Chapter 242

Chapter 242: Zhou Ming.

He was now on the “other side” of the door.

After he confirmed this, Duncan could not help moving closer to the crack of the door, carefully watching the scene on the other side.

It made him think of what had happened after he explored the bottom hold last time. Back then he had rushed straight back to his studio apartment to check what was beyond the crack of the door. The same state of mind, the same scene.

But just like last time, there was not another “Duncan” on the other side, thrusting a sword this way.

Duncan frowned slightly.

He was now on this side of the door and had seen with his own eyes how things were here. He had even searched the whole ship, and during the search he had not found anything wrong.

Then what exactly was that thing he had seen through the crack of the door at the bottom of the ship in the Mortal Realm, the thing that had tried to disguise itself as him?

Duncan frowned again and turned to look around the empty, dim cabin. It seemed he wanted to find here the thing that had once disguised itself as “Zhou Ming”. He remembered that back then he had thrust his sword at what was beyond the crack. But if this really was Subspace on this side, such a simple strike should not have been enough to kill the other party. There should at least have been some trace left behind.

However, there was nothing. No trace at all.

After searching carefully once more, Duncan finally began to doubt his judgment back then.

What he had seen through the crack of the door might have been only an illusion shown by Subspace, a phantom that only he at that moment could see. That fit the trait that “Subspace showed reflections of the mind”.

Except this still could not explain why that phantom had not affected his mind in the slightest, and why he had been able to deal with it so easily.

Duncan shook his head lightly and put these doubts aside for the time being. He could not help feeling a bit of emotion in his heart. Subspace really was a place full of mysteries.

Then his gaze returned to the door.

On this side, the door was open a little inward into the frame. At the bottom of the Vanished in the Mortal Realm, that door was open a crack outward. The two states matched each other.

On the other side was the world of the Mortal Realm, that familiar ship, the Vanished.

It seemed he had found the passage on this ship that linked Subspace and the Mortal Realm. In theory, if he pushed the door open here and stepped out, he should be able to return to the Mortal Realm.

Duncan put his hand on the doorknob, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Then he gave it a gentle pull and closed the door.

It was surprisingly easy. He remembered that when he and Alice saw this door in the Mortal Realm, they had tried to close it. They had found that the whole door seemed cast into the very space, so solid that no matter how hard they pushed, it did not move at all. Yet on this side of the door, closing it only took a light pull.

With a small click, the door shut tight. Duncan quietly let his gaze rest on the now closed door. Only after a few seconds did his expression tense for a moment, then slowly relax. His heart seemed to react half a beat late and only now suddenly began to pound.

During those two seconds of closing the door, he had emptied his mind and thought of nothing. He had not thought about returning to the Mortal Realm, had not thought about being trapped here, had not thought about any consequences. He had only given himself one strong hint: “This door is dangerous.” Then he carried out the action without a moment of hesitation. Only after the door closed completely did he allow the emotions he had forced down to surge up, and he let out a long breath.

This might truly be an “exit” that connected to the Mortal Realm, but he must never really push this door open.

He had no clear proof, but a strong instinct kept warning Duncan that the way back to the Mortal Realm was definitely not as simple as pushing this door open from here. This was a lure, a trap. He had already gone through one lure in the lowest hold of the Vanished in the Mortal Realm. This was the second time, more hidden than the first and even harder to guard against.

Duncan’s eyes grew deep as he fixed his gaze on the door. Then he swept the blade in his hand, which burned with spirit form flame, across the door panel. ghostly green flame leaped up and almost at once engulfed the entire door. Yet after a fierce burst of burning, the door still stood there quietly, as if it had not been affected at all.

Duncan slowly furrowed his brows.

Facing something that clearly belonged to the supernatural realm, his spirit form flame had failed for the first time. Yet it was not because this door was extremely solid. On the contrary, from the feedback of the flame he had not felt any resistance at all.

He had not even felt the door’s existence.

Just like this ship, in his senses the door did not exist.

Yet this door could not possibly be nonexistent. Even if the ship really did “not exist”, the door still had to exist. It could even put on him such a complex influence as “luring him to open it” and clearly held supernatural power. Something like that absolutely existed here.

Great confusion filled his head, and Duncan found it hard to sort out his thoughts. He checked around this door again and searched the entire cabin, but found no clue that could answer his questions. As time slowly passed, he could only give up for now.

