Chapter 312: The Gap Faces North, with Lamplight Ahead

The woman stared at the white glove, her body trembling once more.

“He came here.”

“When?”

“After you went up the mountain.”

“What did he take?”

“A child.”

Xu Erxiao immediately raised his head.

“The nameless child from White Wolf Gully?”

The woman nodded.

“The child is not here.

“Shen Yanshan sent her to Old Dragon’s Back.”

“He said the final name-erasing seal is there.”

“He wants to use the child’s name to activate the seal.”

Lu Yuan unfolded the back of the paper.

The back had been soaked with water, revealing a simple map.

Ma Family Gully, White Wolf Gully, and Old Dragon’s Back formed a triangle.

At the center of the triangle was a red dot:

“The Total Name Well.”

Wang Cheng'an said quietly:

“It is not three name-erasing seals.”

“It is the three wells being opened together.”

“The child is the final key.”

Song Qinghe looked at the woman.

“Why did Shen Yanshan take her?”

The woman replied:

“Because she has no name.”

“The nameless can bear every name.”

“As long as the names of the Thirty-Six Villages, the old names of the Northern Ridge, and the remnants of the master altar are all pressed into her, she will become the new Total Name.”

Xu Erxiao slammed a fist into the wooden cabinet.

“Hadn’t he already agreed not to establish a gate?”

Lu Yuan said, “He agreed to let the altar disperse.”

“He never agreed not to establish another person.”

A muffled set of footsteps suddenly came from above the stone chamber.

Someone was walking downward along the well wall.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

Missing-Rim Liu looked up, her face turning deathly pale.

“He’s back.”

Lu Yuan distributed the seven ledgers of indexes among the others.

“Get ready to leave.”

Xu Erxiao asked, “Which way?”

Missing-Rim Liu pointed toward the secret passage behind the wooden cabinet.

“The Total Name Well connects to thirty-six righteous wells.”

“But the secret passage only leads to White Wolf Gully.”

“We need to go to Old Dragon’s Back.”

“It will be faster to go through White Wolf Gully than to take the route above.”

Lu Yuan said, “Lead the way.”

Missing-Rim Liu hugged the damaged tablet, turned around, and pushed open the wooden cabinet’s final drawer.

Sure enough, a narrow shaft leading upward was exposed behind the drawer.

The six of them crawled inside one after another.

Wang Cheng'an was the last to enter, but he suddenly glanced back.

In the stone chamber at the bottom of the well, the thirty-six drawers were closing one by one.

The village names on each drawer had been crossed out with a white line, and three new words had been added beside them:

“Duplicate register preserved.”

Only the central Total Name Well was different. A new name surfaced on its wall:

“Missing-Rim Liu.”

She was no longer nameless.

But she still turned back to look at the white glove.

The glove’s five fingers slowly curled, as if someone inside it had clenched a fist.

Wang Cheng'an hurriedly turned around and caught up with the others.

When they crawled out from beneath an abandoned granary, they had already reached the rear mountain of White Wolf Gully.

The horizon had only just begun to brighten.

The voices of children came from below the mountain. Han Qiusheng was leading them in clearing away the collapsed memorial arch.

Xu Erxiao shouted:

“Han Qiusheng!”

Han Qiusheng looked up. When he saw Missing-Rim Liu emerge from the secret passage, his expression instantly became extremely grim.

“How did she get out?”

Missing-Rim Liu looked at him.

“I wrote my own name.”

Han Qiusheng fell silent for a moment, then bowed to her.

“Missing-Rim Liu.”

She nodded.

The youngest girl, Amei, ran over and took her hand.

“Are you going to leave with us too?”

Missing-Rim Liu lowered her head and looked at her.

“I don’t know.”

Amei said, “Then follow the lamp for now.”

Song Qinghe lifted the bronze lamp.

Missing-Rim Liu gazed at the lamplight and gently nodded.

After hearing what had happened at the bottom of the well, Han Qiusheng immediately understood that Shen Yanshan had gone to Old Dragon’s Back.

“I’ll stay here with the children.”

“You go to Old Dragon’s Back.”

“Once the Total Name Well opens, the children of White Wolf Gully will be written back into it.”

“Guard the tablets they wrote for themselves.”

