Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
It is clear that there are absolutely no hidden passages on either side of this corridor, and I also do not believe we fell from the top of the passage. I am not confused; I should know whether I jumped down from the top or not. After lingering in front of the door for a while, my mind was a jumble.
Last time during the Moon Demon Incident, I encountered a maze before entering the Land of Eternal Sleep, but that maze was grand and had numerous exits densely packed like a spider's web. Even if you couldn't find your way out, you would still be convinced by its complexity. However, this circular passage feels different; it's like being asked a simple math question, "What is one plus one?" You provide an answer only to be told it is incorrect.
Clearly, we walked all the way from the entrance to here, and with just one turn, it transformed into a circular passage with the entrance vanished. This is truly bizarre.
After a while, Xiao Qingcheng said thoughtfully, "Why don't I try to open this door?"
Right! While I was busy trying to find our way back, why didn't I think of trying to open this Copper Door? I scratched my head, chuckled lightly, and walked over to examine the Copper Door.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed strange; rather than being a door, it resembled a large Copper Door that bulged outward slightly. When I tapped it with my flashlight, the sound was extremely dull, indicating that this large Copper Door is solid and cannot be forcefully broken through.
In the center of the door is a circle about a foot in diameter, surrounded by various patterns. The patterns themselves are not particularly unusual but are more intricate than ordinary designs.
"I thought you could become invisible? That Youdi just disappeared in front of us; you should be able to do that too, right? Did she pass through this large Copper Door?" Feeling somewhat tired, I leaned against the opposite wall and sat down facing the Copper Door.
"We can't use that trick casually; we need to know where we will appear next. I can become invisible and then appear in front of you! But if I have to become invisible and appear in an entirely unknown location, that's not possible. It's like driving a car; you need navigation," Xiao Qingcheng explained with a frown. She ended with a self-deprecating smile: "Anyway, Youdi knows what’s behind the door and can pass through it, while I'm left here clueless."
It's so troublesome; your Xiao Family isn't all that impressive! An exaggerated look of disdain crossed my face as I said, "And Nan Kong? Pfft! The Gao Family is much stronger than you guys. Looks like we can only wait for Youdi to come and rescue us."
Xiao Qingcheng wasn't angry; she smiled lightly and seemed to accept my words.
I took out two bottles of water, tossed one to Xiao Qingcheng, opened one for myself, took a couple of sips, then walked over to sit against the wall opposite the Copper Door. Lighting a cigarette, I randomly analyzed several reasons for our predicament until eventually, I fell into a confused sleep.
In my confused state, it seemed like I heard Xiao Qingcheng calling me. When I opened my eyes, everything was dark. I felt the ground tremble slightly and faintly heard a thunderous roar coming from somewhere. This situation was similar to when Youdi disappeared in front of the Copper Door earlier.
I shouted Qingcheng's name loudly and thought I heard her respond faintly. Not hearing her clearly made me anxious. My hands fumbled around until I managed to grab my flashlight. When I pressed the switch, I found it was already on. Suddenly recalling that before Youdi disappeared there had been moments when light was absorbed for several seconds, sure enough, after a moment, the flashlight's light returned to normal. As I shone it around, nothing had changed in the corridor except that Xiao Qingcheng was nowhere to be seen.
I jolted up and shouted loudly: "Qingcheng! Qingcheng!"
My voice echoed through the corridor.
"Qingcheng ———— Qingcheng ————"
"City —?— City ————"
"City —?—"
I tilted my head and listened carefully. Apart from the echo of my own voice, there was no response from Xiao Qingcheng.
Looking around, I couldn't see any trace of Qingcheng, but just a moment ago, Qingcheng had clearly called out to me, and didn't Qingcheng just agree to me a moment ago? Was it all just my imagination? Was I dreaming?
I took out my phone and glanced at it; there wasn't a single signal, so contacting Qingcheng by phone was out of the question.
Waving the flashlight around in a panic, I thought, damn it, Qingcheng, are you seriously playing hide and seek with me in this Kung Fu? Then I considered that perhaps Qingcheng had seen something earlier and called me while rushing into the passage.
Thinking about it, it seemed very likely. A chill ran down my spine as I realized that in this circular passage, there were things lurking nearby that I couldn't tell if they were human or ghost. I felt a shiver run through me. I took out my knife and carved a few words into the Bluestone on the wall: "Wait for me here, or leave a message."
After finishing the carving, I turned and ran down the passage. After a couple of steps, I turned back and took several bottles of mineral water from my Spatial Bag, arranging them to point towards where I had written. Only then did I sprint down the passage.
"Qingcheng! Qingcheng!"
As I ran, I shouted Xiao Qingcheng's name. In the back, the entire passage echoed with my voice.
About ten minutes later, I returned near the Copper Door. The rapid running left me breathless as I bent over to support my knees, gasping for air. My mouth filled with saliva; I spat a few times and then struggled to swallow some. Shining the flashlight again, I saw that the arrow made of mineral water bottles hadn't moved at all, and there were no messages from Xiao Qingcheng on the wall. Damn it, did Xiao Qingcheng not see my message?
