Starfall Nine Heavens

"Ms. Su, hello." Lin Fan spoke, his voice a little hoarse from a day of travel and tension, but his tone remained calm. "I'm Lin Fan. I accept the job you mentioned. When can I start?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, as if he wasn't surprised at all. "Okay. Tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, 23 Wutong Street, it's an antique shop called Chenyuan Pavilion."

"OK."

I hung up the phone.

Lin Fan knew that place. He had delivered things there before. Wutong Street was on the outskirts of the city center, lined with old plane trees, and most of the houses were in the style of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. There were teahouses, private restaurants, independent bookstores, and a few antique shops there.

He held his phone, watching the sunset slowly swallowed by the night. The streetlights in the park also came on. The fear of the dark alleyway still lingered in his heart, but at this moment, something clearer and more real took over.

He chose this path to ease the burden on his family and to prepare for the ever-present dangers that might return at any time.

He stood up, threw the empty lunchbox into the trash can, and walked towards the electric scooter parked by the roadside. The city's neon lights began to flicker, illuminating his path and the light in his eyes that belonged to those who bore responsibility.

Inside the Dust-Fate Pavilion, Su Wan pushed open the door to Lu Xiuyuan's study. He was standing by the window, watering a pot of orchids with a spray bottle.

"Uncle Lu, he agreed. He'll come at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Okay." Lu Xiuyuan put down the spray bottle, wiped his hands with a cloth, and smiled. "Then let him follow Han Feng for now, help out in the store, organize the warehouse, and get familiar with it."

Upon hearing this, Su Wan couldn't help but smile even on her usually cool face: "You're having Han Feng mentor the newcomer? That kid is always slacking off and complaining that working alone is boring. Aren't you afraid that putting the two of them together will only give him more excuses to slack off and lead Lin Fan astray as well?"

Lu Xiuyuan laughed and walked to the tea table to sit down, gesturing for Su Wan to sit as well. As he warmed the teacups, he said, "Who can't see through his little tricks? Shi Yue has been telling me a lot about it, saying that the dust in the storeroom is almost older than the antiques themselves."

He paused, his tone as if talking about his good-for-nothing nephew: "Young people, as long as they're not bad-natured, that's fine. Han Feng lacks a companion and a sense of responsibility. As for Lin Fan, I think he's more composed. If we put the two of them together, maybe Han Feng can learn to be more stable, and Lin Fan can adapt more quickly."

Su Wan accepted the tea, understanding dawning on her. Lu Xiuyuan was always like this, using a seemingly easygoing approach to place everyone in the right position.

"I understand, Uncle Lu. Let him start with the warehouse. The work isn't dangerous, but it'll be enough to turn the warehouse upside down."

"Hmm, you can arrange it as you see fit." Lu Xiuyuan took a sip of tea, his gaze gentle. "Xiao Su, you should also keep an eye on things. Lin Fan has a special kind of calm about him. He and Han Feng will be quite an interesting couple for us in the future."

The night before, Lin Fan rummaged through his meager wardrobe but couldn't find a single decent piece of clothing. After hesitating for a long time, he called Chen Hao. Chen Hao came from a middle-class family, and upon hearing that Lin Fan had found a new job and was going to a "decent" job the next morning, and since Chen Hao and Lin Fan were about the same height, he immediately brought over one of his old suits. Although the style was a bit outdated, it was ironed very neatly.

The next morning, Lin Fan arrived at Wutong Street half an hour early.

He was wearing a dark gray suit borrowed from Chen Hao, making him look several years older than usual. His hair was carefully styled, and the scar on his shoulder was hidden by his shirt. Standing at the shop entrance, he took a deep breath—he was more nervous about this job than he was back when he took the college entrance exam.

The facade of Chenyuan Pavilion is unremarkable. The plaque with gold lettering on a black background is written in a steady, methodical style. The two wooden doors are closed, their brass rings polished to a shine. Through the carved glass, only the dark-colored display shelves inside can be vaguely seen.

