Chapter 1001 Eight Hands
We shouldn't spend our merits so lavishly; we should use them sparingly.
After inspecting the small wooden fish, Ouyang Rong sighed softly to himself.
After heading down the mountain to meet up with Xiao Xuan and the others in Taoyuan Town, he still needs to visit Lu Changgeng's tomb and enter the circular hall again. Opening the bronze door in the tomb passage will require consuming a portion of merit purple mist.
After descending the stairs, he saw the wooden gate ahead. Ouyang Rong walked towards it, silently pondering for a moment.
Actually, it's quite simple to verify whether the merits spent on these two nights were worthwhile.
All we need to do is see if Yun Xiangyi has returned.
Clearly, these good deeds were done on the most critical points.
Ouyang Rong pushed open the wooden gate, glanced at the still empty spot where the white-clad lady was missing, and silently thought to himself.
Furthermore, if he used up his merit-based purple mist to threaten and frighten Lady Zhi Shuang, and Yun Xiangyi suddenly returned from the Queen's Palace, doing the opposite...
This can also illustrate a point from another angle.
That means that Lady Zhi Shuang and the Lady of the Palace have already made preparations to deal with him, the master of Butterfly Love Flower, and have all the necessary backup plans. For the time being, Yun Xiangyi is no longer needed.
If that's the case, Ouyang Rong should be careful. There's no need for him to continue wasting merit purple mist on scaring Lady Zhi Shuang.
After sorting through his thoughts, Ouyang Rong put the food box down, turned around and walked out of the wooden gate, then went back upstairs and took down the rest of the food box.
After doing all this, Ouyang Rong stood by the wooden gate at the entrance and glanced at the wooden gate inside.
He, who had longed for this door in the past but could not obtain it, had no intention of entering at this moment.
Several food boxes were also placed by the wooden gate.
Ouyang Rong walked around the room, found a corner near the door, and sat down.
He did not sit at the table where Yun Xiangyi was reading Buddhist scriptures.
Ouyang Rong stared at the ever-burning candle on the table, sitting cross-legged with his back against the cold, hard wall, with several lacquered food boxes beside him.
He closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.
Soon, time passed by, and the candlelight on the table flickered intermittently. Although the two wooden doors were tightly closed, no one knew where the draft was coming from in this small hut.
At this moment, the taciturn young man was breathing evenly, seemingly taking a break and falling asleep on the ground.
His faint snoring echoed in the room.
I don’t know how much time has passed. It must have been long past midnight. Being in this underground water prison, I can’t hear any sounds from the outside, and it’s hard to tell how much time is flowing. Especially in this semi-enclosed space, it makes me feel dulled by the passage of time.
At one point, the dull young man who had been lazily sleeping on the ground finally moved. He seemed to open his eyes groggily, then stretched and slowly stood up.
He looked around the empty house, pretended to be in a hurry, picked up the food box, and walked quickly toward the wooden door inside.
Following the familiar staircase, I went up and soon arrived at the passageway.
The black water curtains stood quietly on both sides of the passageway.
Ouyang Rong, who was late delivering the vegetarian meal today, was unsure whether the quiet was due to the soundproofing provided by the black water curtains.
He quickly looked around.
The water dungeon remained dimly lit, and the eight water curtain doors were still as black as ink.
Although there are some subtle differences in the lighting, the overall tone remains dark.
There isn't much difference.
Ouyang Rong was not in a hurry, because according to his calculations, it was still a little while before dawn.
The taciturn young man began to put down the food box, deliberately slowing his movements, and began to deliver the vegetarian meals to the cells on both sides of the passageway.
After delivering the vegetarian meal, he stopped in front of the room marked "B" and continued deeper into the passageway, only turning back to look at the eight water dungeons from which the meal had been taken.
Today, they were pulling the food boxes out of the door much faster than usual.
It seems they were aware of the food delivery person's lateness.
Although it can be dark and gloomy inside the water dungeon, and people can hardly tell the time, and time seems to slow down here, hunger is always the most punctual thing.
Ouyang Rong took in all the small details on both sides of the passageway, as if he hadn't noticed them.
After a short while, he stood alone at the entrance of the passageway, waiting silently.
Logically, he shouldn't leave yet; he shouldn't leave the water dungeon until the prisoners finish their vegetarian meal.
While yawning and waiting, Ouyang Rong would occasionally look up and survey his surroundings.
Especially the interplay of light and shadow on the black water curtain door and the brightness of the eerie light on the rocks overhead.
