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墨書 Inktalez
At that moment, A Li suddenly called out to me, nearly startling me. I felt a sharp, burning sensation at the tips of my fingers, and I instinctively gasped and jerked my hand away.
" Brother Qian Yi, what are you thinking about? You look so lost in thought," A Li said as she picked up the lighter from the ground. She took a deep breath and quickly tossed it back down. "Is it really that hot?"
The only drawback of this lighter was that after prolonged use, the metal Glass Shell would become hot to the touch. It usually took at least ten minutes for it to get that hot. Had I really been daydreaming for so long?
I wrapped my hand in my sleeve and picked up the lighter. "It's nothing; I just suddenly thought of someone, but I'm not sure yet. I'll tell you once I'm certain. By the way, have you found any markings over there?"
A Li shook her head. "Not really, but I have another discovery. Brother Qian Yi, follow me."
With that, A Li led the way deeper into the large cave. The digging marks inside were even more chaotic and deeper, as if someone had lost patience while digging and had gone on a frenzied rampage. An image of a trapped beast with red eyes flashed in my mind, and I couldn't help but swallow hard. I tightened my grip on my staff, but then I saw A Li's calm back ahead of me and immediately felt relieved. If things were truly as dangerous as I imagined, she would surely warn me first; she wouldn’t be so relaxed otherwise.
It seemed I was just being overly anxious.
However, this guessing game was also uncomfortable. Just as I was about to ask A Li what her discovery was, she suddenly stopped in front of me and turned around. " Brother Qian Yi, you need to be mentally prepared." Then she slowly moved aside, revealing a stone wall covered in scratch marks.
I was taken aback and hurried forward a couple of steps to tap on the wall with my staff. After confirming that I wasn't seeing things, I realized this was indeed a solid stone wall. My mind buzzed—what the hell? This passageway ended here?!
But then I noticed there was a turn nearby leading to another exit, and my heart soared with joy. It felt like “when one is at the end of a road with no way out, suddenly finding another path through the dark.” Just as I was about to call A Li over, she stopped me again.
"It's useless; this fork is actually a U-shaped semi-closed bend," A Li explained. "A stone block is blocking the middle, splitting into two larger caves that connect through here. I just crawled through from that cave over there— Brother Qian Yi, we’ve hit a dead end!"
At that moment, I realized her position indeed seemed off. But I refused to give up easily; until I reached the Yellow River, I wouldn’t lose hope. I told A Li to step aside and tried to maneuver around the pile of stones myself. The ceiling here was even lower than before; even crawling on my knees would be difficult. So I had no choice but to lie flat on the ground and crawl forward using my elbows. The left side and the ceiling were also covered in chaotic scratch marks that resembled those in the larger cave.
I held my breath and crawled forward for about ten more meters. The ceiling of the cave suddenly rose again, regaining about a meter in height, and the marks on the stone walls came to an end here. It seemed that after going in such a big circle, I had returned to the original fork in the path.
A chill ran through my heart, and I felt all my energy drain away. I flipped over and lay sprawled on the ground, my head pounding... Deep down, I understood everything. A Li was right; this was indeed a U-shaped dead end, with a stone blocking the way in the middle, separating two larger caves. However, until I saw it with my own eyes, I still held onto a glimmer of hope.
A Li squatted beside me, her voice soft as she called my name: " Brother Qian Yi, don’t lose heart. It was my fault for being too harsh earlier. Since they could get out from here, this place must not be as it appears to us; there must be some hidden mechanism. We’re tired now, so let’s take a break. Once we’ve rested and regained our spirits, any mechanism will be no problem."
Her words seemed to have a magical effect; as I listened, I actually fell asleep. The aches throughout my body made me feel utterly exhausted, and the tense nerves in my mind finally relaxed. I didn’t want to think about anything else; this sleep was very deep.
I had no idea how long I slept, but when my consciousness began to return, I felt warmth on my face and comfort at the back of my neck, as if resting on a pillow—so comfortable that I didn’t want to open my eyes.
In this drowsy state, I dozed off again but soon found it impossible to sleep any longer. My bones and sore muscles seemed to have awakened as well, aching terribly as if I had been beaten up.
I lifted my eyelids and was about to sit up when I caught sight of A Li’s delicate chin and neck. As my gaze traveled downward—oh no! There were her prominent curves... My heart skipped a beat, a jolt of electricity coursing through me. Glancing sideways, I realized with shock that I had been resting on A Li’s thigh, sleeping in the embrace of this young woman! No wonder I had slept so comfortably; it turned out I was in a warm haven!
I quickly rolled over and sprang up, feeling as if my face were on fire. Did I just have feelings for A Li? Qian Yi, what has become of you! But then again, thinking about it, A Li did have quite an impressive figure; how come I never noticed this potential before?
The commotion I caused woke A Li up. She lazily stretched her body, her graceful curves fully exposed, which made me heat up all over again. I hurriedly turned my head away.
A Li seemed completely at ease with me; she probably had no idea how chaotic my thoughts had become. She smiled and asked when I woke up, whether I had slept well, and if I was hungry or wanted something to eat.
I felt increasingly embarrassed and shook my head randomly while quickly shifting my attention to our surroundings.
After such a good sleep, my mind was much clearer than before. I analyzed our situation: there were possibly two scenarios. One was that this U-shaped cave concealed some secret mechanism; perhaps my junior brother followed the black-clad man all the way here, where the man activated the mechanism and my brother slipped inside without having time to leave us any clues. The other possibility was that we were completely mistaken; this truly was a dead end, and neither my brother nor the black-clad man had vanished into thin air—they simply never arrived here at all. They might have taken a different path along the way; in other words, we lost them somewhere on our journey here.
I shared my thoughts with A Li and asked her to consider if she had any additional insights. The way men and women think is inherently different, which is often the root cause of arguments between couples.
A Li tilted her head against the wall and thought for a moment before saying, “As for other possibilities... I haven't thought of any for now. Brother Qian Yi, why don't we first verify these two hypotheses? If they don't work out, we can come up with other solutions later.”
I was momentarily taken aback, sensing something odd in A Li's response; it seemed somewhat dismissive. Could it be that she was too exhausted from the recent days of running around and didn’t want to think anymore? Or perhaps A Li had sensed my failed attempt at a crime and felt I was a frivolous person, making her angry?
But then I reconsidered. A Li liked me; otherwise, she wouldn’t let me sleep in her embrace and be so close to her. Therefore, logically speaking, she should be happy with my response. At the very least, she should show some shyness typical of a girl, rather than an attitude that felt dismissive.
Sigh... It seems the old saying holds true: a woman's heart is as elusive as a needle in the ocean. Their thoughts change in an instant; no matter how well you think you know them, you can never truly guess!
With this realization, I suddenly felt that the predicament before me was trivial compared to trying to decipher a woman's mind. It was like ants wetting firewood—insignificant! My confidence surged!
My master taught me that creating mechanisms on a solid stone wall would be impossible because the stone is too massive for any mechanism to operate effectively. If the stone were cut open, the artificial marks would be too obvious and easily discovered, defeating the purpose of having a mechanism.
With this in mind, I reminded A Li that we didn’t need to examine every detail; we should focus on the larger picture—if something exists, it does; if it doesn’t, then it doesn’t.
We decided to split up our efforts: I would explore the large cave while A Li took care of another passage. In less than five minutes, we had thoroughly searched from beginning to end but found nothing at all.
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