He could not waste all his time in this strange place. Since this “exit” at the bottom hold carried great hidden danger, he should look for another way out.

While he was thinking, something suddenly came to Duncan’s mind.

He turned at once and walked toward the stairs that led to the upper cabins. He hurried through the dark, empty cargo hold and the crew member quarters higher up, went through the gloomy wooden door that connected the upper deck and the cabin, and came out onto the deck.

The old, broken Vanished still drifted in chaotic darkness like outer space. From time to time, currents of tangled light and shadow around it lit up the huge, terrifying Shadows of floating fragments that drifted past at different distances. Some of those fragments looked like shattered land. Some looked like huge twisted creatures. Some could not be recognized at all, only heaps of pure “debris” that had already lost all color and shape. They were horrible to look at.

But Duncan did not focus on those giant floating things. He walked straight across the empty deck and returned to the door of the captain’s cabin.

The door of the captain’s cabin stood quietly there, just as it had when he left.

Duncan lifted his gaze. On the doorframe, in the dim light, he could faintly see several familiar words.

The Door of the Lost Ones.

Sure enough, just as he had expected, the special mark on this door was still there.

Duncan steadied himself and put his hand on the doorknob.

If there was anything on this ship that meant the most to him, this door came first.

This door connected to everything he was familiar with. It had also brought him his first and greatest mystery in this world.

Duncan applied a little force and pushed the door inward. With a soft creak of the hinges, the Door of the Lost Ones opened easily, just as he remembered. On the other side of the door was the thick fog he knew so well.

After a short hesitation, Duncan stepped forward.

The feeling of passing through dense fog rushed over him. Then came a brief sense of weightlessness and chaotic dizziness. Very soon it all faded away, and Zhou Ming slowly opened his eyes.

He did not return to the studio apartment he had lived in for so long.

He was standing in darkness.

Zhou Ming lowered his head and saw that he indeed had the body he once had as an “Earth human”. Then he turned around and saw the door he had come through standing quietly there. It stood in the darkness without any support, still open.

When he looked around, he saw only endless darkness. It was an extremely pure black, as if all things had died and as if the universe itself no longer existed.

Zhou Ming quickly summed up a new piece of experience. On the “old and broken Vanished”, pushing open the Door of the Lost Ones did not send him back to his familiar studio apartment. It led into a strange, pitch-black space.

Such an extreme darkness was enough to make an ordinary person feel huge pressure and even fear. Zhou Ming knew this. Yet for some reason, he felt no resistance while standing here. Instead, he felt a strange and inexplicable relaxation and ease.

He did not know where this eerie feeling of relaxation came from. But in his mind he knew his state was not quite right. The conflict between reason and his senses made him even more cautious, and he tried taking a step forward.

Even though everything here was black and seemed empty, there was ground beneath his feet. When he stepped out, he still felt the solid sensation of stepping on something real.

Zhou Ming lowered his head and looked at the place where his foot had landed. At that moment he suddenly saw faint ripples spreading out under his feet. In this pitch-black place, something other than darkness appeared. Inside the ripples, words emerged.

Chinese characters he knew well.

“His age?”

“Around thirty five.”

There were just these two lines of words. They looked like a question and an answer.

Zhou Ming’s expression changed slightly. Then he tried stepping forward again. Sure enough, the instant his foot landed, new ripples appeared in the darkness. They were still Chinese, still a pair of question and answer.

“His occupation?”

“A middle school teacher in language and literature, who liked to read in his spare time.”

Zhou Ming felt his heart pounding. He changed direction without thinking and took another step in the darkness.

“His height?”

“Around one meter eighty. He is not very strong, but in good health.”

Zhou Ming stopped and quietly watched the ripples under his feet spread. The gray white Chinese characters within them became clearer and clearer, then faded and disappeared as the ripples spread out.

He did not know how long he stood there before he finally took a deep breath and stepped forward again, slowly but firmly.

Words rippled out with his step.

“What does he look like?”

“Like this.”

In the darkness, a sudden light appeared. Something seemed to condense into shape in that light. Zhou Ming suddenly saw a figure appear before him, a figure exactly the same as himself.

His heart almost skipped a beat, and he stepped back half a pace without thinking. That backward movement made him realize that what stood before him was actually a mirror.

The figure was his reflection in the mirror.

Then he lowered his head and looked at the new ripples caused by his half step back. In the ripples, words appeared.

“His name?”

“Zhou Ming.”