32: Chapter 32: Become stronger, survive, find your way home, then go with the flow and wait for the right opportunity!

Knock, knock... knock...

The rhythm was a bit hesitant, yet somewhat resolute.

Lu Jing composed his thoughts, turned, walked to the door, and opened it.

Standing outside the door was not the returning Qian Renxue, but Wang Donger.

Under the bright corridor lights, the young girl was clearly fresh out of a bath.

She had changed into a soft, form-fitting moon-white silk nightgown, the thin fabric outlining a figure that had just begun to grow, looking slightly immature yet already possessing the initial curves of a graceful silhouette.

Her wet, powder-blue long hair was draped casually behind her shoulders, with tiny, crystalline water droplets still slowly dripping from the tips, sparkling like crushed diamonds under the light.

The lingering steam made her already jade-white skin flush with an alluring pink, as if stained by fine rouge.

She seemed to be in a hurry; the rosy glow on her cheeks had not yet fully faded, though it was unclear if it was due to the steam of the hot water or a slight nervousness in facing Lu Jing at this moment.

In those beautiful, large, powder-blue eyes, Lu Jing's figure was clearly reflected, and her gaze carried undisguised curiosity and a trace of imperceptible... wariness?

At this moment, she was like a begonia flower dampened by night dew, possessing a delicate tenderness amidst her peerless, clear beauty.

"Sister Donger?"

A trace of surprise flashed in Lu Jing's eyes, and he stepped aside to open the way, saying: "It's so late, is something the matter? Come in quickly."

Wang Donger nodded and stepped inside.

Lu Jing closed the door behind him.

As the door closed, blocking the view, it felt as though only the two of them remained in the room, along with the tranquil moonlight filtering in from the window.

The air seemed to still retain the scent of roasted meat and the faint, crisp, cold fragrance lingering on Qian Renxue.

Wang Donger did not speak immediately, instead walking to the chair Lu Jing had previously occupied and sitting down gracefully.

The hem of her nightgown slipped, revealing a section of her slender, smooth lower leg.

She bent her legs slightly, placing them naturally together to the side, and rested her hands on her lap, her movements carrying the good upbringing of a young lady from a noble family.

Yet her eyes were like searchlights, falling straight onto Lu Jing's face as she parted her red lips and asked straightforwardly: "Just now... what did Qian Renxue come to see you for?"

Her voice was not as cold as Qian Renxue's, carrying a hint of post-bath warmth, but the inquisitive tone was equally direct.

Lu Jing sat down on the chair opposite her, not answering immediately, but instead picking up a clean cloth from the side and handing it to her: "Dry your hair; be careful not to catch a cold."

Wang Donger was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting him to focus on that first.

She hesitated for half a second before taking the cloth, dabbing it symbolically against her hair tips, though her gaze remained persistently fixed on Lu Jing, silently urging for an answer.

Water droplets slid down her exquisite jawline, dripping onto her silk nightgown and blooming into a small dark patch.

"Nothing major," Lu Jing's voice was very calm, carrying a soothing tone, as if stating the most ordinary of matters: "She just returned from a mission and brought some of Spirit City's famous roasted meat, sharing some with me to try. By the way..."

He paused, meeting Wang Donger's scrutinizing gaze, and said: "She asked me some questions about the future."

"About the future?" Wang Donger's hair-drying motion paused, her brows furrowing slightly as she asked: "What exactly did she ask?"

She keenly grasped the key point. Qian Renxue visiting late at night could not possibly be just to deliver food.

Roasted meat? That was merely a high-sounding excuse.

What she was truly concerned about, perhaps just like them, was that distant yet personally relevant "future."

Lu Jing, seeing the sudden light in her eyes and her tightened jawline, understood in his heart.

In this completely unfamiliar and perilous World from ten thousand years ago, any fragmented information regarding the "future" was like a faint starlight guiding the way in the fog, extremely precious.

Wang Donger appeared to be concerned about Qian Renxue's movements, but in reality, she was worried about their own situation and... the possibility of going home.

Qian Renxue's actions likely represented the attitude and arrangements of the Spirit Hall upper echelon toward these two "time travelers."

