On a November night, even in Lingnan, a south without winter, there were few people around, especially around this haunted house where many people were said to have died.
After the last "guest" came out of the public restroom, Zhou Jiao quickly walked forward and went around the tree, and placed the round mutton-fat jade pendant hanging around her neck in the depression at the root of the ancient tree.
Just like the previous chamber mechanism, a hole quickly appeared between two adjacent, lush, ancient trees, barely wide enough for a single person to fall through. In the darkness, she didn't dare pull out her flashlight. She retrieved the jade pendant, poured a large bag of medicinal powder into it, and then, determined to gain access without risking anything, jumped in.
Only after actually jumping in did Zhou Jiao feel the bottom of the cavern was covered in soft sand. She stood up straight, and the passage above her quickly closed. This time, it was truly pitch black. Aside from the slight breeze, she could barely see her hand in front of her face.
Turning on the flashlight, she found a recess in the wall and placed the round mutton-fat jade pendant on it. This time, a narrow passage opened up. After taking out the jade pendant, Zhou Jiao didn't go in directly. Instead, she sprinkled a lot of medicinal powder on the opening and then closed a crucial trap.
According to the acrostic poem and a fancy French admonition in her grandmother's last words, in order to open this secret room, in addition to the ancestral jade pendant, the method of deciphering the formation is also needed. Both are indispensable. Otherwise, if someone rashly enters, it is very likely that everything will be in vain, and the secret room may even be destroyed.
Even without the acrostic poem, the formation here was still far more complex than the one at the Gu family mansion. Fortunately, she had these hints, otherwise Zhou Jiao wouldn't have been sure she could open it. Even though she and her father had calculated it several times, sweat broke out on her forehead underground, and she couldn't let her guard down for a moment.
It took her a full half hour. After the first error, Zhou Jiao confirmed that everything was correct and began to unravel the formation layer by layer. Only when she heard the familiar snapping sound, revealing another passage, did she wipe the sweat from her sweat and walk towards it. As she entered, the first one gradually closed.
After standing in the passage for a while, the two passages closed in front and behind. She once again shone the flashlight on the closed stone door behind her. It was again carved with Han Dynasty jade.
Seeing this, and the jade pendant on her neck, Zhou Jiao was convinced that this was the Gu family's secret room. Aside from the Jiangcheng secret room, which belonged to the Gu family, these two were truly the Gu family's ancestral property.
Zhou Jiao shook her head speechlessly. No wonder the Gu family was seen as a piece of fat meat by others, everyone wanted a bite. She could imagine how luxurious her grandmother's childhood must have been, as the only heir to the Gu family's main branch.
No wonder her family was doing better than anyone else's now, yet Old Lady Cheng kept complaining about being wronged. Zhou Jiao couldn't help but smile at this thought. Only her closest relatives would care about her so much!
After calming down, Zhou Jiao began to follow her grandmother's instructions, gradually moving closer to the dark corners on a large stone. Speaking of this round stone, it was truly an honor. It had witnessed the opening of three secret chambers. If it had a spirit, Zhou Jiao would truly erect a monument in its honor.
The rest of the journey was safer, but not short. If Zhou Jiao's sense of direction was correct, she would have left the compound long ago. She wasn't in a hurry.
It was said that another exit was not far away across from a pier. Although she hadn't personally experienced it, she had a hunch that the senior who created the secret room was an expert and should have made some backup plans.
After a few detours and a few twists and turns, she lost track of how much distance she'd walked. The last time she checked her watch, it was almost nine o'clock. Zhou Jiao hurried on. If she didn't get back before the cinema closed, her lie would be exposed. She also planned to find some goodies on the black market.
Zhou Jiao eagerly walked to the entrance of the secret room and opened the stone door again according to the instructions. With the experience of the previous two secret rooms, she was not surprised to see the wooden box again.
The secret room that made her grandmother rank last, let alone other things, just in a coastal city, such a sensitive place, she could imagine that there would be gold, silver and overseas jewelry.
And that is indeed the case.
Hundreds of wooden boxes were stacked on top of each other. Except for those made of precious wood, all the others fell over at the slightest touch—they had already weathered. Even the tribute silks inside some boxes, wrapped in layers, could not withstand the aging process.
There were, however, several sets of bright red wedding gowns, tiaras, and embroidered shoes from the Qing Dynasty stored in a large box, all intact. Looking at the large oriental pearls and exquisite embroidery on the embroidered shoes, it was easy to imagine how precious they were.
When they opened the dozen or so boxes that were completely intact, they found, in addition to the jewelry inside, ivory carvings from overseas and some precious gems and jewelry, plus the yellow and white items in the weathered boxes.
This approach is truly family-oriented.
Zhou Jiao didn't have time to look closely. She put all the scattered gold bars, gold ingots and gold leaves into the sack, and then put the last intact wooden box into the space.
The secret room was in a mess, and now all that was left were large black and silver winter melons. Zhou Jiao really couldn't think of a use for so much silver.
He simply packed it in a sack. Compared to the gold, the ancestor of the Gu family didn't add much. Maybe he also hid some silver on a whim.
After cleaning up the useful things, Zhou Jiao did not clean up the remaining weathered objects. She erased her footprints and opened the exit passage in the secret room again.
As the mechanism activated, the door to the secret room slowly closed. Finally, Zhou Jiao steeled herself and destroyed the mechanism. She didn't want anyone to accidentally stumble into this place one day. If someone truly cared enough to restore history, they might conclude that this was the Jiangnan Gu family's villa. That would be truly turbulent.
After following the exit passage and disabling two traps, Zhou Jiao finally found herself safely at the entrance of a cave. Without the flashlight, the dim night outside only allowed her to see a large dock in the distance.
According to the bus route she took in the afternoon, Zhou Jiao found that it was not far from the city and far away from the villa, but the distance from the guesthouse was getting farther and farther.
Zhou Jiao felt unfamiliar with the city and didn't dare take the risk of taking out her car to wander around. She'd been here for almost a month and had often heard about smuggling incidents. She figured the areas near the docks must be more strictly managed than the downtown area.
I walked quickly into the city in the night, squeezed onto the bus and returned to the cinema. It was almost closing time.
Seeing waves of people coming out, Zhou Jiao gave up the idea of going in again. She found a secluded place, disguised herself, changed back into the clothes she wore before going out, blended into the crowd, and followed the route back to the Commercial Bureau Guesthouse.
The receptionist greeted her warmly and asked what movies were playing at the cinema tonight and what the plots were like.
One asked lively questions, the other answered thoughtfully. It wasn't until the guesthouse door closed that Zhou Jiao breathed a sigh of relief, said goodbye, and returned to her room to rest.
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