Chang Lili ran to the giant gate, exhaled, and felt her heartbeat calm down a bit.

Looking at the huge keyhole on the door, Chang Lili realized that she hadn't noticed before, but the keyhole was actually slightly curved, perfectly matching the key in her hand.

She was about to insert the key into the lock when she thought about it and then pulled it back. A sad expression appeared on her face. She clutched the key in her hand and turned to run towards Meng Yuxiu.

When Meng Yuxiu saw her, he asked, "What? Shouldn't the key and the lock match?"

Seeing Chang Lili's expression, he was somewhat puzzled.

Chang Lili nodded: "A good match."

While skillfully grilling the meat, Meng Yuxiu asked, "Shouldn't we be happy?"

Chang Lili slowly walked to his side, looked at him, and sat down next to him, her face showing affection and reluctance.

"I'm going in soon. Remember what you promised me," she said sadly.

Meng Yuxiu patted her head affectionately and said, "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore, let's eat first."

The two then ate some more grilled fish and meat. After they were full, Chang Lili finally regained some of her energy.

She walked to the giant door with the look of someone about to die a heroic death. She inserted the key into the lock, and the two fit together perfectly. She gently turned the key, and a clicking sound came out, incessant and loud. With this sound, the ground seemed to tremble.

This ancient, colossal gate, which had not been opened for who knows how long, slowly receded to both sides, leaving behind a trail of dust.

Chang Lili was almost unable to stand, so Meng Yuxiu helped her up, and the two of them curiously looked into the room.

The smell of dust hit us, and light illuminated the interior. The massive door swung open, revealing a lock and a door.

The giant gate stopped moving, and Chang Lili was stunned.

“This…this…this…” She pointed to the gleaming gold lock on the door, “Is this really not a lock-picking array?”

Meng Yuxiu smiled and said, "The trap formation is fraught with danger, so it's impossible to enter easily."

Chang Lili frowned, looking rather displeased. She stepped inside, then thought for a moment and jogged back, pulled the gold key off the door, wiped it with her sleeve, and clutched it in her hand.

Seeing Meng Yuxiu's surprised expression, she quickly explained, "This is made of gold, so why not take it?"

Meng Yuxiu was both amused and exasperated.

But then something sad happened. Chang Lili looked at the golden lock, glancing left and right but still couldn't figure it out. Finally, she saw a small forging furnace around the corner.

If its structure weren't exactly the same as a forging furnace, and if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Chang Lili wouldn't have believed that such a miniature forging furnace existed in the world.

She circled the forge, puzzled, and asked, "What does this mean? Does it mean I have to forge something?"

Meng Yuxiu stood aside with his arms crossed, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

They searched tirelessly for a long time, but still couldn't find any clues related to the key. However, they did find a pile of charcoal fire next to the miniature forge.

"Do I have to forge this key myself?" Chang Lili pondered for a while and felt it was highly likely.

Those who can navigate through the trap array must have a certain understanding and skill in mechanical arts, so crafting anything would be a piece of cake for them.

With that thought in mind, she clapped her hands and said, "Start the fire, turn on the key."

But to make the key, you need materials. Since the lock is a gold lock, it naturally needs a matching key.

Chang Lili murmured, "We can't possibly go back to the city to buy materials in this desolate wilderness, can we? What are we going to use to forge this key?"

As she pondered, her eyes darted around, thinking that since there was charcoal, there should also be other materials prepared here, but where could she find any metals that could be smelted?

She noticed that Meng Yuxiu was acting strangely, so she kept staring at her, or more accurately, at the object in her hand—a gleaming golden key. Chang Lili couldn't help but lift the key up to see what it was.

In an instant, a brilliant idea flashed through her mind. She quickly hid the key behind her back and said, "No way! This is mine now. How can I use it as a material for crafting? This place is so mysterious and grand. How can we be so stingy? Even setting up a formation requires such frugality. How can we make the most of everything?"

Meng Yuxiu shrugged: "If this is just a piece of gold in your eyes, even if it's made into a different key, it's still gold. It doesn't mean it's not yours."

Chang Lili's brows suddenly relaxed: "Oh right, that's how it is! Let's get to work!"

She excitedly went to the forge, called Meng Yuxiu to help, started a fire, and put the golden key into the furnace to melt it down.

Beside the forging furnace was a fine-toothed end mill. Chang Lili picked it up and clicked her tongue twice, saying, "They really made someone forge a key themselves. I'll go check the lock."

As she spoke, she got up and went to the locked side, leaving the task of starting the fire to Meng Yuxiu.

That golden lock was incredibly heavy; it was made of pure gold, just like the key!

Chang Lili sighed inwardly, thinking that this mechanism was truly impressive. She thought to herself that the materials should not be wasted, and immediately decided to turn back and take them with her. If she could get out of here alive, she would be rich.

She then began to carefully observe the keyhole, deciding how the key should be made. At this moment, she relied entirely on her keen eyesight.

She observed for a while, but then felt that she couldn't see clearly enough, so she took a branch, lit a fire, and looked at it for a while before returning to the stove.

"How are you?" Meng Yuxiu asked, seeing her frowning with worry.

Chang Lili frowned and sighed, "I can't compare to a genius like Zhang Zicheng. He succeeds once, but I might need ten tries."

Seeing her unusually dejected appearance, Meng Yuxiu felt bad for her. He put his arm around her and said softly, "I don't think so. Although Zhang Zicheng has achieved something, it's not because of his extraordinary talent. He is indeed very talented, but he is very lucky to have appeared in such a comfortable environment, which naturally gave him an advantage."

Chang Li felt a warmth in her heart, and she forced a smile in the face of Meng Yuxiu's gaze.

"On the contrary, I think that many things you can do well, he may not be able to do to this extent." He said it so matter-of-factly, with a hint of pride, as if he himself had received a great honor.

Chang Lili couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips as she leaned against Meng Yuxiu, looking quite content.

"You make me sound so amazing, how can I live up to General Meng's favor if I can't even pass this trap?" she said with a smile, but her eyes never left the small forging furnace.

This small forge, whose firepower was not as great as that of the large forge, had only melted a little bit of the golden key.

Meng Yuxiu handed the dagger he was carrying to Chang Lili, who used it to fish out the half-melted key and then struck it with the dagger.

However, due to the extremely limited resources, it took several attempts before the key finally became smooth.

Next comes the most crucial step: using only a milling cutter, the shape of the key must be carved out.

Chang Lili took the key to the lock and began to examine and polish it.