Don't go to the moon, there are gods on the far side of the moon.

The light from the nine fragments lasted for seven minutes.

Within seven minutes, the entire space city could see three more Venus stars appear in the night sky.

The official report stated that it was due to abnormal atmospheric reflection at higher altitudes.

The internet is in an uproar.

Nobody at the Tianheng base has time to argue.

Lu Chenggong was pushed into the neural isolation chamber, Zhou Lie was seriously injured, and three adaptors withdrew from the program. The molten trench in the training ground was still smoking, and a new crack appeared on the surface of the black pillar.

Lin Jibai sat in the medical room, his shoulder requiring eleven stitches.

He wasn't given anesthesia.

Not a tough guy.

This is because the anesthetic reduces the sensitivity of the Tianzhu echo, and he needs to remain conscious.

Xiaoman is still in the Moon Palace.

Father is still on the far side of the moon.

The remnant of the nine days has awakened again.

He doesn't deserve to sleep.

Xu Wangshu pushed open the door and came in, holding a test report in her hand.

"Good news, you're not dead."

Lin Jibai looked up: "What's the bad news?"

"Your neural echo intensity has tripled. If you continue reading like this, you might forget some things first."

"for example?"

"Name, date, route—in severe cases, you might forget what someone means to you."

Lin Jibai remained silent.

Xu Wangshu looked at him: "Are you already showing symptoms?"

Lin Jibai did not answer.

While he was getting stitches, there was a moment when he couldn't recall his mother's face.

My mother passed away early, so my memories of her are naturally faint.

But it doesn't fade away naturally.

It was like someone gently rubbing it with an eraser.

"I need to be added to the sample library," he said.

"Now?"

"Lu Chengong said that something behind the Moonbeam Gate took over the Nine Suns Fragments. The Guanghan Palace received Xiaoman, so there must be records there."

Xu Wangshu frowned: "Tianheng will not open its core sample library."

"That's why we don't use the main entrance."

Five minutes later, the two stood in front of the abandoned cooling pipes on the third basement level.

Xu Wangshu stared at the maintenance opening that Lin Jibai had pried open, and remained silent for two seconds.

"How many pieces of non-compliant equipment have you repaired in the past?"

"Being poor is not considered a violation of rules, it's considered life experience."

The pipes were narrow and as cold as an icebox.

The two climbed more than twenty meters before an old-fashioned maintenance door appeared ahead. The door lock was a mechanical structure and not connected to the internet.

Lin Jibai's eyes lit up: "This designer is a good person."

He poked at the door with two steel wires for more than ten seconds, and with a click, the door opened.

Behind the door is a low-temperature sample storage room.

Rows of transparent capsules were immersed in blue and white mist, each capsule containing lunar soil, chips, mechanical debris, or unnamed objects.

Deep inside, there is a broken mechanical rabbit head.

The remains of the Jade Rabbit.

Its red electronic eye suddenly lit up.

"Unauthorized access".

Lin Jibai raised the metal ring on his wrist: "Gonggong side variable, request to query the Guanghan Palace reception record."

Red light flickered in the Jade Rabbit's eyes.

"Gonggong-side variables do not have library guard permissions."

Xu Wangshu stepped forward: "Xu Wangshu from the lunar far side sample group requests temporary research permission."

"Insufficient permissions".

"Chang'e candidate information search"

"Candidate vacancy".

Xu Wangshu's eyes darkened.

She took out a corner of her family's heirloom moon painting from her pocket.

Those were fragments of an old painting she brought from home. They depicted a moon without a front, a palace on the back of the moon, a rabbit outside the palace, and a door in front of the rabbit.

When the fragments approached the remains of the Yutu rover, the temperature of the entire sample library dropped sharply.

The Yutu electronic eye changed from red to moon white.

"Guardian lineage detected."

"Candidate eligibility verification in progress."

Just as Lin Jibai was about to speak, the sound of shattering glass suddenly came from deep within the sample library.

One of the storage compartments cracked open.

The black lunar soil inside surged out like a living thing, solidifying into a faceless woman.

She was dressed in an old white robe, her hair hanging to the ground, and her voice was hollow.

"The custodian has defected."

"Cold storage depressurization."

"Candidates, return to your positions."

Xu Wangshu's face turned pale, but she did not back down.

Lin Jibai grabbed the liquid nitrogen spray gun next to him: "You test it first, I'll hold her off."

"That's just a shadowy image of the guardian, not the actual entity!"

"I don't care what it is, if it can move, I can take it apart!"

A white-clad figure streaked towards them.

Lin Jibai pulled the trigger, and a cloud of liquid nitrogen shot out, but it passed right through the afterimage's body. The next second, countless lonely memories flooded his mind.

The cold storage of Guanghan Palace.

An endless expanse of white cabins.

Successive Chang'e guarded that place, watching the remnants of the old gods, watching the abnormal humans, and watching the never-ending sunrise outside the door.

They cannot return to the human world.

Because once the caretaker leaves, the contents of the cold storage will awaken.

Lin Jibai's knees buckled.

it's too cold.

It's not that my body is cold.

It's the kind of coldness that comes from thousands of years of silence.

The white-clad figure reached out and pressed his hand against his brow.

"The Gonggong variable is dangerous."

"It is recommended to seal it up."

A hand grabbed her wrist.

Xu Wangshu stood in front of Lin Jibai, her eyes gleaming with a moon-white light.

Her hair moved without wind, and the phantom of a cold palace appeared behind her.

The remains of the Jade Rabbit bowed their heads.

"Chang'e candidate confirmed."

Candidate: Xu Wangshu

"Permissions: Level 1 Cold Storage at Guanghan Palace"

The white-clad figure stopped moving.

Xu Wangshu's voice was very soft, yet it sounded like ice cracking.

"Open Lin Xiaoman's reception record."

Images are projected into the Jade Rabbit's eyes.

Deep inside an endless cold storage facility, a small cabin is lit up.

Container number: Anomaly Sample - Nantianmen Key Container.

Name: Lin Xiaoman.

Status: Low-temperature dream preservation.

Note: The sample continues to call for help.

Lin Jibai's eyes instantly reddened.

In the scene, Xiaoman is curled up in the moon-white cabin, her lips opening and closing.

No sound.

Xu Wangshu used the new permissions to amplify lip reading.

Xiaoman is saying:

"elder brother."

"Don't trust doors."

"Dad is under the door."

The screen suddenly started shaking violently.

In the darkness behind the cabin, a huge door slowly emerged.

Kneeling beneath the gate was a man whose upper body was pierced by bronze chains.

Lin Jibai stopped breathing.

Father.

Lin Wangchuan.

The next second, the video was abruptly cut off.

The Jade Rabbit issued a piercing alarm.

"The permissions of the Moon Palace have been reverse-tracked."

"The candidates for Chang'e have been revealed."

"The cold storage on the far side of the moon has sent an instruction."

"Candidate Xu Wangshu, please return to the warehouse within seventy-two hours."

"If the deadline is missed, the cold storage facility will retrieve the person."