"She tentatively asked a hypothetical question," Lu Jing said, weighing his words—he didn't want to reveal too many of Spirit Hall's core secrets, yet he couldn't completely fob off Wang Donger: "Asking if she were to execute a very difficult mission, whether she could ultimately succeed."

"Testing?" Wang Donger chewed on the word, her powder-blue eyes narrowing slightly as she said: "It seems she doesn't completely trust us."

This confirmed her inner suspicions. Qian Renxue, or rather Spirit Hall, had always maintained vigilance and scrutiny toward them.

"Understandable." Lu Jing shrugged nonchalantly, his tone carrying a transcendent calmness: "Because even if it were us, if two strangers claiming to be from ten thousand years in the future suddenly appeared, we would also harbor doubts and try to verify it by any means. Her testing actually shows that we have touched upon the core, and that our 'origins' have garnered sufficient attention."

He looked at Wang Donger with clear eyes: "This isn't necessarily a bad thing for us. At the very least, we are currently in the Elder Hall, safe for the time being, and we have channels to access core information of this era. What we need to do," he emphasized his tone, "is to constantly improve our strength, gain a foothold in this era, and... always keep an eye out for any clues or opportunities that could allow us to return."

Lu Jing's words were like a reassurance. Wang Donger's tense body relaxed slightly, and her furrowed brows smoothed out.

She draped the cloth casually over the back of the chair beside her; her wet hair was no longer dripping, but the fresh scent from her bath was even stronger.

She was silent for a moment, seemingly digesting Lu Jing's words and the current situation.

"Then... do you think her mission will succeed?" She couldn't help but ask in the end, even though she had changed the angle.

She wanted to use the "possibility" of Qian Renxue's mission to indirectly understand the "destiny" of Spirit Hall in this era, and whether it was truly destined for decline as recorded in the history books of ten thousand years later. This concerned the risk of their choice to attach themselves to the Spirit Hall ship.

Lu Jing did not answer directly, but looked deeply at Wang Donger, repeating what he had said to Qian Renxue earlier, though his tone was even firmer: "Sister Donger, remember what I am saying now. The future is not unchangeable. Everyone's ending and the direction of the World depend on the choices and actions of the present. What is important is ourselves—the strength we accumulate in this era, the information we master, and... whether we can find the way home."

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the quiet nightscape outside and the solemn silhouette of the Elder Hall.

"As for Qian Renxue, or the future of Spirit Hall..." He stood with his back to Wang Donger, his voice low and powerful: "That is not the focus we need to obsess over right now. Our goal is to grow stronger, to survive, to find the way home. Everything else, we will go with the flow and wait for the right moment."

As long as he could grow stronger, by then, whether here or back ten thousand years ago, he would no longer fear anyone, because those so-called Evil Spirit Masters ten thousand years later, in terms of Spirit, how could they possibly compare to his World-Destroying Black Lotus?

Wang Donger watched Lu Jing's small back, which appeared exceptionally upright under the lantern light, and hearing his clear analysis and firm sense of purpose, the last trace of inexplicable irritation in her heart caused by Qian Renxue's visit dissipated.

That's right; in this strange era, agonizing over the future destiny of others or even some massive organization was meaningless.

They were like a lone boat drifting on the sea of time and space; their primary task was to reinforce the hull, accumulate strength, and then—find the star chart for the voyage home.

"I understand." Wang Donger also stood up, her voice returning to its usual clarity, carrying a hint of determination, as she nodded in agreement: "You are right. Grow stronger, survive, find the way home. This is what we should be thinking about."

She walked to Lu Jing's side, stood shoulder to shoulder with him, and gazed together at that deep and unknown night sky belonging to ten thousand years ago.

Powder-blue hair brushed lightly against her cheeks in the night breeze, and the young girl's profile appeared exceptionally resolute under the moonlight.

Inside the small room, two souls from the future reached a silent consensus deep within the ancient Spirit Hall.

The lamplight stretched their shadows, casting them onto the wall, as if foreshadowing that they were about to carve out their own World in this magnificent era.

And outside the window, the Douluo Continent of ten thousand years ago, the torrent of its history was surging along its established trajectory, yet because of these two "accidental" pieces that had fallen into play, it was quietly brewing variables that no one knew about.