Chapter 357 The Door Of Many

Keng moved into the lit room. White floor tiles sprawled across the floor as dark stone bricks continued across the walls. He noticed a wooden door in the middle of the room. It was six and a half feet tall and about four feet wide.

It was a brown door that had a golden doorknob on it. Keng slowly circled it, noticing the other side was white with a silver handle.

"What the heck is this?" Keng asked. He made his way back to the beginning, taking a long glance at the doorknob. He twisted the doorknob. It was locked.

"Huh." He casually let out, circling to the other side. The white and silver doorknob greeted him as he put his hand on the doorknob and twisted. It opened, swinging inwards towards the right.

Blocks of stone slabs spread evenly in front of him as he stepped through. He closed the door behind him and noticed something moving below the stone slabs.

'Water.' He realized the water was moving around. Was something in the water? Keng didn't want to find out. The first slab had a foot and a half between the platform he was on and the slab.

He noticed the door at the end and assumed he had to get to the other side. Without observing much else, he started off, hopping onto the slab. Water shook below him as he easily found his balance. The next jump was the same distance.

He started jumping the slabs, listening to the water rumble from him jumping. He made it to the otherside without a problem and looked back. The door he came through was no longer there.

"It's gone. I heard it close behind me. Did it disappear when I closed it?" He questioned it as he turned to face the door in front of him. He turned the knob and pulled it open. He turned around, watching him close the door.

It was still there. He slowly turned around and noticed he was in the same room again. He turned and acknowledged the door was still indeed there.

'Is this some kinda puzzle?' Keng asked. He hopped into the first slab, listening to the waterohe as he landed. He turned and noticed the door was gone. 'What the hell?' He jumped back into the slab and listened to the slab shake.

Keng cursed as he kept his balance. The door wasn't there anymore and the slab he had jumped onto quickly became quiet as he turned his full attention back to the other side.

"The door is over there now." He pointed. "What's going on?" He made his way over to the other side, ignoring the noises the slabs and water were making.

Keng circled the door and watched as the otherside was a dark brown-orange color with a black door knob. He grabbed into the doorknob and opened the door.

He stepped inside and noticed he had appeared back at the beginning. The white tiles and black stone brick greeted him as he closed the door behind him.

"Okay, I'm back here." Keng looked around and noticed the entrance he came from was different. The door depicting the male Fox Spirit looking behind him had the outline of a crack in the middle of the door.

He moved to the door and pushed hard against the large stone. The stone doors shook as Keng slowly pushed them open. The smell of grass greeted him as he moved through the large enough gap.

A large grass field spread as far as his eyes could see. It was night and the Moon hung in the sky, glowing brightly.

'Am I still trying to find something here?' Keng wondered. He moved deeper into the field grass, growing farther away from the stone door. Keng looked behind him and noticed the door was gone.

"The whole door logic is still the same." He nodded. He turned to face the direction he was walking, listening to the grass rustle. "Where to now?" He walked the field for quite awhile. The moon never budged. It felt like an endless night.

The wind danced past Keng as he continued forward. The field slowly turned to hills. He climbed one of the many hills and sat down. He had been endlessly walking and following some sort of path he thought was right.

"Maybe I'm doing this all wrong." Keng commented. "I've been walking for a long time. Even before I made it to this place." He let out a sigh, sucking in the somewhat cold night air. His brain recalled everything that happened.

"Go forth and Explore." Keng whispered. He laid on the grass, an arm supporting his head as he stared at the night sky. It was littered with stars, something he wasn't used to seeing.

"They don't have stars in the city… I wonder if that's because of light pollution…" He whispered to himself. He had all of Lee Seng's memories ready to answer any questions he had, but he couldn't get over the fact he hadn't seen anything like this for himself.

He sucked in the cold air and let it out. He could feel his muscles relaxing. He had been tense ever since he had hopped into this place. He didn't think about ways to get out. No, he decided he would take the door's words seriously.

"Go forth and Explore."

He would take a moment to enjoy the night sky. Once he had enough of it, he would move onto the next thing. The stars twinkled all around his vision. He felt comforted by the stars. They hung in the sky just like the twin Suns and Moon did.

"The suns are technically stars. They just shine brighter than the rest. At night all these stars shine." Keng commented. "If the water goddess went into the sky to keep her brothers company, what's not to say they had company that said hi every so often?"

Keng was starting to get somewhere with this train of logic but let out a sigh and watched a comet streak across the sky.

"I don't know who's with me now, but if I just look around long enough, maybe I can find them?" He lifted himself up and took another look around him. The grass rustled as the wind ran by. They seemed to be playing a game with each other. It was peaceful.

"Let's just focus on getting outta here first." Keng told himself as he stood. "Get out of here first and then think about the next thing… I don't know how Lee Seng stays focused like this." He jumped up and down, shaking his hands, feet and face.

He wandered through the night lit sky field for a while longer until he saw a large single tree with pink leaves growing out of it. It reminded him of the time Lee Seng saw Sakura flower trees. As he got closer, he noticed a moving lantern. It swayed back and forth, clanking. It lit the area around it, revealing a door on the tree.

He walked straight tho to if and listened to the metal lantern creak side to side. The door handle was different. It seems to be a push down one. He pushed down onto it and pulled it open.

He was met with blinding white light in front of him. The door reminded him of every time Lee Seng teleported with the telepad. The light felt like that.

He rubbed his eyes, letting them adjust to the light. A set of sentences formed in front of his eyes.

"Explore to your heart's content. Your beginning starts after one last test. Be swift. Be observant. Be you." Keng read aloud. He took a deep breath before stepping into the light. The light swallowed him as the door slammed behind him. He felt like he was being transported elsewhere.

The light faded and it was replaced with the two suns hanging above. A woman stood near some sort of table in front of her and turned to look at him as he took in his surroundings.

"You have finally arrived, Silver one." The woman spoke. She wore armor like she was ready to go somewhere. "I've been waiting for you to come. You took your time, didn't you? How did you like it?"

Keng could feel the woman exuding peaceful energy. If he could compare to something, he'd probably pick an ocean. Her energy was comforting but he could also tell there was more than meets the eye with this one.

"I still don't understand what most of that was." Keng answered. "What was the point of all of that? I could've just came straight here and been done with whatever task you are gonna give me."

"True," the woman nodded. "You could've been put right here and then fought me yet you chose to walk, you know?"

"I chose to walk?"

"You chose to. Just like you chose to chase after Lee Seng Chang even though you clearly knew it was an illusion. You chose to do all of the things yourself. Why?"