After walking a while longer, Mao Feiyang suddenly said, "Hey, looks like we're here!"
A door had appeared not far ahead-the rust-covered door leading out of the Stairwell.
This was precisely the route he had taken when he left.
Mao Feiyang walked up to the door and tried pushing it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Just pull it inward," Lin Yi reminded him.
"I know that now," Mao Feiyang said. "Tell me sooner next time."
"Wasn't I worried about a time paradox?"
"What does whether you push or pull a door that's been here for centuries have to do with a time paradox?" Mao Feiyang was speechless.
But his words suddenly seemed to give Lin Yi some kind of inspiration, tracing an arc through his mind...
Time...
Been here for centuries...
What does it have to do with...
Unchanged by time...
Lin Yi felt an itch in his brain. He vaguely sensed that some insight was about to emerge. This insight had nothing to do with the door itself; some "flavor" in Mao Feiyang's words had simply given him a "feeling," prompting an insight related to "time."
Yet the insight was hopelessly vague. He tried to grasp it but couldn't, as though quicksand were spilling through his fingers.
Creeeak-
Mao Feiyang pulled open the heavy Iron Gate. The sharp, teeth-grating screech of metal dragged Lin Yi's thoughts back like a tug on the reins.
After stepping through, Mao Feiyang pulled it shut behind him, then glanced at the metal plate on the door, following its clanking sound.
An aphorism from the "Night Watchman Iron Laws" was branded on the plate in weathered lettering:
"In the Bell-less Tower, Mingzhao blazes bright; its mighty voice resounds across the nine seas and eight wildernesses."
Looking at the metal plate, Mao Feiyang frowned slightly, then