As Han Qiusheng spoke, he removed the old scarred flap of skin beneath his right eye and peeled out the final small fragment of black wood from inside it.

The wooden fragment was only the size of a fingernail, yet it fit perfectly with the name-erasing seal in Lu Yuan’s hand.

The two pieces joined together to form a broken palm impression.

“This is the key to the final name-erasing seal.”

“It was originally inside you?”

“No.”

Han Qiusheng said, “It was originally in Han Shoumo’s hands.”

“I only stole it from him.”

“Han Shoumo didn’t stop you?”

“He knew I would steal it.”

“So he deliberately gave it to you?”

Han Qiusheng looked toward the depths of White Wolf Gully.

“He wanted everyone to believe that the name-erasing seal had been taken away.”

“In truth, the real seal is still at Old Dragon’s Back.”

Lu Yuan put away the two wooden fragments.

“What exactly is the relationship between Han Shoumo and Shen Yanshan?”

“They were once the same person.”

Everyone was stunned.

Han Qiusheng said:

“Han Shoumo was the name he took after entering the altar.”

“Shen Yanshan was the old name he later chose to leave for himself.”

“In those days, he erased names because he wanted to stop the master altar from establishing a master name.”

“But he discovered that erasing names only created more nameless people.”

“So he began searching for someone who could bear all the names.”

“That child is the vessel he found?”

“Yes.”

Han Qiusheng continued:

“He does not want the child to rule on behalf of others.”

“He wants her to become everyone’s memory.”

“But once memory is concentrated in a single person, it will still become another form of swallowing.”

Lu Yuan looked north.

“The person wearing white gloves is Shen Yanshan.”

“He refuses to reveal his original name because he is afraid people will learn that Han Shoumo is still alive.”

“Or perhaps he no longer knows who he truly is.”

Missing-Rim Liu suddenly spoke:

“He knows.”

“He called his own name beside the well last night.”

“What did he call himself?”

She answered:

“Shen Yanshan.”

“Then he erased the name.”

Wang Cheng'an said quietly, “He is performing the name-erasing ritual on himself as well.”

Lu Yuan tightened his grip on the broken blade.

“Go to Old Dragon’s Back.”

They followed the hunters’ trail north along the rear mountain of White Wolf Gully.

Before leaving, Amei stuffed a new wooden tablet into Lu Yuan’s hand.

Written on the tablet were the words:

“Amei, self-chosen.”

On the back was a tiny lamp pattern.

“Take it,” Amei said. “In case someone changes your name too, look at this.”

Lu Yuan accepted the tablet.

“Good.”

At the end of the hunters’ trail, a snow-covered ridge lay like a giant dragon crouching in sleep.

A ruined stone pavilion stood at the center of the dragon’s back.

A white lamp hung inside the pavilion.

Beneath the lamp, the person wearing white gloves still stood there.

He was holding a girl of three or four years old in his arms.

The girl’s eyes were open, and red lines covered her wrists. Each red line led in a different direction down the mountain, with the end of each line tied to a village tablet.

Shen Yanshan stood inside the pavilion. Behind him was a black stone seal.

On the bottom of the seal was a complete left hand.

When he saw Lu Yuan and the others, he said calmly:

“You arrived faster than I expected.”

Lu Yuan said:

“Put the child down.”

“She has no name.”

“She can choose one herself.”

“She is too young.”

“Then wait until she grows up.”

“There is no time to wait.”

Shen Yanshan lowered his head and looked at the child.

“Her mother died in White Wolf Gully, and her father’s whereabouts are unknown. If I do not establish a name for her, she will not even have the chance to be found by anyone.”

“Are you trying to give her a name, or are you trying to force every name onto her?”

Shen Yanshan did not answer.

The black stone seal behind him began to glow.

Beneath the ridge, water sounded simultaneously from the thirty-six righteous wells.

The well at Ma Family Gully sounded first.

The well at White Wolf Gully sounded next.

Finally, a third sound came from beneath Old Dragon’s Back.

The three wells had opened.

The red lines around the child’s wrists suddenly tightened.

She furrowed her brow in pain, but did not cry.

Lu Yuan raised his blade and pointed it at the black stone seal.

