Chapter 57: Iron Door

    With the promise of the return ticket in front of them, the players had no choice but to get in. Still with a candle stand in hand, Xinxin hurriedly trailed after Tang Ye, whereas Nian and Jin Jiuchi were close behind him.

    Nian went to grab another candle stand to inspect the narrow path in front of him. The walls were made of rough bricks, with thick moss and vines crept up the sides. Countless dust particles and microbes floated in front of him, just like the broken channel of an old TV. It was clear that no one had ever set foot in here for years, if not decades.

    "So," Jin Jiuchi gestured for Nian to enter first while he took the rear, which the jade doll obliged. As they carefully made their way down the creaky wooden stairs, Jin Jiuchi asked with his voice strangely muffled, "What is this important item that you have to find? Tell me, Nian’er. Who knows, I may even be able to help you search for it."

    Nian turned and lifted the candle stand in his hand higher to see Jin Jiuchi pinching his nose while breathing through his mouth like a goldfish. "It’s a book," he said, turning back to the front to illuminate his feet as the stairs were steep and the structures uneven, presumably eaten by termites, making it hard for him to walk smoothly. "There’s no need for you to help me. I will know it once I see it."

    "Oh?" Jin Jiuchi made a curious sound in his throat. "What kind of book?"

    Nian fell silent for a beat with his gaze lowered, hiding the emotions brewing within his purple orbs. Then he replied in a quiet voice, "...The Lost City of Atlantis."

    Jin Jiuchi tilted his head in confusion. Atlantis? What kind of city was it? Why hadn’t he heard of it before? And moreover, Nian had come to this corpse apartment just to search for this book? Couldn’t he just search for it in the local bookstores? Jin Jiuchi could not figure it out no matter how hard he thought about it.

    Alas, before he could ask further, Tang Ye’s excited voice came from the front, "There is another door here!"

    "Careful," Jin Jiuchi caught the jade doll’s arm in time when he stepped on the slippery moss, causing him to lose his balance. Seeing how the candle stand almost slipped out of Nian’s hand, Jin Jiuchi clicked his tongue. He bent down, slipped an arm around the jade doll’s body and hoisted him up, still with one hand pinching his nose. "Isn’t it way better like this?" he flashed a roguish grin and winked at the stunned jade doll.

    "Coming!" he said to Tang Ye and hurried down the stairs with an agility as if he was sprinting on flat ground, taking two or three steps at a time. It took less than five seconds for them to arrive at the bottom where Tang Ye and Xinxin were, while a thick iron door stood in front of them.

    "What’s wrong?" Jin Jiuchi asked as he gently put the jade doll down from his arms. "Why aren’t you entering?"

    "This..." Tang Ye stepped aside to reveal the entirety of the door and Jin Jiuchi’s gaze dropped to see a thick string of chains wrapped around the handle with a huge rusty padlock hanging on it. "It’s locked. What should we do?" he asked in a helpless tone.

    ***

    At the same time, in the kitchen above.

    Two lit candles stood on each end of the long counter, giving more than enough lighting when the players returned from the secret chamber later.

    All of a sudden, a strong gust of wind blew in an enclosed space, causing the flame to flicker wildly as if it was going to die out at any moment.

    The strangest thing was, the flame remained burning – if not stronger – but the stable stand started to shake as if pushed by an invisible hand. When the second gust descended, the candle swayed precariously and fell with a dull thud, rolling across the counter toward the ground.

    The tongue of the flame brushed against the surface of the wooden cabinets covered by a layer of oil and grime. In no time at all, a bright spark burst out, weak at first before getting stronger and stronger.

    ***

    "What should we do?" Tang Ye asked nervously. "I don’t recall ever seeing a key in this place. Should we go up first to look for it?"

    Nian furrowed his brows. He had been counting the time since he exited the room and thus he knew that half an hour had already passed since then. It meant that they had one and a half hours more to find the ticket and board the bus in time. According to the journal, Dong had witnessed Madam Liu entering the secret chamber, so if there was someone who held the key to this door, then it could only be her.

    But here came the main problem – they had no idea where Madam Liu’s room was, and even then there was still no guarantee that they could find the key there. Could they risk wasting their precious time to search for the key?

    Of course, Tang Ye had no idea that their time was running out and thus, he could still suggest searching for the key...

    "Um..." Xinxin’s soft and delicate voice rang out, breaking the line of Nian’s thoughts. He glanced at the iron door fearfully, "Don’t you guys think something is strange here? A secret underground chamber with a locked iron door... what kind of thing could be hidden inside? It’s making me nervous..."

    Her doubt was very reasonable. But Tang Ye reached out to pat his shoulder and reassure him, "Opportunity and risk always comes hand in hand. Brother, haven’t you learnt it in your previous Cycle? If we want to get the ticket, of course we have to brave the danger!"

    The corner of Xinxin’s lips twitched at being referred to as ’brother’, but in the end he chose not to comment on it. "I know..." he swallowed, and his timid eyes hardened as if she had made up his mind about something. "If that’s the case, then... I think I have a way..."

    In front of everyone’s shocked eyes, she pulled out a thin wire out of nowhere, twisted it skilfully and bent down to insert it into the padlock. "Wait a minute..." he mumbled under his breath. "It’s so rusty, so I may need a longer time to unlock it..."

    "You..." Tang Ye gave him a complicated look. Xinxin’s moves were so smooth that it was definitely not her first time to attempt something like this.

    On the other side, Nian breathed a sigh of relief. He was just considering whether he should reveal his prop and broke the chains, but fortunately Xinxin spared him from the effort of being the center of attention. He was watching Xinxin move his wrist here and there when it suddenly struck him how silent Jin Jiuchi was. With his usual personality, he would have made a comment or two upon seeing Xinxin’s actions.

    "Yang Rouchuan?" He turned to see Jin Jiuchi lost in thought with a vacant look on his eyes. "What’s wrong? Hungry again?"

    "Ah?" Jin Jiuchi blinked as though awakened from a dream. "No– I mean, yes, I am still so hungry that I could die. But Nian’er... did you smell something?"

    Nian automatically sniffed the air, but he could not detect anything other than the musty and damp odor. "What smell?"

    Jin Jiuchi parted his lips to answer but at that moment, a loud click sounded in the air followed by Xinxin’s relieved voice, "I did it!" She removed the padlock and the heavy chains pulled down by gravity to pool on the ground.

    "Let me, let me...!" Too excited, Tang Ye pushed him away and took the lead to push the door. It swung open with a creaking groan and a faint light spilled out through the crack to fall on their feet.

    And as soon as they saw what lay on the other side of the door, they became gobsmacked, eyes wide and jaws hanging open.

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    A/N: *cough* we have a spoiler for future Cycle?