The sycamore-lined street was quiet in the morning light. The bluestone slabs, damp with night dew, gleamed dimly. Early risers slowly removed their door panels, and breakfast stalls steamed. Several antique shops were still closed, their porcelain and jade pieces silently displayed in the morning light. Patches of sunlight filtered through the sycamore branches, and the air smelled of old wood and dust.

Lin Fan pushed open the door, and the copper bell on the lintel rang crisply.

In that instant—the jade pendant he wore close to his skin trembled almost imperceptibly, like a feather brushing against his heart. It was so light that Lin Fan didn't even notice it.

The shop was quiet. Behind the counter stood a slightly overweight middle-aged man, wiping a blue-and-white porcelain vase with a soft cloth. When the brass bell rang, he didn't look up, nor did he stop wiping it; only the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, as if he had known someone would come. After two seconds, he put down the vase, raised his face, and revealed a friendly, prosperous smile.

Lin Fan's heart skipped a beat. This man was either hard of hearing or—too composed. Recalling Su Wan's skills that night, he suddenly felt that this smiling uncle in front of him was probably not a simple character either.

"Oh, you've arrived." He put down the porcelain vase, walked around from behind the counter, and looked Lin Fan up and down. "Young man, dressed so formally? You're all dressed in a sharp suit. I thought you were some young master coming for a blind date."

Lin Fan was taken aback, then tugged at his clothes a little embarrassedly, his nervousness easing somewhat.

"Haha, don't be nervous, I was just kidding." The middle-aged man waved his hand with a smile. "You must be Lin Fan. Su Wan mentioned last night that a young man named Lin Fan is coming today. My surname is Shi, Shi Yue, and I'm the assistant manager of this store. You can just call me Uncle Yue."

"Hello, Uncle Yue, I am Lin Fan." Lin Fan bowed slightly.

"Don't be so polite, that's what the young people in the shop call me." Shi Yue led him inside. "Our place looks impressive, but it's usually just a few of us guarding it. Su Wan mentioned it to you, right? It's mainly warehouse organization and registration work?"

"Yes, Miss Su mentioned it." Lin Fan nodded, his gaze involuntarily wandering around. The environment here was quiet and solemn, a completely different world from the noisy place where he usually worked as a deliveryman.

"That's good. I'll show you around a bit first, so you can get familiar with it. A young man will be coming over later, and he can show you around." Shi Yue spoke slowly and deliberately, pointing as they walked. "These are mostly Qing dynasty imitations of Ming dynasty porcelain... Over there on the shelves are some old jade pieces, some real and some fake. We need to know what's going on."

He was gentle in manner, and his words revealed his familiarity with the store.

Meanwhile, in a secret chamber deep underground within the Dust Fate Pavilion.

Inside the suspended starstone, the speed of the nebula's rotation seemed to have changed slightly. Just as Lin Fan pushed open the door and entered, a wisp of light, fainter than a candle flame, flashed through the deepest part of the starstone's core and disappeared in an instant.

Lu Xiuyuan, who had been sitting quietly in front of the star stone, slowly opened his eyes.

His face was refined, but his gaze seemed to penetrate the floorboards and see what was happening above.

"When the star shines, destiny appears; when calamity strikes, the light will not be extinguished..." The sixteen words passed down orally from his ancestors echoed silently in his heart. These words were like shackles, yet also like a lamp, guiding the watchers generation after generation to wait silently in this old shop called "Dust and Fate Pavilion".

"Shi Yue has already seen him..."

Lu Xiuyuan's divine sense gently enveloped the entire shop like ripples on water. He quietly observed, sensing every trace of Lin Fan's aura and every subtle reaction. Finally, he withdrew his divine sense, his expression returning to calm.

It's not certain yet, but it's highly likely.

As the leader of this generation of Watchers, he had to be cautious. The Starstone's reaction was an unprecedented sign, and he knew how much evidence was needed to confirm it. He decided to continue watching from the shadows, as he had done for countless days and nights before.

This time, however, the focus was on something else.