When I heard Jiang Man say that I wanted to enter the haunted house to save Duan Jinyan, I instinctively retorted, "I do want to go in here to stop Duan Jinyan, but definitely not to save his life!"

"You can fool me, but can you fool yourself? I know you're not a cold-blooded person at heart. It's only natural that you don't want to see Duan Jinyan die, but I can't accept you gambling with your own life!"

Jiang Man looked at me seriously: "Knowing that there is danger here, you still want to enter the ghost house. This is not brave, but foolish! We have already planned ahead. If we cannot guarantee our safety, we will not risk our lives, but will ambush Duan Jinyan. This is a plan we have discussed beforehand."

"You really have a misunderstanding about this matter."

I smiled at Jiang Man: "Or rather, you're only half right! I do want to rush in and find Duan Jinyan, and I am indeed worried that he won't be able to come out alive. But my purpose in doing so is not because I'm worried about him, but because I feel that letting him die in the tomb is too easy for him! I have to find him and ask him in person why he betrayed the Duan family!"

Jiang Man remained silent.

I continued, "Do you remember what your father said? After he captured Duan Jinyan, he personally threw Duan Jinyan into the sea, but he still became active in the martial arts world again not long after! To deal with this beast that has been causing trouble in the martial arts world for many years, we must be on high alert. Even if I can't capture him with my own hands, I must see him die with my own eyes!"

Jiang Man glanced at me: "You said it yourself, Duan Jinyan is the infamous Wind Beast in the martial arts world! Over the years, countless people have wanted to kill him, and the bounty on his head has accumulated to an astronomical figure! But what's the result? Duan Jinyan is still living a carefree life!"

Even seasoned veterans, including the cunning and ruthless, couldn't defeat him. Do you think I'd entrust you with the task of fighting him alone? I don't care what your true thoughts are, but I absolutely cannot allow you to venture into danger alone, and there's no room for negotiation! If you want to enter the haunted house, everyone must arrive first!

Jiang Man's concern warmed my heart, and I nodded to her: "You're right. I definitely can't defeat Duan Jinyan by myself, but we've already come this far. We can't possibly turn back to meet up with the others, and we certainly can't just sit here waiting like idiots. So my idea is that we should at least figure out the situation here, instead of wasting time waiting here! How about this, I'll go in first to check the situation in this corridor, and if I find any danger, I'll come out immediately. What do you think?"

"Do you really think I'm a three-year-old? If you go in alone and encounter danger, it will be too late!"

Jiang Man thought for a moment and said, "If you want to go in, I'll go with you. But we have to make this clear: if I find anything wrong inside, we have to leave as soon as possible!"

"Sure, no problem."

When I heard Jiang Man's request, I hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed.

I was also curious about what would be in the room in front of me. After making an appointment with Jiang Man, I walked into the shortest passage.

After entering the narrow passage, I slowed down and carefully checked the walls on both sides, afraid of triggering some mechanism.

The shortest corridor was less than two meters long, but it took me at least two minutes to walk through it.

When I reached the end of the corridor, I discovered that the wall on the left side of the corridor was recessed, forming a corner that led to the left.

Shining a flashlight around, you see that the end of the corner is still a wall, and after walking past it, there's another passage to the right.

After encountering two corners in a row, I did not continue deeper into the area, but instead asked Jiang Man to leave.

In the following time, I randomly selected two more channels to check. Apart from the difference in length, they were the same as the first channel.

At Jiang Man's request, we walked along the longest corridor again. After leaving, she walked around the outside of the house and returned to my side, saying, "I just measured the length of this house and the passageways inside by taking a few steps. I found that the longest corridor is almost as long as the house itself, but the corners inside lead backwards. I suspect that it connects to other passageways."

"Yes, if nothing unexpected happens, these twelve doors will also have different mechanisms and lead to different places."

I stared intently at the dark entrance ahead: "A fake tomb passage—it's the simplest mechanism, yet also the most complex! If we choose the wrong one, we'll not only waste time, but also risk our lives and suffer a terrible ordeal."

Jiang Man also looked at the doorways ahead: "Is there a way to break through them?"

"This method of creating a fake tomb passage is not unique, but they all have one thing in common: they are untraceable, and whether they are real or fake depends entirely on the whim of the builder."

I shook my head: "You can only choose this kind of path based on experience; to put it bluntly, it's gambling."

Jiang Man smiled at me and gave me a trusting look: "You are the team's guide and the person in charge of this operation. We'll follow your lead."

"Go through the fifth door."

After making my choice, I walked toward the fifth door and explained to Jiang Man, "The fake tomb passage is just a defensive measure. The builders wouldn't let this mechanism slow down the progress. If I were the builder, I would definitely build the prototype of the entire tomb first, and then refine and modify the details. In other words, there was originally only one door here, and the other doors were added later."

Normally, if only one door were to be built, the craftsman would choose a location closer to the center, which would be the area where the fifth or sixth door is located. As for why the fifth door was chosen, it's simply because I like the number.

"I hope this number is worthy of your preference."

As Jiang Man spoke, she drew a dagger from her waist and drew a flower on the steps in front of the house. It had three petals and two leaves.

This is our team's pre-arranged code. If we encounter a choice related to numbers, we use a flower to represent it. No matter what shape the pattern is, only when the petals and leaves are combined is it the correct answer.

After Jiang Man finished marking the door, I led her through the fifth door.

The narrow alley behind that door was even more winding and strange than I had imagined, giving me a very oppressive feeling.

After about two minutes, I was certain that this tunnel was longer than the house. Just as I was about to turn around and talk to Jiang Man, she spoke first, lowering her voice and saying, "Duan Shenxing, there's something wrong with this tunnel!"