In truth, a vague thought crossed my mind: Xiao Qingcheng was no longer in this passage.
An unknown fear gripped me as I pulled out my Shotgun, loaded it with bullets. After the last incident with the Doll, I still had one gun left and later got some bullets from Zhao Ting. Personally, I felt that this thing was very effective for self-defense.
Holding the Shotgun, my back straightened slightly. I rested the flashlight on the gun barrel and swept it around in all directions. The light scanned over the walls of the passage, the ceiling, and even over the Copper Door.
Hmm, something seemed off. As my gaze swept over these things, I vaguely sensed something was wrong. My nerves tightened as I slowly swept the flashlight back over those things again.
The wall showed no abnormalities.
The top of the hole was also normal.
Copper Door, where are the marks I carved on the Copper Door?
I waved my flashlight around on the Copper Door, and sure enough, the marks I had previously carved were gone. This meant that the Copper Door in front of me was very likely not the same Copper Door as before.
What was happening? A feeling of fear tightly surrounded me. I took a step back, and when my back touched the wall, I could no longer hold back. I fired a shot at the Copper Door.
Bang! Ding!
The corridor echoed with a loud sound that lingered on.
I pushed and pulled the pump handle of the Shotgun. I didn't continue shooting mainly because this one shot had dispelled much of the fear in my heart. Whatever monsters dared to come out, I would just shoot them. A Demon or whatever wouldn't necessarily withstand the power of this Shotgun. I had known this for a long time; that ghost guarding the secret room of the Golden Blade Advertising Company—Raise—was blasted to bits by human technology, wasn't it?
Holding my gun close to the Copper Door again, I wondered if there was something significant about the patterns on it.
Shining my flashlight from top to bottom, I noticed that these patterns seemed to be carved with an extremely sharp knife. The grooves were deeply etched into the Copper Door, and when I shone my light inside, I could barely see copper reflecting about three or four centimeters in. Such deep grooves—who knew what purpose they served?
After looking for a while and not understanding much, I simply sat down against the Copper Door. A cool breeze immediately came from it—so comfortable!
I lit a cigarette, but after thinking for a while, I still had no clue. So, I spread my arms wide, feeling the Chill from the Copper Door. The patterns on it hurt my hands, but I didn’t care. After leaning there for a while, unsure of what time it was, I took out my phone to check, only to find a character had appeared on the back of my hand: "reverse".
My scalp tingled as I jumped up, raising my gun and shouting loudly, "Who is it? Who is it? Come out if you dare!"
My voice echoed in the air: come out, come out...
After a while, there was no response in the corridor.
Looking again at the character on my hand, it was slightly raised—not like something written but more like an imprint left by leaning against something. Right! Hadn't I just been leaning against the Copper Door?
Holding the flashlight, I searched for a while in the position where my arm had been, and finally found the character 'Reverse' hidden among the intricate patterns. In addition, I discovered seven other Chinese characters. These seven characters were also concealed within the elaborate designs and were engraved in reverse on the Copper Door. If I hadn't accidentally stumbled upon one of these characters, I would never have guessed that there was a hidden meaning within these patterns.
I pressed my palm against these characters one by one to make impressions. Fortunately, although all these characters were in Clerical Script, I recognized them all. In order, they were: Positive and Negative Three Circles, Portal.
Seeing this phrase made my heart race. Portal? What portal? Could it be an exit?
But what does Positive and Negative Three Circles mean? Three circles—if it involves three circles, then it must relate to something circular? Am I supposed to run a few laps in the circular passage, three laps to the left and three laps to the right? That makes no sense at all.
Should I just give it a try as a last resort? I stood up, ready to run, but my gaze swept over the Ring in the center of the Copper Door. Suddenly, I realized that running was unnecessary; the answer must lie within the Ring on this Copper Door.
After thinking for a moment, I took out my dagger and inserted the tip into the gap of the middle Ring, slowly rotating along it. Sure enough, after a full turn, I felt resistance at the dagger's tip; it must have touched some kind of switch. The tip moved slightly, indicating that the switch was also shifting.
At this point, if I still didn't know what to do, I would be a fool. I pressed the dagger's tip against that switch and first turned it three times clockwise and then three times counterclockwise.
As soon as I finished turning, everything went dark again; that mysterious sensation washed over me once more. All light was absorbed completely, and beneath my feet came a Thunderous Roar along with a slight Tremble.
Three or four seconds later, the light returned to normal. I looked at the Copper Door in front of me. The Copper Door was still the same Copper Door with no changes. Turning around, I saw that behind me was still that Right Angle passageway. However, the several bottles of mineral water I had left in the passage had vanished without a trace. When I reached the spot where I had left a message for Xiao Qingcheng, there were no traces of writing left.
Clearly, this passage was no longer the same one I had just been in.
Comment 0 Comment Count