# 1941
Chapter 1941: The Shelter and the Spring Festival Couplets
Sunken Dragon Pass.
As the battlefield cleanup concluded and the numerous Night Watch members returned inside Sunken Dragon Pass, the distant seawater had already smoothed over the scars left by battle, and the mottled holes scorched into the sky were healing inch by inch.
Wu Quan had barely walked back into Sunken Dragon Pass when a figure draped in a dark crimson cloak approached him, wearing an expression as if wanting to say something but hesitating.
"What's wrong?"
"It's those reporters who were brought to Sunken Dragon Pass... They want to interview Commander Lin."
Upon hearing this reply, Wu Quan's brow furrowed slightly as his gaze shifted toward the distance, where several drenched and disheveled figures carrying equipment stood stiffly off to the side, looking both restrained and expectant as they gazed into Sunken Dragon Pass, seemingly searching for someone.
"I'll go take a look." Wu Quan walked straight toward them.
"Is that a Night Watch who controls the weather?" one of the exploration team members said, brightening up as he saw Wu Quan approach. The rest immediately gathered around.
"Hello there... What should we call you?"
"I go by Wu."
"Mr. Wu, here's the thing—we just recorded the entire battle up there. Would it be possible to have a brief interview with Commander Lin?" Reporter Liao said earnestly. "It won't take up too much of Commander Lin's time. Five minutes at most... no, three minutes! All of Great Xia is hoping to get a proper look at Commander Lin. Could you please pass on our request? We'd be very grateful!"
"I sincerely apologize." Wu Quan spoke calmly. "Commander Lin's schedule is incredibly packed. The battle just ended, and he immediately left for headquarters to handle other matters... As things stand, he's probably already arrived in Shangjing City. I'm afraid it's simply not possible for him to accept your interview."
"Ah? That fast??" Reporter Liao was stunned.
"Now that you mention it, after the Night Watch finished cleaning up the battlefield, we really didn't see Commander Lin appear again..."
"He just finished such an intense battle and went straight back to work?"
"This is way too busy!"
The exploration team members could only exchange helpless glances. Though disappointed, Reporter Liao could only say:
"Alright... Thank you for letting us know."
Those disappointed weren't just the exploration team members—there were also viewers in the livestream room. The earth-shattering battle from before had sparked everyone's curiosity about this mysterious Commander Lin, and the exploration team who were actually at Sunken Dragon Pass were undoubtedly the closest anyone could get to Commander Lin.
Realizing they wouldn't be able to see Commander Lin, those watching their screens immediately felt a sense of letdown. The subsequent livestream showed the exploration team casually walking around Sunken Dragon Pass. Apart from the dazzling array of weapons and the sturdy fortifications, there was nothing else. Some people quickly lost interest.
Zhao Zhengbin scrolled through the internet, where replays and comments about the battle were everywhere. He'd just finished watching the livestream, so he didn't find any of it particularly interesting.
Checking the time, meal distribution had already begun. He rubbed his somewhat hungry stomach and stood up to head back to the dormitory.
"Mom, I'm back."
Zhao Zhengbin walked into the room and found his mother sitting by the small table, staring blankly at what looked like a flyer or leaflet in her hands.
"Why did you take so long shopping?" His mother pointed to the two lunch boxes wrapped in insulation bags on the table. "Someone came by to deliver food earlier. I saw you hadn't come back yet, so I put them here to keep warm. They shouldn't be cold yet."
"Okay."
Zhao Zhengbin sat down at the table and unwrapped the two lunch boxes. Two vegetables, one meat dish, and a soup, along with two bowls of heaping rice. The other lunch box contained apples, grapes, bananas, and other fruits, as well as two cartons of fresh milk.
Zhao Zhengbin's eyebrows rose slightly. The food quality here wasn't any worse than what they ate at home...
"Mom, the front was so lively just now. Didn't you go out to take a look?"
"There were too many people outside, so I didn't push through the crowd... But I heard them shouting something out there. What was that about a commander? Did another battle break out?"
"We fought, and we won."
Zhao Zhengbin had guessed that his mother, given her personality, probably wasn't paying attention to the livestream. But regardless, this was a matter concerning everyone's lives. He still described the just-concluded battle to his mother, though she seemed somewhat distracted.
"Good that we won... Good that we won."
"Mom, what are you looking at?" Zhao Zhengbin asked, noticing she kept holding onto a piece of paper.
"When the person delivered the food earlier, they also gave a structural map of the shelter, marking some emergency evacuation routes and such..."
"What's so interesting about that?"
His mother hesitated for a moment before handing the paper to Zhao Zhengbin. "Xiao Bin... Look at this. Doesn't the layout of this shelter seem familiar somehow?"
"Huh?"
Zhao Zhengbin was taken aback. He took the blueprint and studied it carefully.
This blueprint was different from the map he'd seen in the corridor. The corridor map was mainly for marking dormitory numbers and routes to the dining hall and other areas, with too many details and clutter. The map in his hands, however, was much more simplified, having removed all unnecessary markings and only drawing the fire escape routes.
It was precisely for this reason that the diagram looked extremely clean and clear, outlining the entire silhouette of the shelter.
It was only then that Zhao Zhengbin noticed that the floor plan of this shelter wasn't a neat rectangle or circle, but rather a honeycomb-like arrangement resembling a vortex, with every path curved at specific angles. From a distance, it looked like some kind of centrally symmetric mysterious symbol.
"Hmm..." Zhao Zhengbin placed the blueprint at a distance, staring only at the outline of the floor plan. Vaguely, it did seem somewhat familiar...
"That's strange... It really does seem a bit familiar... Where have I seen this before?" Zhao Zhengbin said, puzzled.
"The couplets on our old hometown door."
Upon hearing his mother's reminder, Zhao Zhengbin seemed to recall something, and his mouth slowly dropped open...
"The year your father passed away, some of his comrades came to offer condolences, right? That was just a few days before Spring Festival. They brought some holiday supplies, including a pair of couplets. Before they left, they personally helped us paste them on the door... And every year since then, they've sent a new pair of couplets over."
His mother pointed to the outline of the shelter on the diagram. "Every year's couplets have had this pattern on them."
Zhao Zhengbin was stunned for a long while, his mind in a jumble...
"The shelter's structure... and our hometown couplets?" Zhao Zhengbin scratched his head. "They're indeed identical, but how could that be?"
The couplets from his hometown having that pattern—that was almost ten years ago. How could it possibly match up with this shelter now? And the pattern was so complex and unusual; it didn't look like any kind of popular symbol. Could it really be such a coincidence?
His mother sighed and set the blueprint down. "Never mind. Let's eat first... It's probably just a coincidence. What would something designed by the Night Watch have to do with our door at home..."
Zhao Zhengbin felt something wasn't quite right, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He mulled it over for a long time but still couldn't find an answer. He could only lower his head and start eating.