“Shen Yanshan, state your own name.”

Shen Yanshan raised his head.

“My name is Shen Yanshan.”

“Again.”

“Shen Yanshan.”

“What about Han Shoumo?”

Shen Yanshan’s gaze wavered slightly.

“He is already dead.”

“Who buried him?”

“No one.”

“Who kept his records?”

“No one.”

“Then why are you still wearing his white gloves?”

Shen Yanshan looked at his own hands.

The white gloves were spotless, as clean as new, without even a trace of snow on them.

“Because his hands committed wrongdoing.”

“I wear them in his place, to remind myself.”

Lu Yuan said:

“You are not wearing them as a reminder.”

“You are borrowing his sins so you can continue ruling on behalf of everyone.”

On the black stone seal behind Shen Yanshan, the eye in the center of the complete left palm suddenly opened.

The eye fixed itself on the child.

The red lines around the child’s wrists began converging toward the black stone seal.

Song Qinghe stepped forward with the lamp.

“What is the child’s name?”

Shen Yanshan said, “She does not have one yet.”

“Then record what she looks like now.”

“That is not enough.”

“People do not receive names because they are or are not enough.”

Xu Erxiao moved around to the side of the stone pavilion and stared at the child.

“Can she speak?”

Shen Yanshan said, “Yes.”

“Then ask her.”

Shen Yanshan lowered his head toward the child in his arms.

“What do you want to be called?”

The child did not look at him.

She looked at the wooden tablet in Lu Yuan’s hand, then at Song Qinghe’s lamp.

Finally, she raised one small finger and pointed in the direction of White Wolf Gully beyond the mountain.

“A-Lamp.”

Song Qinghe froze.

The child spoke again:

“I want to be called A-Lamp.”

Shen Yanshan closed his eyes briefly.

“That is only a childhood name.”

“It is also the name I chose for myself,” the child said.

Her voice was soft, but perfectly clear.

The eye in the palm of the black stone seal suddenly closed.

Half of the red lines immediately loosened.

Shen Yanshan raised his hand to press down on the surface of the seal.

Lu Yuan had already charged into the stone pavilion.

The broken blade collided with the black stone seal, sending sparks flying.

“She chose it herself.”

“You heard her.”

Shen Yanshan gritted his teeth.

“She does not know what a name can bring.”

“And even if she did, that would not necessarily mean she could choose for herself.”

The two of them exerted force at the same time.

A thin crack split across the black stone seal.

What seeped from the crack was not blood, but a stream of thick black ink. The ink crawled upward along Shen Yanshan’s white gloves and covered his wrists.

“Let go!” Lin Zhaoxuan shouted.

“The seal recognizes him!”

Zhou Heng threw a copper coin, striking the palm at the bottom of the seal.

The black stone seal trembled slightly, and Shen Yanshan’s hand was knocked away.

Song Qinghe seized the opportunity and brought the green lamp before the child.

Under the lamp’s illumination, the red lines on the child’s body became visible.

Every line was inscribed with a name.

“Amei.”

“Han Shun.”

“Nameless child.”

“Thirteen from White Wolf Gully.”

“Total Name candidate.”

The final line was wrapped around the child’s neck. Written on it were the words:

“Number Six Hundred and Forty-Eight.”

Wang Cheng'an’s expression changed drastically.

“Number Six Hundred and Forty-Eight again.”

“It wants to use this child to complete the master ledger.”

Lu Yuan swung his blade and severed the red line around the child’s neck.

The moment the line broke, the thirty-six wells all released a thunderous roar.

The red paper from the villages below rose in sheets, gathering into a long black serpent that lunged toward the stone pavilion.

Shen Yanshan looked up at the black serpent.

“The Total Name has been formed.”

“All that remains is to stamp it.”

He stopped blocking the serpent.

The black serpent coiled around the stone pavilion. The thirty-six village names transformed into thirty-six pairs of eyes, all turning toward the child.

“A-Lamp.”

“Number Six Hundred and Forty-Eight.”

“Bear the names of all.”

“Open the Total Name Well.”

The child shrank into Song Qinghe’s arms in terror.

Song Qinghe shielded her.

“She will bear nothing.”

Lu Yuan stood at the edge of the stone pavilion and looked down at the thirty-six wells below the mountain.

