Starfall Nine Heavens

The next morning, Lin Fan stood outside the Chenyuan Pavilion, hesitating for the first time.

He didn't sleep well last night. His dreams were filled with the darkness reflected in the mirror and those horrific images that kept replaying in his mind. He only managed to doze off for a short while as dawn approached, but the alarm clock woke him up again. He stared at himself in the mirror for a long time; his eyes were dark-circled and bloodshot, but there was something new in the depths of his gaze that he hadn't seen before.

It's hard to say whether it was vigilance or something else.

In the end, he pushed the door open.

As soon as the copper bell rang, the morning light filled the shop, and the sandalwood incense wafted in the air. Everything was just as usual—and all eyes in the shop fell on him.

"Lin Fan! You've finally arrived!"

Han Feng was the first to rush over, grabbing his shoulders and looking him up and down like he was examining a patient. "I took the day off yesterday to go home, and when I got here this morning I heard you were in trouble! How are you? Are you hurt? Were you terrified?"

Lin Fan felt a warmth in his heart. Han Feng was usually carefree and unserious, but this concern was genuine. After a month of spending time together, the two had become friends who could joke around together.

"It's nothing, I was just startled."

"What do you mean 'startled'!" Han Feng gritted his teeth. "I should have known better than to take the day off yesterday! Where's that damn mirror? How dare it scare my brother! I'll get Brother Qin to melt it down!"

Shi Yue came out from the inner room, carrying a cup of hot tea, his round face still bearing that amiable smile. "With your mediocre skills, if you really ran into someone, you'd need Lin Fan to protect you." He turned to Lin Fan and asked with concern, "Last night, Lao Lu told me that there was something dirty mixed in with that shipment. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Uncle Yue."

"That's good." Shi Yue patted his shoulder. "In our line of work, it's inevitable to encounter some strange things. Be more careful in the future."

Even Qin Mo came down from the second floor. He adjusted his glasses, nodded to Lin Fan, said "It's good that you're alright," and then turned and went back upstairs. This was the limit of his concern.

Looking at these people, Lin Fan felt a mix of emotions. He had come here for the high salary, but unknowingly, the snacks Shi Yue would occasionally slip him, Qin Mo silently repairing the porcelain bottle he had accidentally knocked over, and the laughter brought by Han Feng's jokes—these small things gradually melted away the knot in his heart that had been frozen by the heavy pressure of life.

Just then, Su Wan walked in from the backyard.

"Lin Fan." She walked straight up to him, a rare hint of concern showing on her usually cold face. "I heard about it from Uncle Lu. How are you feeling?"

"Sister Su Wan, I'm fine."

He didn't actually do anything; he was just frightened and relied entirely on the jade pendant and Lu Xiuyuan's help.

But the people in the shop genuinely cared for him. It didn't feel like a shop that employed him; it felt more like... a home.

"That's good." She paused. "Uncle Lu wants to see you."

The store fell silent instantly.

Shi Yue and Qin Mo exchanged a glance, and Han Feng also dropped his playful grin. It wasn't surprise, but rather a look of "finally here"—relief, anticipation, and a sense of... true acceptance that brought him into the circle.

They've all heard about it.

He knew Lu Xiuyuan would be looking for him today, and that this time it wasn't just a simple "talk." He also knew what it meant when Lin Fan followed Su Wan to the backyard, towards that door he had never seen before.

Lin Fan's heart tightened: "Now?" Lin Fan immediately thought of the gentle yet powerful middle-aged man from yesterday—Lu Xiuyuan.

"Okay. It's in the backyard. I'll take you there."

Su Wan turned and walked deeper into the shop, Lin Fan following. As they passed Shi Yue, Shi Yue gently patted his back and whispered, "Go on."

Han Feng, standing to the side, winked and mouthed, "Go for it!"

Qin Mo nodded slightly to him.

The backyard wasn't large, only about twenty square meters, with a few clumps of green bamboo growing there, and some old wooden crates piled up in the corner. Lin Fan's gaze unconsciously drifted towards the quiet room on the east side.

The door to the meditation room was ajar. He had been inside several times in the past month. Shi Yue had said that this was the pavilion master's occasional place for quiet meditation, and that it was usually unused, so he was asked to clean it regularly. Last weekend, he had come in to wipe the antique shelves and add incense ash to the incense burner. The room contained only a tea table, two cushions, a few rows of bookshelves, and the landscape painting on the wall—nothing out of the ordinary.

Su Wan walked straight to the quiet room and pushed open the door.

Lin Fan followed him inside. The room was the same as before, with the new tea he had prepared last week laid out on the tea table. Sunlight streamed in from the small window high up, falling on the blue brick floor.

Su Wan did not stop. She walked to the mural "Pine Waves Under the Moon" on the north wall, stretched out her right hand, and gently pressed her palm on the lower right corner of the painting—where an inconspicuous brown rock was depicted.

hum.

A very soft sound, like the trembling of a harp string, came from the air.

The next second, ripples spread across the surface of the landscape mural, and the dark mountains seemed to come alive, receding to both sides to reveal a downward staircase entrance. The staircase glowed with a soft white light, and the metallic walls had a matte finish, gently extending into the ground.

Lin Fan's pupils contracted, and his heart skipped a beat.

So that's where it was. He had been to this room several times, wiped the painting, and even carefully dusted the frame with a soft cloth. He had never noticed anything unusual about the stone, nor did he know that a passage was hidden behind the mural.

The true secret of Chenyuan Pavilion lies hidden beneath the most inconspicuous quiet room. In an instant, many things that had previously gone unnoticed suddenly came together: Shi Yue always personally cleaned the quiet room, Han Feng occasionally disappeared mysteriously, Qin Mo went in with a special object and didn't come out for a long time... It turned out they had all gone down there.

He turned around instinctively.

Shi Yue had followed them over at some point and was smiling and nodding at him. Han Feng grinned and gave a thumbs up. Qin Mo still didn't show much expression, but there was a rare hint of encouragement in his eyes.

These people... already knew.

"Let's go." Su Wan stepped onto the stairs first.

Lin Fan took a deep breath and followed him inside.

The wall behind me quietly closed in. The staircase was long, spiraling downwards, with crystals emitting a soft white light embedded in the walls on both sides. After descending about three floors, the view suddenly opened up before me.

This is a vast underground space, with a ceiling height exceeding five meters, larger than the entire Chenyuan Pavilion shop plus its backyard. The floor is paved with bluestone slabs, and the walls are made of solid gray-white rock, their surfaces engraved with intricate patterns. The most striking feature is the central area—a circular, sunken meeting space, furnished with a massive stone round table and a dozen high-backed chairs. A recessed area in the center of the table displays an intricately detailed starry sky relief.

Centered on the hall, seven or eight passageways extended in different directions, disappearing into the darkness. Each passageway entrance was unique: some had archways covered with bronze patterns, others had smooth, mirror-like alloy doors. Plaques hung beside the doors, inscribed with ancient characters—Lin Fan only had time to make out the closest ones: "Document Pavilion," "Hundred Weapons Pavilion," "Martial Arts Arena"...

To his surprise, the basement wasn't as stuffy as he had imagined. The air had a unique freshness, like a forest after the rain, and taking a breath of it was invigorating.

"This way." Su Wan didn't stop and walked straight towards one of the passages. The entrance to the passage was the most solid and simple, built from a single piece of bluestone, with three characters engraved on the plaque on the side of the door: "Su Xing Pavilion".

At the end of the passage was a black metal door. It was simple, yet it gave off a heavy sense of oppression.