Feng Qi left the room and headed for his own.
Just as with the way to the temple, he had memorized the way to his room.
It was on the second floor of the temple.
He climbed the stairs, which had around twenty steps, and again began walking down a corridor.
The second floor, by the look of it, consisted of a corridor and countless rooms for residents.
At last Feng Qi stopped by one of the rooms; written on it was “four hundred seventy-four.”
“It seems only the rooms where people live are marked with numbers.”
No numbers of any kind were written on the rest of the rooms, but he was still far from seeing every door.
He opened the door.
Just as before, the desk stood to the right of the bed, and to the left stood a wardrobe.
By the desk there was also a window, through which blue moonlight was breaking in.
He walked over to the bed, but he had no intention of sleeping.
The bed stood directly opposite the door, and a soft blue light fell upon it.
Feng Qi walked over to the desk, but not to sit down.
He tried to open the window, and managed it.
Then he walked over to the wardrobe and opened it.
There was nothing inside, just an empty wardrobe.
Feng Qi shifted his gaze to the door; he walked right up to it.
He swung it open; beyond it there was no longer any light, and the corridor was lit by the same moonlight, which was reflected in Feng Qi’s blue eyes.
Feng Qi stepped out into the corridor and closed the door behind him.
His turquoise robes had turned bluish.
He was trying to step soundlessly, and so walked more slowly than when he had been heading to his room.
Feng Qi saw a figure in the distance; it stood right before an open door.
From the door wafted a yellow color, like that of the villagers’ houses.
It was Leng Yu; he stood with a noticeably sad face, one Feng Qi had not yet seen.
Just then the door slammed shut, and Leng Yu let out what sounded like a sigh and started walking in the opposite direction, away from him.
Feng Qi was about to move on, but Leng Yu stopped and looked back.
But barely a second later he strode off again on his way.
“He’s downright vexed.”
There was no doubt: he had noticed Feng Qi, but chose to walk on.
No, not even that — it was as if he were letting Feng Qi pass.
Though Feng Qi couldn’t care less; he was already going where Leng Yu wanted.
When Leng Yu’s shadow had vanished, he started toward the door where Leng Yu had stood.
It was locked, but light seeped through the cracks.
Knock-knock.
“What is it now—?!”
Feng Qi had knocked on the door, and a moment later it flew open; inside the room stood Qing Wei.
Qing Wei clearly had not expected to see Feng Qi.
“Oh, it’s you.
Did something happen?” Qing Wei calmed down in an instant.
“Ah, nothing much.
I just came to wish you a good night,” Feng Qi said in an even voice, with a sincere smile.
“Huh?” Qing Wei was mildly bewildered.
“Good night, Qing Wei.”
Qing Wei came back to herself as she looked at Feng Qi’s face.
“Well, g’night to you too.”
At that, Feng Qi smiled a little wider, and turned away.
He started back along the same path he had come by.
Feng Qi could still feel the light of the room behind him, but five seconds later the door was closed; consequently, the lingering sense of light was nothing more than a projection of his mind.
The way between his room and Qing Wei’s was short, taking no more than a minute of unhurried walking.
Feng Qi walked with an indifferent face, as if lost in thought.
“Emotions are the most important thing in a person.”
Neither intellect nor strength can rival emotions, for they are what makes a person real.
Despite his games of lies before, that smile had been truly sincere, as had the wish itself.
Of course, Feng Qi’s motives lay hidden behind it, but that did not cancel out the fact that it was sincere.
But of course, emotions alone are not enough to be real — if a person does not know himself, or does not believe himself, then how can he be called real at all?
With these thoughts, Feng Qi reached his room.
He opened the door.
Inside, everything was the same; nothing had changed.
He closed the door carefully, so as not to make any needless noise.
Feng Qi walked over to the small table with its chairs, and sat down on one of them.
He looked out the window, his face lit by a light whose color was a touch brighter than his eyes.
Feng Qi gazed out the window, thinking.
“First, I need to learn more about that old man, right now he is both a threat and a salvation.
Though it would be better if he were just a threat.”
Feng Qi yawned.
“Second…
Leng Yu…”
Feng Qi’s eyes gazed out the window.
“And…
now Qing…
Wei…”
Feng Qi opened his eyes.
He was sitting, but leaning on something.
Feng Qi was lying on the table.
He raised his head and immediately squinted.
Golden light seeped into his eyes from the window.
to fall asleep?”
On top of all that, once he sat up fully, his back started to ache and his neck grew very stiff.
Feng Qi placed his left hand on the back of his neck and kneaded it.
Of course, that would only soften the pain, but it was better than nothing.
Feng Qi rose fully and looked over the bed; it was still the same as it had been at night.
He walked over to the wardrobe and opened it; it was empty.
Without a second thought, he closed the wardrobe and left the room.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Qing Wei lay in her bed.
She appeared to be thinking about something.
“Why?…”
“Why is everything like this?”
“What did I do wrong?”
Could it have been prevented?
She knew that it couldn’t.
But had it ever been possible at all?
Why had it happened at all?
Why was it still happening?
She had no answer to a single one of these questions!
“How can this be!”
Qing Wei struck her pillow, still controlling her strength.
She felt that if she could not control it, she would break the bed.
And who would she even be, if she could not: nothing more than a shell of Qing Wei.
But she decided to return to the question from before.
Could it have been prevented?
What if she had been stronger, if she had been better, would it have been possible then?
Now Qing Wei was just curious: why could she not learn the answer to even a single one of her questions?!
Knock-knock.
A knock came from behind the door.
“This early…”
Qing Wei unhurriedly got up from the bed.
But suddenly her foot caught on something on the floor, and she nearly fell.
Only the wall nearby saved her from falling.
“Oh, come on!”
Qing Wei let out a deep breath and started toward the door.
This time she managed to reach it without incident, and she calmly opened the door.
On the doorstep stood a young man with black hair and blue eyes, and a sincere smile adorned his face.
“Good morning, Qing Wei.”