Seven shadows floated beside each well.

Six belonged to the roads they had walked before.

The seventh belonged to Shen Yanshan.

“Shen Yanshan, didn’t you want the nameless to be remembered?”

“What you are doing now is joining the Thirty-Six Villages back into a single line.”

“If you truly want to stop the master altar, cut off your own shadow first.”

Shen Yanshan suddenly looked down at his feet.

His shadow was being pulled by the black serpent toward the child.

Two names surfaced within the shadow:

“Han Shoumo.”

“Shen Yanshan.”

The two names tore at each other, like two opposing roads growing from a single person.

Shen Yanshan raised his foot, but could not break free.

“I cannot cut it.”

“If I do, no one will watch over the thirty-six wells.”

“You watched over them for decades. What was the result?”

“At least someone remembers.”

“Remembering does not mean turning people into your own body.”

Shen Yanshan looked up at the black serpent.

“If I sever my shadow, all the old ledgers will fall into disorder.”

“Then let them fall into disorder.”

“And afterward?”

“Reorganize the ledgers.”

“Will you have enough time?”

“Even if we do not, we will still divide them.”

“And if they cannot all be divided?”

“Leave them for those who come after us.”

Shen Yanshan suddenly laughed.

There was no longer any chill in his laughter, only exhaustion.

“You always imagine those who come after you as being too good.”

Lu Yuan said:

“It is not that we imagine them as good.”

“It is that we acknowledge their right to choose for themselves.”

Shen Yanshan reached down and drew the short blade from his waist.

The blade had no edge, only a straight black line.

He slashed at his own shadow.

The black serpent sensed the danger, and all thirty-six pairs of eyes opened at once. Countless red lines rose from below the mountain and wrapped around his arms.

Shen Yanshan’s white gloves split apart thread by thread.

“Han Shoumo!”

“Shen Yanshan!”

Two voices cried out from his chest at the same time.

He raised his head and said to the child:

“A-Lamp.”

The child poked her face out from Song Qinghe’s arms.

Shen Yanshan said:

“Remember, this is the name you chose yourself.”

“No one can take it away.”

“I’ll remember.”

Shen Yanshan drove the short blade into the center of his shadow.

The black line broke with a thunderous crack.

Water columns erupted from all thirty-six wells at once.

The red lines peeled away from the child and flew back to their respective village ledgers below the mountain. The thirty-six village names were scattered by the water, transforming into countless tiny droplets that fell back into the wells.

Shen Yanshan’s shadow, however, did not disappear.

The short blade pinned it to the snow, while the two names inside it gradually separated.

“Han Shoumo” moved south.

“Shen Yanshan” moved north.

Shen Yanshan knelt between them, both hands braced against the ground, like a person being forcibly torn apart by two roads.

Lu Yuan stepped forward and tried to pull out the short blade.

Shen Yanshan shook his head.

“Don’t pull it out.”

“This is what I owe.”

“You intend to let the two names go their separate ways?”

“Yes.”

“What will you become?”

“A person wearing white gloves.”

He looked toward the shadow of “Shen Yanshan,” which was gradually moving away to the north.

“An old name that remains.”

Then he looked south.

“A name that committed wrongdoing.”

“Both must be remembered.”

The black stone seal rolled out of the pavilion.

The complete palm on its bottom had already broken into two halves.

Lu Yuan picked up the black stone seal. With the tip of his blade, he scraped away the words “Total Name candidate” one by one and carved new words in their place:

“A-Lamp, self-chosen.”

The child reached out and touched the surface of the seal.

The black stone seal immediately shattered into powder.

Shen Yanshan’s body fell backward with it.

Han Qiusheng’s voice came from below the mountain:

“Shen Yanshan!”

Shen Yanshan did not turn around.

He gazed toward the mountain pass in the north and said softly:

“Do not call me Han Shoumo.”

Han Qiusheng stood at the edge of White Wolf Gully. After a moment of silence, he answered:

“Shen Yanshan.”

His voice carried a long way.

The sound of water from the thirty-six wells in the south gradually subsided.

The names still struggling inside the old ledgers had finally been given different destinations.

Shen Yanshan closed his eyes.