They looked at it very carefully.
The vegetarian meal was served exceptionally late tonight. I wonder if any of the prisoners were angry or upset, except for the kind and patient Old Master Sun.
As Ouyang Rong was lost in thought, the thought suddenly came to mind.
Just then, a series of clear wooden fish sounds came from my ears.
The number is not large, around fifty or sixty.
But this surprised Ouyang Rong.
This small increase in merit is exactly the same as the increase from delivering the daily vegetarian meal.
At this moment, although the vegetarian meal was delivered late, it was obvious where it came from.
Ouyang Rong felt a little embarrassed.
He turned his head to look at the black water curtain doors around him.
I wonder who this kind person is who is so grateful.
Of course, we should first exclude the sharp-tongued Master Sun.
Moreover, he pretended to be asleep today and was late in bringing the vegetarian meal, yet no one deducted his merit.
Ouyang Rong felt even more ashamed.
At that moment, Ouyang Rong suddenly realized that his surroundings seemed to have changed.
Upon closer inspection, the entire environment seemed to brighten up.
Because he was so focused on the location, he almost forgot about it. But when he realized it now, he immediately looked around and found that the entire water prison was as bright as if a window had been opened.
At this moment, if he wasn't mistaken, it should be dawn outside.
My suspicions were confirmed.
Ouyang Rong was greatly encouraged.
He immediately looked at the "C" cell next to him, frowned and stared intently at the changes in the black water curtain door.
In between, the pitch-black color of the water curtain gradually faded.
Or rather, it's not so much faded, but restored.
To use a vivid analogy, this scene is like a black curtain on a window being slowly drawn back by the person inside.
But as he watched, Ouyang Rong frowned, and the joy on his face faded somewhat.
Because it was somewhat different from what he had expected.
The curtains were drawn, and the black curtains were no longer there to block the view, but the water curtain still looked like a frosted glass, blocking the doorway.
It makes it difficult to see clearly what's inside.
Ouyang Rong moved closer, but quickly gave up trying. His expression became completely composed, as if he were deep in thought.
In other words, he achieved his goal, but not entirely.
First of all, his guess was correct.
Previously, when I came to deliver vegetarian meals every night, I saw the black water curtain door and the dark passageway, which were the characteristics of the water curtain at night.
The entire water prison was constructed in an unknown manner, and it was equipped with some kind of mysterious formation. It was able to adapt to the brightness of the sky outside.
However, the reason why the goal was not achieved is because we made too few guesses.
That is, in addition to being black, the black water curtain door also has the visual isolation effect of the water curtain itself.
At this moment, although it was already mostly light outside the water prison, the blackness on the water curtain door had faded, as if the black water had been replaced by normal water flow.
However, the water flow itself produces waterfall-like white foam, like a snow-white, hazy mirror, making it difficult for outsiders to see what's inside.
Without a doubt, the prisoners held inside are probably the same.
Even if they got close and tried to observe, both sides could only see a hazy, roundish black shadow outside.
Ouyang Rong pursed his lips.
He looked around at the rows of water curtain doors, inside which were dark shadows, like ink accidentally smudged on a blank canvas.
However, Ouyang Rong was unsure whether, at noon when the sky was brightest, the light would be enough to penetrate the water curtain door, which resembled a hazy glass, and allow people outside to see clearly what was inside.
In addition, the only slightly better piece of good news is that it can now be definitively confirmed that there are indeed living people in these eight water dungeons.
Thinking of this, Ouyang Rong turned his head to look into the depths of the passageway.
Even with the water curtain fully illuminated, the depths of the passageway remained somewhat dim, with only the outline of a prison door faintly visible at the end.
The main problem is that the passageway is indeed very long. Although the water prison is now brighter during the day, providing some visibility, it's not very useful.
Ouyang Rong examined it carefully, unsure whether it was cell A or cell B.
Anyway, those two cells must be deep inside this passageway.
As for whether there were any prisoners among them, Ouyang Rong dared not draw a conclusion at the moment.
Just as he was about to take a step, he remembered something and looked down at the bronze token on his waist.
His intuition told him that the bronze token was suspicious. In addition, he could hear the warnings from Yun Xiangyi and Chen Jiaxin.
Ouyang Rong pursed his lips, not daring to gamble.
At least for now, we've made progress and are about to crack this water prison. Moreover, there's a high probability that Old Master Sun is imprisoned in one of the eight outer cells, rather than the two innermost ones.
