“It seems…” a hoarse voice came from within the flames, “we…are trapped…”
The scorching flames, like fiery dragons, frantically licked every corner of the cave. Waves of heat rolled in, and the air was thick with the smell of burning. Ning Yu held Mu Xue tightly behind him, his sharp eyes scanning their surroundings for a way to escape.
"Damn it!" Ning Yu cursed under his breath. A piece of burning gravel grazed his arm, leaving a charred mark. He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, and continued to observe his surroundings.
"Ning Yu, my hair!" Mu Xue exclaimed, reaching out to touch her hair. A burnt smell wafted from her fingertips. A strand of hair had been singed by flames, emitting a pungent odor.
Ning Yu's heart tightened, and he turned to look at Mu Xue. He saw that a small clump of her once smooth hair was singed, making her look somewhat disheveled. He hugged her tighter with heartache and whispered to comfort her, "It's nothing, just a minor injury, don't worry."
The flames intensified, and the temperature inside the cave rose sharply, making it almost impossible to breathe. Ning Yu and Mu Xue tried to dodge, but found that the entire cave was almost completely engulfed in flames, with nowhere to escape.
"Are we really going to be trapped here and die?" Mu Xue's voice was filled with despair. She gripped Ning Yu's sleeve tightly, her body trembling slightly.
Ning Yu did not answer; his gaze was fixed on a corner beside the stone gate. There, the flames seemed to be weaker, with almost no flames shooting out.
"There!" Ning Yu pointed to that corner and said to Mu Xue, "Let's go there!"
He grabbed Mu Xue's hand and, risking burns from the flames, ran towards that corner. The heatwave from the fire rushed towards them, almost engulfing them, but they didn't hesitate and charged forward without looking back.
Finally, they reached that corner. The temperature here was relatively low, and the flames couldn't reach them. Ning Yu and Mu Xue leaned against the cold stone wall, panting heavily, feeling the relief of surviving a disaster.
The flames gradually died down, and the cave returned to silence, but a strong smell of burning lingered in the air. The stone door remained tightly shut, its intricate runes flickering faintly, as if mocking their helplessness.
Ning Yu stood up and walked to the stone door, carefully examining the runes on it. He reached out and touched the cold stone, his mind filled with doubt. Why couldn't this stone open the door? Was there some other mechanism?
“Ning Yu…” Mu Xue’s voice interrupted his thoughts. She walked to Ning Yu’s side, pointed to an inconspicuous groove below the stone door, and said, “Look, this looks like…”
Ning Yu looked in the direction Mu Xue was pointing and saw a small groove below the stone door, its shape completely different from the stone he had found before. A thought struck him—could it be…?
He took the stone he had found earlier out of his pocket and examined its shape carefully. Suddenly, he noticed that the back of the stone was also carved with an intricate pattern!
“This…” Ning Yu’s breathing became rapid. He flipped the stone over and aligned the pattern on the back with the groove below the stone door…
"Click!"
A soft sound came from deep within the stone gate...
The stone door emitted a deep rumble, causing dust to fall from the cave. However, the stone door remained unmoved, sealing the entrance perfectly as an insurmountable barrier.
Ning Yu and Mu Xue exchanged a glance, both seeing disappointment and a hint of unease in each other's eyes. After the flames died down, an eerie silence fell over the cave, broken only by their rapid breathing.
"It seems this stone isn't the key to opening the stone door either." Ning Yu sighed, took the stone out of the groove, and rubbed it repeatedly in his hand. The stone felt cool to the touch, and the intricate patterns carved on it appeared even more mysterious in the dim light.
Mu Xue walked to the stone door and pushed it hard, but the door didn't budge. "What material is this door made of? It's so sturdy," she murmured to herself, her brows furrowed.
Ning Yu stepped forward and carefully examined the stone door. The surface of the stone door was smooth and flat, without any gaps, mechanisms, or handles. He knocked on the stone door, which produced a dull sound, as if it were solid inside.
"Could there be other mechanisms?" Ning Yu pondered for a moment and said, "Let's search more carefully."
So the two began to search carefully around the stone door, leaving no corner unchecked. They felt around on the stone walls, looking for any possible buttons, grooves, or hidden mechanisms.
Time ticked by, and the air inside the cave grew increasingly stuffy, creating a strange sense of oppression. Fine beads of sweat appeared on Ning Yu and Mu Xue's foreheads, but they did not give up and continued their search.
"Ning Yu, look!" Mu Xue suddenly pointed to a corner above the stone gate, her tone filled with excitement.
Ning Yu followed her finger and saw a small protrusion above the stone gate, near the top of the cave. It was almost blended into the surrounding rocks and could easily be overlooked if one did not look closely.
Ning Yu was overjoyed and quickly leaped up, grabbing a protrusion on the rock face and struggling to climb upwards. Once he reached the protrusion, he carefully observed his surroundings.
The protrusion appears to be an artificially sculpted platform with a small groove on it, the shape of which is very similar to the pattern on the stone in his hand.
Could this be... the key to opening the stone door?
Ning Yu held her breath and carefully placed the stone in her hand into the groove.
"Click!"
A crisp sound came from deep within the stone gate. Immediately afterwards, the stone gate slowly rose, revealing a passage leading into the darkness.
Ning Yu and Mu Xue had just breathed a sigh of relief when they heard heavy footsteps coming from the darkness, the sound growing closer and closer...
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