“This is enough.”

“It is not enough,” Lu Yuan said. “You still owe an explanation to those whose names you recorded away.”

Shen Yanshan opened his eyes.

“I will write one.”

“Who will you give it to when you finish?”

“To them.”

“Can you deliver it all by yourself?”

“I cannot.”

“Then divide it into thirty-six copies.”

Shen Yanshan hesitated, then nodded.

“Good.”

Lu Yuan handed him the ledger titled “Person as Witness” from the seven ledgers of indexes.

“Begin with your own name.”

Shen Yanshan took the ledger.

He turned to a blank page and wrote:

“Shen Yanshan, once entered the altar under the name Han Shoumo.”

“Erased names, established gates, and borrowed Public Deliberation.”

“Later repented, but still failed to repay what was owed.”

“Now willingly distributing the old ledgers, without ruling on anyone else’s behalf.”

When he finished writing, he handed the pen back to Lu Yuan.

“Now it is your turn.”

Lu Yuan said, “We are going to White Wolf Gully.”

“The child must return there first.”

Shen Yanshan nodded.

“The memorial arch in White Wolf Gully has collapsed. For now, there is no gate.”

“That is a good thing.”

“A gate will be built again eventually.”

“Then leave a gap.”

Shen Yanshan looked at the wooden tablet of the Self-Guarding Master in Lu Yuan’s hand.

“You people have become addicted to leaving gaps.”

Xu Erxiao said, “With a gap, people can come in and leave too.”

Shen Yanshan put away the ledger.

“There is another unopened well in the Northern Ridge.”

“Where?”

“Behind Old Dragon’s Back.”

“There is no village or settlement there.”

“Only an unmarked grave.”

Lu Yuan looked at the black stone seal that had just shattered.

“The Total Name Well has not been completely sealed.”

“It cannot be sealed.”

“Why not?”

Shen Yanshan said:

“Under the Total Name Well, there is still one person.”

“Who?”

Shen Yanshan did not answer immediately.

He looked at A-Lamp.

A-Lamp was holding onto the hem of Song Qinghe’s clothes, clutching the wooden tablet inscribed with “A-Lamp, self-chosen.”

“Her mother.”

“She is not dead?”

“She is dead.”

“Then what kind of person was she?”

Shen Yanshan said:

“She was the first person in the Thirty-Six Villages to refuse to return her name to the public.”

“She was also the first person to reclaim her own name from the master register.”

“She gave birth to the child beside the well, and before she died, she left only one request.”

“Do not choose a name for the child.”

“Then why did she leave the child beneath the well?”

“Because she knew the people outside would rush to choose a name for the child.”

“She wanted to wait for the child to speak first.”

Song Qinghe looked at A-Lamp.

“The Total Name Well wants to use her mother’s remaining wish to force the child to bear every name.”

Shen Yanshan nodded.

“What you rescued just now was only the child’s surface shadow.”

“Her mother’s remaining wish is still at the bottom of the well.”

Xu Erxiao said, “Then what are we waiting for?”

But Lu Yuan looked toward the sky.

White light had already begun to appear in the distance.

They had traveled through the night from Ma Family Gully to White Wolf Gully and then to Old Dragon’s Back.

Yet deep within the snowy plain behind Old Dragon’s Back, a new black line was slowly emerging.

At the end of the black line, a stone stele without any writing surfaced.

A woman’s voice came from behind the stele:

“Who took my child away?”

A-Lamp suddenly raised her head.

She looked toward the stele and, for the first time, called out to another person.

“Mother.”

The wind and snow suddenly intensified.

Beneath the stele, the accumulated snow split open, forming a gap just wide enough for one person to pass through.

An extremely dim lamp lit up within the gap.

Beside the lamp stood a blank wooden tablet.

A line of writing slowly surfaced on its face:

“Mother’s name awaiting recognition.”

Lu Yuan tightened his grip on the broken blade.

“Return to White Wolf Gully first, then enter the well.”

Song Qinghe asked, “Not go down directly?”

“A-Lamp has only just reclaimed her own name. We cannot let her enter the Total Name Well again while her name is still unstable.”

“Her mother’s remaining wish will come after us.”

“Then let her find shelter in a place where people are already present.”

