You are the next Gatekeeper!

As Mao Lu had exclaimed the words "Old Man Wang!!!" Mr Baker's thin lips curled upwards.

"So, are you the boy in this picture?" he asked again.

As Mao Lu gazed at the old photograph, he couldn't help but nod his head in confirmation. It was true, he really was the boy in that picture and he really did know Old man Wang.

"I still think there might be some kind of mistake. There's no way I should receive an inheritance from Old Man Wang. We only met once, briefly and it was several years ago."

"Even if he doesn't have grandchildren or relatives of any kind… giving me something… It simply doesn't make any sense."

Mr. Baker raised both bushy eyebrows and thoughtfully placed his hand on his chin. "I see now… I see why you were chosen." he muttered.

"Aren't you in debt Mao Lu?" Mr. Baker suddenly asked as he opened up a folder that had been sitting on the coffee table.

"After your family's business went bankrupt debt came from money owed to the bank obviously, but also from various suppliers”

“Your parents also had to pay 50,000 employees a very large redundancy fee, and even more fees kept popping up. The total for the initial debt was 80 million RMB. And even after paying that there was still 30 million RMB of debt left which only increased with interest each day. Your parents wanted to take out loans, but they were refused by the bank, so your father decided to take out some private loans from illegal companies that had insane interest rates that he could never hope to pay back.”

Mr. Baker turned another page in the folder, “Then you and your family were harassed by debt collectors and gangsters who worked for those private loan companies. Every penny you had was spent on paying the debt, forcing your father to get down on his knees and grovel to his old friends. But they all turned their backs on him. In the end he was forced to use any inheritance left behind by his family and take all your personal savings, and even then, it still wasn't enough.”

Another page turned, “Pushed into a corner, Zhang Hou decided that a family suicide was the only option and stabbed your Mother, however he wasn't able to achieve his goal and kill himself and you before he was restrained. He is now in prison serving a life sentence, leaving the magnitude of the debt with you."

"Since then you have had to move various times to avoid the gangster debt collectors, you even had to use the money that should have been spent on your Mother's funeral on paying back the debt. She was cremated by the government and only has a small memorial stone in a public mortuary. Yet despite that you didn't beg anyone for help. You worked hard, took out other loans and struggled greatly over the years."

Mr. Baker closed the folder and looked at up at him, "Mao Lu, if anyone needs an inheritance and lots of money, it should be you. Why are you fighting and questioning this? A normal person in your situation would be rejoicing, taking what they can get and running with it. Yet you sit here telling me this isn't meant to be yours."

Mao Lu was shocked, how did Mr. Baker have all this information about him? Had he researched him before the meeting? Why did he conduct such in-depth research just to give him an inheritance? He suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Just because my situation is like this doesn't mean I should become a beggar."

"First and foremost, I am a man of principles Mr. Baker. My mother taught me never to steal, never to beg, to always be sincere and always return a favour. I also have my pride. I will not take what isn't mine just to help myself. I will not walk over dead people like Old Man Wang. I will not become less of a human being because I am struggling." Mao Lu boldly and resolutely stated his feelings.

Mr. Baker leaned back against the sofa, a slight smile on his lips. He was impressed. What a heroic aura, what strong words, what an unbendable will. This is someone who makes a promise and will stick by it, not going against his principles. "I can see why he was chosen," Baker thought. This boy definitely has the qualities of a Gatekeeper.

"Rest assured, the Inheritance truly is for you, no one else deserves it." Mr Baker calmly announced. "So now please accept it without any more fuss."

Mr. Baker took the large envelope he'd initially bought out and handed it to him.

Mao Lu felt like arguing some more but Mr. Baker's words sounded so certain, and if this inheritance really was for him, he wasn't in a position to refuse it. So, he gingerly opened the envelope and took out three official documents.

The first one was a deed to some land in Longsheng. Actually, it wasn't just some land, it was 400 acres of land as well as a property. Which at the bottom of the deed the current value of the property and land was written as... 50 million RMB, that was $7.7million USD and £5.8 million. This land and property were already worth more than his remaining debt. Mao Lu's breath hitched, and his hands shook.

He then turned to the second document, it listed monetary cash assets. When he saw the numbers, his eyes bulged. It seemed that Old man Wang had a Swiss Bank account which had 10 billion USD inside of it, in the United Kingdom he had another account with 20 billion GBP. Mao Lu gulped… And in his Chinese bank account there was over 100 billion RMB.

