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

The South Heavenly Gate is located at the base of the broken pillar.

When he finally stood in front of it, Lin Jibai understood why the ancients called it the "Heavenly Gate".

It is not a building.

It is a regular crack embedded between the lunar crust and deep space.

The two dilapidated gateposts were so tall that their tops could not be seen, as if they were piercing the starry sky from the far side of the moon. The surface of the gateposts was covered with broken chains, and each chain was engraved with the names of people from an era.

Kneeling beneath the gate were countless faceless shadows.

Their foreheads shone, and their numbers were neatly arranged.

They are not ghosts.

It is the empty shell of fate left behind after it was registered, archived, and cleansed by the Heavenly Court.

Lin Xiaoman hid behind Lin Jibai, her voice trembling: "Brother, they've been counting me."

Xu Wangshu stared at the gateposts, his face pale: "The artificial structures here are older than all the lunar rock samples. They weren't built on the moon; the moon later enveloped them."

Lu Chengong looked up: "The fragments of the Nine Suns are responding."

Inside his bow, nine points of light spun faster and faster.

Suddenly, the sound of chains being dragged came from below the South Heavenly Gate.

Lin Jibai froze.

At the very bottom of the door crack, there was a person locked inside.

The man wore a tattered Buzhou Mountain Project suit, his spine pierced by twelve black cables driven into the door frame. Half of his body was flesh and blood, the other half resembled a scaffolding composed of machinery and lunar rock.

He had his head down, and his hair was completely white.

Lin Jibai walked over step by step.

"dad."

The man looked up.

Lin Wangchuan's eyes are still alive.

When he saw Lin Jibai, he was first stunned, then he smiled.

"You've grown taller."

Lin Jibai felt a lump in his throat.

He had imagined their reunion countless times.

Questioning, cursing, embracing, silence.

But when he actually saw this man who had been nailed to the back of the moon for ten years, he only said one sentence: "How did you get yourself into this state?"

Lin Wangchuan chuckled softly: "When you're fixing something, someone always has to crawl under the machine."

Lin Xiaoman rushed over, crying, "Dad!"

As she approached, the South Heavenly Gate suddenly lit up.

The chains were all taut.

Lin Wangchuan groaned in pain, "Don't touch me!"

Lin Jibai pulled Xiaoman back.

A notification appeared on the door.

The key container is close.

[Repairman 07 privileges reduced.]

[Will control of Nantianmen be transferred?]

Lin Wangchuan said breathlessly, "Wen Zhaolin has been waiting for this moment. He needs Xiaoman to get close, he needs you to get close, he needs the Houyi sequence to escort him, and he needs the Chang'e candidate to open the vault. Every step you take is helping him to meet the conditions for opening the door."

Lu Chenggong's face darkened: "You knew all along?"

"I can only block doors, not hearts."

Lin Jibai clenched his fist: "So what do we do now?"

Lin Wangchuan looked at him: "Destroy the core of the Heavenly Ladder and disconnect the modern interface. Then reseal the key back into the bottom layer of the Southern Heavenly Gate."

Xiaoman's face turned pale.

Lin Jibai understood.

"What does it mean to reseal it?"

Lin Wangchuan did not answer.

Lin Jibai's voice hardened: "Speak."

"Someone needs to stay."

There was no wind blowing against the moon, yet everyone felt cold at that moment.

Xiaoman's voice trembled as she asked, "Is it still me?"

Lin Wangchuan's eyes reddened: "No."

He looked at Lin Jibai.

"He is the successor to the repairman."

Xu Wangshu immediately asked, "Is there any other way?"

Lin Wangchuan shook his head: "Ten years ago, Wen Zhaolin and I discovered that Nantianmen could still be accessed by modern systems. He believed this was an opportunity for humanity to escape chaos. I believed it at first too."

He looked into the darkness outside the door.

"Until I first saw the files behind the door."

Lin Jibai whispered, "Clean up the records."

"It's not just one or two people," Lin Wangchuan said hoarsely. "It's the entire era. The tribes that refused to obey orders in the flood, the city-states that refused to submit to their allotted resources in the war, the villages that refused to offer sacrifices, and the children who were not born into the book of fate."

"The Heavenly Court does not hate them."

"The Heavenly Court merely judged them as disorderly."

"Then delete it."

Lu Chen's grip on the bow tightened slowly.

Lin Wangchuan continued, "What Wen Zhaolin saw was human corruption, crime, disease, and war. He didn't see that the Heavenly Court's solutions were cleaner, but also more cruel."

"It doesn't cure diseases."

"It deletes patients."

"It doesn't solve the pain."

"It deletes people who feel pain."

Lin Xiaoman gripped Lin Jibai's sleeve tightly.

Xu Wangshu said in a low voice, "That's why Mount Buzhou could not be repaired completely."

"Yes." Lin Wangchuan looked at Lin Jibai, "The broken Buzhou Mountain is a wound, but also a seam for freedom."

A roar came from afar.

A Tianheng landing ship landed outside Nantianmen.

Dozens of inspectors in black uniforms walked out in a line.

The last one to come down was Wen Zhaolin.

He wasn't wearing a cabin suit.

A layer of pale golden protective shield enveloped him, like a formal robe personally bestowed upon him by the old Heavenly Court.

Wen Zhaolin stopped in his tracks when he saw Lin Wangchuan.

"Old Lin."

Lin Wangchuan looked at him: "You still came."

"I've come to take you back to the human world."

"You've come to take over the human world."

Wen Zhaolin sighed: "Ten years have passed, and you still can't distinguish between order and slavery."

Lin Jibai stood in front of his father and sister.

"I can tell the difference."

Wen Zhaolin looked at him, a hint of admiration in his eyes.

"Then tell me, Lin Jibai. Your sister has been sick for ten years, who saved her? Your father has been imprisoned for ten years, who remembers him? You were insulted while delivering takeout, and the hospital bills are suffocating you, who gave you justice?"

He raised his hand, and thousands of numbers lit up the South Heavenly Gate.

"The human world cannot provide that."

"I'll give it to you."

Lin Jibai sneered: "What you gave me was a number."

Wen Zhaolin shook his head: "At least the numbering system won't make anyone fall behind."

Behind him, the core of the Earth-Moon Ladder slowly rose.

It was a huge silver ring, with modern code and ancient divine script flowing inside.

The South Heavenly Gate responded with a thunderous roar.

The key on Lin Xiaoman's chest flew out uncontrollably.

Lin Wangchuan roared, "Stop him!"

Lu Chen raised his bow.

But the next second, Wen Zhaolin only said four words.

"Hou Yi has returned to his position."

Lu Chengong turned his bow toward Lin Jibai.