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墨書 Inktalez
Originally, Lufan thought it would take some effort to pry the butler's mouth open, but unexpectedly, things went surprisingly smoothly. Before he could employ any tactics, the butler had already spilled everything he knew like beans.
According to the butler, the entire lord's family was dead, and there was no need for him to cling to foolish loyalty. Besides, even if he didn't speak, Lufan could still find out with a bit of effort. It wasn't worth risking his life over such matters; the seasoned butler naturally understood how to choose wisely.
The butler explained that he didn't know whether Li Zheng had a treasure vault, but he did know that there was a secret room in Li Zheng's bedroom. If there was indeed a treasure vault, it must be inside that room.
Although the choice of the bedroom as a location left Lufan feeling somewhat sarcastic, it made sense upon reflection. The strongest person in the entire lord's mansion was Li Zheng; where else would be safer than his bedroom? If even he couldn't guard it, then placing it elsewhere would be meaningless.
However, the butler mentioned that the secret room was built very securely. The entrance, known as the Stone Gate, was a yard thick. Without knowing the trick to open it, one couldn't get in at all. Only Li Zheng knew how to open the door. Due to his suspicious nature, aside from Li Hao and himself, even Li Ran had never entered this secret room; no one knew what was inside.
Moreover, there were numerous traps inside. Even a fifth-tier expert would find it difficult to ensure their safe return after entering.
With this information, Lufan became even more interested. Such tight security indicated that whatever was inside must be quite valuable; it seemed likely that it could compensate for his losses.
"What? Treasure hunting? I'm all in!" At that moment, an excited voice rang out as A Qi approached with Little Girl in his arms, looking thrilled.
For him, searching for treasures was far more interesting than fighting and killing.
Duanmu Qing and the others recognized A Qi as Lufan's friend and wisely did not obstruct him as he walked over.
"Why are you here? How is the old man doing?"
"He's fine! I used my special healing ointment on him. As long as he rests for a few days, he'll be back to his lively self—healthier than before! Right, Little Girl?"
Little Girl had a white bandage tied around her eyes, clearly because A Qi didn't want her to see the frightening scene on the ground.
Upon hearing A Qi's words, she nodded vigorously and softly said, "Grandpa is awake. He asked me to come thank Big Brother. Big Brother, have you finished off the bad guys? Did you scare them all away?"
Seeing Little Girl's innocent expression made Lufan smile slightly. He reached out to take her into his arms and patted her head, saying, "Yes, all the bad guys have been scared away by your brother."
"Big Brother is really impressive!"
The people around looked strange, unsure of what to say. The bad guys were driven away, but they had gone straight to hell!
"What's wrong? Are you skilled in mechanisms?"
"Of course! As a great assassin, how could I not understand traps and mechanisms? Otherwise, how would I carry out infiltration and assassination?" A Qi patted his chest and said with righteous indignation.
Duanmu Qing and the others looked even more bewildered. They had never heard of an assassin so openly admitting their identity. Was this really an assassin?
"Alright then, I'll leave it to you later."
Lufan asked Duanmu Qing to help take care of Little Girl, and then went to retrieve Li Zheng's Octagonal Heavy Hammer. He picked up the butler with one hand and prepared to enter with A Qi.
"Wait, what do you need those two hammers for?"
"Better safe than sorry. I have a feeling we might need them."
"You don't plan to smash the door open with those, do you? That's an insult to my skills!"
"Just wait and see."
Duanmu Qing and the others wisely did not follow the two but instead organized people to control the other personnel in the lord's mansion. They began arranging for someone to talk to the Loose Cultivators, aiming to resolve the situation quietly.
The interior of the lord's mansion was lavishly decorated, adorned with carved dragons and phoenixes, but Lufan and A Qi were not interested in these ostentatious things. Guided by the butler, they headed straight for Li Zheng's bedroom.
Soon, they found what the butler had mentioned: the entrance to a secret chamber hidden behind a screen. However, just as he described, the entrance was firmly sealed by a thick Stone Gate.
The Stone Gate was made from a solid piece of granite, seamlessly embedded in the wall. Besides a compass-like object in the center of the door, there were no other places to grip or manipulate.
A Qi's expression lit up with interest as soon as he saw the Compass. "This is the emblem of the Thousand Mechanisms Sect. I didn't expect to see it here."
"Thousand Mechanisms Sect?"
"It's a sect that specializes in mechanical arts. Their secret technique, the Thousand Mechanisms Technique, is quite impressive."
Lufan looked at the butler, who quickly said, "The lord of Back Then indeed hired a Mechanic Master from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect with a substantial sum to create this secret chamber."
"Mechanic Master? Sounds like a challenge!" A Qi's fighting spirit began to ignite.
"Mechanic Master?" Lufan asked.
"A Mechanic Master is a title earned by practitioners of mechanical arts who have passed the assessment at the Martial Arts Hall. The cultivation of mechanical arts is divided into four levels: Apprentice, Mechanic Master, Master Mechanic, and Master of Mechanisms. A Mechanic Master is quite rare and highly sought after by various factions.
However, the assessment for becoming a Mechanic Master is extremely difficult. The questions posed by the Martial Arts Hall have reached an outrageous level. It is said that fewer than fifty Mechanic Masters will pass the assessment this year. Keep in mind that there are hundreds of thousands of practitioners in the cultivation world, so you can imagine how challenging the assessment is."
"That's really interesting." This was Lufan's first time hearing about a Mechanic Master, and it felt quite fresh to him. It seemed he still had much to learn about this world; after all, Qingyang City was just a small place with limited information. Lufan became increasingly aware of this issue.
"Can you open it then?"
"Let me take a look first. This Compass features the Thousand Mechanisms Sect's signature ten-ring lock. It requires you to rotate the ten movable rings in order to their correct positions within ten breaths to unlock the Stone Gate. You only have two chances; if you make a mistake, the door will lock permanently and cannot be opened again."
Wow, it's even smart! How advanced! Is mechanical art in this other world catching up to computers? Lufan was taken aback.
"Given those arrogant folks from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect, there must be a hidden method to unlock it within the ten-ring lock itself. Let me see... Found it!" A Qi murmured before suddenly exclaiming.
"What did you find?" Lufan asked curiously.
"The information to unlock it. Look, it's right here." A Qi pointed to a certain spot on the Compass, but unfortunately, Lufan couldn't see anything at all.
A Qi didn't care whether he understood or not. He squatted down and began to list the information in front of him to calculate. After a while, he raised his head.
"Give me two hours, and I can unlock this lock!"
Two hours? Upon hearing this, Lufan wasted no time and swung his hammer at the Stone Gate. He didn't have that kind of spare time.
"Don't!" A Qi exclaimed in shock.
Unfortunately, it was too late. With one strike, Lufan smashed the Compass and created a large hole in the Stone Gate.
"Why did you break it!" A Qi said, heartbroken.
"Two hours is too long; I just chose the quickest way," Lufan replied, continuing to hammer away, directly drilling through the entire Stone Gate and revealing a large opening.
"Sigh, people like you really ruin the fun. Treasure hunting is all about solving puzzles layer by layer; only when you finally obtain the treasure do you feel a sense of accomplishment. What you're doing now completely misses the joy of treasure hunting. Do you understand the romance of mechanisms?"
"You, an assassin, talking about romantic mechanisms," Lufan said as he stepped into the secret chamber.
"I am an elegant assassin! I don’t care; I will solve the mechanisms that come after this!" Fearing that Lufan would continue smashing everything in his path, A Qi hurried to catch up.
"That depends on how fast you are," came Lufan's voice from the darkness.
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