The photograph trembled slightly in Lin Wei's hands.
Not from the breeze.Not from movement.
But from him.
From the shock radiating through his chest like a tremor.
His father—Lin Cheng—stood on the left side of the image. Smiling faintly, sleeves rolled up, hair messy in the way Lin Wei barely remembered.
Next to him stood a much younger Director Li.Thinner.Hopeful.Before responsibility carved lines into his face.
But the figure that froze Lin Wei's blood was the third man.
Zhao Ruitian.
Younger, but unmistakably him.Eyes cold.Posture perfect.Expression composed.
Watching.
Observing.
Evaluating.
Just like now.
Liu Fang stepped closer, her breath uneven.
"Lin Wei… what is that photo? What does it mean?"
He couldn't answer.
Not yet.
Director Li Faces the Past
Director Li moved quickly, trying to take the photograph.
"Let me see that."
Lin Wei pulled it back instantly.
"No."
Li froze.
The young engineer's voice was low, brittle, dangerous.
"Explain."
Li swallowed.
"This—this shouldn't exist. Zhao Ruitian wasn't in the Bureau. He didn't work with us. He—he was a civilian consultant at most, we only met him once—"
"Once?" Lin Wei said quietly."Then why is there a file about him in my father's belongings?"
Li opened his mouth.Closed it.Opened again.
In the end, the answer was the worst one possible:
"I don't know."
Lin Wei's chest tightened.
"You're lying."
"No."Li's voice cracked."Lin Wei—listen to me—your father and I… we worked on a project, yes. But Zhao wasn't part of it. He just appeared. Like a ghost. Same as today. Always watching. Always knowing things he shouldn't."
Liu Fang's hands went to her lips.
Master Yu stepped closer, voice dark.
"So Zhao was stalking your father too."
Li didn't deny it.
He couldn't.
Lin Wei's Memory Stirs
A faint memory surfaced.
Something he hadn't thought of in years.
He was seven years old.Standing in a cold hallway.Listening through a door he wasn't supposed to.
His father's voice—low and angry:
"Stop pushing him. He's just a child.""He deserves the chance to grow.""You're turning this into something twisted—"
Lin Wei had never known who he was speaking to.
But now…he wondered.
Zhao Ruitian had known his father.Watched his father.Judged his father.
And now he was doing the same to him.
Liu Fang Anchors Him
Lin Wei's breath grew shallow.
His hands began to shake again, the photograph murmuring like a heartbeat between his fingers.
Liu Fang stepped right in front of him, lifting her hands to his shoulders.
"Look at me."
He didn't.
He was staring through her, lost in the photograph, in the past, in the poisoned words Zhao had seeded.
She touched his cheek gently.
"Lin Wei.Please."
He blinked.
Her face came into focus—the worry, fear, and stubborn unwavering care in her eyes.
He grabbed onto it like a lifeline.
"Don't let Zhao pull you into his narrative," she whispered."He wants you disoriented. He wants you doubting everyone. He wants you alone."
Alone.
Yes.
That was what Zhao was creating.
A collapse not of buildings, but of support.
But Then—Something Falls Out
As Lin Wei steadied himself, a small object slipped from the envelope and fell to the pavement with a soft tap.
A key.
Old.Iron.Wrapped with a faded piece of string.
Everyone stared.
Lin Wei crouched and picked it up slowly.
Attached to the string was a tag.
His father's handwriting.
Uneven.Rushed.
"For Wei.When he is ready."
Lin Wei froze.
He felt the world tilt.
Master Yu whispered, "Oh… heavens."
Liu Fang covered her mouth, tears in her eyes.
"You… you've seen that handwriting before, haven't you?"
Lin Wei nodded slowly.
"Yes."
It was unmistakably his father's.
Director Li staggered backward, pale as chalk.
"That key wasn't in the archive—Zhao must've—he planted—this is all manipulation, Lin Wei, you mustn't—"
Lin Wei didn't hear him.
Because his heart was pounding like thunder.
This wasn't Zhao's handwriting.It wasn't forged.
He knew his father's hand better than his own.
And he read the words again:
For Wei.When he is ready.
Ready for what?
The key weighed like destiny.
Like a door.Like a secret.Like a warning.Like a truth buried too long.
Lin Wei looked at the back of the tag.
Another message.
Just two words.
"Storage 27."
Director Li gasped.
"No. That place is sealed. Destroyed years ago. Lin Cheng—he swore he'd never let anyone go there—"
Lin Wei's voice was soft.Too soft.
"What's in Storage 27?"
Li's silence was the loudest answer.
Lin Wei closed his eyes.
Zhao Ruitian… had not just given him a photo.
He had returned something his father left behind.
Or stolen.
Or intercepted.
Everything was twisted.
And yet—
The key felt warm in Lin Wei's hand.
Alive.
Real.
Like the last piece of his father that remained.
He placed it carefully in his pocket.
Then turned to Director Li with hollow resolve.
"I'm going."
Li stepped forward, horrified.
"No. You can't—Lin Wei, that place is dangerous—"
Lin Wei walked past him.
"I have to."
Liu Fang grabbed his sleeve.
"I'm coming with you."
He stopped.
Looked at her.
Her eyes were firm.Unwavering.
He nodded.
"Okay."
Master Yu added, "Then I'm coming too."
Old Zhang grunted, "Someone has to keep you idiots alive. I'm in."
Director Li stared at them in disbelief.
"You all—this is madness!"
Lin Wei didn't turn back.
He just said:
"I'm done running from my father's past."
He looked up at the gray sky.
At the alley where Zhao had vanished.
And whispered:
"Trial Four…isn't about breaking me."
He clenched the key in his fist.
"It's about revealing what he hid from me."
And with that—
they headed toward the most forbidden place in the Bureau's history.
Storage 27.
Where everything began.And where something waited in the dark for thirty years.