Stelle sat up abruptly in bed, shaking her head. Her grey hair was dishevelled, and her golden eyes were still a bit unfocused.
"Hmm... that dream... was quite intense."
She rubbed her temples, feeling as if her body still retained the tremors from swinging her bat to block those scorching fist winds, as well as the visual impact of the sky-filling Spear of the Void at the end.
"Much more exciting than the simulated universe."
She stretched habitually, feeling surprisingly refreshed, as if she had just experienced a high-quality, deep sleep.
Then, she turned her head subconsciously to look at the other side of the bed.
It was empty.
The spot where March 7th usually slept had the bedding thrown back in disarray, but there was no sign of her.
Stelle blinked, a bit dazed.
"March? Up so early?"
She didn't pay much attention, stepped out of bed in her slippers, and prepared to get a glass of water.
Her gaze swept across the room, but she felt something was off.
March 7th's shoes were neatly placed by the bedside.
The jacket she often wore was also draped casually over the back of the chair.
"She didn't take her clothes or shoes?"
A trace of doubt arose in Stelle's heart.
She walked to the door to check—the door was locked from the inside, tight and secure.
No one had gone out?
A horrifying thought instantly crowded Stelle's mind, dispelling the remaining sleepiness.
"March 7th... in a locked room... is gone?!"
"No, it can't be..."
Stelle muttered to herself, her heart starting to beat uncontrollably fast.
She spun around, scanning every corner of the room again—under the bed, the wardrobe, even behind the curtains... it was completely empty.
"Mar—March 7th!!!"
An earth-shattering scream, like a Stelle who had just had their Tail stepped on, erupted from Stelle's throat, piercing through the door panel and echoing in the silent corridor of the Astral Express in the early morning!
She didn't even have time to put on her jacket, pulling the door open and rushing out, shouting, "March 7th is gone! She's gone!!!"
"Slap!!!"
A forceful slap, completely unexpected, interrupted Stelle's scream and sent all her subsequent words back into her stomach.
Stelle felt a burning pain on her left cheek, her head was slapped to the side, and she spun around in a small circle, seeing stars, with her ears ringing.
She stumbled back two steps, fell onto the cold floor of the corridor, covered her face, and was completely stunned.
What happened? Who hit me?
Ms. Herta stood before her, arms crossed, looking impatient, her delicate face filled with the displeasure of being "disturbed in her peace."
"What's all the noise?"
Ms. Herta's voice carried low pressure, "Early in the morning, wailing in the hallway, you startled me!"
She had just walked here and was so startled by Stelle's sudden scream that her hand shook.
Her body moved faster than her brain, and she subconsciously slapped her.
At this moment, the doors on both sides of the corridor opened one after another.
Himeko was the first to walk out quickly, her face full of concern, "What happened? I thought I heard Stelle's scream... Stelle? Why are you sitting on the floor? Why is your face so red?"
Following closely was Welt, his steady gaze sweeping over the dazed Stelle sitting on the floor clutching her face, and the displeased Ms. Herta beside her. He frowned slightly, "Ms. Herta? This is..."
Stelle, having been dazed by the slap and now the focus of everyone's gaze, finally managed to reboot her brain.
She couldn't care about the pain anymore, pointing in the direction of her room, speaking quickly and urgently:
"Auntie Himeko! Mr. Yang! Danheng! March 7th! March 7th is gone! Her shoes and coat are still in the room, the door is locked from the inside, and the window won't open! She's just gone!"
"What?"
Himeko's expression changed, and she immediately walked toward the door of March 7th and Stelle's room, peering inside.
Welt and Danheng also quickly followed, their expressions serious.
The scene inside the room was indeed as Stelle had described.
Seeing this, Ms. Herta's impatience subsided slightly, revealing a look of interest, "Oh? Vanished into thin air? On the Astral Express? Under my nose?"
She stroked her chin, "That's actually quite interesting."
Qingque's eyelids trembled a few times, then she snapped them open!
The first thing that caught her eyes was the familiar ceiling of her bedroom.
She blinked, her eyes quickly shifting from initial drowsiness to a blank, dazed state.
"I... this is..."
After a few seconds of system crash, an incredible guess, like the sunlight of dawn, suddenly pierced through the fog in her mind!
She stiffly turned her neck, her gaze sweeping over the clutter of jade tiless and chess manuals piled by the bed, grazing the thermos on the desk with the "slacking off" pattern, and finally settling outside the window—it was no longer the eternal bamboo forest and stone steps, but the dome of the Luofu Immortal Boat flowing with clouds!
Occasionally, a morning starship would streak by, trailing light!
Not a dream? No, that "dream" was too real.
But this is... reality?
"I really... came back?!"
"Ha... haha..."
An irrepressible chuckle spilled from Qingque's throat.
Immediately, the laughter grew louder and more out of control!
"I'm back!!! I'm really back!!!"
Like a spring compressed to its limit and suddenly released, she bounced straight up from the bed, stood barefoot on the messy bedding, opened her arms, and let out a cathartic scream toward the ceiling!
"Woohoo!!! Liberation!!! No more practicing that damned Taixu Sword Qi!!! My bed! My cards! My slacking-off life!!!"
She was so excited that she jumped up and down on the not-so-spacious bed, nearly kicking the pillow away, with a brilliant, almost manic smile on her face, as if she had just been released from some terrifying training camp that had lasted for several eras.
"Qingque!!!"
The roar of her mother, awakened by the noise, came immediately from next door, "What are you wailing about early in the morning?! Can't a person get any sleep?! Are you itching for a beating?!"
As if a mute button had been pressed, all of Qingque's frantic screaming instantly stuck in her throat.
She hurriedly covered her mouth, hunched her neck, blinked, and looked cautiously toward the wall, not daring to breathe.
A few seconds later, confirming that her mother's anger had not escalated further, Qingque let out a silent sigh of relief and climbed down from the bed on tiptoes.
With her feet touching the cold, real floor, she finally had the leisure to greedily examine everything around her.
She walked to the window, reached out to touch the cold window frame, and felt the breeze carrying the aroma of food from the distant market.
She picked up the warm, cyan-white jade fish jade tiles on the table; the familiar touch almost brought her to tears.
She even walked to the mirror and pinched her cheek—it hurt!
It was real!
"I'm really back..."
After the ecstasy, a determined emotion welled up in her heart.
The duration of that "dream," in her perception, was terrifyingly long, as if weeks or even longer had passed, with every day feeling like "years" under her senior's calm gaze.
Now, it was finally over!
She dived back onto her soft, messy bed, buried her face deep into the quilt that still held her body heat, and rubbed against it contentedly, like a small animal that had finally returned to its safe nest.
"Great... today I must sleep until I wake up naturally! Then go play cards all day! Make up for all the slacking off I didn't do in the dream! No one can stop me!"
As for that "Taixu Sword Qi"...
Qingque swore firmly inside the quilt:
"Goodbye! Never again! Next time, even if the General comes in person, I will play dead to the end!"
She made up her mind to lock this "fantasy cultivation adventure" deep in her memories, preferably never to think of it again.
Now, she, Qingque, an ordinary diviner of the Divination Commission, had only three main themes in her life: sleeping, playing cards, and slacking off!
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/SolyuraMT
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"