Attracted by the sound from the fork in the road, I led Jiang Man in that direction.

Since we entered the gate of the haunted house, apart from Jiang Man feeling a little uneasy, all we've seen is that mechanism that we don't know how it was triggered. The sound coming from ahead has indeed caught my attention. Before figuring out the mystery here, it's better to forge ahead than to hide.

After turning right onto the fork in the road, the sound of the boulders grinding together became even more pronounced, rolling in from the depths of darkness.

We walked forward for about ten meters, but the road ahead was blocked.

A rock protruding from the cave wall is slowly stretching towards the other side; the sound we just heard was caused by the friction of this rock.

At this moment, the half-meter-wide passageway was occupied by a boulder, which was moving forward at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Thump!"

In just a few seconds, the rocks in front of us completely blocked our way.

Seeing that the path ahead was blocked, Jiang Man subconsciously took a step back: "We haven't encountered anything unusual along the way, so how did this mechanism trigger?"

"We didn't trigger this mechanism! If we wanted to move such a large rock, there's no way the mechanism wouldn't make a sound once it was triggered!"

Looking at the blocked passage in front of me, I guessed the purpose of the boulder we had seen earlier. I grabbed Jiang Man's hand and pulled her back, saying, "The mechanisms here don't need to be triggered. Let's get back as fast as we can!"

When I ran back to the back passage with Jiang Man, I also heard the sound of stones scraping together.

The sudden activation of this mechanism truly alarmed me, because it meant that my knowledge would be largely ineffective in this situation.

Jiang Man and I ran wildly through the passage. When we returned to the spot where we had seen the boulder earlier, it had bulged out and was slowly moving forward, blocking more than half of the passage.

I looked at the moving boulder, walked over quickly, and squatted down to examine it carefully.

Seeing that the remaining gaps in the passage were getting smaller and smaller, Jiang Man urged, "Duan Shenxing, this passage is about to be sealed off. If we don't leave now, we won't be able to get out!"

When I heard Jiang Man's words, I turned to look at her: "Jiang Man, do you believe me?"

Jiang Man was taken aback by my question: "What do you mean by that?"

"We're not leaving!"

I shone my flashlight on the ground and the wall: "I was only focused on checking the traps and didn't notice the marks here. I just assumed the wear and tear on the ground and the wall were marks left when the passage was built. But now that I'm looking closely, the marks on the ground and the opposite wall are much deeper."

As I spoke, the boulder had already occupied three-quarters of the passage. Jiang Man glanced at the increasingly narrow passage, then looked at me with a determined gaze: "And then?"

"The mechanisms here are not triggered by people, but are cyclical, constantly opening and closing. We were lucky to come in when it was open; otherwise, without the mechanisms, I would definitely have judged this place as a dead end."

I paused for a moment, then continued to Jiang Man, "I'm worried that the mechanisms here are interconnected. Even if the probability is small, once we get out, it will be difficult for us to get back in."

"But if we don't go out, who knows when this door will open again?"

Jiang Man was somewhat worried: "Do you remember what the monkey said about striving for 30, hoping for 40, and guarding 70? We didn't bring any supplies with us. If we get stuck for a few days, it could cause a big problem."

"The door here shouldn't be closed for too long, otherwise those shrewd people like Duan Jinyan would definitely not dare to go in."

I looked at the narrow passage that was now just wide enough for a person to squeeze through sideways and said, "If we back out now, we can indeed block Duan Jinyan, but if we have a choice, I still want to do my best to prevent Duan Jinyan from opening the third door!"

Jiang Man continued, "But do you think the two of us alone are a match for those men in black robes? And how do you plan to capture Duan Jinyan?"

"Don't worry, I won't fight Duan Jinyan head-on. I won't act rashly unless there's a suitable opportunity."

I smiled at Jiang Man: "Besides, Monkey and the others are still behind us. They might catch up before we even find Duan Jinyan."

"Thump!"

While Jiang Man and I were talking, the boulder had already crashed into the opposite wall, completely blocking the passage in front of us.

Jiang Man looked at the boulder blocking her way and shrugged at me: "Looks like we really have no choice now."

I was confident in my judgment, so I turned around and walked back: "When I came back just now, I didn't hear the sound of a mechanism being activated in the passage behind me. The way back should still be open. Let's go."

Jiang Man and I returned the way we came. When we entered another passage, there was another huge rock slowly closing in. We immediately sped up and rushed through it.

Under the lamplight, Jiang Man saw the corridor ahead and turned to look at me: "Duan Shenxing, did you anticipate this situation beforehand?"

"I had thought about it, but I didn't expect it to be this much."

Looking at the scene before me, I said, "The twelve doors we encountered before were fake tomb passages, used to confuse intruders! But this is a set of traps."

At this moment, the road ahead is lined with exits that are half a meter wide, which look like fish bones at first glance.

Jiang Man took a few steps forward and shone her flashlight into the forks in the road: "These forks are of different lengths and elevations, which way should we go?"

I shone my flashlight and walked forward along the main tomb passage: "Go straight, let's figure out the situation here first."

As we moved forward, we observed the passageways on both sides and discovered that, like the mechanisms we had seen before, there were many large stones embedded in the walls, some on the sides and others overhead.

Just as I was trying to find clues and the right way out, Jiang Man suddenly drew her pistol and pointed it at a passage to the side: "Duan Shenxing, be careful!"

Upon hearing Jiang Man's words, I immediately drew two throwing knives and gripped them in my hands: "What's wrong?"

"There's something in this passage! I just saw a flash of light!"

Jiang Man, gun in hand, stared at the passage ahead: "It looks like someone ran past with a flashlight."

"How could there be people here? Could it be Ping'an Village or Duan Jinyan and the others, trapped by these side paths?"

I glanced at the space Jiang Man was pointing the gun at, but didn't find any trace of light scattering inside. Just as I was about to divert further, another beam of light flashed past the end of the passage like a shooting star.