Chapter 181: Hidden Room
It was clear that everyone wanted to get more information from the aged woman but the latter sat on the stone pillar and said nothing. It was her silence or rather hostility that made the rest didn’t dare to force her.
Everyone wanted to get her to speak, but no one wanted to be the bad guy to force her. After all, that person might be taken revenge on by her. If what the woman said was true, then her survival chance would be very high. After all, this would be her second time there.
“What should we do now?” Someone asked.
The travellers were silent. Everyone knew that there had to be a secret behind this stone door. If they couldn’t find the mechanism to open it, they had to brute force it. But… who would do that?
Sometimes, it was not a good thing for there to be too many clever people. If they were newbies or not so clever, they’d be ramming themselves into the door already. Of course, the chance of them being killed by the monster was also high.
A mysterious wind picked up to blow away the dust on the door. The carving of the creature blurred. This was good. It lowered the mental pressure on the group.
The stone door was weaker than they thought. The four men picked up a medium-sized stone pillar and rammed it into the stone door. The door didn’t open like a normal door but fell back like a domino. It raised up a lot of dust.
The moment the door fell, the four immediately retreated. The dust eventually settled to reveal the secret behind the door. It was a stone stairs. From their angle, all they could see was the stairs curving upwards into the dark.
The young master waved away the dust and turned to the women. He nodded. “It’s your turn.”
That was the agreement before the men took down the door. The men would knock down the door, and the women would explore the space behind it first. In the nightmare realm, everyone was treated equally. When death was right before their faces, chivalry was nothing.The three women gathered unwillingly together. Clearly, each one of them had their own plot. No one knew what was at the end of the winding stairs. The unknown was the scariest.
The tall man slowly walked towards the Loli girl to accompany her. When he was discovered, the girl shot him a look. The tall man instantly froze up and pouted sadly.
This confused Fatty tremendously.
Just as everyone’s attention was on the darkness behind the door, a figure flashed across everyone’s eyes. The aged woman strode into the stone door. Everyone quickly followed her once they reacted.
It felt strange walking on the stone steps. It was as if they were not walking on a normal staircase but a history buried in time. This history might be one that would not be recorded.
It was hard to tell if it were done on purpose or worn away by time. There were parts of the stairs that were chipped and broken. If one looked through the holes, one could only see darkness. Looking at it for too long and one might be drawn into it.
They stayed close to the wall and took deliberate steps. Jiang Cheng used his fingers to feel the walls. The walls were carved with hard-to-understand patterns. It could be more of the same creatures on the wall, or it could be something else completely.
Finally… they reached the end of the stairs.
There was another stone door, but it was left open. Even though it was not fully opened, the gap was large enough for an adult man to squeeze through. The aged woman slipped through it without any hesitation.
As Jiang Cheng watched the woman disappear behind the door, something inscrutable crossed his eyes. The young master followed the woman.
Only Fatty had a bit of trouble. With the young master pulling him from the inside and Jiang Cheng pushing him from the outside, Fatty finally squeezed through the gap. Fatty knew that he was a burden, so he swore to Jiang Cheng that he’d go back and lose weight.
Jiang Cheng, who had just gotten through, gave him a side-eye and tutted.
Inside the stone door was a space of about 20 cubic metres. It was shaped like a dome. Based on their observation of the outside of the building, they were probably at the top of the ceiling. The walls were no longer normal stone but they were made from mika-like crystals. In a way, they looked like stained glass. They should be of a certain thickness because the place was quiet. They could barely hear the wind.
Different spots of the wall shone differently. It was not conspicuous, but it was there. Jiang Cheng took a few more glances, but he couldn’t figure out the secret behind it.
There was a rack about half a human tall in the middle of the room. The rack was fully white. It felt unique to one’s touch. It had great heat conduction. It didn’t feel like it was made from stone or metal.
A vessel larger than a basin was placed on the rack. After blowing away the layer of dust, milky-white coagulants were left inside the vessel.
The young master touched them and pressed them between his fingers. He then sniffed them and nodded. “It’s fat.”
Jiang Cheng very generously did a lot of things. His oily hands eventually hauled up a rope of an unknown material. The rope was covered in burned oil. Jiang Cheng didn’t seem to mind the oil. Everyone looked at him with admiration.
They were at the top of the building. The room had half-transparent walls. The centre of the room had a vessel with oily residual and a black rope…
With all the evidence, the function of this room was clear.
It was a lighthouse.
“Is this building a lighthouse?” Fatty thought of that too. The device in the middle of the room was a super giant candle.
The young master smiled, “The big brother is right but not accurate. Only this room is the lighthouse, but not the entire building.”
“Who would build such a big lighthouse for no reason?” Jiang Cheng mocked. “The builders might be backwards, but they are not dumb.”
Fatty felt embarrassed, and he suddenly wanted to cry.
Even the young master, who was an outsider, treated him better than the Doctor.