall apart.

And Lin Zhao had made "Guardian Lamp" truly become "Border-Guarding" for the first time.

On the central stele, new writing slowly emerged, each stroke steady.

[Lin Zhao: Border-Guarding prototype stabilized.]

[Route confirmed: Lamp Keeper.]

[Usable artifact: Border-Guarding Lamp Plate.]

Zhao Ye crossed his arms and looked at the line of text, raising an eyebrow: "It's finally his turn."

Bai Ya leaned back in his chair, his face still pale, but his mouth wasn't idle: "The tone you're using sounds like you're handing out year-end bonuses to employees."

Zhao Ye glanced at him: "You still have the energy to be snarky?"

"Being snarky doesn't take energy."

Shen Qinghe stood by the stele, not smiling, her tone carrying a bit of concern: "Giving it now? His body hasn't recovered yet."

Lu Chen didn't answer immediately.

He always remembered the discretion required for Law-Artifacts—it couldn't be a reward for hard work, and even less could it be given to someone just because they were pitiful. Every Law-Artifact that could be truly bound had to be the fruit that naturally formed when one's route, cost, and choice collided.

This time, Lin Zhao didn't just stubbornly hold a door.

He had figured out what it was he really wanted to guard.

Guardian Lamp wasn't about hiding people inside a Safe House; it was about carving out a place where people could still stand for everyone who stood on the boundary.

It was because there were people behind him that there was a border to guard.

Lu Chen raised his hand.

On the doorframe of the Qinghe Safe House, the fire line that was about to extinguish didn't dissipate; instead, it slowly retracted inward. Gray-white firelight was drawn from the doorframe, the scorched Guardian Lamp stickers, the damaged Fire Seal, and the wounds on Lin Zhao's palms, slowly condensing in the air until it finally became a dark bronze lamp plate the size of a palm.

The lamp plate wasn't exquisite.

Its four corners bore traces of being burned, and a vertical line was carved in the middle.

On one side of the line was half a lamp.

On the other side of the line was half a door.

When it landed gently beside Lin Zhao, Xu Minglan had just finished bandaging his hand. Lin Zhao turned his head to see the lamp plate, and his first reaction wasn't surprise, but a frown.

"Giving me this now... does it mean that from now on, all this crap has to be handled by me?"

Xu Minglan sneered: "You're quite self-aware."

Lin Zhao fell silent, looking at the lamp plate with an expression that said "I knew nothing good would come of this."

Chen Jue, in the remote feed, looked at the lamp plate, his eyes complex. There was envy, and there was unwillingness to accept it, but more than that, he understood—he hadn't reached that step yet.

Lu Chen's voice came through the Fire Seal, very soft, yet very clear.

"Lin Zhao."

Lin Zhao looked up.

"The Border-Guarding Lamp Plate is not to make you stand at the very front forever."

"It is to remind you—only when there are people behind you is there a border to guard."

Lin Zhao looked at the lamp plate, silent for a long time, then reached out his hand, wrapped in gauze like a rice dumpling, and gently touched the surface of the lamp plate with his fingertips.

The lamp plate lit up.

There was no blinding firelight, just a steady, pale gray boundary line paved at the entrance of the Safe House. It wasn't high, it wasn't bright, but it felt like it had been nailed to the ground.

Several people in the Safe House who had just recovered subconsciously looked at that line.

They couldn't say why, but seeing that line, their hearts suddenly felt at ease.

Bai Ya looked at the synchronized feed and said slowly: "Congratulations, Doorkeeper."

Lin Zhao replied irritably: "You're the doorkeeper."

Zhao Ye chuckled.

The tension that had been stretched tight all night finally loosened a little.

But in the darkness of the Distant Sea, there was no loosening.

That night, the third message from the Rhine Line came through.

This time it wasn't audio, nor was it video; it was a very short list.

After the Sixth Shelter fell, of the twelve people she had brought out, two hadn't survived the silence and remained in the drainage pipes forever. Seven others were trapped in the old shelter level beneath the Clock Tower, their fate unknown.

At the end of the list, Rhine had written a line of text, the strokes heavy, as if one could feel the weight just by looking through the screen.

[The Clock Collector has started searching for that silent bell pattern.]

[You have hidden very well.]

[But it already knows that the bell is in the fire.]

Lu Chen looked at that line of text, and the Law-Suppressing Bell Shadow deep within the Fire Map sank silently.

It didn't have a formal name yet.

It couldn't reveal itself to the world with dignity yet.

But this was the first time an enemy had taken the initiative to start searching for it.

Zero's prompt popped up simultaneously:

[Distant Sea Clockless Shore mark deepened.]

[New anomaly line appeared on the outside of the three-city fire map.]

[Suggestion: Postpone active sea crossing.]

Zhao Ye looked at that suggestion and sneered: "The more it doesn't want us to go, the more I want to go."

Shen Qinghe shook her head: "Wanting to go is one thing, but we must be fully prepared before going. The Rhine Line can still hold on, and we need to save up enough strength."

Bai Ya rubbed the black marks on the Patrol Crow Lamp with his fingertips, his voice softening: "It won't be able to hold on for too long."

Lu Chen didn't say to save them immediately, nor did he say to give up.

He just had Zero save the Rhine Line's list into the Torch's Registry of Names.

Those people were not yet members of the Torch.

Some had never even seen the Torch's lamp.

But they had lit the way in the darkness of the Clockless Shore, saved people, and gritted their teeth to hold on through round after round of bell ringing.

Then they deserved to be remembered.

Below the stele, a new line of temporary records slowly lit up.

[Rhine Line: Surviving.]

Deep in the darkness of the Distant Sea, in the hollow of the Clock Tower, that hand wearing a white glove pulled back the black cloth once again.

This time, it didn't silence, nor did it ring the bell.

It raised its hand and gently stroked the crack on the face of its own clock.

On the edge of the crack, without knowing when, a bit of extremely faint gray-white fire mark had appeared.

As if it had been scorched by something.

The Clock Collector tilted its head and looked toward the direction of the three cities.

In the darkness, there was no sound.

But everyone knew—

The next round of bell ringing was about to come.