Mao Lu's throat became a bit dry and his hands shook more violently. Altogether that was 335 billion RMB, in American dollars that was 51 billion USD, and in British pounds that was 38 billion GBP.

Billions… this was big money… This was ridiculous. Did he just become a billionaire???

Hands still shaking Mao Lu turned to the third document. He couldn't believe there was still more to inherit.

On the third document there was a list of titles being passed on to him. In a variety of European countries there were titles such as Count, Lord, Earl, and Duke...there were even political positions that he was automatically inheriting. Mao Lu couldn't believe his eyes. This was so outrageous it was almost funny. He was half hoping someone would jump into the room and yell IT'S A PRANK!

With hands shaking even harder he looked up at Mr. Baker, "What did Old Man Wang do for a living!?"

How did that friendly old man turn out to be someone with such wealth and prestige.

"Wang Cao was the esteemed Gatekeeper of this mortal realm" Mr. Baker said in a blunt it's-a-matter-of-fact tone of voice.

A Gatekeeper!? He'd never heard of such a thing before.

"What is a Gatekeeper exactly?"

"A Gatekeeper is someone who controls the doorways of a realm. The Gatekeeper protects a realm and prevents it from being invaded by other realms.

At the same time, the Gatekeeper also controls migration in and out of their realm." Mr. Baker continued in his matter of fact tone.

"... I'm sorry… I don't quite follow."

"Imagine that there is a big door to the Universe, and you are the one that holds the key to that door. Since you hold that key you become the Gatekeeper.

Wang Cao was the previous Gatekeeper for this realm and had been the Gatekeeper for over 6,000 years. If he'd been able to progress further in his cultivation, he probably would have been the Gatekeeper much longer, but sadly he didn't have the talent.

Before him was Jonathan Creek, before him was Elena Teresa, before her was Abdoah Allayah and the list goes on."

"There have been Gatekeepers since the beginning of this universe. Forget the material wealth you see on the paper, there is much more than just those billions, and even those billions of paper money is nothing compared to your real inheritance...and that is that you, Mao Lu. You are the next Gatekeeper."

"What!!!"

He couldn't believe what he'd just heard, actually he was certain any normal person probably wouldn't believe it. First off, this whole Gatekeeper thing sounded impossible and crazy, and even if it was all true… Why him? Why would he become the next Gatekeeper out of the 7 billion people on this Earth? This was crazy.

"You may find it strange now, and you may not believe me, but I am telling you the truth. You are the next Gatekeeper."

As Mr. Baker said this he pulled out a book from the air. It literally just appeared out of nowhere into his hand.

Mao Lu's eyes bulged wide open.

"This..." Mr. Baker handed the book to Mao Lu, “is your true inheritance. Only a Gatekeeper can open it. When you do open it, I'm sure everything will become clear to you."

The book seemed incredibly old, it was bound together with roots, and the paper on the cover looked like it was made from ancient lychee leaves. The texture was very peculiar, but what was stranger to Mao Lu was the strong attraction he felt to it.

It was whispering to him, small voices, saying "come closer… closer… Open me…"

His hand unconsciously found itself moving to turn the page but then Mr. Baker grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"I was informed by Wang Cao that this should be opened privately. So, I suggest taking it home first."

Mao Lu felt a bit dazed but nodded in agreement. He suddenly became fearful of this book, for a few seconds he was certain that it was controlling him. He didn't like that.

"Now to claim your property, money, and titles, I need you to sign here, here and here. I also need your bank details" he said as he took out various forms and became very professional.

The sudden change stunned Mao Lu but he was too overwhelmed to comment on it. In the end he spent an hour filling out various forms.

After he signed the last document his hand almost cramped.

"Thank you" Mr. Baker said with a cool tone as he put the documents into a suitcase and handed Mao Lu a key which was for the property in Longsheng.

He then reached into his pocket and gave Mao Lu a platinum metallic business card.

"This has my personal number on it. If you are ever confused about something, need some help, or want a casual chat I suggest you call.”

Mao Lu thanked Mr. Baker and kindly accepted his card.

"Well then, you will have your money by the end of the day, the details for the foreign bank accounts will also be given to you then in an encrypted email. So, for now I hope you go home and learn about your Gatekeeper role properly." Mr. Baker reminded like a teacher reminding his students to do their homework at the end of the day.

"I will." Mao Lu nodded.

And like that he left B&B law firm in a daze and got on the bus towards his apartment in Daxing.

Little did he know that the moment he left the building; powerful organisations from all around the world, as well as extremely powerful figures, were all notified that the new Gatekeeper was named Mao Lu.