Shen Yanshan said:

“Correct.”

“The Total Name Well does not fear someone forcing their way in.”

“What it fears most is a name having a destination first.”

They took A-Lamp down the mountain.

Han Qiusheng was already waiting at the site of White Wolf Gully’s old memorial arch. Behind him stood twelve children in the snow, each holding a wooden tablet they had rewritten themselves.

When A-Lamp saw them, she slowly walked over.

A-Bai asked, “What is your name?”

“A-Lamp.”

“Who gave it to you?”

“I did.”

“Then we all chose our own names.”

The children planted their wooden tablets one by one in the snow, forming a circle that did not close.

The center remained empty.

Shen Yanshan placed the seven ledgers of indexes outside the circle and did not step inside.

At the gap in the circle, Han Qiusheng erected a wooden tablet.

Written on it were the words:

“White Wolf Gully, temporary residence.”

“Those who come may enter, those who leave may go.”

“Names must be declared by oneself, no one may choose for another.”

Lu Yuan looked at the tablet and said:

“Now White Wolf Gully has a gate.”

Xu Erxiao said:

“But it has no gate frame.”

“The frame can come later.”

“For now, leave the gap.”

Morning light fell across the snow.

The red paper of the Thirty-Six Villages had all turned completely white. Only the sheet from Ma Family Gully still retained a trace of red along its edge.

A final line of writing surfaced within the red border:

“The first village account remains incomplete.”

Wang Cheng'an placed it inside the ledger marked “Pending Investigation.”

“The account is not finished.”

“The Total Name Well is still there.”

Lu Yuan looked toward Old Dragon’s Back.

The dim lamp beside the stele had not gone out.

Beneath the lamp, the woman’s voice came again:

“Lu Yuan.”

“Your master owes me a name.”

“Will you repay it for him too?”

Lu Yuan did not answer.

He planted the Gap Gate tablet of the Self-Guarding Master before the old site of White Wolf Gully’s memorial arch, then added another sentence to its face:

“For unpaid debts, find the person responsible.”

“A master’s debt will not be repaid by a disciple.”

After finishing, he turned to the others and said:

“Rest for a moment.”

“Then we go to Old Dragon’s Back.”

“This time, we will not bear anyone else’s name.”

“We will only hold up a lamp for those willing to speak.”

Xu Erxiao rested his sword across his knees.

“And my mother?”

“If she is willing to speak, listen.”

“What if she does not want to speak?”

“Do not force her.”

Wang Cheng'an opened the ledger marked “Pending Investigation” and prepared to record new pages for A-Lamp and Missing-Rim Liu.

Lin Zhaoxuan and Zhou Heng rearranged the remnants in the snow.

Song Qinghe adjusted the wicks and made the lamp burn brighter.

Han Qiusheng stood at the entrance to White Wolf Gully and gazed north.

Shen Yanshan sat alone beside the collapsed memorial arch and began copying his old accounts.

There was no Total Name.

There was no master gate.

And there was no one to erase his mistakes for him.

The dim lamp behind Old Dragon’s Back continued burning.

Only after the sun rose high did a second line appear on the blank wooden tablet beside the stele:

“Mother’s name cannot be forcibly recognized.”

A third line slowly appeared:

“But if she is willing, she may return today.”

The wind blew from the north, carrying the faintest sigh from a woman.

A-Lamp raised her head.

“Mother is calling me.”

Lu Yuan looked at her.

“Do you want to go?”

A-Lamp tightened her grip on her wooden tablet.

“I want to take a look.”

“Will you come back after?”

She thought for a moment.

“If she does not want to stay, I will come back.”

“What if she wants to stay?”

“Then I will ask her where she wants to go.”

Lu Yuan nodded.

“Then let us go.”

The children of White Wolf Gully each stood beside their own wooden tablets.

This time, no one stood together for a group portrait.

No one counted for anyone else.

The gap faced north, with lamplight ahead.

Eight people once again climbed the snowy slope toward Old Dragon’s Back.

Behind them, the thirteen wooden tablets of White Wolf Gully swayed gently in the morning wind.

The thirteenth tablet already bore a name:

“A-Lamp.”

On its back were only three words:

“Self-chosen, self-returning.”