Ye Qiong stood before the door.
It was the Astral Express carriage door, made of wood, its lacquered surface gleaming softly beneath the warm yellow wall lamps.
He recognized this door.
He had slept many nights behind it, heard March 7th shouting outside that she wanted to take pictures, heard Dan Heng lightly knock on the door and say, "Time to go."
But standing before it now, he suddenly felt dazed.
He raised his hand, his fingertips touching the cold metal handle.
The sensation was real.
Yet what suddenly surged through his mind were scenes from another world:
The everyday life of Heaven Dou City, the tournament in Spirit City, the smoke of war at Jialing Pass...
And Cyrene, and Castorice.
And Keleradra standing in the morning light, her clear voice proclaiming, "The old era has already fallen."
Those images were all too vivid.
So vivid that he could almost smell the stench of blood and dust mingling on the battlefield.
Yet the door before him was clearly the very door he had left behind.
He pushed it open.
The room was still the same room.
The bed was neat, the quilt folded into a perfect square, and a desk lamp glowed warmly on the table.
The letter was still there on the desk.
He had casually set it there before leaving.
He walked over and picked up the letter.
It was somehow still exactly as it had been.
He lowered his head and glanced at the clock on the desk.
It showed that only one system hour had passed since he left.
One system hour!
Ye Qiong slowly sat down on the edge of the bed.
He suddenly found it absurd.
He had spent so many years on Douluo Continent, yet only one system hour had passed after his