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

After the mark of the thirty-first square appeared, there was movement inside the cabin.

It wasn't a fragment shock.

It's a bulkhead.

It was a very soft sound, like someone bumped into it from the outside.

All three people stopped at the same time.

"Who's outside?" Qin Lan asked in a low voice.

"Nobody's here," Lu Chengong said. "There's no interface outside."

"That's inside."

The sound rang out a second time.

This time it's even closer.

Wen Zhaolin stood up and looked towards the stern of the cabin.

There is a door at the stern.

They didn't notice when they came in because the door was the same color as the bulkhead.

There are words on the door.

The characters are engraved, but very shallowly.

The firekeeper is here.

"The fire guardian," Lu Chenggong repeated, "that word from Chapter 330."

That was a job title that appeared in the old Heavenly Court archives.

At the time, everyone thought it was just a formality.

It is now engraved on a door.

Qin Lan's first reaction was to back down.

"We're withdrawing," she said. "The third rule is that if anyone quits midway, the entire team must withdraw."

"I didn't back out," Lu Chenggong said.

"I'm talking about myself," Qin Lan said. "I'm not in the right state right now, I'm going to withdraw."

That's a very clean statement.

There was no explanation, no hesitation.

She followed the rules set before departure and became the first person to back out.

Lu Chengong was stunned for a moment.

"etc--"

"No," Qin Lan said. "Rules are rules. I'll back down, you back down."

Wen Zhaolin looked at her and slowly nodded.

He stood up too.

"Then I'll withdraw too."

The three of them started to retreat.

Lu Chengong suddenly stopped in front of the airlock.

"The door wasn't closed," he said.

Which door?

"The way of the fire-keeper."

Qin Lan turned around and glanced back.

The door was still closed.

But there was something extra on the deck in front of the door.

It was a small clump of ash.

The ash is not burnt ash.

It was a white ash, like salt, piled up very neatly.

They were piled up in the shape of a cross.

"The mark of Zhurong Terrace," Wen Zhaolin said.

"No," Lu Chengong said, "this is the mark of a seal."

The four marks on the seal are familiar to people.

This is one of them, but the position is reversed.

Normally, the seal marks are at the four corners, but this one is placed in the very center, with a small notch on the side.

"It doesn't mean this is the place for the fire keepers," Lu Chenggong suddenly said.

"What did it say?"

"It's saying, 'One is missing here.'"

None of the three of them went any further.

They followed the rules and withdrew outside the airlock, closed the hatch, and locked the registration box.

When he returned to the main control room, Xu Wangshu was already waiting there.

After hearing what had happened, she only asked one question: "Qin Lan, why did you withdraw?"

"Because I'm afraid."

"What are you afraid of?"

"I was afraid I'd want to open that door," Qin Lan said. "When I saw the words 'The Fire Keeper is Here,' my first thought was: 'We have to keep an eye on what's inside.'"

The main control room fell silent for a moment.

Xu Wangshu looked at her.

"This idea is dangerous."

"I know."

"How did you find out?"

"Because it's not my idea," she said. "I never think about things that way. I don't say, 'We have to look at it,' I say, 'Document it.'"

"Whose words are these?"

"I don't know," Qin Lan said, "but when it speaks in my head, it uses my own voice."

Xu Wangshu documented this entire passage.

After she finished writing, she added a line:

The fire-keeper exhibits a desire to "guard the fire for it." Anyone with this thought must not act alone.

After she finished writing, she looked at Lu Chenggong.

"When you were standing in front of the door just now, did you have this thought?"

Lu Chenggong remained silent for a few seconds.

"Yes," he said. "I want to stay alone."

"What's the point of staying?"

"Look at it." He looked up. "I almost opened the door."

No one in the main control room criticized him.

Because everyone understood.

The door remained closed, and no one spoke.

It simply created an opening, waiting for someone who wanted to be the firekeeper.