The building looked worse up close.
Paint peeled from the walls in long, uneven strips, and the faded sign above the entrance barely held on, as if even time had tried to erase its name. The gates were locked, rust clinging to the metal like it hadn't been opened in years.
Xiaoyu stood still for a moment, staring at it.
"This place is abandoned," she said.
"It's meant to look that way," Lu Shen replied.
That didn't make her feel better.
He stepped forward and examined the lock briefly before reaching into his pocket. Within seconds, the gate clicked open.
Xiaoyu raised a brow. "You just carry tools for breaking in?"
"I carry solutions."
She didn't argue with that.
Inside, the air was stale.
Dust hung faintly in the light, disturbed only by their footsteps as they moved deeper into the building. Rows of storage units lined the walls, most of them sealed, some half-broken, others completely empty.
It felt like a place forgotten on purpose.
"Stay close," Lu Shen said.
"I wasn't planning on wandering off," she replied.
Still, she stepped a little closer anyway.
They moved slowly, scanning numbers along the units.
"Do you remember anything else?" he asked.
Xiaoyu shook her head. "Just the name. I didn't even know we had something stored here."
"That means it mattered," he said.
"Or it was something my mother didn't want me to see."
"That too."
They reached the end of one row and turned into another. The deeper they went, the quieter it became. Even their footsteps seemed to dull, absorbed by the walls around them.
Xiaoyu's gaze shifted from one unit to another, searching for something familiar.
Then—
She stopped.
"There," she said.
Lu Shen followed her line of sight.
A storage unit, slightly different from the others.
Cleaner.
Less worn.
As if someone had been here… not too long ago.
"That's not old," Xiaoyu said quietly.
"No," Lu Shen agreed.
He stepped closer, his expression sharpening.
The lock wasn't rusted like the others.
It had been replaced.
Someone had accessed this.
Recently.
Xiaoyu felt her chest tighten.
"You think someone already took what was inside?"
"Only one way to find out."
Lu Shen crouched slightly, examining the lock before unlocking it with the same ease as before.
The metal door creaked as it lifted.
The sound echoed through the empty building.
Xiaoyu held her breath.
Inside—
There was only one box.
Small.
Plain.
Unmarked.
"That's it?" she whispered.
Lu Shen didn't answer.
He stepped inside first, scanning the space before nodding slightly.
"Come."
She hesitated for just a second.
Then followed.
The air inside the unit felt different.
Heavier.
Like stepping into something that had been waiting.
Her eyes stayed fixed on the box.
"This is it…" she murmured.
Lu Shen didn't stop her this time.
Slowly, Xiaoyu stepped forward.
Each step felt louder than it should.
Her heartbeat followed the same rhythm.
She crouched in front of it.
Her hands hovered above the lid.
For a moment—
She didn't open it.
"What if…" she started, then stopped.
Lu Shen stood behind her.
"Whatever is inside," he said, "it's already part of this."
She swallowed.
Then—
She opened it.
Inside—
Papers.
Old.
Carefully stacked.
And something else.
A photograph.
Her hand moved first.
She picked it up.
The moment her eyes landed on it—
She froze.
"That's…" her voice trailed off.
Lu Shen stepped closer.
"Who is it?"
Her fingers tightened around the photo.
"It's my father."
There was no doubt.
Even after all these years, she would recognize him instantly.
But he wasn't alone.
Standing beside him—
Was someone else.
A man.
Well-dressed.
Calm.
Familiar.
Too familiar.
Xiaoyu's breath caught.
"…No way."
Lu Shen's gaze sharpened.
"Who is it?"
She slowly turned the photo toward him.
For the first time—
His expression changed.
Not much.
But enough.
"That's impossible," Xiaoyu whispered.
Because the man standing next to her father…
Was Lu Shen.
Silence crashed down around them.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
Her mind struggled to process it.
"This doesn't make sense," she said, shaking her head slightly. "This photo… it's from years ago. You weren't even—"
She stopped.
Because she wasn't sure anymore.
Her grip on the photo tightened.
"You knew him," she said slowly.
Not a question.
A realization.
Lu Shen didn't answer.
That silence said everything.
Xiaoyu stood up quickly, turning to face him fully.
Her chest rose and fell unevenly.
"You knew my father."
Still—
No denial.
"No…" she whispered.
"Not just knew…"
Her eyes locked onto his.
"You were part of it."
The air between them shifted instantly.
And for the first time—
The truth didn't feel distant anymore.
It was standing right in front of her.