Putting his surprise on hold, Long Yuan went to open the door.
Once again, the door's look and feel felt qualitatively different from the ordinary doors he was used to. Cheap, lightweight plywood doors were exchanged for beautifully smooth dark oak ones; what once was a thin plastic coating that barely protected the door from the elements was a lovely varnish that made it glisten in the morning light.
When he opened the door, he was greeted with a surprise:
Standing there, glaring at him menacingly, was a woman. She wore what he'd guess to be traditional Chinese clothes — the type you'd find in a period drama — and a large hairpin that kept her hair in a tight bun.
"Uh... Hello?" At that, she raised an eyebrow, "W-Who are you?" And at that, she raised two.
"Hah, is that yer excuse?" She chuckled, seemingly unperturbed at his unfamiliarity, "Ya pulled that one a fortnight ago; try bein' more creative, yeah?"
Long Yuan frowned, "I think you're missing something here, lady: I have no idea who you are or where I am. Can you stop messing with me and tell me where this is before I call the police?"
This got her to pause and seriously consider what he'd said(he hoped to all hopes she would believe his threat despite his lack of a phone). Alas, luck wasn't on his side as the woman blew it off soon after.
She sighed, "Look. We can do this song and dance all day, but there's a class with my name on it, and I ain't covering for you anymore. So before the dean comes here and personally give you a tongue-lashing, I suggest you put on your uniform and follow me,"
The mysterious lady pushed him back in and slammed the door shut.
"Oh, and you have five minutes before I leave, so ya better not dawdle!"
Long Yuan stood stock still. He was speechless; how could something go so horribly wrong so fast? One minute he was having a conversation as an adult with his life together, and the next he's somehow a student that was late for a class???
Just... how?
But after a minute or so of "dawdling", he headed back into his room and did what she said: he got dressed.
Why?
'I don't know who that dean fellow is, but if the giant walled compound outside tells me anything, it's that you probably don't want to get on his bad side,' He shrugged. Thinking back on it, even the room he was in looked like a typical dorm(despite the antiquated aesthetics), so maybe, probably, on the off chance that lady was actually telling the truth...?
Yeah, he wasn't going to risk it.
***
"Good, you followed the instructions this time," She crossed her arms as he walked out.
Long Yuan didn't answer, his eyes did the speaking for him: let's go.
She obliged, and they began walking. As they made their way across the entire campus, Long Yuan took the chance to observe his surroundings.
'From the look of things, this place isn't anywhere near the city,' His eyes glided from one tree to the next; they were ginormous, standing heads and shoulders above even the walls that guarded this place.
Further than that, though, he could see mountains and rivers that expanded out to the horizon, quite literally a sea of green.
Suddenly, the lady ahead of him spoke, "Interested in the scenery, are ye? Well, you don't have to spend so much energy looking for a way to get out o' this, me and master Ding 'ave made sure this place in-e-scapable!"
Ah, another one of these mysterious people he had to be careful about.
"And who is this "Master" Ding exactly?" She gave him the side-eye, "What? Still pretending?"
Are you serious? "Look, I'm not lying when I—"
"Of course ya aren't! Ya never are. Only telling 'edited truths' and the like, right?" She glared at him, "You're lucky I even bother fetching you every morning." She said this last part under her breath, though she made it just loud enough for him to hear it, "Hell, you're lucky I owe my life to Master Long, or you'd have long been kicked out by the dean,"
That piqued his curiosity, 'Master Long... does she mean my father?'
Oh, how he wanted to pull her to the side and ask how his father(?) had anything to do with this... place, but when he saw the fumes that billowed out of her ears, he held his tongue and followed along silently.
***
When they arrived, they were greeted by a giant pavilion, with countless numbers of people going to and fro every second. The building was about one-tenth the size of his apartment block, but when he saw the grandiosity of its construction, he didn't doubt that it must've cost the same amount.
"Here we are, the Hall of Daos," She said as they entered. As expected, the interior of the pavilion was as glamorous as its exterior, with marbled pillars, ginormous murals and elegant music doing wonders for the place's decor.
"Ah, you're finally here. Yue'er, Yuan'er," The voice of an old man suddenly interrupted his awe-stricken daze.
Turning around, they were met face to face with a — and he said this with absolute confidence — shrivelled grape.
"Master Ding," She kowtowed the moment he appeared. Hm, so he was right...
After helping her up, the shrivelled— ahem, Master Ding swivelled around to face Long Yuan.
The "man" smiled when he saw his face, "Yuan'er, I'm glad you came. Come, you're just in time,"
"U-Uh... hello?" Long Yuan frowned, who is this old geezer?
The old man nodded before walking off, seemingly not hearing him. The girl — or Yue'er — went after him, and from what he could gather from her fleeting glances, he was supposed to tag along too.
He looked around for a bit, and when he saw everyone staring back at him as if waiting to see what he'd do, he decided to be obedient and high tail it after the pair.
It didn't take long for him to catch up, but by that time, they had already arrived at the classroom.
Long Yuan saw them go in, but he himself hesitated. Only for a moment though as the eyes staring at the back of his head felt everpresent, and the hushed sounds of gossip gossip gossip never failed to end.
-Click!-
So he went in...
"Long Yuan!"
"That's Long Yuan!"
"Is that really him?! I heard he practised THAT dao,"
"No way! Those are just rumours! He wouldn't even be here if actually did!"
...And he immediately regretted it.