So there's no need to risk going in.
As for why they were certain that Master Sun wasn't in the innermost two cells, it's simple: just look at Chen Jiaxin's attitude.
Miss Chen must have some information that is inconvenient to disclose, and she roughly knows about Master Sun's situation. This time, she helped send him to the water dungeon to find someone in order to get a more accurate cell number.
In conclusion, without knowing the contingency plans left by Tong Ling and Yun Xiangyi in the water prison, it is best not to rashly enter the forbidden area deep within the water prison.
After all, the white-robed lady might return at any time and bump into Ouyang Rong at this moment. He could still make up an excuse, saying that he was tired and had been dreaming, which is why he was late in bringing the vegetarian meal.
However, if Yun Xiangyi or Jian Ze or anyone else were to stumble upon Ouyang Rong outside the Class A or Class B water prison, they would be in deep trouble and would be unable to clear their names.
Ouyang Rong did not want to disrupt his current identity and clash with the Queen for the time being, especially since he was currently on her territory and was the one who had come.
Just as the dull young man was filled with mixed thoughts, a strange movement came from the cell with the character "己" on it.
He turned his head and saw a food box being pushed out from behind the water curtain door.
At that moment, as if he had seen something, his pupils contracted slightly as he looked over.
It was the most impatient cell owner, "Ji," who was the first to bring out the food box. However, this was not the key point. The key point was that the sleeping prisoner in cell "Ji" approached the water curtain door. From the outside, the dark figure was getting closer and closer, and gradually becoming clearer!
In particular, when the owner of cell number "Ji" reached out to push the food box, his hand, which was pressing on the food box, moved closer to the water curtain door along with the food box!
Ouyang Rong's eyes narrowed slightly.
He saw it clearly.
It was a short, thick, rough hand, like that of a farmer.
Ouyang Rong suddenly realized what was happening and immediately turned his head to look at the other cells.
The prisoners in these cells would push their food boxes out, for example, near the water curtain door, especially by pushing their palms out!
At this moment, the advantages of carefully observing and summarizing the experience in the past few days are becoming apparent.
According to Ouyang Rong's memory, the second prisoner to receive the food box was usually in the "Xin" cell, which was opposite the "Ji" cell.
Looking over, sure enough, the occupant of cell number "Xin" brought out a food box, which was the second one.
Ouyang Rong got a clear look at the palm.
It should belong to a woman, slender and delicate, seemingly boneless, but painted with purplish-red cardamom, giving it a somewhat eerie appearance.
The woman's slender hand, near the water curtain door, vanished in an instant.
Ouyang Rong didn't have time to process what he had just learned. He immediately searched his memory, looked at the next cell, and, mimicking Ouyang Rong's actions, scanned each one.
The owner of cell number Ren had a pale, slender hand. His skin looked young, but it was completely bloodless, resembling the hand of a dead person. Just looking at that paleness, one could feel that it was emitting a chill.
The owner of cell number Gui had a wrinkled, dark, and rough hand. His index finger had a section of yellowish-brown skin, and his fingernails were also grayish-brown, clearly showing signs of a long and arduous life.
The owner of cell number Geng extended a large, calloused hand—a rare sight indeed—with a distinct scar on the back, resembling the tooth-shaped wound of some wild animal.
The occupant of cell number E extended a chubby hand, with flesh on both the back and the palm, but judging from the condition of his skin, he looked like an elderly person.
Secondly, there was the owner of cell number D. He had a "small" hand, withered and thin like a black chicken claw, and some tumors were faintly growing on the back of his hand. This person must have been quite old.
Finally, there was the owner of cell number C.
He was the slowest. A plain, yellow-skinned hand slowly emerged from behind the water curtain door. It was of uniform length and looked no different from an ordinary person. Apart from being slow, Ouyang Rong couldn't discern anything special about him. He was far less recognizable than the previous seven.
Ouyang Rong was also the last to look at the C-class water prison.
Since I expected this to be the last one, there's no need to rush.
And indeed, he was right. At this moment, he stared at the ordinary palm of the cell owner in front of the water curtain door. After a long while, he saw him push out the food box and withdraw his palm.
However, Ouyang Rong still examined it very carefully, even more carefully than the palms of the previous seven prisoners.
The fact that the inmate in cell C was slowly giving him a chance to observe was secondary; what Ouyang Rong really wanted to know was whether this person was doing it on purpose, deliberately setting a trap to distract him…
(End of this chapter)
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