At the entrance to the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace, Manjing and several members of the Wei family formed a circle, holding each other's arms to stabilize themselves. Song Laosan, Qu Ruilin, and I also stepped on the shoulders of others, holding each other's arms.
After we regained our balance, Jiang Man and Wei Shengnan climbed up our bodies and helped each other up.
Jiang Man held the key up to her nose and asked, "Duan Shenxing, what should I do now?"
Standing below Jiang Man, I couldn't look up at the ceiling, so I could only tell her based on my experience: "Take the flashlight and look for the hole above. Check for any gaps or openings, then touch it with your hand to make sure there's no danger before inserting the key."
Jiang Man fumbled around for a moment, then continued, "I've confirmed, there's no hidden slot here. I've already inserted the key. Do I need to turn it?"
"Try turning it to the right. Can you turn it?"
"Can!"
How does it feel?
"I can feel the resistance, but it's not strenuous. I've been turning it for a week now, and apart from feeling a bit tired, I haven't received any feedback."
"Let's go around one more time."
Following my instructions, Jiang Man turned the key twice and said again, "Duan Shenxing, could it be that Duan Jinyan and the others broke the mechanism after unlocking the door, making our key ineffective?"
"Probably not. Since this kind of mechanism is designed for theft prevention, it wouldn't be easily exposed. Since Duan Jinyan and his group brought explosives but didn't destroy the keyhole, instead hiding it, it means they didn't have time to destroy the keyhole or the mechanism. So the mechanism is definitely not the problem."
After explaining my thoughts, I withdrew one hand and supported Jiang Man's leg: "Okay, you come down first, I need to go up and take a look."
"good."
Jiang Man agreed and was about to get down when she suddenly exclaimed, "Huh? That's strange. Why can't I pull my key out? There are clearly no grooves on the key, so how can it be stuck?"
"There's a hidden groove inside the keyhole!"
I immediately realized: "You're turning the key not to unlock it, but to lock it in place!"
When Song Laosan heard me say that, his eyes lit up: "Then how should we pick the lock next?"
"This so-called key is actually a part of the mechanism, used to activate the linkage. The keyhole is vertical. If the opening method is not rotation, then it can only be push or pull."
Out of caution, I said to Jiang Man, "Try pulling the key outwards first to see if you can move it. If you can't, don't push it inwards with your hands, lest you get hurt by a hidden weapon."
"Buzz!"
As I was speaking, Jiang Man above started trying to pull the key down, and said, "Duan Shenxing, you're right, the key can indeed be pulled down, but it's rotating, and the lock cylinder above should also be a double helix structure."
"Gurgle!"
As Jiang Man pulled the key, the sound of flowing water began to emerge from the rocks above our heads.
"The lock is open!"
Upon hearing the sound of flowing water, Qu Ruilin patted Wei Shengnan's leg: "The mechanism will be activated soon. Everyone, go back down to the ground and be careful of accidental injuries during the vibrations."
"Sizzle!"
As I helped Jiang Man descend, the stone gate in front of us emitted a heavy, powerful scraping sound, and the ground trembled.
Looking around, the heavy stone door was slowly opening, and the sound of flowing water came from the doorway.
Before the door was fully open, I ran to the doorway and shone my flashlight through it.
Just as Qu Ruilin had predicted, behind the door was not a main hall, but a platform, with an underground river running along the edge of the platform.
The river is extremely narrow, with the water level less than half a meter from the top. Our door is located on the side of the river, like a small dock.
Qu Ruilin shone his flashlight on the platform, which stretched as far as the eye could see, and was the first to run over. He picked up a cigarette butt from the ground and said, "Someone has been here before. It seems that Duan Jinyan and the others really have been here."
I followed and felt the platform beneath our feet vibrate: "The mechanism here is a sluice gate activated by the water flow. There must be something else in this river. The key outside is probably used to lock the mechanism. Once the key is removed, the door will slowly close."
Song Laosan speculated, "A small key can open such a big door. It must be using the principle of leverage or something. This mountain has probably been hollowed out. It's definitely not just what we see. There must be keyholes around us, otherwise Duan Jinyan and the others wouldn't have closed the door and come in."
"Not necessarily. When they entered the cave, they saw the chaotic battle outside. The booby traps they just set also show that they are afraid someone will chase them in. Besides, with Duan Jinyan's abilities, even if they don't take this route, they might have a way to leave from another place. But we should still be cautious. Leave the key here and don't lock the door."
I looked at the rushing underground river and shook my head: "Now that the door is open, everyone prepare to give chase. Take out your waterproof bags and pack anything that's afraid of water."
Two members of the Wei family took out the inflatable boat and quickly inflated it with an electric air pump. Wei Shengnan also used a rescue rope to connect the two hovercraft together: "We're ready to go into the water. Does anyone have anything to say?"
I took out a polyethylene rope with a diameter of one centimeter from my bag: "We brought a lot of ropes this time. We can tie one end to the stone figures outside, and then have the people on the back boat connect and let out the rope. This way we can control the speed of the assault boat. If we encounter problems and have to evacuate, we can pull the rope back the way we came."
In a short while, our two boats were launched. After being inflated, these two boats were about 30 centimeters high. People on them could only maintain a semi-reclining position to avoid hitting their heads.
Of the five people on our boat, Lin Que was the thinnest, so he was the last to board. But just as he was about to get on, he exclaimed, "Holy crap!"
I saw Lin Que take a few steps back, plop down on the ground, and look at him speechlessly: "Why are you so startled? Did you see a ghost?"
Lin Que nodded, swallowed hard, and said, "Brother, I really saw a ghost! I just saw a long-haired woman float past under our boat!"
When Song Laosan heard Lin Que say that, he shone his flashlight on the river and said, "There's nothing here. Are you seeing things?"
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